The Ritchie Family
Philadelphia, PA | Established. Jan 01, 1977 | AFTRA
Music
Press
Why Did You Decide to reinventThe Ritchie Family/ - FLOD Spotlight Magazine
With all due respect, it’s always a dicey situation when a legendary disco act reemerges 40 years later with new music. Not only are you unsure if the singers are original but the music is often subpar and out of sync with the current musical landscape. Luckily, this is not the case for The Ritchie Family. “Brazil,” “ The Best Disco In Town” and “Quiet Village” are just a few of their chart topping disco hits from the mid 70s. For 2016, two of the original three singers have reunited and released the well-produced song“Ice.” The lyrics about following a new positive path out of the darkness with the inspiration of a cherished on are just a few steps away from religious, but heck this is Sunday Funday, so maybe a sermon would fit about now. The odd thing is how closely the original production mimics GRL’s “Ugly Heart.” For clubland consumption, Chris Cox pumps up the tempo for a circuit and club friendly electro-tinged tribal take. - Club Planet.com
Music history has been made as The Ritchie Family (RTF), one of the most popular girl-groups of 70s disco and the Philadelphia Sound, returns to the Billboard national Dance Club Chart Top 40 with their new hit single "ICE".
Forty years ago during the disco explosion, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason-Dorman (formerly Mason-Jacks) and Gwendolyn Wesley (formerly Oliver) became the voices and faces of The Ritchie Family. Brilliantly teaming with the creators of the Grammy-nominated disco hit "Brazil" Richie Rome, Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo (the latter two gentlemen were also the creators of Village People) the ladies helped ignite one of the biggest and most explosive dance #1 hits of 1976, "The Best Disco In Town". The song was a Top 20 pop smash in the US and quickly regarded as an all-time disco classic. By the end of the disco boom, the reign of the original group line-up came to an end. Cassandra and Cheryl went on to provide background vocals on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's immortal 1980 album, Double Fantasy. The ladies then put their music careers on hold for a number of years, pursuing other interests and family life.
After years of hearing and seeing others perform their hits, Cassandra and Cheryl eventually decided it was time to regroup. With the introduction of singer, songwriter and choreographer Renée Guillory-Wearing, who took the place of Gwendolyn Wesley, The Ritchie Family was ready to reinvent their sound and bring their energy to the world of contemporary pop and dance music. In 2016, the trio released the single "ICE", a rousing, heart-stopping musical journey that shows their still commanding vocal presence in a most unique, decidedly hip and deliciously unexpected way. Produced by legendary vocalist Martha Wash's boutique label Purple Rose Records (the powerful team that recently brought the group First Ladies of Disco to the Top 10 of Billboard's dance chart with "Show Some Love"), "ICE" by The Ritchie Family immediately caught the ear of high-profile DJs worldwide.
As a result, "ICE" vaulted onto the Billboard Dance Club Chart at #40, returning The Ritchie Family to the elite circle of the current dance music hitmakers. The song has been gaining even more fans thanks to high-energy remixes by Chris Cox and Moto Blanco. The Ritchie Family is proving that "ICE" is, indeed, very cool! The Ritchie Family are profiled and interviewed in the best-selling book First Ladies of Disco by James Arena, which reached #1 on Amazon in the dance music category. - Broadway World
40 Years Later, The Ritchie Family Is Back on Billboard's Dance Club Chart
NEW YORK, NY and PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwired - November 11, 2016) - Music history has been made as The Ritchie Family (RTF), one of the most popular girl-groups of 70s disco and the Philadelphia Sound, returns to the Billboard national Dance Club Chart Top 40 with their new hit single "ICE".
Forty years ago during the disco explosion, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason-Dorman (formerly Mason-Jacks) and Gwendolyn Wesley (formerly Oliver) became the voices and faces of The Ritchie Family. Brilliantly teaming with the creators of the Grammy-nominated disco hit "Brazil" -- Richie Rome, Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo (the latter two gentlemen were also the creators of Village People) -- the ladies helped ignite one of the biggest and most explosive dance #1 hits of 1976, "The Best Disco In Town". The song was a Top 20 pop smash in the US and quickly regarded as an all-time disco classic. By the end of the disco boom, the reign of the original group line-up came to an end. Cassandra and Cheryl went on to provide background vocals on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's immortal 1980 album, Double Fantasy. The ladies then put their music careers on hold for a number of years, pursuing other interests and family life.
After years of hearing and seeing others perform their hits, Cassandra and Cheryl eventually decided it was time to regroup. With the introduction of singer, songwriter and choreographer Renée Guillory-Wearing, who took the place of Gwendolyn Wesley, The Ritchie Family was ready to reinvent their sound and bring their energy to the world of contemporary pop and dance music. In 2016, the trio released the single "ICE", a rousing, heart-stopping musical journey that shows their still commanding vocal presence in a most unique, decidedly hip and deliciously unexpected way. Produced by legendary vocalist Martha Wash's boutique label Purple Rose Records (the powerful team that recently brought the group First Ladies of Disco to the Top 10 of Billboard's dance chart with "Show Some Love"), "ICE" by The Ritchie Family immediately caught the ear of high-profile DJs worldwide.
As a result, "ICE" vaulted onto the Billboard Dance Club Chart at #40, returning The Ritchie Family to the elite circle of the current dance music hitmakers. The song has been gaining even more fans thanks to high-energy remixes by Chris Cox and Moto Blanco. The Ritchie Family is proving that "ICE" is, indeed, very cool! The Ritchie Family are profiled and interviewed in the best-selling book First Ladies of Disco by James Arena, which reached #1 on Amazon in the dance music category. - Marketwired.com
During the 1970s disco era the music marketplace was saturated with popular dance anthems. One of those hits was “The Best Disco in Town,” by The Ritchie Family (RTF). Shortly after that 1976 hit the trio comprised of Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason-Dorman (formerly Mason-Jacks) and Gwendolyn Wesley (formerly Oliver) quickly disbanded. But recently they returned—with new member Renée Guillory-Wearing replacing Wesley—to the Billboard dance charts via their new single “ICE.” The track is produced by legendary singer Martha Wash’s boutique label Purple Rose Records.
We caught up with original member, Wooten to find out about life for the group after the music stopped, how social media inspired the group to reform, and what they now hope to achieve as they get back on the beat.
On leaving the industry:
“After we ended we had an opportunity to do background on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy album, which was John’s last album. Cheryl and I and Michelle Sampson did background on ‘Starting Over.’ We thought that’d be our way back into the industry. There was talk about a separate recoding contract for us but unfortunately John was assassinated. That was devastating and made us feel that maybe we weren’t supposed to be in business. I also discovered I would be a mom at that time. We misread the signs and we stepped off. It was a clean break. I was still left with a bitter taste in my mouth after our relationship ended badly with our producer and manager, Jacques Morali. I thought without that relationship nobody really cared [about us]. For years, I never told anybody I sing because I felt bad things hadn’t ended the way we wanted it to. I felt cut off from the industry. Part of it was my own doing since I didn’t reach out to people who could have helped us.”
On getting back together:
“The reason we regrouped is because around 2011-2012 we were aware via social media that there was still a following for The Ritchie Family. At first I didn’t have a desire to get back into the business. Although I love music more than anything I ever did in my life, I thought it would be too difficult. But in 2011 we got our third singer not knowing if we’d ever get a show or anything. Then we saw another lineup of the Ritchie Family online doing a 30th anniversary of Studio 54 in the Netherlands. Since people didn’t know the originals were trying to perform they called the second lineup. But they were lip-syncing our songs to the original vocals. When I saw that a fuse was lit inside of me. I thought we have got to do this again. Our legacy is at risk and people cannot think that these ladies are the originals. That got us back on the trajectory to represent ourselves and do music again.”
On who’s really ‘Family’ when it comes to the music:
“Cheryl and I got the name trademarked so we own the name. We’ve told the second lineup that they cannot use the name anymore. We are the originals and we are back in business. They still try to do some things. From time to time they go to Italy to work, where we have no jurisdiction. But in 2017 the original Ritchie Family will go to Italy. Hopefully that will give us an opportunity to reestablish ourselves in Italy.”
On the second time around:
“Our sound has changed. But we are able to do old music in a way that is recognizable. It is interesting because we have to find out where we fit in. We hope a lot of the newer and established artists will look at us and be inspired. We don’t want people to ever give up on their dreams. We are living proof that if you still got the goods—do it!” - Huffington Post
Discography
- The Best Disco in Town
- Arabian Nights
- Ice
- I'll Do My Best
- Life is Music
- Brazil
- Quiet Village
- American Generation
- Disco Blues
Photos
Bio
THE RITCHIE FAMILY - CASSANDRA WOOTEN, CHERYL MASON-DORMAN, RENÉE GUILLORY-WEARING
It’s time, at last, to break the ice with The Ritchie Family. This trio of distinguished vocalists was an innovator of club music at the height of the disco era, and they remain so today, with a new look, a fresh sound, and a hip, irresistible attitude.
It’s true—the Ritchie Family is steeped in disco history. The Ritchie Family concept itself started off as a studio ensemble that net its producers a Grammy nomination for the hit dance track “Brazil” in 1975. In the mid-’70s, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason-Dorman (formerly Mason-Jacks) and Gwendolyn Wesley (formerly Oliver) became the voices and faces of the group. Cassandra and Gwendolyn had been performing out of Philadelphia in a group called Honey and the Bees, and when that group ended, they partnered with Cheryl, who they met at a performing arts school. They were the perfect vocal trio to represent and deliver the “Philly Sound” (a warm and uplifting hybrid of soul and disco) sought by Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and Richie Rome, the gentlemen who had produced, arranged and/or fashioned “Brazil”.
Brilliantly teaming with Rome, Morali and Belolo (the latter two gentlemen the creators of Village People), the ladies helped ignite one of the biggest and most explosive disco hits of 1976 — the appropriately titled “The Best Disco In Town”. The track (lifted from their widely lauded LP Arabian Nights and a medley of some of the most popular disco songs of that period) was a Top 20 US hit on the Billboard pop singles chart. It also reached the number one spot on Billboard’s dance chart, packing dance floors throughout the last weeks of summer and achieving worldwide sales in excess of reportedly two million copies. “As much as we enjoyed all the little things that had come before, this was finally the moment where we thought we’d hit the jackpot,” says Gwendolyn in James Arena’s book, First Ladies of Disco (McFarland Publishing).
Their next album, the effervescent, disco-infused Life Is Music, solidified their appeal and influence on the club scene. African Queens, the ladies’ third set for the legendary Miami-based Marlin/T.K. Records label, brought the trio back to the top of Billboard’s dance chart with “Summer Dance” and “Quiet Village”.
The excitement of world touring, regular television appearances on Soul Train, Disco ’77, American Bandstand, and other programs, and their lofty ranking in the clubs, were among the vivid, memorable highlights of this time—and they still resonate strongly for the ladies. The Ritchie Family’s unique, inviting harmonies and irresistible beats became one of the most memorable signature grooves of the disco era. “The music we did with Jacques,” says Cassandra, “[definitely] had longevity and impact.”
For a time, Cassandra and Cheryl advanced their music careers by providing background vocals on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s immortal 1980 album, Double Fantasy. Scheduled to go on tour with Lennon, the ladies were devastated, along with the rest of the world, to hear the news that Lennon had been killed. They then put their music careers on hold for a number of years, pursuing instead other personal interests and family life.
However, after years of hearing and seeing others perform their hits, Cassandra and Cheryl eventually decided it was time to regroup. With the introduction of singer, songwriter and choreographer, Renée Guillory-Wearing, who took the place of Gwendolyn Wesley, The Ritchie Family was ready to reinvent their sound and bring their energy to the world of contemporary pop and dance music. In 2016, the trio released the single “Ice”, a heart-stopping musical journey that shows their still commanding vocal presence in a most unique, decidedly hip and deliciously unexpected way. Produced by legendary vocalist Martha Wash’s Purple Rose label (the same team that recently brought the group First Ladies of Disco back to the Top 10 of Billboard’s dance chart), “Ice” by The Ritchie Family promises to be one of the most talked about comebacks of the modern era. “Ice” is an exciting and expressive song, filled with unexpected turns and irresistible positivity, much like the new Ritchie Family group itself.
The ladies have managed to beautifully straddle that fine line where the fun and festiveness of dance music history’s most celebrated period meets the drive and powerful edginess of the twenty-first century.
Band Members
Links
