Ohio Players

Beginning in the late '60s as a funk group owing more to Memphis than Sly Stone, the Ohio Players found their hot and nasty niche in the early '70s. Their brand of deep funk, rich with horns and falsetto choruses, really blew up when they switched to Mercury in the mid-1970s. Quirky arrangements like "Funky Worm," "Skin Tight," and "Love Rollercoaster" were laced with blues and street-funk attitude. And those record covers! Get a glimpse of a honey-coated sister writhing on the floor. Sexist? Yes. But it was the Ohio Players who let us know that "freak" could be used as a verb.