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56-549: The Ritchie Family are an American vocal group based in Philadelphia that achieved several hits during the disco era. They have reunited and continue to perform. Their latest single "Whatcha Got" was released in 2021. The three original members were not related; the group was a creation of Jacques Morali who also formed the Village People . The group took its name from record producer Richie Rome , who added

112-437: A flute , an oboe , a clarinet , and a bassoon . A brass quartet features two trumpets , a trombone , and a tuba (or French horn (more commonly known as "horn") ). A saxophone quartet consists of a soprano saxophone , an alto saxophone , a tenor saxophone , and a baritone saxophone . The string quintet is a common type of group. It is similar to the string quartet, but with an additional viola, cello, or more rarely,

168-466: A T to the name; it originally consisted of three singers: Cassandra Ann Wooten and Gwendolyn Oliver (who eventually married musician Fred Wesley ) of the girl group Honey & the Bees , and Cheryl Mason Jacks. Their manager was Jimmy Bishop, a successful Philadelphia radio personality who also managed Barbara Mason . Morali remembered Wooten and Oliver had done some session work for him, and he called them

224-462: A chamber orchestra). Larger orchestras are called symphony orchestras (see below) or philharmonic orchestras. A pops orchestra is an orchestra that mainly performs light classical music (often in abbreviated, simplified arrangements) and orchestral arrangements and medleys of popular jazz, music theater, or pop music songs. A string orchestra has only string instruments, i.e., violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. A symphony orchestra

280-506: A few weeks until Wooten got a call back from Morali. So then in 1975, they went down to Sigma Sound Studios to audition. Singing a few bars of Brazil they got the job and became the face of The Ritchie Family. In 1976, they began recording the next album which was Arabian Nights album. The single from the album was " The Best Disco in Town ". The song was a medley of recent disco songs linked together with an original chorus got to #17 on

336-550: A few years later when he wanted to form a group and the Ritchie Family was born. Following Brazil , they had success with the Arabian Nights album. Their follow up albums Life Is Music , which followed a 1930s theme, and African Queens were only mediocre successes. Each of these four albums was a concept album featuring songs of a similar theme as suggested by each album title. Each album also featured

392-537: A form of male rebellion vis-à-vis female bedroom culture." In popular music, there has been a gendered "distinction between public (male) and private (female) participation" in music. "[S]everal scholars have argued that men exclude women from bands or the bands' rehearsals, recordings, performances, and other social activities." "Women are mainly regarded as passive and private consumers of allegedly slick, prefabricated – hence, inferior – pop music..., excluding them from participating as high-status rock musicians." One of

448-421: A high prominence in many popular music styles as singers. However, professional women instrumentalists are uncommon in popular music, especially in rock genres such as heavy metal . "[P]laying in a band is largely a male homosocial activity, that is, learning to play in a band is largely a peer-based... experience, shaped by existing sex-segregated friendship networks." As well, rock music "...is often defined as

504-607: A historical nod to three African queens. With the rhythm backing by the group Gypsy Lane the album had a bit more of the driving Euro type snare drum beat to it than the lush Ritchie sound of the previous releases. In July 1977, it was announced in Billboard that TK Productions was embarking on a massive campaign for the group's African Queens album. The campaign involved mounting an African Queens billboard in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, African Queens kites being flown around

560-604: A long medley, usually running from 15 to 20 minutes. Their first hit single, a reworking of the 1930s song " Brazil " reached the Top 20 in the United States in 1975. It would also later be nominated for the Best Pop Instrumental Performance at the 1976 Grammy awards but was beaten by " The Hustle " by Van McCoy . The album, also titled Brazil , sold well. By November 1, 1975, it had been on

616-609: A period of time with Michelle Simpson who they worked with in Cas Mijac . Then they stopped for a period and then later settled with Renee Guilory-Wearing. Now with original members Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason-Dorman and new member Renee Guilory-Wearing as the reformed group they started touring. The Ritchie Family is featured in Jim Arena's book First Ladies of Disco , released in June 2013. In July 2016, The Ritchie Family released

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672-490: A rock concert that includes a string section , a horn section , and a choir that accompanies a rock band's performance). In Western classical music, smaller ensembles are called chamber music ensembles. The terms duo , trio , quartet , quintet , sextet , septet , octet , nonet , and decet describe groups of two up to ten musicians, respectively. A group of eleven musicians, such as found in The Carnival of

728-646: A shock to them as one day they were there and the next day they weren't. Even their songwriter Phil Hurtt was just as surprised. He went to the studio to attend the recording sessions and there were three new members in front of him. They had been replaced by Jacqui Smith-Lee, Theodosia "Dodie" Draher and Ednah Holt. It was believed that Morali had planned not to renew their contract and he had already been looking for some replacements. Gwendolyn Oliver stepped away from performing and Cassandra Wooten and Cheryl Mason-Jacks later teamed up with Michelle Simpson and formed CasMiJac . The 1978 album, American Generation , featuring

784-400: A singer, instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader." According to Auslander, she was "kicking down the male door in rock and roll and proving that a female musician  ... and this is a point I am extremely concerned about ... could play as well if not better than the boys". Disco-pop Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during

840-468: A single " Ice " on Martha Wash 's Purple Rose recording label. The song was later remixed and released as a maxi-single of six tracks. In 2021, they released the single, "Whatcha Got". The group appeared on the Italian Show ‘I Migilor Anni - Dell 'Estate' on May 27, 2023. Vocal group Music ensembles typically have a leader. In jazz bands, rock and pop groups, and similar ensembles, this

896-454: Is a genre of soul music that has upbeat tempo and given a commercially viable, crossover production. The vocals are still raw, but the material and the sound of the record could easily fit onto pop radio stations' playlists. Motown was the pioneering label of pop soul, and through much of the 1960s, it was one of the most popular pop music genres. In the 1970s, pop soul became slicker, and it eventually metamorphosed into disco. Luther Vandross

952-402: Is a list of styles of pop music. Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop ) is Western popular music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards or American standards . The works of these songwriters and composers are usually considered part of

1008-663: Is an ensemble usually comprising at least thirty musicians; the number of players is typically between fifty and ninety-five and may exceed one hundred. A symphony orchestra is divided into families of instruments. In the string family, there are sections of violins (I and II), violas, cellos (often eight), and basses (often from six to eight). The standard woodwind section consists of flutes (one doubling piccolo), oboes (one doubling English horn), soprano clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), and bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon). The standard brass section consists of horns, trumpets, trombones, and tuba. The percussion section includes

1064-413: Is rare, except for the nonet (nine musicians). In most cases, a larger classical group is referred to as an orchestra of some type or a concert band. A small orchestra with fifteen to thirty members (violins, violas, four cellos, two or three double basses, and several woodwind or brass instruments) is called a chamber orchestra . A sinfonietta usually denotes a somewhat smaller orchestra (though still not

1120-497: Is the band leader . In classical music, orchestras, concert bands, and choirs are led by a conductor . In orchestra, the concertmaster (principal first violin player) is the instrumentalist leader of the orchestra. In orchestras, the individual sections also have leaders, typically called the "principal" of the section (e.g., the leader of the viola section is called the "principal viola"). Conductors are also used in jazz big bands and in some very large rock or pop ensembles (e.g.,

1176-642: The sentimental ballad for its form, gained its use of vocal harmonies from gospel and soul music , instrumentation from jazz and rock music , orchestration from classical music , tempo from dance music , backing from electronic music , rhythmic elements from hip-hop music , and spoken passages from rap . Below are genres that exclusively considered as subgenres of pop. Note that music styles like dance , electronic , opera , and orchestra are not considered as standalone genres. Below are styles of pop music that mixed with other standalone genres. Rolling Stone and The New York Times have used

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1232-455: The timpani , bass drum , snare drum , and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel , chimes, cymbals, wood blocks, etc.). In Baroque music (1600–1750) and music from the early Classical period music (1750–1820), the percussion parts in orchestral works may only include timpani. A wind orchestra or concert band is a large classical ensemble generally made up of between 40 and 70 musicians from

1288-422: The wind machine or cannons . When orchestras perform music from the 20th century or the 21st century, occasionally instruments such as electric guitar, theremin , or even an electronic synthesizer may be used. A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by

1344-430: The wind quintet , usually consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn; the brass quintet , consisting of two trumpets, one horn, a trombone, and a tuba; and the reed quintet, consisting of an oboe, a soprano clarinet, a saxophone, a bass clarinet, and a bassoon. Classical chamber ensembles of six (sextet), seven (septet), or eight musicians (octet) are fairly common; the use of latinate terms for larger groups

1400-574: The 1940s. Vocal groups can come in several different forms, including: A group that plays popular music or military music is usually called a band; a drum and bugle corps is a type of the latter. These bands perform a wide range of music, ranging from arrangements of jazz orchestral, or popular music to military-style marches. Drum corps perform on brass and percussion instruments only. Drum and Bugle Corps incorporate costumes, hats, and pageantry in their performances. Other band types include: See List of musical band types for more. Women have

1456-591: The Animals , is called an undecet , and a group of twelve is called a duodecet (see Latin numerical prefixes ). A soloist playing unaccompanied (e.g., a pianist playing a solo piano piece or a cellist playing a Bach suite for unaccompanied cello ) is not an ensemble because it only contains one musician. A string quartet consists of two violins , a viola , and a cello . There is a vast body of music written for string quartets, making it an important genre in classical music . A woodwind quartet usually features

1512-523: The Bees had done some background vocal work for Jacques Morali a couple of years prior and he contacted them as he wanted them to perform live as the Ritchie Family. Not wanting to do secular music anymore, Felder wasn't interested. Wooten and Cheryl Mason-Jacks had been doing some work together in a community theater group. With Wotton's former Honey & the Bee's bandmate, Gwendolyn Oliver they were looking to do background vocal music and started practicing for

1568-569: The Billboard Album Chart for five weeks and had moved up from #72 to #62. Between then and December 6 the album did reach #52. By then it had moved down from the previous week's position of #60 to #102. The album did give them another dance hit with " The Peanut Vendor ". This first album featured vocals by session singers, Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Evette Benton. There was no actual group called The Ritchie Family at this stage. Cassandra Wooten and Nadine Felder from Honey &

1624-519: The Christian-themed Pacita's Friends album which also featured Lenora Davis, Carrie Lloyd and Roz Christian. The album was released in 2007. Gwendolyn Oliver (married to musician Fred Wesley ) opted for the quiet life, was a committed Christian who was very involved in her church and held Bible study sessions. She died on November 27, 2020, at age 71. In the beginning of reforming, Cheryl Mason-Dorman and Cassandra Wooten worked for

1680-588: The Pop charts and #1 on the Dance charts and it became a worldwide hit. Described in the book Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco by Alan Jones and Jussi Kantonen as magnificent from start to finish, Arabian Knights has a travelogue type of theme to it. It begins at Istanbul and then goes to the "Lawrence of Arabia" theme and then to the finish at a Persian Market. It had a Hollywood feel with lively percussion, disco glamour and uncharacteristic male voices helping with

1736-407: The United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from black American music such as gospel , jump blues , jazz , boogie woogie , rhythm and blues , as well as country music . While rock and roll's formative elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954. Early pop music drew on

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1792-400: The addition of a double bass. Terms such as " piano quintet " or "clarinet quintet" frequently refer to a string quartet plus a fifth instrument. Mozart 's Clarinet Quintet is similarly a piece written for an ensemble consisting of two violins, a viola, a cello, and a clarinet, the last being the exceptional addition to a "normal" string quartet. Some other quintets in classical music are

1848-412: The canon known as the " Great American Songbook ". More generally, the term "standard" can be applied to any popular song that has become very widely known within mainstream culture. AllMusic defines traditional pop as "post-big band and pre-rock & roll pop music". Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll , rock 'n' roll , or rock 'n roll ) is a genre of popular music that evolved in

1904-491: The combination of the shrill white disco pop that had come to dominate the charts". Around the 2000s, some new songs were described as disco-pop, including " Sing It Back " by Moloko , " Murder on the Dancefloor " by Sophie Ellis-Bextor . Allure stated in 2020 that there was a disco-pop revival in music, such as Dua Lipa 's Future Nostalgia and Lady Gaga 's Chromatica . Other artists who contributed to

1960-534: The country with kite flying contests being linked to radio stations. There were also African Queens canvas tote bags, tee shirts. Included were full-color photos of Cassandra Wooten, Gwendolyn Oliver and Cheryl Mason Jacks dressed as African queens, Nefertiti , Cleopatra and Queen of Sheba . The album also included the song once done by Martin Denny , " Quiet Village ". By 1978, the three members, Wooten, Oliver and Mason-Jacks were dismissed without warning. It came as

2016-490: The gender composition of heavy metal bands , it has been said that "[h]eavy metal performers are almost exclusively male" "...[a]t least until the mid-1980s" apart from "...exceptions such as Girlschool ". However, "...now [in the 2010s] maybe more than ever–strong metal women have put up their dukes and got down to it," "carv[ing] out a considerable place for [them]selves". When Suzi Quatro emerged in 1973, "no other prominent female musician worked in rock simultaneously as

2072-416: The genre. With the release of Saturday Night Fever ' s film and album leading disco music to explode in popularity in 1978. This led to thousands of discotheque moguls and their patrons to mimic what hcontorted versions of dance culture. Tim Lawrence wrote on this phenomnen as interesting, but that "while the initial experience was thrilling, the effect soon began to fade or, worse still, jar. By 1979

2128-494: The group achieved its highest grossing sales. Cas Mijac is the name given to a background vocal group which was made up of Michelle Simpson, Cassandra Wooten and Cheryl Mason Jacks. Wooten and Jacks tried to re-group after their leaving The Ritchie Family. In 1980, Wooten, Mason-Jacks joined Michelle Simpson and sang background vocals on John Lennon 's Double Fantasy album. Working with Tony Davilio , they first worked on " Starting Over ". As Davilio tells it, they were set up in

2184-574: The late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is seen as pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Identifying factors usually include repeated choruses and hooks , short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure ), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban , dance , Latin , and country . Below

2240-506: The material. Holt soon departed (and formed her own group Ednah Holt and Starluv) and was replaced by lead singer Vera Brown; the group enjoyed success with "Put Your Feet to the Beat." The Ritchie Family line-up of Brown, Smith-Lee and Draher next recorded the Give Me A Break album, which contained the hits "Give Me A Break" and "Never Be Able to Set You Free." Continuing with album releases,

2296-524: The mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom . The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop music remained roughly synonymous until

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2352-513: The new line-up was a slight departure from disco and more in the style of Europop , although one of the singles from it was called "I Feel Disco Good." The group abandoned the exotic and highly kitsch costumes of their earlier incarnation in favour of a more contemporary, sexually provocative style. For the next album, Bad Reputation, they brought in Victor Willis (original lead singer of Village People) joining Jacques Morali in writing

2408-461: The next was a markedly different partnership with Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi , the pair behind Change . The album they recorded was I'll Do My Best (For You Baby) ; following that was All Night All Right (1983). By this time, Dodie Draher had left the group and newcomer Linda James took over her spot. In 1980, they joined Village People for the movie Can't Stop the Music . The film

2464-401: The reasons that there are rarely mixed gender bands is that "bands operate as tight-knit units in which homosocial solidarity – social bonds between people of the same sex... – plays a crucial role." In the 1960s pop music scene, "[s]inging was sometimes an acceptable pastime for a girl, but playing an instrument...simply wasn't done." "The rebellion of rock music was largely a male rebellion;

2520-471: The revival included Doja Cat , Victoria Monet , and Jessie Ware . House-pop (sometimes also called "pop-house") is a crossover of house and dance-pop music that emerged in early '90s. The genre was created to make house music more radio friendly. The characteristic of house-pop is similar to diva house music, like over-the-top vocal acrobatics, bubbly synth riffs, and four-on-the-floor rhythm. House-pop also has hip-hop influence. Pop soul / Motown

2576-485: The song " Woman " he continued with the misnaming. Meanwhile Lennon had come into the studio and was standing behind him and, in Davilio's words, slapped Davilio "upside the head". The women were discussing going on the road with Lennon, but his being killed ended that opportunity. After that they put priority on new careers and their families. Cheryl Mason Dorman sang a song "Whatever He Says, Just Do It!" which appears on

2632-421: The studio about three feet away from him around a suspended microphone. Because Wooten, Mason-Jacks, and Simpson didn't read music, Davilio was at the piano giving them their notes. He had to do it a few times and giving each of them their notes a few bars at a time. This method was used in the recording process as well. This can take time. Whenever one of Cas Mijac had to do a retake, the engineer would have to stop

2688-476: The tape and re-cue it back to the point of recording. After the couple of minutes it took to do this, they would sometimes forget their notes which frustrated Davilio who having been a smoker was suffering the effects of nicotine withdrawal. He would forget their names, confusing Cassandra with Cheryl. With the session continuing and both parties forgetting things he was getting frustrated and they were getting annoyed and things were getting unpleasant. While working on

2744-522: The term disco-pop as early as 1976 and 1978 respectively. The publications referring to songs such as " Don't Go Breaking My Heart " by Elton John and Kiki Dee and " Heart of Gold " by Boney M. while stating the music of the Salsoul Orchestra was "material and arrangements are unalloyed disco pop." Retrospectively, albums such as Michael Jackson 's Off the Wall have been referred to as

2800-457: The timpani, bass drum, snare drum, and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel, chimes, cymbals, wood blocks, etc.). When orchestras perform baroque music (from the 17th century and early 18th century), they may also use a harpsichord or pipe organ , to play the continuo part. When orchestras perform Romantic-era music (from the 19th century), they may also use harps or unusual instruments such as

2856-402: The vocal chanting. Phil Hurtt who had co-produced Honey & the Bees material with Bunny Sigler had a good understanding of what qualities the vocalists could bring to the group. With their individual style he knew what they would be like together with Gwendolyn's sweet tone, Cassandra's soul and earthiness and Cheryl's more powerful vocals and embodiment of those two other qualities. So he

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2912-607: The women—often, in the 1950s and '60s, girls in their teens—in rock usually sang songs as personæ utterly dependent on their macho boyfriends..." Philip Auslander says that "Although there were many women in rock by the late 1960s, most performed only as singers, a traditionally feminine position in popular music." Though some women played instruments in American all-female garage rock bands , none of these bands achieved more than regional success. So they "did not provide viable templates for women's on-going participation in rock". About

2968-786: The woodwind, brass, and percussion families, along with the double bass. The concert band has a larger number and variety of wind instruments than the symphony orchestra but does not have a string section (although a single double bass is common in concert bands). The woodwind section of a concert band consists of piccolo, flutes, oboes (one doubling English horn), bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon), soprano clarinets (one doubling E ♭ clarinet, one doubling alto clarinet), bass clarinets (one doubling contrabass clarinet or contra-alto clarinet), alto saxophones (one doubling soprano saxophone), tenor saxophone, and baritone saxophone. The brass section consists of horns, trumpets or cornets, trombones, euphoniums, and tubas. The percussion section consists of

3024-576: Was Horace Ott for further album releases. Released in 1977 Life Is Music came out on Marlin 2203. By February 12 it was at #184 on the Record World Top 200. By March 15 it was at #13 on the album chart in Italy. By May 10 it was at #10. The single "Life Is Music" peaked at #102 on the Pop charts, #8 on the Dance charts and #74 on the R&;B charts. The album was another themed release with

3080-686: Was a resounding failure and still appears on many critics' "worst ever" lists; however, the soundtrack album sold well in some parts of the world. Disco music had peaked in major territories such as the USA. After deciding to split, when group owner Jacques Morali discovered he had AIDS, the group continued as Vera Brown and the Rich Girls for one song called "Too Much Too Fast" that failed completely. Vera Brown has reformed The Ritchie Family, with Dodie Draher and Jacqui Smith-Lee, but without further releases. With original members Wooten, Mason-Jacks and Oliver,

3136-400: Was granted more time to work with them on their vocal arrangements. The respective talents of each vocalist were highlighted as well. The album sessions were kept within the allotted times and six songs were included. The result was a disco-pop album with some elements of Philly soul. This was also the last album that Richie Rome was involved with and he quit around this time. His replacement

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