(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Ohio Players - "Fire"
Hit Number 1: February 8, 1975
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
One of the popular things to do for artists in the mid-'70s was to put novelty effects in their songs. They liked to put in things like children choirs, slide whistles, street city sounds, you name it. Those kinds of things worked though, and they could be used for an identity tag for certain songs. I think "Fire" by the Ohio Players is a prime example of that, and the song is most noted for its wailing fire siren sound effect that plays throughout the whole track. It starts at the very beginning, and it comes back again during the instrumental break as well as the end of the song. It gets your attention, but it doesn't overpower anything else, which is what these sound effects are supposed to do. The rest of the song is this aimless funk vamp; basically sounds like a funk band playing around in the studio, finding sounds and rhythms and lyrics that work and they repeat them.
The Ohio Players were solely a funk group, and their songs are some of the most unorthodox recordings I've ever heard. Many of their songs, not just "Fire," have all kinds of "jam fest" vibes. I'm partly convinced that they never put pen to paper to write songs, and that they just went into the studio, played whatever they pleased to and when they had something they liked, they would release that as a single. That's just speculation though, and whether that's true or not, they definitely had the ability to do a lot of different things. They were a very large band, and often times had their own horn sections to play along with them. They never had to hire their own studio bands, they could literally do anything they wanted just by themselves. Another thing they would do was switch back and forth between two lead singers, and that's especially evident on "Fire."
"Fire" is about guy who can't handle himself when thinking about a girl, and it's clear to me that this guy was one horny dude. He's so horny that this girl makes him feel like he's burning up, hence the "fire" title. The girl is setting him on fire inside. If you couple this with the fact that the Ohio Players always put Playboy models with scant clothing on their album covers, it makes you wonder if maybe the Ohio Players were just a horny group. I mean, most of their songs are a lot like "Fire," and they give you these unshakable vibes. The vibes are irresistible, and they can even make the listener a little bit horny. (Maybe one of the more disturbing sentences I've written in this series, but come on, how can these songs not do this to a guy?) In the case of "Fire," they go for the jugular. One of the lead singers, (unfortunately I'm not able to find his name but the other is Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner), starts laughing when he sings "Let's me know that you're go-hah-ha-ha=ha-oood! Oh yeah!" Bonner and this mystery singer reach for falsettos and sing other incoherent lines presumably about burning up, like they can't even contain themselves just singing this song. The two really feed off of each other. The whole time there's the coming-and-going fire siren, as well as the horn section which is what gives the song its life.
I've always thought "Fire" to be an interesting song, but it's also all over the damn place. You have to be in a perfect mood for this song, which is either in a mood to dance or, of course, if you're just one horny son of a bitch. If not, I don't think "Fire" is going to do much for anyone. There isn't any kind of constant rhythm, so it's not easy to tap your foot to. Again, the song has to find you at the right time. However, the song is definitely still a lively thing, and it's pretty fun. There's no denying that. It just seems to me like it's not the kind of song you'd play if you're just in the mood to listen to music. It jumps around a lot, and it can a little too much of a headache at times. I don't know, this is a pretty tough song for me to review if I'm being honest.
Whatever your opinion is of "Fire," you can't deny that the song has some very intriguing characteristics, and it threw some fuel onto another fire that would become the world of funk music. Speaking of funk, funk god Stevie Wonder listened to "Fire" before it was released, and he predicted that it would be a hit, and indeed it was. If Stevie Wonder is calling your song a hit, that has to mean something.
GRADE: 6/10
IN POP CULTURE:
"Fire" is being used all the time in pop culture, but there's only one clip I can put here. "Fire" used to be the long-time theme song for Gordon Ramsay's show Hell's Kitchen. So, here's a clip of the intro to Hell's Kitchen with "Fire" playing as the theme song.
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