The Ritchie Family
Encyclopedia
The Ritchie Family was the name of an American
vocal group, based in Philadelphia, who achieved several hits during the disco
era.
who also formed the Village People
. The group took its name from record producer
Richie Rome
, who added at T to the name and originally consisted of four singers Jean Davis, Cassandra Wooten, Gwen Oliver (who eventually married musician Fred Wesley
), and Nadine Felder originally known as Honey & The Bees. Their manager was Jimmy Bishop, a successful Philadelphia radio personality who also managed Barbara Mason. Morali remembered Felder and Wooten had done some session work for him and he called them a few years later when he wanted to form a group and the Ritchie Family was born.
Their first hit single
, a reworking
of the 1930s song "Brazil
" reached the Top 20 in the United States
in 1975, and the album
, also titled Brazil, sold well. The following year they released the album Arabian Nights, and with it the single "The Best Disco in Town
". The song was essentially a medley
of recent disco songs linked together with an original chorus
and it became a worldwide hit.
Their follow up albums Life is Music, which followed a 1930s theme, and African Queens were only mediocre successes. Each of these four albums was a concept album
featuring songs of a similar theme as suggested by each album title. Each album also featured a long medley, usually running from 15 to 20 minutes.
By 1978, the three members had been replaced by Jacqui Smith-Lee, Theodosia "Dodie" Draher and Ednah Holt. Their 1978 album, American Generation, was a slight departure from disco and more in the style of europop
, although one of the singles from it was called "I Feel Disco Good." The group abandoned the exotic and highly kitsch
costumes of their earlier incarnation in favour of a more contemporary, sexually provocative style. This album was followed by the album "Bad Reputation", at which point Holt departed (and formed her own group Ednah Holt and Starluv) and was replaced by lead singer Vera Brown; the group enjoyed success with "Put Your Feet To The Beat."
The Ritchie Family lineup of Brown, Smith-Lee and Draher next recorded the Give Me A Break LP
which contained the hits "Give Me A Break" and "Never Be Able to Set You Free." Continuing with album releases, the next was a markedly different partnership with Jacques Fred Petrus
and Mauro Malavasi
, the pair behind Change
. The album they recorded was I'll Do My Best For You Baby; following that was All Night All Right. By the time of 1983's "All Night, All Right" lp, Dodie Draher had left the group and newcomer Linda James took over her spot.
In 1980 they joined Village People for the movie
Can't Stop the Music
. The film was a resounding failure and still appears on many critics' "worst ever" lists; however the soundtrack album
sold well in some parts of the world. By this time disco music had already reached its peak, at least in the US.
Also in 1980, Wooten and Mason-Jacks sang background vocals on John Lennon
's final album, Double Fantasy
.
After deciding to split, when group owner Jacques Morali discovered he had AIDS
, the group continued as Vera Brown and the Rich Girls for one song called "Too Much Too Fast" that crashed completely. Vera Brown has reformed The Ritchie Family, with Dodie Draher and Jacqui Smith-Lee, but without further releases.
With original members Wooten, Mason-Jacks and Oliver, the group achieved its highest grossing sales.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
vocal group, based in Philadelphia, who achieved several hits during the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
era.
Career
The four original members were not related; the group was a creation of Jacques MoraliJacques Morali
Jacques Morali was a French music producer, who is best remembered for being the creator and driving force behind the disco group, Village People....
who also formed the Village People
Village People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
. The group took its name from record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Richie Rome
Richie Rome
Richie Rome, born Richard V. Di Cicco in Philadelphia, was a prominent American producer, arranger and orchestra conductor during the 1970s.- Life :...
, who added at T to the name and originally consisted of four singers Jean Davis, Cassandra Wooten, Gwen Oliver (who eventually married musician Fred Wesley
Fred Wesley
Fred Wesley is an American jazz and funk trombonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:...
), and Nadine Felder originally known as Honey & The Bees. Their manager was Jimmy Bishop, a successful Philadelphia radio personality who also managed Barbara Mason. Morali remembered Felder and Wooten had done some session work for him and he called them a few years later when he wanted to form a group and the Ritchie Family was born.
Their first hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, a reworking
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the 1930s song "Brazil
Aquarela do Brasil
"Aquarela do Brasil" , known in the English-speaking world simply as "Brazil", is one of the most famous Brazilian songs of all time, written by Ary Barroso in 1939.-Background and composition:...
" reached the Top 20 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1975, and the album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, also titled Brazil, sold well. The following year they released the album Arabian Nights, and with it the single "The Best Disco in Town
The Best Disco in Town
"The Best Disco in Town" is a 1976 crossover disco single by Philadelphia-based group, The Ritchie Family. In the United States, the single was a top 20 hit on both the soul and pop charts and reached number one for one week on the disco/dance chart....
". The song was essentially a medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
of recent disco songs linked together with an original chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
and it became a worldwide hit.
Their follow up albums Life is Music, which followed a 1930s theme, and African Queens were only mediocre successes. Each of these four albums was a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
featuring songs of a similar theme as suggested by each album title. Each album also featured a long medley, usually running from 15 to 20 minutes.
By 1978, the three members had been replaced by Jacqui Smith-Lee, Theodosia "Dodie" Draher and Ednah Holt. Their 1978 album, American Generation, was a slight departure from disco and more in the style of europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
, although one of the singles from it was called "I Feel Disco Good." The group abandoned the exotic and highly kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
costumes of their earlier incarnation in favour of a more contemporary, sexually provocative style. This album was followed by the album "Bad Reputation", at which point Holt departed (and formed her own group Ednah Holt and Starluv) and was replaced by lead singer Vera Brown; the group enjoyed success with "Put Your Feet To The Beat."
The Ritchie Family lineup of Brown, Smith-Lee and Draher next recorded the Give Me A Break LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
which contained the hits "Give Me A Break" and "Never Be Able to Set You Free." Continuing with album releases, the next was a markedly different partnership with Jacques Fred Petrus
Jacques Fred Petrus
Jacques Fred Petrus was a French-Italian businessman and a pioneer of Italian Disco music.-Early years:...
and Mauro Malavasi
Mauro Malavasi
Mauro Malavasi is an Italian pianist, songwriter and producer.Malavasi had during the early 70s educated himself at the conservatory of Bologna, Italy in the composition, choir and orchestral disciplines. During those years he also developed his piano to become a masterful piano player...
, the pair behind Change
Change (band)
Change was an Italian-American post-disco group formed in Bologna, Italy in 1979 by businessman and executive producer Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi...
. The album they recorded was I'll Do My Best For You Baby; following that was All Night All Right. By the time of 1983's "All Night, All Right" lp, Dodie Draher had left the group and newcomer Linda James took over her spot.
In 1980 they joined Village People for the movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Can't Stop the Music
Can't Stop the Music
Can't Stop the Music is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker. It is a pseudo-biography of disco's Village People which bears only a vague resemblance to the actual story of the group's formation...
. The film was a resounding failure and still appears on many critics' "worst ever" lists; however the soundtrack album
Can't Stop the Music (album)
Can't Stop the Music is the soundtrack album by Village People for their movie Can't Stop the Music released in 1980. Though the movie was a commercial failure, the album did better, reaching #9 on the UK Albums Chart, #47 on the The Billboard 200 in the U.S.A., and #1 in the ARIA charts...
sold well in some parts of the world. By this time disco music had already reached its peak, at least in the US.
Also in 1980, Wooten and Mason-Jacks sang background vocals on John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's final album, Double Fantasy
Double Fantasy
Double Fantasy is an album released by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1980. Though initially poorly received, the album is notable for its association with Lennon's murder three weeks after its release, whereupon it become a worldwide commercial success, and went on to win the 1981 Album...
.
After deciding to split, when group owner Jacques Morali discovered he had AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, the group continued as Vera Brown and the Rich Girls for one song called "Too Much Too Fast" that crashed completely. Vera Brown has reformed The Ritchie Family, with Dodie Draher and Jacqui Smith-Lee, but without further releases.
With original members Wooten, Mason-Jacks and Oliver, the group achieved its highest grossing sales.
Singles
- 1975 "Brazil" / "Hot Trip"
- 1975 "Dance With Me" / "Lady Champagne"
- 1975 "Dance With Me" / "Pinball"
- 1976 "The Best Disco In Town" / "Part II"
- 1976 "Istanbul" / "Baby I’m On Fire"
- 1977 "Life Is Music" / "Lady Luck"
- 1977 "African Queens" / "Part II"
- 1977 "African Queens" / "Summerdance"
- 1977 "Quiet VillageQuiet Village"Quiet Village" is an exotica instrumental that was originally written and performed by Les Baxter in 1952. In the liner notes to his album, Ritual of the Savage , Baxter described the themes he was conveying in the work: Seven years later, in 1959, Martin Denny added exotic sounds to the song,...
" / "Voodoo" - 1977 "Quiet Village" / "Versions"
- 1978 "American Generation" / "Music Man"
- 1978 "American Generation" / "I Feel Disco Good"
- 1978 "Good In Love" / "I Feel Disco Good"
- 1978 "La Barbichette" / "Forever Dancing"
- 1979 "Where Are The Men?" / "Bad Reputation"
- 1979 "Put Your Feet To The Beat" / "Bad Reputation"
- 1979 "Put Your Feet To The Beat" / "Sexy Man"
- 1979 "It’s A Man’s World" / "Bad Reputation"
- 1980 "Give Me A Break" / "Bad Reputation"
- 1980 "All My Love" / "Bad Reputation"
- 1980 "All My Love" / "Versions"
- 1980 "I’ll Never Be Able To Set You Free" / "Not As Bad As It Seems"
- 1982 "I’ll Do My Best" / "You’ve Got Me Dancin’"
- 1982 "Walk With Me"
- 1982 "Real Love" / "Stop And Think"
- 1982 "Alright On The Night" / "You Can Always Count On Me"
- 1983 "All Night, All Right" / "Versions"
- 1983 "This Love’s On Me" / "Tonight I Need To Have Your Love"
- 1987 "The Best Disco In Town" (RemixRemixA remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
) / "American Generation" - 1995 "I’ll Do My Best" / "Versions"
- 1996 "I’ll Do My Best" / "Versions"
- 1997 "American Generation" / "Versions"
- 1997 "Brazil" samba mix and dub mix
- 1998 "The best disco in town" summer mega club mix/ radio mix
Albums
- 1975 Brazil
- 1976 Arabian Nights
- 1977 Life Is Music
- 1977 African Queens
- 1978 American Generation
- 1979 Bad Reputation
- 1980 Give Me A Break
- 1982 I’ll Do My Best
- 1983 All Night, All Right
Soundtracks
- 1979 Je Te Tiens, Tu Me Tiens Par La Barbichette
- 1980 Can’t Stop The Music
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart