Friday Flashback :: Anita Ward's Ring My Bell

So, most of my readers -- except myself  -- were roller-skaters. But I still dug the music. Hey I am a DJ. And roller-skaters got hyped off of many a song. One of those classic cuts was a little ditty by a woman labeled as a "southern singer," with a big voice. That woman, Anita Ward won with a platinum single, her 1979 jam Ring My Bell.

The song was also a bit of a "love song" or let's say sex song, as the singer wanted her lover to "set her free" and "ring [her] bell" -- I shouldn't have to elaborate as to what that means.

At any rate, every song of that era had several things in common:

1. Driving beat
2. Neat sound effects
3. Simple, playful lyrics that had double meaning.
   

This Friday's Musical Flashback is no different. Our choice for today, Anita Ward's Ring My Bell had all three of those things in abundance.

The beat was a simple, consistent 4/4 time allowing the skater (or dancer) to do their twirling, or neo-pop locking thing with confidence that there'd be no awkward off-beat moments. Then, there was the ever-present "bbooooooowwwwwww" every measure, that set it off. And of course, the classic "you can ring my bellllll-llll-lll/ring my bell (Ring my bell/ring it/ring it/awwwwwwww)" made the lyrics instantly memorable for all but the youngest child -- even if the meaning wasn't clear.

I love this song! And so, probably, do you.

I introduce today's Friday Flashback, Ring My Bell, by Anita Ward.

Anita Ward :: Ring My Bell
Album: Songs Of Love
Released: 1979
Billboard peak: #1 U.S. Black Singles, #1 U.S. Pop Chart, #1 U.S. Club Play (the "trifecta," all in 1979)

Play the Track: Ring My Bell (to download, Mac users, Control-click, and choose 'Save Link As...' Windows users right-click the link and choose 'Save Target As...').