It seems as if every successful male act decides at some point to develop a female spin-off group. For example, take Prince's Vanity/Apollonia 6, Rick James' Mary Jane Girls, Barry White's Love Unlimited or Parliament-Funkadelic's Brides of Funkenstein. Even the Commodores had a sister group, Three Ounces of Love.
Well, Chicago's own Kitty & the Haywoods were the Ohio Players' pet project. It featured Ms. Kitty Haywood (who was a member of the New Rotary Connection), along with her sisters and one niece. And while all of the aforementioned groups did extremely well, these girls' only single, "Love Shock," barely creeped its way into the lowest eschelon of the R&B charts. It's a shame that so many people missed the brilliant album of the same name, replete with slinky O.P.-style funk, ethereal smoochers, innocent sweetness and raw grit all mixed with a dose of that clever Mother Wit. Their album on Mercury from '78 is a hard one to find, so if you ever see it, scoop it up. And if you're a hip hop DJ out there, "Love Shock" is a scorcher that's dying to be sampled.
Unless otherwise noted, all written material copyright 1999, Melissa A. Weber.
No part of these pages may be reproduced on another site without my prior written consent.
Links:
Ohio Players Web Page (Unofficial)
Real Audio:
Love Shock--1977
Selected Discography:
Love Shock by Kitty & the Haywoods, Mercury, 1978
Find Kitty & the Haywoods Music:
Get vinyl from Gemm.com
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