On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with the late Ron Banks, singer and a founding member of the Detroit vocal group, which formed in the mid-1960s and continued to play for avid audiences around the country.
Banks鈥� sweet voice and smooth choreography helped distinguish the Dramatics, particularly in Detroit鈥檚 post- scene of the 1970s, when the group enjoyed crossover pop success with songs such as鈥漌hatcha See Is Whatcha Get鈥� and 鈥淚n the Rain.鈥�
Born Ronald Dean Banks on May 10th, 1951, in Detroit. MI. Banks was tall and strapping, with a vocal delivery inspired by the Temptations鈥� Eddie Kendricks. He was among a group of teenagers who formed the Sensations in 1964 and then changed their name to the Dramatics the next year.
began on the Wingate label, but had no charting hits with that imprint. Their first hit came with "," which landed at No. 43 in 1967 and was released on the Sport label.
After signing with in 1971, they released 鈥� Get,鈥� which reached No. 3 on the R&B charts and No. 9 on the pop charts, and the atmospheric 鈥溾�� which went to No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 5 on the pop charts.
The band later had top-10 R&B hits with 鈥溾��"鈥� and 鈥淪hake It Well鈥� on ABC Records and 鈥淲elcome Back Home鈥� on MCA.
The Dramatics were officially inducted into the at on Saturday August 17, 2013.
Banks died on March 4, 2010. He was 58.
