You can Ring My Bell ..... .....

[remicks]

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Hit songs often elicited copycat records that tried to play off their innovative sounds or clever lyrical themes .... or both .

I thought it odd that those distinctive sounds and reverberating sentiments of Anita Ward's RING MY BELL hadn't garnered such flattering imitation ..... An easy target to say the least.

So it was only a matter of time then before at least one such follow-up record would eventually surface . --- (others ??)
Tonight I am reviewing a 12" issued on Salsoul Records that surely got its' inspiration from Anita's million seller .
Besides the prerequisite pinging sounds .... here are its much repeated lines heard within the song's break :

Ding A Ling
Ding A Ling
Ding A LIng
He can ring my
Ding A Ling

followed by several repeats of :

Ding
Ding
Ding It




Can you identify this seldom if ever mentioned humdinger of a bellringer ?????


????

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[neonlights]

As overplayed as it is, I have to admit, I still quite enjoy "Ring My Bell"

Anyway, could the mystery track be "He's My Ding Dong Man" by Martha High (1979, Salsoul)? Which I should probably add was produced by none other than James Brown himself, with Tommy Stewart as a co-writer..

To be honest, I have yet to hear the Martha High track, though I've been curious about the song (and the one album she did for Salsoul) for a little while now..

[remicks]

Originally Posted by neonlights

As overplayed as it is, I have to admit, I still quite enjoy "Ring My Bell"


To be honest, I have yet to hear the Martha High track, though I've been curious about the song (and the one album she did for Salsoul) for a little while now..

Well if you quite enjoy RING MY BELL Neon, you'll looove HE'S MY DING DONG MAN !!

Seriously.... it's not that bad a track .... had there been no predecessor ....it could've done well . But when Martha High revels in her man's ringing of her ding-a -ling in the middle of the night ......w
she has a ding-a-ling to ring ?? ..... well .... the lyrics are not the song's high point .

The next teaser clue was going to be .... about this dingy song ... being produced as you mention Neon, by none other than ........... James Brown !!!

Imagine that !!!



I love RING MY BELL as well BTW .....it was a reminder in 1979 that not all disco needed to be formula 4 on the floor .

But of all the songs that gave cause toward being against disco .... this one really sticks out in my memory . I worked in a record store when this song was HUGE . We therefore played it a lot and I think it grated on the nerves of the rockers beyond anything else . I could see the agony in their faces

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[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by remicks

But of all the songs that gave cause toward being against disco .... this one really sticks out in my memory . I worked in a record store when this song was HUGE . We therefore played it a lot and I think it grated on the nerves of the rockers beyond anything else . I could see the agony in their faces

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That's it, it's official! 'Ring My Bell' killed disco. I always knew I hated it for some reason.

[neonlights]

Originally Posted by remicks

Well if you quite enjoy RING MY BELL Neon, you'll looove HE'S MY DING DONG MAN !!

Seriously.... it's not that bad a track .... had there been no predecessor ....it could've done well . But when Martha High revels in her man's ringing of her ding-a -ling in the middle of the night ......w
she has a ding-a-ling to ring ?? ..... well .... the lyrics are not the song's high point .

lol.. a high point or a low point, depends on how you look at it I guess haha.. They sound amusing to say the least. Certainly looks like ol' JB was looking to ratchet up the naughty factor a little bit hehe..

I does seem unfortunate that James was copying others by this point, but I still look forward to getting his record one day (hopefully soon)..

[Simon White]

I'd totally fogotton the Martha High 12". I had it on a white label promo at one time. It went in a 12" cull some years ago. I also had the imaginatively titled (and again now gone) 'You Can Ring My Bell Again' by the producer of Anita's version ..remind me who it was someone! Also on TK and not terribly good either from memory. Both of them lacked the magic that made Anita's such a huge hit !

[neonlights]

I finally got the Martha High album in the mail yesterday.. Finally heard the infamous tune lol! Man that was one brazen rip-off, an enjoyable one though I have to say .. That "ding-a-ling" line always gives me a chuckle haha.. "Showdown" and "Don't Ask My Neighbors" by Skip Scarborough (my personal favourite) are also some good selections off the album.. If anything, it doesn't sound like anything else Mr. J.B. was doing at the time. Whole thing had a much more straight-ahead disco sound than anything else he was doing, his "Original Disco Man" LP excepted.

Originally Posted by Simon White

I also had the imaginatively titled (and again now gone) 'You Can Ring My Bell Again' by the producer of Anita's version ..remind me who it was someone!

Frederick Knight, I believe.. I oughta find this record sometime.

[remicks]

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for our listening pleasure ... thank you youtube

neonlights
I finally got the Martha High album in the mail yesterday.. Finally heard the infamous tune lol! Man that was one brazen rip-off, an enjoyable one though I have to say .. That "ding-a-ling" line always gives me a chuckle haha.. "Showdown" and "Don't Ask My Neighbors" by Skip Scarborough (my personal favourite) are also some good selections off the album.

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[PierreConstantin]

Only 12:40 for the full side of the album (6 min. + 6:40)??? Is that an lp? That didn't help to keep disco alive .

[boogienights]

I think lots of songs 'borrow' from each other. In Instant Funks "Scream and Shout" you can hear the boom boom tang tang rum tum tum, gonna bang that beat to the beat of the drum line (or words to that effect) from Bohannons "Lets Start The Dance". And there are others although its slipped my mind at the mo.But I haven't heard the Salsoul song. I must also confess to having "Ring My Bell" as a firm favourite. I should also confess that the first time I heard it was by Collette, an Aussie version in 1989 (the video is her leaping around in fluro bike pants). Anitas version is the best unsurprisingly.I have never heard the 12" of it! I just realised that...I must get onto that. I also like "Don't Drop my Love" by her.