Anita Ward
Biography by Greg Prato
Perhaps more so than any other genre in the history of popular music, the '70s disco scene was littered with countless one-hit wonders, including Anita Ward. Born during 1957 in Memphis, TN, Ward developed an interest in music at an early age, although it was gospel and not the up-tempo dance style she'd become synonymous with years later. Ward went on to sing with the Rust College A Cappella Choir (which included recording alongside renowned Metropolitan Opera vocalist Leontyne Price), as well as issuing an obscure album recorded by her own gospel quartet. But after graduation, Ward didn't automatically set out to pursue a career in music and instead became a substitute teacher in the Memphis elementary school system. It wasn't long before Ward realized music was too much a part of her life to ignore and her manager put her in contact with singer/songwriter Frederick Knight (who had scored a substantial hit on his own in the summer of 1972 with "I've Been Lonely for So Long"). Knight signed on to help produce a three-song demo session with Ward, but once the tape was rolling, Knight became so taken by Ward's singing ability that the sessions soon produced an album's worth of material.
Upon listening back to their work, both agreed that they were still one song short, which resulted in Knight digging up an old track titled "Ring My Bell" that he had originally penned for a young teenybopper singer, Stacy Lattisaw (who would later score several hits in the early '80s). The song's original lyrics dealt with teens chatting away on the phone and even though Knight gave the track a quick lyrical overhaul, Ward was less than enthusiastic about the song. Still, she agreed to record it (with Knight providing most of the musical accompaniment himself, including one of the first uses of synth drums on a record), which only took a total of two days to record. "Ring My Bell" turned out to be the best track of the bunch, resulting in a recording contract with the TK label, and the release of Ward's debut album, Songs of Love, in 1979. It didn't take long for "Ring My Bell" to scale the charts and it peaked at number one during the summer (out-gunning such other future disco-classics as Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls," plus Sister Sledge's "We Are Family," all of which were in the Top Five) and remained on the charts for five months solid.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Edie Antoinette on
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What I remember was the square half-pint and pint bottles that they would drink out the brown paper bags with the top of the bag twisted around to keep it closed in their back pocket...LOL
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Permalink Reply by Cherene Snow on
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OMG!!!!!!That were advertising Ripple in Black and White!!!! Who knew!!!! This is my first time ever seeing this!!! Amazing!!!
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I'll find Ripple (the group) for you and let you hear my favs... As for the wine...lawd that brings back some memories. When we lived on 95th Street in Chicago in the 60's, that's all they drank around my neighborhood. Empty Ripple bottles 'everywhere'! LOL
...that and the harmonic Doo-Woppin outside my bedroom window. They would drink Ripple then start harmonizin...*sigh...ahhhhh, the memories* -
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Permalink Reply by Shelley "SoleMann" King on
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BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA....Oh Lawd
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Ripple isn't produced anymore :( but I found these pics! LOL
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If you can find a unopened bottle of Ripple nowdays, it would be called UnRipple....LOL
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QUESTION
If One Had An Original, Unopened Bottle Of "Ripple" Brand Wine, Would It Be Worth Selling? Does It Have Any Value?
My father happens to own a unopened bottle of a "Ripple" brand wine which he asked me to find the value of one day, among some other items. I was surprised to find that (from what I have read online) bottles of Ripple wine are quite rare. Knowing rarity does not mean the item has value, I was wondering if anyone knows, what the value of a bottle of unopened ripple red may be? Is it even worth selling?
ANSWERS
The true value for an unopened Bottle Of "Ripple" Brand Wine can only be acknowledged by an avid wine drinker so you have to sell it to those type of people.Its value can be any where from 20 dollars to as much as 80 dollars.
How much would you be willing to sell your bottle for? I am a very big fan of Sanford and Son and having a bottle of ripple would be amazing.
My father whom owns the bottle recently decided to put the bottle of ripple up on Ebay. It should be up in a few weeks (never used Ebay before). I'm unsure what he will set the price at, but if you would like I could e-mail you all the details / link to the ebay page when it goes online.
I doubt that aging Ripple would increase its value. It was a cheap wine to begin with. Usually aging of such a wine will turn it sour or vinegary. It may be collectible since it was Fred Sanford's drink of choice on Sanford and Son, a tv show in the 70's.
HERE IS MY UNOPENED BOTTLE OF RIPPLE....ROFLMBO
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HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! I can see it now..your name plastered on eBay for selling a bottle of Inglenook with a Ripple label glued on top!!! I think Ripple is selling for $1800 on eBay!!! Unreal!!!!! Prolly taste like red vinegar by now..lol
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The history of the Butlers/Raw Soul is dense, but for all of us music nerds, that's normal. It is not totally clear what year the Butlers actually formed but they released their first single in 1963 on Liberty Records. That single was "She Tried To Kiss Me" and another single followed on Guyden entitled "Lovable Girl." After the Guyden single the Butlers took a break not recording another record until the single "Laugh, Laugh, Laugh" was released on the Phila label in 1966. The group also backed Charles Earland and Jean Wells on one Phila single ("I Know She Loves Me").
As you might be noticing, the Butlers were doing a fair amount of recording but not achieving much success. The group's recordings sold regionally but never had the promotion to make an impact on the national scene. After the single with Phila, the Butlers moved to the Fairmount label (part of the Cameo-Parkway family) and released a handful of singles, some being reissued singles of the past. The Butlers were with Fairmount for 1966-67 and then moved to Sassy Records. Sassy released the group's greatest single (in my opinion) "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" b/w "If That's What You Wanted." A copy of that 45 sold for just under $500 last summer on eBay. Even though that isn't that much in the world of record collecting--it's still a hefty sum. The Butlers released another single on Sassy ("She's Gone" b/w "Love Is Good") that appears to be even
harder to come by then the "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" single.
The true history become a bit blurred here as the AMG biography states that the Butlers last record was released on C.R.S. in 1974 (". However, between 1971 and that single, Frankie Beverly formed a group called Raw Soul and released a number of singles. Some of the songs recorded by Beverly during this period are "While I'm Alone," "Open Up Your Heart," (both on the Gregor label) and "Color Blind." "Color Blind" was released by the Eldorado label and rerecorded by Maze. Beverly's big break came when Marvin Gaye asked Raw Soul to back him on a tour. Gaye helped Beverly/Raw Soul get a contract at Capitol. Beverly decided to take the group in a different direction, a name change occurred, and Maze was created.
The above isn't the most complete history of Beverly but hopefully someone will know a way to get in touch with the man or his management because a comprehensive pre-Maze history needs to be done on Frankie Beverly (his real name is Howard, by the way). Below you'll find every Frankie Beverly (pre-Maze) song available to me right now ("Color Blind" will be up soon).
If you have a song that is not included below, shoot it over to funkinsoulman (at) yahoo.com and it will go up in the next Frankie Beverly post (later this week--highlighting Maze). Also, if you have any more information please share your knowledge. The Butlers material has been comp-ed sporadically (usually imports) but the entire Maze catalog has been reissued and is available.
Enjoy. "She Kissed Me" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
"I Want To Feel I'm Wanted" (not sure which label or year)
"Laugh, Laugh, Laugh"
(Phila, 1966)
"Because Of My Heart" (Fairmount, 1966 or 1967)
"Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" (Sassy, 1967)
"If That's What You Wanted" (Sassy, 1967)
Frankie Beverly is one of those cats that has lasting power. He started in the music business doing a tour with doo wop group the Silhouettes and then formed his own group called the Blenders. The Blenders never recorded a single, Beverly wouldn't appear on wax until forming the Butlers a few years later. Along with Beverly, the Butlers included Jack "Sonny" Nicholson, Joe Collins, John Fitch, and Talmadge Conway.
Beverly would later enjoy great success fronting Maze and Conway would become a
well-known penning Double Exposure's
"Ten Percent" and the Intruders' "Memories Are Here To Stay."
While Maze is a phenomenal group, Beverly's work before that group will always stand out as his best (imo).
The Butlers produced tunes that most Northern Soul fans would kill for and Raw Soul gave the funksters something to pursue. The Butlers recorded their first single in 1960 titled "Loveable Girl". Left to right John Fitch, T Conway, Frankie Beverly, Sonny Nicholson and Joe Collins.
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