Ode the The Ohio Players

Long before any of these 21st century music icons got crazy, there was a place and time in a not-so-far-off place not-so-long ago, that had the lock on the music. And the raunch. Perfect example is the 70s funk band the Ohio Players. Formed in 1959 in another music era, but inspired by the upcoming modern funk sound brought on by Sly & The Family Stone in the late 60s and early 70s, this group made some of the best funk and disco music heard in the 1970s. But they were notoriously known for their sexually explicit album covers.



One great thing about vinyl over CDs and MP3s, vinyl albums were larger, so their art covers were too. No little picture of the cover on my iPod, or 3 1/2" square CD jewlbox, these covers were 12" square, a foot-long hoagie of visuals. So with that you get covers like the one above. This is the cover of the album Honey, one of the Ohio Players best compilations. Oh, and the cover beauty covering herself with honey is October 1974 Playmate of the Month Ester Cordet, who at 28 years old then was a perfect (by mid-20th century standards) 36-24-26. She's 61 years old now, but with 50 being the new 30 she's no doubt still looking good.