Dancing in the Streets
Cincinnati has a rich music history, from King Records to Midwestern Hayride and Rosemary Clooney to The National. This summer, some of the greatest musicians from the city will be honored in the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, which will be near the the Andrew Brady Center along the river.
During a celebration this week at Hard Rock Cafe, Alicia Reece, Hamilton County Commissioner and founder of the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame, announced the newest class of of the Walk of Fame.
The 2022 Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Inductees are Penny Ford, Wilbert Longmire, Midnight Star and Hi-Tek.
Penny Ford’s musical roots run deep down into her family tree. The daughter of veteran record executive and producer, Gene Redd, Sr. (King Records), and singer Carolyn Ford, as well as sister to singer, Sharon Redd (the dance classic "Beat the Streets"), Ford was exposed to music early on as a result of her father's work with James Brown and Kool and the Gang. Her formal background began at age five when she began taking piano lessons. Ford began performing in local talent shows in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. During her 1979 summer school vacation, Ford went out on tour with Dayton, Ohio funkateers, Zapp, as a part of ParliamentFunkadelic's World Funk Tour. In 1986, Ford replaced Lorena Shelby as the lead singer of Klymaxx (“I Miss You”). Ford continues to do session and concert work in the U.S. and in Europe. She currently resides in Germany.
Wilbert Longmire played in the early 1960s in the music scene of Cincinnati. His first recordings were made in 1963 with the Hank Marr Quartet ("The Greasy Spoon," Federal). Longmire was well known in jazz circles and performed with George Benson, and other jazz notables including Billy Eckstine, Lou Rawls, Jimmy Smit, Art Farmer, Herbie Hancock and Larry Corryell. He worked as a session musician for King Records with Red Prysock and Jack McDuff. He died in 2018 at the age of 77.
Midnight Star is best known as one of the most popular Techno-funk bands with a string of top mega #1 hits which include, “Operator,” “No Parking On The Dance Floor,” and “Freak-a-zoid.” Cincinnati native Reggie Calloway founded the band and his brother, Vincent, later joined the group. The Calloway brothers also performed as Calloway with hits including the #2 Pop anthem, “I Wanna Be Rich.”
Hi-Tek, born Tony Cottrell, is one of the few beatsmiths who has delivered aurally supreme, emotive music that seamlessly travels between sounds, styles, and genres while always containing heavy doses of soul. The Cincinnati-based maestro created the sound that catapulted the independent New York rap renaissance into the mainstream in the late 1990s through his work with Mos Def and Talib Kweli as Black Star (“Definition,” “Respiration”) and with Talib Kweli as one-half of the group, Reflection Eternal (“Fortified Live,” “The Blast”). In the midst of this work, Hi-Tek became a staff producer for Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment. His first placement with Dr. Dre’s company was “Hollywood,” from singer, Truth Hurts. The song featured Dr. Dre rapping over Hi-Tek’s music.
These artists join the founding inductees of Bootsy Collins, The Isley Brothers, Dr. Charles Fold, and Otis Williams. Stars for all of the walk of fame members will be placed in a new interactive attraction later this year, near Paul Brown Stadium, the longtime home of the Cincinnati Music Festival.