February 8, 1975 –
Ohio Players’ single Fire went to No. # 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.
Lead Ohio Player Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, who also wrote the lyrics about getting hot for a smokin’ woman, recalled how the song came to life in the studio. “We were in the studio making tracks and all of a sudden, it leaped out,” he told Fred Bronson, author of The Billboard Book Of #1 R&B Hits. His bandmates came up with the title “Fire” and he ran with it. “They come with the names and I have to write to them. If the music is good, it doesn’t take long to get inspired,” he explained. The inclusion of the telltale fire-truck sirens was a no-brainer. He added: “To use all the effects one could use on a track like that, the fire engines and all that seemed very apropos to what was going on on the albums of that era. Other people were using babies crying and kids singing and street sounds. A lot of people were using sound effects of various natures, so we thought about that also.“
The Haus of Dcaligari 