Honey (Ohio Players album)

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For the 1958 LP, see Honey (Sonny James album).
Honey
Ohio Players Honey.jpg
Studio album by
Ohio Players
ReleasedAugust 16, 1975
RecordedFebruary–June, 1975
StudioParagon Recording Studios
(Chicago, Illinois)
GenreSoul, funk, R&B
Length31:47
LabelMercury
ProducerOhio Players
Ohio Players chronology
Fire
(1974) 		Honey
(1975) 		Contradiction
(1976)
Singles from Honey
  1. "Sweet Sticky Thing"
    Released: August 9, 1975
  2. "Love Rollercoaster"
    Released: November 9, 1975
  3. "Fopp"
    Released: February, 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic4.5/5 stars[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[2]

Honey is the seventh studio album by American band the Ohio Players. Released on August 16, 1975 by Mercury Records. It is generally regarded as a classic, the band's best album, and the last great full-length release of their dominant era in the mid-1970s.

Like previous albums by the band, Honey is known for a racy cover photo. In this case image is a nude woman holding a sticky jar of honey in one hand while lasciviously swallowing a spoonful of it with the other. The inside cover photo shows the nude woman lying on her back with honey poured all over her body, and the Players looking at her with sheer delight and amazement. The model was Playboy magazine's October 1974 Playmate of the Month, Ester Cordet. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Album Cover Art.

The cover image also gained mild notoriety from an urban legend involving one of their singles, Love Rollercoaster. Which involved the honey substance that was present on Cordet damaging her skin, ruining her career as a model. and then being stabbed to death by someone in the Recording Booth and her "scream" being captured on tape when recording the song. This urban legend rumour has been proven false time and time again.

It was recorded and remixed at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, with Barry Mraz as their recording engineer. Marty Link, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, and Paul Johnson are credited as tape operators. Gilbert Kong mastered the final mix at Masterdisk in New York City.

The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 during the week of September 27, 1975, kept out of the top spot by Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.[3] In addition, it was the third album from the band to top the Soul/Black Albums chart where it spent three weeks.

Release history[]

In addition to the standard 2 channel stereo version the album was also released in a 4 channel quadraphonic version in 1975. This version appeared on 8-track tape in the US and was the fourth of five Ohio Players albums available in this format. The quad version was re-issued on DTS Audio CD in 2001.

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by James Williams, Clarence Satchell, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, William Beck.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Honey"5:19
2."Fopp"3:45
3."Let's Love"5:15
4."Ain't Givin' Up No Ground"1:45
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Sweet Sticky Thing"6:13
6."Love Rollercoaster"4:52
7."Alone"4:40

Personnel[]

Production[]

  • Ohio Players – producers
  • Barry Mraz, Gilbert Kong & Tom Hanson ; engineers
  • Marty Linke, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, Paul Johnson – tape operators
  • Richard Fegley – photography
  • Jim Ladwig – art direction
  • Joe Kotleba – design

Cover versions[]

Charts[]

Singles[]

Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[9] 		US
R&B
[9]
1975 "Sweet Sticky Thing" 33 1
"Love Rollercoaster" 1 1
1976 "Fopp" 30 9

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Henderson, Alex. Honey review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: O". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of September 27, 1975". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  4. ^ "Ohio Players Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  5. ^ "Ohio Players Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1975". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  7. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1976". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  8. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1976". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "US Charts > Ohio Players". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-03-30.

External links[]

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