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| Anita Ward |
| Anita Ward was a mere 22 years old when she sky-rocketed to the top of the charts with a disco-ditty that wasn't even originally written for her.
Anita Ward (her real name) was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1956, the oldest of five children. Singing came natural to little Anita. Her first audience was on board a train from Arizona to Memphis, and two year old Anita sang the entire trip! Anita continued singing in her local Memphis church all through her childhood. She became so popular that she was often asked to sing as a soloist at various other Memphis churches. After high school Anita enrolled in the liberal arts school Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi. It was at college that her singing took a more professional turn. Joining the schools choir she quickly became a featured vocalist within the group which sang everything from gospel to classical music. Her first recording was with The Rust College Acappella Choir featuring opera singer Leontyne Price. While auditioning for a musical on campus ('Godspell') she met college administrator Chuck Holmes. Holmes was so impressed with Anita's voice that he signed her to a management contract and recorded a demo which he shopped around to his various contacts. Knocking on the door of Frederick Knight set the wheels in motion. Knight, then owner of Mississippi based Juana Records, liked what he heard and signed Ward up. At first, Knight was just going to record three songs with Anita, but he thought so highly of her, he agreed to produce an entire album. All the tracks were completed when Knight decided the album needed one more uptempo tune. Overnight he rewrote "Ring My Bell" for Anita, who was not enthusiastic about recording it. Knight had originally wrote "Ring My Bell" for 11-year old Stacy Lattisaw, in anticipation that she would sign with his production company. "It was then a teenybopper type of song, about kids talking on the telephone." Knight said in an interview. "It was conceived strictly for Stacy, because I believe a kid that young needs a special piece of material. 'Ring My Bell' was something real special and unique." Stacy didn't sign with Knight; instead she went to Cotillion Records, an Atlantic Records subsidiary. "I had to rewrite 'Ring My Bell' when Anita did it," said Knight. "The title was so catchy I kept that, but changed the lyrics. They kind of suggest that we play around, but I let people make up their own meanings." The song was produced in two days. Knight played all the instruments, including a synthesized drum, one of the first chart songs to feature that effect. Knight sang backing vocals along with Valerie Williams and Cheryl Bundy. The first single released from the album was "Spoiled By Your Love," which recieved little airplay and eventually went nowhere. It was at this point, while waiting for something to take off, that Anita began teaching. Having earned her degree in psychology she began teaching as an outlet for something to do. For the next release Henry Stone (owner of T.K. Records, distributer for Juana Records) convinced Frederick that "Ring My Bell" would be a hit. Remixer Richie Rivera was brought in to extend it for 12" single release. The rest as they say is history. The remix took the clubs by storm and caused the single to go to Number One on the Billboard charts on June 20, 1979 where it stayed for two weeks. The sales helped propell the album "Songs Of Love" to the number eight slot and it remained in the Top Forty for ten weeks. With the unexpected success of her first album Anita was rushed back into the studio to begin work on her second album.The release of "Sweet Surrender" came hot on the heels of 'Bell's' success. Quickly trying to cash in on her club-hit status the 12" single of "Don't Drop My Love" was released. It failed to hit the Top Forty but did find it's audience within the discos where it was a solid hit. By the time of the release of her second album things had gotten ugly between Anita and Frederick. An injunction and lawsuit brought by Knight against Anita, claiming that she owed him in excess of five hundred thousand dollars, was dropped when Anita re-signed with Knight. Several new songs were recorded but not released at the time. In the last few years those tunes have resurfaced in album compilations with the material from "Songs Of Love." Rumours circulated for years that Anita was dead, probably because of her suddenly stopping in the middle of what seemed like a hot and promising career. In fact, Anita was seriously injured in a 1981 automobile accident in which she suffered serious head injuries that have resulted in years of sinus problems and pain. Surgery in the summer of 2000 seems to have corrected her sinus problems and not affected her singing. In 1990 Anita recorded an album for a local producer. The album featured Anita in a more rock-oriented manner, and sales were dismal. The album was never released in the U.S. and available only as an import. The 1980's saw Anita recovering from her accident and the 1981 death of her manager and mentor Chuck Holmes. Returning to teaching full-time she also divorced her first husband, the father of her daughter Dominique. The 1990's were spent raising her daughter, remarrying, and putting her health back together. She is still going strong and can be found occasionally making a personal appearance or two. As for "Ring My Bell" it's been sampled, remixed and remade more times than one can imagine. All this from a song that was written for someone else and recorded unenthusiastically by a sweet southern girl. Thanks Anita.....we love you! |
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