"Fire" is a song by R&B/funk band

Ohio Players Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire (Ohio Players song), Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of t ...

. The song was the opening track from the album of the same name and hit No. 1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart in early 1975. It spent two weeks atop the soul chart. "Fire" was the Ohio Players' only entry on the new disco/dance chart, where it peaked at No. 10. The song is considered to be the band's signature song along with "

Love Rollercoaster "Love Rollercoaster" is a song by American funk music, funk/R&B band Ohio Players, originally featured on their 1975 album ''Honey (Ohio Players album), Honey''. It was composed by William Beck, Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, Leroy Bonner, Marshall ...

Background

The song was recorded at

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-based studio. While performing it in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, the band let

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

hear the basic track for the song and he predicted that it would become a big hit. The song is noted for its sound of a siren recorded from a fire truck, heard at the beginning, as well as in the instrumental break in the middle. The edited version avoided much of the repetition of the music. The composer of Wild Cherry's hit song "

Play That Funky Music "Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records. The performers on th ...

" has indicated that "Fire" was the inspiration.

Chart positions

Cover versions

*A cover of the song was released by Canadian new wave band Platinum Blonde on their third album ''

Contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * ...

'' in 1987. *Also in 1987, Jamaican reggae duo

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

covered the song for their album ''

Rhythm Killers ''Rhythm Killers'' is an album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in May 1987 by Island Records. By the time of the album's recording, Sly and Robbie had transitioned away from their prolific work in the reggae genre. They spent the ...

''. It was released as a single and peaked at No. 60 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. *Funk band Zapp recorded a cover on their 1989 album ''

Zapp V '' Zapp V'' (aka ''Zapp Vibe'') is the fifth studio album by Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. s ...

''. *

Industrial hip hop Industrial hip hop is a fusion genre of industrial music and hip hop. History 1980s The origins of industrial hip hop are in the work of Mark Stewart, Bill Laswell, and Adrian Sherwood. In 1985, former The Pop Group singer Mark Stewart releas ...

outfit

Tackhead Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, indus ...

covered the song for their 2014 album ''

For the Love of Money "For the Love of Money" is a soul/funk song that was written and composed by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Anthony Jackson; it was recorded by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays for the album ''Ship Ahoy.'' Produced by Gamble and Huff for Phi ...

''.

In popular culture

*It was used as the theme song to the

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

reality series ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

'' until Season 18. *It was also featured in the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of '' Gotham''. *The song appears in the 2004 movie ''

Ladder 49 ''Ladder 49'' is a 2004 American disaster thriller film directed by Jay Russell and written by Lewis Colick. The film follows Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire, and his recollection of the events that got ...

''. *It appears in two

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

TV commercials: one for the

Toyota RAV4 The is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. Considered the first ever compact crossover SUV, it made its debut in Japan and Europe in 1994, and in North America in 1995, being launched in January 19 ...

, and another for

Papa John's Pizza Papa John's International, Inc., d/b/a Papa Johns, is an American pizza restaurant chain. It is the fourth largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States, with headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky and Atlanta, Georgia metropolita ...

. *"Fire" was referenced in the song "Sweet Revenge" by the Japanese pop group Dreams Come True. *The guitar solo break was frequently used as an outro from the Top Ten segment by The CBS Orchestra on ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

,'' with the song's ending added during presentation of the Top Ten on Letterman's final show in 2015.

Sampling

It was sampled in

Da Lench Mob Da Lench Mob was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, associated with Ice Cube. The group consisted of rappers Shorty, T-Bone, J-Dee, Maulkie, and Ice Cube. Their Islamic religious and social politically inspired-lyrics garn ...

's "You and Your Heroes" from '' Guerillas in tha Mist''.

References

External links

Song review A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

1974 singles 1975 singles 1987 singles Ohio Players songs Sly and Robbie songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles 1974 songs Mercury Records singles {{1970s-single-stub