The Ohio Players are primarily revered today for their pair of #1 pop hits, "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster". That is how it should be, because absurd urban legends aside, they are two amazingly catchy funk songs. What is sometimes lost in the shuffle, however, is that the Ohio Players charted EIGHT songs in the pop Top 40, and 21 additional songs on either the Pop or R&B Top 100s. You can't really call them a band that got lucky once or twice. They did it consistently for 20 years.
In 2010, I finally got to hear the song "Funky Worm", which was the first Top 40 pop hit for the Players. It is absolutely delightful. Part novelty record, part funk instrumental, it manages to make you laugh while instilling in your brain a killer groove that just won't quit. I am in no way surprised that it has been sampled extensively in more recent years.
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