UB Black Music Month Spotlight: The Music of Ready for the World
This Black Music Month Spotlight, highlights a band that was before their time. Real musicians who were not afraid to be sexually expressive…did we mention they were teens?
The group Ready for the World came in the music scene in 1985 with stage presence and hit songs that helped skyrocket their career and solidified their status as bonafide international musicians.
Melvin Riley, Gordon Strozier, Gregory Potts, Willie Triplett, John Eaton, and Gerald Valentine began on their own Blue Lake label before signing with MCA.
The Flint, Michigan funk band with slight rock leanings, and new jack style parlayed sensuous vocals and trendy production into the group’s eponymous self-produced debut album, “Ready For The World.”
MCA reissued the song “Tonight” and it reached #6 on the R&B charts in 1984. They followed it with “Deep Inside Your Love,” another Top #10 R&B single.
But it was their third single from the album, the magnificent Prince-sounding electronic dance tune “Oh Sheila,” that moved the group to the top of the Pop and Soul charts.
“Oh Sheila” garnered four #1 positions on Billboard’s R&B, Pop, Dance and Video charts in just one week. That year becoming the first ever single by a group to hold the #1 spot on four Billboard charts simultaneously landing the group in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The song propelled the group to platinum status, generating millions in album sales, as one of the year’s biggest cross-over cuts, garnering international fame.
They scored their fourth consecutive top #10 R&B record with “Digital Display,” and paved their way as chart-topping musicians.
“Oh Sheila” also earned gold status as a single and helped propel the group to platinum status with millions albums sold. There were a total of 5 single releases from the debut album.
The sophomore album was released in 1986 entitled, “Long Time Coming” proved that the group wasn’t a fluke.
The hit single, “Love You Down” reached #1 on the R&B charts and leveled at #9 on the Pop charts. That year the group also appeared on The Beverly Hills Cop III soundtrack as well as co-produced a song with Rod Templeton (who also wrote Thrille) on the Running Scared soundtrack starring Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal.
The album entitled “Straight Down to Business”, in 1991, was their only release during the 90s. In 1994 Melvin Riley released his first solo album entitled “Ghetto Love.” The album spawned the player hater hit “What Makes A Man (Wanna Cheat On His Woman).”
The group has since toured toured with Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men, Guy, Jodeci, Mint Condition, and a host of others. Ready For The World gave an Honorary performance in June of 2003 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The group continued to record and work in different capacities within the music industry as writers, producers, studio sound engineers and video producers.
After a hiatus from the music scene, the band started moving forward with live shows in 2019, with the release of the single “So Much Life.”
Take A trip Down Memory Lane with RFTW!
