Ron Banks, founding member of the Dramatics of "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" (#9-1971) and "In The Rain" (#5-1972) fame, died unexpected Thursday afternoon (March 4) at his home in Detroit. He was 58. No cause of death has been determined but it is believed Ron died of a heart attack. The Redford, Michigan native formed the group in 1962 with the late Elbert Wilkins and William (Wee Gee) Howard, along with band Willie Ford as the Dynamics. The 1967 name change was followed by their first chart single, "All Because Of You," which reached #43 on the R&B charts for Sport Records. It wasn't until the group was picked up by Volt (companion label to Memphis' Stax Records) that they broke through with "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get." All told, the Dramatics charted 35 times on the R&B charts and a dozen times on the pop charts, including the tunes "Me And Mrs. Jones" (#47-1975) and "The Stars In Your Eyes" (#81-1975), which were credited to Ron Banks and the Dramatics. Ron sang with the group as recently as last Fall. The group will perform Saturday at the Westbury Music Festival in New York but the space in front on Ron's microphone will be empty.Saturday, March 06, 2010
The Dramatics Lead Singer Ron Banks Has Died
Ron Banks, founding member of the Dramatics of "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" (#9-1971) and "In The Rain" (#5-1972) fame, died unexpected Thursday afternoon (March 4) at his home in Detroit. He was 58. No cause of death has been determined but it is believed Ron died of a heart attack. The Redford, Michigan native formed the group in 1962 with the late Elbert Wilkins and William (Wee Gee) Howard, along with band Willie Ford as the Dynamics. The 1967 name change was followed by their first chart single, "All Because Of You," which reached #43 on the R&B charts for Sport Records. It wasn't until the group was picked up by Volt (companion label to Memphis' Stax Records) that they broke through with "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get." All told, the Dramatics charted 35 times on the R&B charts and a dozen times on the pop charts, including the tunes "Me And Mrs. Jones" (#47-1975) and "The Stars In Your Eyes" (#81-1975), which were credited to Ron Banks and the Dramatics. Ron sang with the group as recently as last Fall. The group will perform Saturday at the Westbury Music Festival in New York but the space in front on Ron's microphone will be empty.
