Another great 80s band out there was Ready For The World. Was anyone else out there also a huge fan of theres? What was your favorite tracks? Was there any connection at all with Prince?

BettaPlace2Die said:

Enjoyed them back in the day. They were definitely influenced by P, but he personally had nothing to do with their music. There is a story that Sheila E told at some point about the first time she heard the song on the radio riding in a limo with P. She thought it sounded so much like P that she asked him when he had recorded it. There were so many P sound-a-like bands/artists at that time. Admittedly, I enjoyed several of them, because I loved the sound. RFTW were actually a pretty talented band. Saw them live on their Long Time Coming tour. They put on a good show. They ended up moving into the New Jack sound like every r&b artist of the day, unfortunately (although I'll have to say I really enjoyed Ruff 'N' Ready at the time). I think if they had had the musical chops/ideas that a band like Mint Condition has, they could have lasted a lot longer. Regardless, they had more r&b hits than most of the P sound-a-likes of the day.

Not me. I was a bit too young, but I remember their music a bit and when I got older I listened to it. They bit P's sound really, really hard and it showed. "Oh Sheila" is a classic, but the rest of their shit? They didn't have the chops or skills to be The Time 2.0.

Anyway, I heard that they were a snotty, nasty bunch of guys at the height of it all and that one or two of them went back to flipping burgers in Flint.

pzlyprk said:

You didn't like their last big album "Straight Down To Business"? That album as much as it was "New Jack",was also one of the few next to Mint Condition that DIDN'T sound like Teddy Riley. By the time this came out Teddy had to alter his sound on Guy's 2nd album and put in a vault like Coca-Cola 'cause so many bands dogged it out. At least RFTW didn't do like Full Force and have "Friends B4 Lovers" sound just like Guy's "I Like" same chord progression percussion and all. lol

"Digital Display"

Their first two albums are great,although they borrowed heavily from the Prince sound of 1982/83.

BettaPlace2Die said:

Human Toy
Digital Display
Im The One Who Loves U
Tonight
Oh Sheila
Long Time Coming
Some People Dont Care
Mary Goes Round
Baby Let Me Love U
In My Room
My Girly

I got some more but those were my top fav's. LOOOVE THOSE GUYS! They need to take out their old instruments and do it again....

Yeah, I did like Straight Down to Business, but for some reason I had lost a bit of interest in them by that time (that's why I remember liking Ruff N Ready moreso). I'll have to go back and give SDTB a listen. Unfortunately, A LOT of the new jack stuff has aged quite a bit (makes me wish I hadn't spent so much money on so many Joe Shmoe new jack artists -- I'd buy just about anything that Teddy produced). Sadly, even some of my favorite MPLS producers got into the new jack game (Jam/Lewis, Jesse and one could argue P himself - his own take on it at least).
[Edited 5/1/09 14:52pm]

pzlyprk said:[quote]

Yeah, I did like Straight Down to Business, but for some reason I had lost a bit of interest in them by that time (that's why I remember liking Ruff N Ready moreso). I'll have to go back and give SDTB a listen. Unfortunately, A LOT of the new jack stuff has aged quite a bit (makes me wish I hadn't spent so much money on so many Joe Shmoe new jack artists -- I'd buy just about anything that Teddy produced). Sadly, even some of my favorite MPLS producers got into the new jack game (Jam/Lewis, Jesse and one could argue P himself - his own take on it at least).
[Edited 5/1/09 14:52pm]
[/quote

See I don't mind a changin trend, just as long as it don't blantantly sound like the next producers stuff. lol At least everyone up in MPLS kept their own identity no matter what the change was

I thought Melvin Riley Jr. knew how to create a mood for sure.

My own RFTW Favorites CD goes like this...

Digital Display
Mary Goes Round
Yo! That's A Lot of Body
Baby (Let Me Love You)
Love You Down
Late Saturday Night
Can He Do It (like this?)
Oh Sheila
Ceramic Girl
I'm The One Who Loves You
Don't You Wanna
Gently
In My Room
It's All A Game
Here I Am

I dug 'Digital Display'....I reckon.

even though they sounded TOO MUCH LIKE PRINCE, I liked them enough to see them in concert at King's Dominion in the summer of '85. they were alright. the track I like the most by them is "ceramic girl.." mainly the guitar..

Ready for the Curl was the lick! Straight Down to business was their best CD. Ruff N Ready was decent.

I like their third album also. After that one though....uh, hell naw. They started that new jack shit.

I only liked their first two albums.I bought the third album 'Rough N' Ready' but I
wasn't thrilled with it.

SoulAlive said:

Agreed. My favorite track from them would probably have to be "Slide Over".



Funny how a lot of people thought that RFTW's song "Oh Sheila" was a Prince song about Sheila E. when it was first released.
[Edited 5/4/09 12:23pm]

*dead*

mcw00 said:

Always dug those cats.....still do.

vainandy said:

I loved them! Tonight, was one of the first 45's that I'd ever bought. To me, it was very Prince-ish.

Digital Display, Oh Shelia and Love You Down were my favorites too.
[Edited 5/4/09 17:24pm]

These are my favorite RFTW songs....

"Digital Display"(1985)---forget "Oh Sheila"...."Digital Display" is their best single!! Cleverly written,it's like a "Brick House" for the 80s.
"Ceramic Girl" (1985)
"Human Toy" (1985)
"Slide Over" (1985)
"I'm The One Who Loves You" (1985)---probably their most Prince-like song.Reminds me of the '1999' album,with its weird,jerky beat,Linn drums,and the "squishy" synthesizer effect/sound.
"Baby (Let Me Love You)"(1986)---Another Prince-like song.The haunting synthesizer riff is similiar to "Little Red Corvette".
"Mary Goes Round"(1986)---Yet another Prince tribute.It contains clever,playful lyrics,lots of Minneapolis-styled synths,heavy breathing,interesting percussion/drum machine effects.In other words,the same things you found on Prince's best songs from that period (lol).Wouldn't have sounded out of place on the '1999' album.
"Some People Don't Care"(1986)---Quite possibly,the funkiest thing they ever did.This song is criminally underrated.
"It's All A Game"(1986)---As you can see from my list,I'm not a huge fan of their ballads (their uptempo jams are superior,imo),but this one is nice.Wonderful melody and arrangement.It's a shame that their record label released the bland "Here I Am" as a single instead of this impressive ballad.
"Do You Get Enough"(1986)---another song that could have been a single.

80s Jam of the Day: "Digital Display" by Ready For The World


I've always dreamed of your measurements.....in neon lights

What I fin HILARIOUS is that so many people thought that Prince sang "O Sheila" and "Tonight." ROTFL!


my fav RFTW songs were :"Slide Over", "Deep Inside Your Love", "Gently" and "Can He Do it Like this"

ME!!! BIG fan back in the day!!!!!