Saturday, October 4, 2014

Who Was the White Dude in Ohio Players?

The upper right corner...who that?
This is a question that has bothered me for all of 2014.  I saw their episode of TVOne's Unsung and I saw no White dude.  However, during my days of convalescence (which was the first half of 2014), I kept seeing him in early pics of the Ohio Players while watching the R&B Classics channel on Time Warner.

I mean, really, what's his name?  Is he still alive?  If so, does he still play music or did he see red in those contracts early on and decided to bounce?  As many times as I've heard the OP's covers on the radio (Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Love Rollercoaster' and 'Roger's 'Fire' are my favorites), I hate that OP can't live off their publishing.

Anyway, during my search for the answer to the above question, I ran across this blog that had a funny take on Ohio Players album covers, along with visuals.  Growing up, my household was more Earth,Wind & Fire or Isley Brothers and mostly female, so I was never exposed to photos that may be considered misogynist or degrading to women.  In fact, my mom recently confessed that she couldn't stand the OP.

Well, damn.

Back to question, if anyone can ID the less-pigmented dude above, feel free to holla with the intel.