Ohio Players, Let’s Do It | Throwback Vibez

In the 20th edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Let’s Do It” by the legendary funk band Ohio Players.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez ! Throwback Vibez is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils ! All genres of music are welcome. In the 20^th edition of Throwback Vibez ️ (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Let’s Do It” performed by Ohio Players.

“It takes a L and a O and a V, and a E / It takes you, it takes me, together / Oh, let’s love, we only got one day / Oh, let’s love, to pass the time away.” Grammy-nominated funk band Ohio Players were among the greatest bands ever to do it.  Their seventh studio album, Honey, released in 1975, is among their most highly regarded.  Noted for “Fopp”, “Sweet Sticky Thing”, and “Love Rollercoaster”, another non-single catches the ears: “Let’s Do It”. The third track is a stunning ballad focused on matters of the heart. The chorus, excerpted above, is the section to beat. That said, there’s not a dull moment on “Let’s Do It.”

Perhaps it’s not a ‘go-to’ comment, but the harmonic progression is sick.  The ascending chromatic portion is epic, sounding ‘churchy.’ Beyond the musical underpinnings, the orchestration and production work are top-notch.  The instruments that stand out are the piano, bass, and horns. The drums also ‘hold down’ this love-oriented ballad. Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner (1943 – 2013) wows, delivering stellar vocals that ooze with soul.  “I’ve only known you for a moment / Oh, but I love you desperately, girl,” he asserts in the first verse.  Oh, snap! In the second, he sings, “They say that I’m mean and I’m evil, oh girl / Oh, but how else can a starving man be?” Word.  He adds, “If you wouldn’t listen to what they say behind my back, child / You would be making love to me, alright.” The high-flying, high-pitched vocals/ falsetto are everything during the bridge, bringing contrast and amplifying the celestial, romantic listening different (“Let’s do it, please do it / Even you and me can do it…”). “Let’s Do It” is a prime example of an album track that is so good it deserved to be a single. Ohio Players ‘put their foot’ into this one. 

Ohio Players // Honey // UMG Recordings Inc. // 1975

Ohio Players, Let’s Do It: Throwback Vibez ️ No. 20 (2025) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings Inc.; AcatXlo, OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]