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Cherry Red’s Robinsongs label is taking fans for a ride on the love rollercoaster this month with an extensive, 3CD overview of the Ohio Players.

Known for deeply funky jams with a strong pop crossover appeal, the Ohio Players dominated the soul charts in the ’70s with tunes like “Funky Worm,” “Fire,” “Love Rollercoaster” and “Who’d She Coo?” The group’s oft-changing lineup included, at one time or another, heavy hitters like singer/keyboardist Walter “Junie” Morrison (later a key member of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic collective), guitarist Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner and Clarence “Chet” Willis, bassist Marshall “Rock” Jones, keyboardist Billy Beck and drummer James “Diamond” Williams. (Willis, Beck and Williams later formed spin-off group Shadow in the late ’70s).

Summarizing a group with this much history is no small task, which makes the extensive The Definitive Collection Plus… look like such a treat. The set’s first disc, “The Early Years,” focuses on the group’s earliest releases on the Capitol and Westbound labels before making a break for Mercury (and higher chart visibility) with 1974’s Skin Tight. On Disc 2, “The Golden Years,” you’ve got the group’s biggest pop hits, plus two favorite soul sides from Junie, who’d left the Players but continued to have success as a solo act. The final disc, “The Later & Solo Years,” finds the Ohio Players leaving Mercury for Arista and later Boardwalk Records, while Junie continues his solo career, Shadow comes to light and even Sugarfoot steps into the spotlight with a solo album in 1985.

The Definitive Collection Plus… also features a 28-page color booklet with new liner notes by esteemed writer Christian John Wikane, who has interviewed James “Diamond” Williams for the package. These players are doin’ their own thing on January 26, when this set slides into stores. Pre-order it at the Amazon links below, and check out the full track list as well!

The Definitive Collection Plus… (Robinsongs ROBIN21CDT (U.K.), 2018)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Disc 1: The Early Years

1. Here Today and Gone Tomorrow
2. Find Someone to Love
3. Pleasure
4. Walt’s First Trip
5. Varee is Love
6. Funky Worm
7. Pain
8. Players Balling (Players Doin’ Their Own Thing)
9. Ecstasy
10. Food Stamps Y’all
11. Sleep Talk
12. Climax
13. Skin Tight
14. Jive Turkey

Disc 2: The Golden Years

1. Fire
2. I Want to Be Free (Single Version)
3. Granny’s Funky Rolls Royce – Junie
4. Love Rollercoaster
5. Happy Holidays (Part 1)
6. Fopp (Single Version)
7. Suzie Thundertussy – Junie
8. Who’d She Coo?
9. Far East Mississippi
10. Feel the Beat (Everybody Disco)
11. Contradiction
12. Merry Go Round
13. Body Vibes
14. O-H-I-O
15. Good Luck Charm

Disc 3: The Later & Solo Years

1. Magic Trick
2. Funk-O-Nots
3. Time Slips Away
4. Everybody Up
5. Don’t Say Goodbye
6. Take Da Funk Off, Fly
7. Love Has Taken Me Over (Be My Baby) – Junie
8. Try a Little Tenderness
9. Skinny
10. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay
11. Born to Hustle – Shadow
12. Just Me
13. Kiss – Sugarfoot
14. Fire 85 – Sugarfoot

Disc 1, Tracks 1-2 from Observations In Time (Capitol, 1969)
Disc 1, Tracks 3-6 from Pleasure (Westbound, 1972)
Disc 1, Tracks 7-8 from Pain (Westbound, 1972)
Disc 1, Tracks 9-11 from Ecstasy (Westbound, 1973)
Disc 1, Track 12 from Climax (Westbound, 1974)
Disc 1, Tracks 13-14 from Skin Tight (Mercury, 1974)
Disc 2, Track 1 and original version of Track 2 from Fire (Mercury, 1974)
Disc 2, Track 3 from Freeze (Westbound, 1975)
Disc 2, Track 4 and original version of Track 6 from Honey (Mercury, 1975)
Disc 2, Track 5 from Mercury single 73753, 1975
Disc 2, Track 7 from Suzie Super Groupie (Westbound, 1976)
Disc 2, Tracks 8-9 and 11 from Contradiction (Mercury, 1976)
Disc 2, Track 10 from Gold (Mercury, 1976)
Disc 2, Tracks 12-14 from Angel (Mercury, 1977)
Disc 3, Track 1 from Mr. Mean (Mercury, 1977)
Disc 3, Tracks 2-3 from Jass-Ay-Lay-Day (Mercury, 1978)
Disc 3, Tracks 4-6 from Everybody Up (Arista, 1979)
Disc 3, Track 7 from Bread Alone (Columbia, 1980)
Disc 3, Tracks 8-10 from Tenderness (Boardwalk, 1980)
Disc 3, Track 11 from Shadows in the Streets (Elektra, 1981)
Disc 3, Track 12 from Ouch! (Boardwalk, 1981)
Disc 3, Tracks 13-14 from Sugar “Kiss” (Warner Bros. Records, 1985)