“Ring My Bell” – Anita Ward - from her debut album, "Songs of Love"

“Ring My Bell” was Anita Ward’s only hit song. Released in 1979, it hit No. 1 on both the BillboardHot 100 and Soul Singles charts and earned the artist a Grammy nomination. The song’s innuendo raised many eyebrows at the time, which is interesting because it was originally written for 11-year-old Stacy Lattisaw.


R&B singer Frederick Knight originally wrote the song for teens about talking on the telephone, but when Lattisaw signed with a different label, he took the song to Ward. She originally didn’t like it, insisting it should capitalize on the disco trend, but even she didn’t want too many suggestive lyrics, since she started out as a gospel singer.

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