GEORGE HARRISON - "My Sweet Lord" (2002 re-issue) “They get to that age and they don’t need the operator any more.BLONDIE - "Maria" Whatever Jimmy Destri meant when he wrote “Maria”, it isn’t a song about a woman: it’s a song about men’s reaction to women - lust, fantasy, resentment, projection and ultimately….ELTON JOHN - "Are You Ready For Love?" Elton John’s best moment at number one comes with a forgotten track from a barely-noticed late-70s EP, lucked onto years later by someone in Sky Sports’ ad agency, remixed (delicately….
She was more interested in him knocking her up. Oh, and of course I took it as read that Anita was not inviting the guy round to test her doorbell. As with Freda Payne with “Band Of Gold” at the top of the decade, if Anita Ward was only going to have one hit, it was just as well that it was this. Back in the day, I was in the other camp (New Wave, as opposed to “Soul-heads”) but this one captivated me, and when I hear it today, ma feet start a-tappin’ and ma fingers start a-clickin’ in reaction to the impressive piece of music that it is. The result is first rate and the disc soared high not only here but in the US, Canada and all over Europe. Anita’s performance is also excellent, following the arrangement just nicely on the verse before raising the pitch on the chorus. It grabs attention from the start with the “boing-boings”, allied to a sharp fast drum beat and well-positioned bass line.
“Ring My Bell” for me is certainly one of the finest tracks of the Disco period. Anita Ward may never have been heard of again but she was an interesting if not unique character, having graduated with a degree in psychology prior to becoming a recording artist. Phew! To and from Brussels with less fuss than I could have hoped for. « BLONDIE – “Sunday Girl” TUBEWAY ARMY – “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” » Comments « 1 2 3 All
* (…or wonder, till it drives you mad, what would have happened if you had!) The whole package is deceptively familiar and giddy – listen closer and you hear something fey in the old way. Ward herself gives a terrific performance, of course, following the lyrical shift from housewifely smoulder – “while I put away the dishes” – to the second verse which makes it a lot clearer who’s taking the lead: “ring my bell”* becomes a command. As the song progresses the backing elves come more to the fore, their gleeful chatter and strange clipped shrieks – “Ding-dong-ding! Wheeeee!” – tilting the song further from its expected axis. This emphasis on the treble is worked so “Ring My Bell” sounds tiny, not tinny: Ward – and particularly her backing singers – sound more elfin than sexual in their allure, and “Ring My Bell” has an eerie tint to it, like a fairyland temptation.
#ANITA WARD RING MY BELL LIVE HOW TO#
After a few hours of shouting your question at an interactive voice response computer, we’re sure you’ll get confirmation of this backstory.“Ring My Bell” is a disco masterclass in how to use the treble – the bell itself (sounds like it’s off a bicycle!), the laserbeam bleeps, Anita Ward’s impishly breathy voice, and the skritch-skratch guitar in the middle of the stereo pan, halfway between a mouse and a typewriter. So whip out your ding dong, call AT&T, and ask their customer services department about the origins of this track. This title adjustment worked as planned and the public now think Ward is singing about her erogenous zones but listen to the song once more: Anita is actually singing “You can ring Ma Bell”. The folks in charge of The Bell System didn’t want that sort of reputation for their cosy monopoly so the song title was changed to prevent people calling Mother Bell for lewd and perverted reasons. “Well lay back and relax, while I put away the dishes (put away the dishes), then you and me can rock a bell” The operator then offers to turn off the satellite relay dishes so that they can privately engage in a bit of one-to-one phone sex: “I’m glad you’re home, now did you really miss me?” Upon receiving a call, the operator begins to flirt with her customer: Did you know that Anita Ward’s disco hit “Ring My Bell” is incorrectly titled? If you listen closely, you’ll realise that this song is from the perspective of a sexually frustrated Bell Telephone Company operator.