A. Scott Galloways’ Appreciation of “Sugarfoot” of The Ohio Players

Remembering Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner of the Ohio Players: “Free at 69”
by A. Scott Galloway
January 27, 2013

Some kids claim Superman their hero. Mine was “Sugarfoot.” Small in stature yet larger than life, Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner was a Black Rock Star – the alter ego I could not have dreamed nor conjured better…and secretly wished I could be.

The first time I ever saw Sugarfoot was on the inside cover of the Ohio Players’ Skin Tight…flashing cool beyond compare with the backdrop of a most perfectly brown and round woman’s bottom behind him. Who could be that cool with ALL THAT at his fingertips?

One wide-but-bleary-eyed “Midnight Special” appearance later and it became clear that he was the one with the colorful country voice barkin’ up all that funk, sendin’ kitty cats up a tree.

If I had a dime for every time my friends and I shouted out “Sugarfoot”…on the playground, in a band rehearsal, in endless debates about the baddest of the baad – in tones from utter awe to highest comedy – I’d be typing this in a steaming hot bubble bath in a tub sculpted from gold inside a Malibu mansion.

At heart, Sugar was a blues man – a street poet who chose his words as carefully as he chose which notes to sting you with next on his trademark double-neck guitar. “If I sang it, I wrote it,” he’d tell you to distinguish what came from his pen in The Players’ canon vs. what did not. The classic Ohio Players gatefold LP covers and greatest “hits” might lead the uninitiated to believe that all The Players ever had on their minds was sex. The Trotwood-Dayton player’s passing at the colorful age of “69,” I’m sure, won’t help (smile). However, neophytes have an education ahead.

Brother Bonner wrote eloquently of love – relationships and relations – from every angle: The Pleasure [“Varee is Love,” “It’s Your Night/Words of Love,” “From Now On (Let’s Play),”] The Pain [“I Want to Be Free,” “Alone,” “My Life,” “It’s All Over”] and The Ecstasy [“Sleep Talk,” “Precious Love,” “Heaven Must Be Like This”]. He had the tangiest of macks for all ladies of lusciousness [“Skin Tight,” “Fire,” “Sweet Sticky Thing”] but he reserved his sweetest poetry for the lady he loved [“Honey,” “Kiss”].

Sugar also wrote about life and the state of the world. Go back and really listen to

“Contradiction” (and read along if you have the original vinyl – the only Ohio Players album complete with a lyric sheet). See if his inspired trip to the thesaurus doesn’t bring to mind the finest that Curtis Mayfield ever offered. And of ALL the so-called `70s “funk bands,” thanks to Sugar, they were the ONLY one to have a class of its own Christmas song entitled “Happy Holidays” – one that spins every year on the Galloway family Christmas Mix Tape.

Better still, when mere words ceased to suffice, Sugar created his own brand of guitar scatting called “Sleep Talkin’” that spoke volumes for the weight of The World that shook his soul. Like Sugar could slay you with one note on his guitar, he could floor you by simply shouting “Owww” and you knew it was him (or someone from Cameo, the Commodores or Bar-Kays trying hard to be down). Sugarfoot’s voice was so much an instrument unto itself that no less than Herbie Hancock integrated him into his mix for three songs on his CD Perfect Machine (Columbia – 1988) while White Canadian rockers Platinum Blonde knew their remake of “Fire” (Epic – 1987) could not be complete without Sugar’s voice on the record AND his presence in their video (priceless).

As a guitarist – like B.B. King and Albert King – Sugarfoot could be picked out in an ax slinger lineup with one note. ONE NOTE such as the one he snaps off on “Funky Worm” and its instrumental counterpart “Climax” – a jagged, razor sharp SNAP with just a touch of peach fuzz. With guitar as literally his second voice, Sugar could dazzle you with jazz (“Sweet Sticky Thing” from Honey), hard-wire-fry you with rock (“What the Hell” from Fire) and blind you with blues (“Don’t Say Goodbye” from Everybody Up). And what can be said of his signature riffs such as the opening of “Love Rollercoaster,” the guitar solo from “Fire” or the THUNDER of “Fopp?!” On electric guitar, Sugarfoot was Thor among us!

The Voices and The Words were mere reflections of The Soul inside Sugar – a man that in every encounter we shared (thankfully several precious ones) resonated with humbleness, humor, realness, gratitude, respect and wise man’s cool.

I am blessed to have soooo many memories and moments of my life surrounding the Ohio Players and Sugarfoot. I remember at around age 12 losing a bet to an older friend named Vincent and having to give up an Ohio Players album in the deal (you know a youngblood shed a tear). I remember my very first interview with Sugar & (drummer) Diamond for their 1988 CD, Back, and how thrilled I was just to talk to them on the phone. Subsequently I met them after a show at The Coconut Teaszer on the Sunset Strip and straight tripped over how SHORT Sugarfoot was. To me, he (and his sky high afro wig) had always been larger than life. A few years later – still having his number –I called Sugar on his birthday (March 14 – same as Quincy Jones) which really touched him. He told me – that year – that nobody else had remembered or bothered to call him. Diamond co-signed when I gasped in disbelief. I was truly glad to show him love that day.

Many, many L.A.-area Ohio Players concerts followed. Because I never got to see them “back in the day,” I overcompensated when they made their comeback by dragging my friends to almost every engagement they ever had in their second half! And Sugar was always the star of the show, striking poses with his guitar like a Black Django long before Jamie Foxx – tricked out in colorful rock n’ roll attire and always quick to sharp shoot ya with a heart-stopping “OWWW!!” I remember getting Cree Summer past my doorman friend on a sold out night at The Strand for which she was very grateful. I got to dance with her groovin’ right up front to “Love Rollercoaster.” She offered me an apple (Heaven must be like this…).

The first sign of trouble for Sugar came during a House of Blues show where his guitar was strapped on but he was obviously unable to play it because he’d had a stroke. Another year at The Greek he was mildly resigned to just singing. Just a lil’ later still however at Vault 350 in Long Beach, Sugar OWNED the role of “JUS’ SANGIN’,” switching up his wardrobe from rock garb to the sharpest of pin-striped suits, driving every lady of every age bracket stone cold crazy with that VIBE that made every last of `em one holla back, “Yes Daddy!”

The last two times I saw Sugarfoot I truly will never forget. The first was at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival where he led a band of young newcomers – no other original members – through a set so tight (and I am NOT one to exaggerate) that they had the arrangements of every song they played perfect off the records – PERFECT…including the intro to “Contradiction!” The next and final time I saw the band was last year at Morongo Casino where they packed the place not only with visitors but locals from surrounding Riverside and Palm Springs. Sugarfoot’s Ohio Players were so badass this night that they took their perfected arrangements of the classics off the records and freaked `em – having the kind of fun that only comes from having mastered something to the point of being able to freestyle at will and with excellence. Sugar was still in his suit, complete with African Grand-DADDY Griot Cane, but further signs of vulnerability were apparent. When he wasn’t singing, he sat on the side of the stage, catching his breath, winking at the ladies and admiring how well his now-classic jams were being rocked by his devoted disciples.

Being a drummer, I’ve also ventured out several times to enjoy Diamond’s Ohio Players which has several long-standing members. They put on a strong show, too, and it’s always an inspiration for me to watch another hero ascending and descending his drum throne, wearing the skins out then donning his suit jacket to take his bow. But it was never the same without Sugar sharing the stage…never.

Of all the songs I had the honor of seeing Sugar sing live – over and over – three seemed closest to his heart. One was from his Roger Troutman-produced solo LP, Sugar ‘Kiss’ (Warner Bros. – 1985) – criminally his only one, though he’d been working on another for years. That song is called “You Better Love Somebody,” a message to find love just as soon as you can for your life will be all the better for it. Second was “I Want to Be Free” for reasons I can only imagine originally resonated from a soured love affair then escalated over the years to wider ranging profundities. Last but unquestionably his most favorite was “Heaven Must Be Like This.” Sugar always went to church on this one, riffing on top of his scripted riffs with fervent urgency and always closing with his sacred coda message: “To thine own self be true / And heaven will come to you.”

Anyone who really knows me knows I love me some Sugarfoot – always have and always will. You have just read why… When Obama won Ohio in the last election, I instantly thought to post “O-H-I-O” on my Facebook page. My good “brother” Tony tricked out my laptop with a snapshot of Sugar and me on my password page. These connections stretch all the way back to my childhood friends on up to people who only know me, thus far, via Facebook. I will miss this man dearly but am eternally grateful that I was able to spend so much precious time in his presence.

Rest royally, O funky jazzy Blues Yoda of sleep talkin’, sweet sticky bad-assness!

Your style, your soul and your signatures will never be forgotten by all who know and love you. In my mind, The Creator is handing you a sparkling halo with a double-neck guitar to match as Heaven erupts with a Harmony of the Spheres “Oww.”

A. Scott Galloway
Music Editor
The Urban Music Scene
January 27, 2013 (6:15pm)