Monday, May 25, 2015

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ronnie Dyson

Artist:Ronnie Dyson
Song:The More You Do It (The More I Like It Done To Me)
Album:His All Time Golden Classics




Ronnie Dyson started out on Broadway and had success mostly on the R & B charts in the 70s. He faded in the 80s and died in 1990. He was born June 5, 1950 in Washington, DC and grew up in Brooklyn, NY singing in church choirs. His big break came when he won one of the leads in the 1968 Broadway production of Hair. He was the lead singer of Aquarius. He also appeared in the 1969 film Putney Swope. Then he appeared in the 1969 off-Broadway musical Salvation. The show was not as successful as Hair but there was a cast album. Dyson signed with Columbia Records and his recording of a song from Salvation (If You Let Me Make Love To You) Why Can't I Touch You reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. This would turn out to be Dyson's biggest hit but there's no video clip of him performing it. In 1973, Columbia sent Dyson to Philadelphia to work with legendary producer Thom Bell. He had success on the R & B charts with songs like One Man Band (Plays It All Alone). Then they sent him to Chicago to work with producers Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy. Not to be confused with legendary 60s singer Chuck Jackson (Any Day Now), this Chuck Jackson was lead singer of The Independents and is Jesse Jackson's half brother. Yancy was also in The Independents and at the time was producing music for his wife Natalie Cole. The More You Do It reached #6 on the R & B Singles chart in 1976 and it was Dyson's second biggest hit. Of course a soul singer like Dyson wasn't going to survive the onslaught of disco. He left Columbia in 1977 and recorded a couple of albums for the Atlantic label Cotillion Records in the early 80s. He had modest success but Dyson was already having health problems that forced him into semi-retirement and he died of a heart attack on Nov. 10, 1990 at age 40. You can get all his Columbia hits on this Collectables comp. Here's Ronnie Dyson performing The More You Do It (The More I Like It Done To Me) on Soul Train 1976.

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