Anita Ward | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | [1] Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | December 20, 1956
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument | Vocals |
Years active | 1979–present |
Labels |
Anita Ward (born December 20, 1956 [2] [3] ) (sources differ) is an American singer and musician from Memphis, Tennessee. Beginning her professional music career in the late 1970s, Ward is best known for her 1979 million-selling chart-topper R&B/Disco hit "Ring My Bell": it was #1 on the United States Hot 100, R&B, and Dance charts, and in the United Kingdom. [2]
Ward was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. [3] Ward obtained a degree in psychology from Rust College [4] in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Ward was a schoolteacher before signing a recording contract.
While recording her debut album, record label owner Frederick Knight presented her with a song he had written the previous year for Stacy Lattisaw. [3] Ward did not like the song, but Knight insisted that a dance track was needed to capitalize on the current disco trend, and Ward relented. [3] The song, which was originally a juvenile-targeted tune about teens talking on the telephone, was rewritten with more 'adult' lyrics and the result was the single "Ring My Bell". The single reached number one in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada in 1979. [5] Her accompanying debut album, Songs of Love was released that same year. "Ring My Bell" has been remixed and released several times since its original release. After the huge success of "Ring My Bell", "Make Believe Lovers", which was the B-side on most 12" singles for "Ring My Bell", was released, but it failed to chart.
Ward released a second album later in the year; it was common in the 1970s to release albums several months apart. The album, entitled Sweet Surrender, featured the minor hit "Don't Drop My Love", which peaked at No. 87 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. [3] The album, similar to Songs of Love, was disco-infused. A third disco album was in the works due to contractual issues between Knight and Ward, but was canceled after three songs had been recorded. [2] These songs were later included on low-budget compilations featuring Anita Ward's first album Songs of Love. These disputes with Knight, a severe car accident Ward later was in, and the fading appeal of disco music halted Ward's career, and she came to be regarded as a one-hit wonder, the fate she originally feared. [6]
Many years later, Ward recorded another album, 1989's Wherever There's Love. The album was recorded in the United States, but was only released internationally as it had no US distributor. The album was a departure from Ward's disco past but still contained mostly fast-tempo 1980s pop songs (including a re-recorded version of "Ring My Bell"), in addition to two ballads. It spawned one single "Be My Baby", which was released in Australia, but it did not chart there. After both the album and single "Be My Baby" failed to chart, Ward took another hiatus from the music industry, focusing on her family, including her daughter born shortly after the release of Wherever There's Love.
On New Year's Eve 2002, Ward performed "Ring My Bell" in New York City's Times Square before a crowd of revelers as part of the city's official celebration. [7] On New Year's Eve 2005 she performed on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, singing "Ring My Bell" and several other disco songs. Ward appeared in Zagreb, Croatia, on January 4, 2006, the night before the FIS World Cup slalom race on nearby Sljeme, with some other groups and singers from disco era (Nile Rodgers and Chic, Village People, Thelma Houston and Rose Royce). In early 2011, it was announced that Ward was back in the studio and released a new single, "It's My Night". [2]
On January 23, 2024 Ward sang "Ring My Bell" at the First Ladies of Disco Show at the Smith Center in Las Vegas Nevada. She was joined by Janice-Marie Johnson of Taste of Honey and Thea Austin of Snap! as well as comedian Marsha Warfield as special guests.
Ward is featured in the 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution. [8]
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Record label | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [9] | US R&B [9] | AUS [10] | ||||
1979 | Songs of Love | 8 | 2 | 73 | Juana Records | |
Sweet Surrender | — | — | — | |||
1989 | Wherever There's Love | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes the album failed to chart |
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Record label | B-side | Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [11] | US R&B [11] | US Dance [11] | AUS [10] [12] | UK [5] [13] | ||||||
1979 | "Ring My Bell" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Juana Records | "If I Could Feel That Old Feeling Again" | Songs of Love | |
"Make Believe Lovers" | — | — | — | — | — | TK Records | "Spoiled by Your Love" | |||
"Don't Drop My Love" | 87 | 52 | 26 | — | — | Juana Records | Sweet Surrender | |||
1980 | "Can't Nobody Love Me Like You Do" | — | — | — | — | — | "Caught Between a Good Thing and Good-Bye" | |||
1981 | "Cover Me" | — | — | — | — | — | "Can't Nobody Love Me Like You Do" | |||
1989 | "Be My Baby" | — | — | — | 164 | — | Virgin Records | "When a Woman Loves" | Wherever There's Love | |
1990 | "Ring My Bell" (UK reissue) | — | — | — | — | 99 | Non-album single | |||
2011 | "It's My Night" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
"—" denotes the single failed to chart |
Alicia Bridges is an American singer and songwriter who co-wrote and performed her international hit "I Love the Nightlife " in 1978.
A Taste of Honey is an American recording act, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1972 by associates Janice-Marie Johnson and Perry Kibble. In 1978, they had one of the best known chart-toppers of the disco era, "Boogie Oogie Oogie". After their popularity waned during the 1980s, Johnson went on to record as a solo artist and released the album One Taste of Honey. In 2004, Janice–Marie Johnson and Hazel Payne reunited to perform on the PBS specials Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion and My Music: Funky Soul Superstars. In 2022, A Taste of Honey featuring Janice-Marie kicked off the celebration of 50 years of impact in the music and entertainment industries. A Taste of Honey now consists of Janice-Marie Johnson and other accomplished musicians.
Fern Kinney is an American R&B and disco singer, who is best remembered for her releases, "Groove Me" and "Together We Are Beautiful".
Charlotte Denise "Charly" McClain is an American country music singer, best known for a string of hits during the 1980s. McClain's biggest hits include "Who's Cheatin' Who", "Sleepin' with the Radio On", and "Radio Heart".
Archie Bell & the Drells was an American R&B vocal group from Houston and one of the main acts produced by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff in the late 1960s before the duo formed their highly successful label Philadelphia International Records in 1971. The group's hits include "Tighten Up", "I Can't Stop Dancing", "There's Gonna Be a Showdown", "Girl You're Too Young" (1969), "Here I Go Again", "The Soul City Walk" (1975), "Let's Groove", "Everybody Have a Good Time" (1977), and "Don't Let Love Get You Down" (1976).
Stacy Lattisaw Jackson is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States.
Indeep was a 1980s New York–based group that was best known for its song "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life".
"Ring My Bell" is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight. The song was originally written for eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw as a teenybopper song about children talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American singer and musician Anita Ward was asked to sing it instead, and it became her only major hit.
The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top 10 hits on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" (1969), "Hearsay" (1972), and "I'll Be the Other Woman" (1973) – all of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100.
Collette Roberts, who performed mononymously as Collette, is a New Zealand-born, Australian-based model turned disco, pop singer during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She had a top five single on both the Australian and New Zealand singles charts in 1989 with her cover version of Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell". Collette's rendition was certified gold in Australia by ARIA. Sometimes considered a one-hit wonder, Collette had two other top 40 Australian hits in 1989 with "All I Wanna Do Is Dance" and "That's What I Like About You". She retired from her music career in 1995 to focus on her work as a stylist and make-up artist.
John William Bristol was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about which he wrote an eponymous song. His composition "Love Me for a Reason" saw global success when covered by the Osmonds including a number one on the UK charts in 1974. His most famous solo recording was "Hang On in There Baby" recorded in 1974, which reached the top ten in the United States and number 3 in the United Kingdom. Both singles were in the UK top 5 simultaneously.
Timothy Earle Thomas was an American R&B singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, "Why Can't We Live Together".
Gwen McCrae is an American singer, best known for her 1975 hit "Rockin' Chair".
Linda Clifford is an American R&B, disco and house music singer who scored hits from the 1970s to the 1980s, most notably "If My Friends Could See Me Now", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "Runaway Love" and "Red Light".
Polly Brown is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey Honey" - Brown had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Up in a Puff of Smoke".
Julie Rogers is an English pop singer. She is best known for her 1964 multi-million selling single "The Wedding".
Frederick Knight is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer.
The Pearls were an English 1970s girl vocal duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons. They released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1974. Various Pearls singles were released around the world with different catalogue numbers and sometimes different labels. They had releases throughout Europe and in the Far East, USA, Canada, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
"Ring My Bell" is the second single released from American hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's fourth studio album, Homebase (1991). The song sampled and shared the same name as Anita Ward's 1979 hit, "Ring My Bell", though the original lyrics were replaced by those written by the Fresh Prince. Nevertheless, The song's original writer, Fredrick Knight was sole writer who received writing credits. The song appears on Smith's series, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the closing credits from "The Mother of All Battles" off the season 2 episode.
Songs of Love is the debut studio album by American singer Anita Ward released on Juana. It includes the chart-topping hit single "Ring My Bell". "Make Believe Lovers" was also released as a single but failed to chart. Big Break Records released this album on CD in March 2013.