The Ritchie Family
The Ritchie Family are an American girl group from Philadelphia that had several hits during the disco era.
Career
The trio of black singers was founded by the two French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo , who gave them access to the American music world. The group originally consisted of Cheryl Jacks, Cassandra Wooten and Gwen Oliver. From 1975 to 1977 they recorded four albums, including Brazil in 1975 and African Queen in 1977 . The group's name was a reference to the record producer Ritchie Rome .
Their first hit single Brazil reached the top 20 in the United States in 1975 and was a remake of the 1930s song Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil) by Ary Barroso . The album of the same name also sold well. The following year her album Arabian Nights appeared with the song The Best Disco in Town . It was essentially a medley of early disco songs including Life Is Music , Lady Luck, and Quiet Village , and became a worldwide hit. Her next album, Life Is Music , which followed a musical theme from the 1930s, and the album African Queens were only average hits. Each of these four albums was a concept album and they all started with a 15- to 20-minute medley.
In 1978 the members of the group were replaced by Jacqui Lee-Smith, Dodie Draher and Ednah Holt. Her album American Generation , released in the same year, was a beginning farewell to the disco era and went more towards Europop , although one of the singles was entitled I Feel Disco Good . Parts of the album were also used as film music for the French comedy Je te tiens, tu me tiens par la barbichette by Jean Yanne . The trio performed in very exotic and sometimes extremely kitschy, but provocative costumes. This was followed by the Bad Reputation album . At the end of the promotional tour for this album, Edna Holt left the trio and formed her own group Ednah Holt and Starluv. She was replaced by lead singer Vera Brown, and the group had renewed success with the single Put Your Feet to the Beat .
The Ritchie Family in the cast Brown, Smith-Lee and Draher next recorded the album Give Me a Break , which contained the hit singles Give Me a Break and Never Be Able to Set You Free . The other album releases were significantly different due to the new partnership with Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi, who came from the Italian-American disco band Change . The album was called I'll Do My Best For You Baby , followed by the album All Night All Right . After this record, Dodie Draher left the group and Linda James took her place.
In 1980 the group teamed up with Village People to make the film Can't Stop the Music together . The film fell through with critics and audiences; however, the film's soundtrack sold well worldwide. After the decision to break up the group, the producer of the group Jacques Morali found HIV and so they stayed together as Vera Brown and the Rich Girls for a single song Too Much Too Fast , which was not a success. Vera Brown then called the Ritchie Family back to life with Dodie Draher and Jacqui Smith-Lee, but without releasing any further recordings. Original members Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason-Dorman (formerly Jacks) and new addition Renee Guilory-Wearing have reactivated the group again.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1975 | Brazil | - | - | - | - |
US53 (12 weeks) US |
First published: 1975
|
| 1976 | Arabian Nights | - | - | - | - |
US30 (25 weeks) US |
First published: 1976
|
| 1977 | Life is Music | - | - | - | - |
US100 (10 weeks) US |
First published: 1977
|
| African queens | - | - | - | - |
US164 (12 weeks) US |
First published: 1977
|
|
| 1978 | American generation | - | - | - | - |
US148 (6 weeks) US |
First published: 1978
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
more publishments
- 1979: Bad Reputation
- 1979: Je te tiens, tu me tiens par la barbichette
- 1980: Can't Stop the Music
- 1980: Give Me a Break
- 1982: I'll Do My Best
- 1983: All Night, All Right
- 1990: Greatest Hits
- 2005: The Best of
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1975 |
Brazil Brazil |
DE47 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK41 (4 weeks) UK |
US11 (18 weeks) US |
First published: July 1975
|
| I Want to Dance with You (Dance with Me) Brazil |
- | - | - | - |
US84 (4 weeks) US |
First published: November 1975
|
|
| 1976 | The Best Disco in Town Arabian Nights |
DE22 (9 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK10 (9 weeks) UK |
US17 (20 weeks) US |
First published: August 1976
|
| 1977 | Life Is Music Life Is Music |
DE50 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - | - |
First published: February 1977
|
| 1978 | American Generation American Generation |
DE28 (21 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK49 (6 weeks) UK |
- |
First published: October 1978
|
More singles
- 1976: Istanbul / Baby I'm on Fire
- 1977: African Queens / Part II
- 1977: African Queens / Summerdance
- 1977: Quiet Village / Voodoo
- 1977: Quiet Village / Versions
- 1978: Good In Love / I Feel Disco Good
- 1978: La Barbichette / Forever Dancing
- 1979: Where Are the Men? / Bad reputation
- 1979: Put Your Feet to the Beat / Bad Reputation
- 1979: Put Your Feet to the Beat / Sexy Man
- 1979: It's a Man's World / Bad Reputation
- 1980: Give Me a Break / Bad Reputation (# 15 NL)
- 1980: All My Love / Bad Reputation
- 1980: All My Love / Versions
- 1980: I'll Never Be Able to Set You Free / Not As Bad As It Seems
- 1982: I'll Do My Best / You've Got Me Dancin '
- 1982: Walk With Me
- 1982: Real Love / Stop and Think
- 1982: Alright on the Night / You Can Always Count on Me
- 1983: All Night, All Right / Versions
- 1983: This Love's on Me / Tonight I Need to Have Your Love
- 1987: The Best Disco in Town ( Remix ) / American Generation (# 93 NL)
- 1995: I'll Do My Best / Versions
- 1996: I'll Do My Best / Versions
- 1997: American Generation / Versions
- 1997: Brazil - Remix
- 1998: The Best Disco in Town - Remix