Ron Banks (May 10, 1951 – March 4, 2010) – Why Leave Us Alone (1979)
The Dramatics co-founder co-wrote and produced this disco-funk masterpiece for Five Special, featuring his brother Bryan Banks on vocals.
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Ron Banks was one of the original members of the Detroit vocal group the Dramatics. He remained a part of their lineup for over five decades, except for a few years in the early 1980s when he went solo before coming back.
See our earlier post on longtime lead singer L.J. Reynolds for more on the Dramatics’ history.
The opening cut and second single from their 1971 self-titled debut album was the phenomenal, intense jam “Get Up and Get Down.” It peaked at #16 R&B and #78 on the Hot 100 in early 1972. Arranged by Johnny Allen, it was written and produced by Tony Hester, the producer who had also created the LP’s breakthrough single “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get.”
Their first three studio albums came out on Stax’s Volt subsidiary, but in 1975 the Dramatics switched labels to ABC. Later that year they put out The Dramatic Jackpot, which went to #9 on the R&B album charts and #31 on the Billboard 200. They quickly followed it up with Drama V (1975), which had songs contributed by a number of producers, including Banks, Hester, L.J. Reynolds, Don Davis, and the great bassist Michael Henderson, who Banks grew up with in Detroit.
Banks and guitarist/songwriter Paul Clark co-wrote the superb jam “I'm Gonna Love You To The Max,” produced by Banks. He also co-arranged it with Don Davis’ primary arranger Johnny Allen and Detroit keyboardist/label owner Rudy Robinson.
The same production team was also behind the album’s beautiful, upbeat closing cut “I’ll Make It So Good.”
In 1979, Banks produced the self-titled debut album for his brother Bryan’s Detroit-based vocal group Five Special. Along with Tony Green and keyboardist Raymond Johnson, Banks co-wrote almost every song on the LP, and arranged its rhythm section. Horns were arranged by Wayne Henderson, who also co-executive produced the album alongside Banks, Don Mizell (cousin to superstar jazz-funk producers Fonce and Larry) who at the time ran Elektra’s jazz fusion division, and Forest Hamilton, the onetime VP of Stax Records who was West Coast jazz great Chico Hamilton’s son.
Banks, Green and Johnson co-wrote the album’s phenomenal opening cut and lead single “Why Leave Us Alone,” mixed by disco remixer Rick Gianatos. The extended 12” version clocked in at over ten minutes, with a super funky break that lit up dancefloors. It went to #9 R&B, but would prove to be their only big hit before the group disbanded in 1981.
Rest in Power, Ron Banks.
Further info:
“Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get: Ron Banks/The Dramatics” (Parts One, Two, and Three), interview by Howard Burchette, The Funk Show, 2009.
“Ron Banks and the Dramatics, with an L.A. twist,” obituary, Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2010.
“Remembering Ron Banks, founder of The Dramatics,” interview by John L. Hanson Jr., In Black America, KUT 90.5, May 10, 2022.
#soul #funk #Detroit #Dramatics #RonBanks
Tremendous artist and the first three Dramatics albums are superb. I also love their early single, 'Your Love Was Strange.'