Tyrone Garfield Kersey (April 7, 1949 – January 25, 2005), known as Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey, was an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, producer and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

most known for writing the music to "

Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US '' Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had li ...

" by

The Trammps The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was their 1972 cover version of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disco tr ...

. Kersey was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania. He attended and graduated from Edison High School where he sang in the glee club and played football. He was a lifelong football fan and loved his Philadelphia Eagles. Kersey served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

from 1967 through 1972. While in the service he often played piano and keyboards at the local boards. There is where he gained the nickname "have mercy". It was the name the patrons would scream at him as he played because they loved his funky rhythms. Upon returning to Philadelphia, he re-acquainted himself with his longtime friend and musician Norman Harris. Norman was instrumental in Kersey becoming a studio musician at

Sigma Sound Studios Sigma Sound Studios was a recording studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.. It was founded in 1968 by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia. Located at 212 North 12th Street in Philadelphia, it was one of the first studios in the United States to ...

. He later became a member of the

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

band The Trammps. Kersey did not like the constant travel so he decided to quit the band and concentrate on producing and writing. In 1978 he received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

as producer for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

'' which included "Disco Inferno", which he co-wrote with Leroy Green. He was also a member of

MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bel ...

and the

Salsoul Orchestra The Salsoul Orchestra was the backing band of session musicians for many acts on the New York City label Salsoul Records and, under its own name, recorded several hit singles and albums between 1975 and 1982. History The orchestra was formed i ...

. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1980 and continued his career as a sought after studio musician, producer and songwriter. Kersey suffered a stroke in 1997 and died in Philadelphia in 2005. In addition to co-writing "Disco Inferno", Kersey produced or co-wrote songs that reached the top 20 for other artists. He produced

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song " Home" from t ...

’ "I Have Learned to Respect the Power of Love" which charted at number #1 for two weeks on the R&B charts. It was Mills’ first number one single and would prove to be her most successful single. Ron Kersey was also the producer for her next single "If I Were Your Woman", a cover of the

Gladys Knight and the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

hit that reached number #1 for three weeks on the R&B charts for Stephanie Mills. In addition, he co-wrote "Every Drop of Your Love" for

Stacy Lattisaw Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States. Career The 1979 song "Ring My Bell" was originally written for then twelve-year-old Lattisaw, as a teenybopper song ...

that peaked at #8 on the R&B charts. He co-wrote the classic slow jam "Send for Me" with his friend

Sam Dees Sam Dees (born December 17, 1945) is an American soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He has released several albums throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s; as a composer, he has written hundreds of songs for many music artists. Ea ...

for

Atlantic Starr Atlantic Starr is an American band based in White Plains, New York. They are best known for the hits " Always", "Secret Lovers", "Send for Me", "Circles", "Silver Shadow" and "Masterpiece". History Atlantic Starr began in Greenburgh, New York w ...

which peaked at #16. For

Evelyn "Champagne" King Evelyn "Champagne" King (born July 1, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her hit disco single "Shame", which was released in 1977 during the height of disco's popularity. King had other hits from ...

, he co-wrote "Kisses Don’t Lie" with Alex Brown peaking at #17 on the R&B charts. Kersey also appears on many

Philadelphia International Records Philadelphia International Records (PIR) was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. ...

as a studio musician most notably ''

Teddy Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer * Tedd ...

'' by

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

, ''Unmistakably Lou'' by

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

and ''

Message in the Music ''Message in the Music'' is a 1976 album by American R&B group the O'Jays. Released in 1976 on the Philadelphia International Records label. Recorded at the Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with six of the eight tracks written and produce ...

'' by

The O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hi ...

References

External links

*
Ron Kersey at Soulwalking.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kersey, Ron 1949 births 2005 deaths American disco musicians American music arrangers 20th-century American keyboardists American organists 20th-century American pianists Record producers from Pennsylvania Songwriters from Pennsylvania Musicians from Philadelphia Grammy Award winners MFSB members The Trammps members