R.I.P Ron Banks

Ron Banks, the legendary lead singer of soul group The Dramatics has died at the age of 58.

The Dramatics are best known for their string of R&B hits starting in 1971 with their smash single “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get,” a #3 hit single for Stax/Volt Records.

They followed with the #1 R&B classic “In the Rain,” which topped the charts for four weeks in 1972.

Other songs like “Get Up and Get Down” “Hey You! Get Off My Mountain,” “And I Panicked” and “The Devil Is Dope” were all popular releases by the group.

The Dramatics placed seven hits in the Top 10 between 1970 and 1980. That year, they hit the Top 10 again with the single “Welcome Back Home,” before Ron Banks broke off for a solo career in 1980.

Hip-Hop artists have extensively sampled The Dramatics catalog and their song “Get Up and Get Down” was prominently featured in the movie Dead Presidents.

Rappers like NWA, Gangstarr, Coolio, Ice Cube, 40 Thieves and Ghostface Killah have sampled or collaborated with Banks and/or The Dramatics.

Snoop Dogg was perhaps The Dramatics biggest supporter, featuring the group on his 1993 Hip-Hop song “It’s A Doggy Dogg World.”

“Dr. Dre was getting ready to sample us,” Bank said prior to his death. “Snoop said, ‘No. This is my first album. Them cats still around, man.’ I didn’t even know what a Snoop Doggy Dogg was.”

The Dramatics were touring about seven months out of the year when Banks died.

Banks is survived by a wife and six children.

courtesy of All Hip Hop.com