Funk
During the 1970s, southwest Ohio, and Dayton in particular, was known for its stable of funk bands, including Bootsy's Rubber Band, The Ohio Players, Lakeside, Slave, Heatwave, Sun, Dazz Band, Faze O, and Zapp featuring Roger Troutman.
One of the hottest Dayton bands in the early 1970s was "The Magnificent 7" Very little has been written about them and they performed for years at the "Diamond Club." Members who made up the band varied from year to year; Phil Mehaffey(organ), Vic Olekas(guitar), Dan Schultz(bass), Vince Disalvo and Ron Pauley(drums), Bill and Ron witherspoon (horns), Marvin Smith (vocals). Cleveland, Ohio Dazz Band, O'Jays, Rude Boys and Men at Large.
Another popular band from the 1970s and 1980s was Asphalt Jungle, popular in the Cleveland, Ohio area. They were regulars at the Smiling Dog Saloon and other Cleveland night spots. The band consisted of Benny Curlutu (guitar), Bruce Grant (keyboards and vocals), Bobby Oyler (bass), Paul Bigby (keyboards and vocals), and a rotating cast of horn players and drummers. Bigby cowrote "Funky is the Drummer", recorded by Joe Walsh and Michael Stanley on the Friend and Legends album. Curlutu went on to work with the band Clevelend, and Grant with southern rock band Jasper Mills from Columbus, Ohio, and later Kevin Ball's Saints and Sinners of Nashville.
The Dazz Band is a former American funk music band that was most popular in the early 1980s. Emerging from Cleveland, Ohio, the group's biggest hit songs include the Grammy Award-winning "Let It Whip" (1982), "Joystick" (1983), and "Let It All Blow" (1984). The name of the band is a portmanteau of the description "danceable jazz".
LeVert is a dance group, formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1984, comprising Sean and Gerald Levert, the sons of O'Jays founder Eddie Levert, as well as Marc Gordon. The Deele (pronounced The Deal) is an American 1980s R&B band from Cincinnati, Ohio, originally consisting of Indianapolis native Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds along with Antonio "L.A." Reid, Carlos "Satin" Greene, Darnell "Dee" Bristol, Stanley Burke, and Kevin "Kayo" Roberson. They have currently reunited in an incarnation featuring Bristol, Greene, and Roberson. Burke has also rejoined this lineup.
Originally raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, The Isley Brothers /ˈaɪzliː/ are an American R&B, soul music and funk group. They have had notably long-running success on the Billboard charts, and are the only act to chart in the Top 40 in six separate decades. In 2006, their most recent release became their ninth album to reach the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. Over the years, the act has performed in a variety of genres, including doo-wop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, soul, funk, disco, urban adult contemporary and hip-hop soul. The group has gone through several lineups, ranging from a quartet to a trio to a sextet; they are currently a duo. the original group consisted of the three elder sons of O'Kelly Isley, Sr. and Sally Bell Isley: O'Kelly Jr., Rudolph and Ronald, who formed in 1954 and recorded with small labels singing doo-wop and rock 'n' roll. After modest success with singles such as Shout, Twist and Shout and the Motown single This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You), and a brief tenure with Jimi Hendrix as a background guitar player, the group settled on a brand of gritty soul and funk defined by the Grammy-winning smash "It's Your Thing" in 1969. Canton, Ohio.
The O'Jays are a Canton, Ohio based soul and R&B group, originally consisting of Walter Williams (born August 25, 1942), Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, William Powell (January 20, 1942–May 26, 1977) and Eddie Levert (b. June 16, 1942). The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. The O'Jays (now a trio after the departure of Isles and Massey) had their first hit with "Lonely Drifter", in 1963. In spite of the record's success, the group was considering quitting the music business until Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters, took an interest in the group. With Gamble & Huff, the O'Jays emerged at the forefront of Philadelphia soul with "Back Stabbers" (1972), a pop hit, and topped the U.S. singles charts the following year with "Love Train".
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