The "Get Off" story

[Bielawski9]

Would love to meet you Ish... you look like you are lots of fun and interesting...Hope to be in L.A. soon..  Still getting the girls apparently....

[ENYPolyglot]

The background music...hmmmm

[ladysoreal]

Love it!!! Love the song STill until this day! I was born in the 70s but disco was and is still in my blood. I love all kinds of music as well. Thank you for this song!!! You know it felt like it was so in your face saying you wanted to get off. LOL!!! It IS the rollerskating song people today still jam too. =)

[johnsain]

George Michael wishes he was this gay.

[eichler34]

Great Story, it's hilarious to create a song just to piss somebody off, and even more hilarious it's a staple of a well known era in history. That song was powerful, and is great to listen to today even though the owwa owwa is dated. I still can't believe it wasn't sung by a black man. I also never in a million years would have guessed the new wave hit "Whirly Girl" in the 80's was a song by the same man.

[pringlekiller1]

As far as I am concerned this was not just a song but it was a breakthrough in style, quality of life, and Art ... it moved the world at least I thought so when I heard it first, in The Netherlands as it was breaking through. I realized then that this was a new start and it was

[nccvball]

Ish, do you remember the name of the club in Ocean City that kicked you out?

[BIGPREZY]

Thanks ...Its amazing that was a good dance song.And this story was cool Funny about Disco music ..And R&B/ Funk at the time. They were all hated by a segment of the population Funny, It was not about Devil worshipping or Biting the heads off of bats, or any type of violence. It was Most of the stuff back then was about having a good time and celebrating..Thats all.

[rgeezee]

Classic tune 4 eva.

[13eka31]

oh i love u foxy !!!!!!!! hahha so cool.

[Muziclvr07]

This is soooooo funny!

[idreamofjeannie]

Great song. Great story. And you're HOTT!!!

[54ambrose]

this guy is a flaming fag for sure look at the way he shakes his head and holds his cig like a girl come on already he is a blade!! and fort luaderdale land of the fags please!!!!

[13eka31]

@54ambrose so wats wrong with u stupid dumbass biatch?.Ok but he's way hotter and talented than u fggt!

[flyyves]

Like a friend told me :

1. get toasted

2. record clip

3. get known for fruitbaskets for the rest of your life

Still love the song though !!

[xxevilcatxx95]

Great number...one of the only disco tunes I admire

[mikeyx007]

grrrrrrrreat story and i love the song

oh ah

[VoodooUprising]

great story and hope this can inspire people to think and feel freely. I've been heavily into heavy metal, punk rock, hip-hop, reggae and so on, and due have to say" this song and dico musik is Radical." never thinkin for a minute that you have to be confined to just one sound, that will bore you death. -G.Rock

[bstct]

Cool background music to the documentary! :)

[italianhairyballs]

Ish..what happened to the rest of the guys... especially your co-singer.. the who had too much tan spray on..

[darkhorse65]

I'd just can´t find a live version of this song. Do anybody know if it already exists? OTH, why did the chorus girls never appeared in the videos?

[djmixnmagic]

If this is a true story and not some farce, it's actually some pretty awesome shit. And "Get Off" stands as one of my most favoritist and beloved disco records of all time. Had no idea there was a sardonic backstory to it...

[SuperCuban39]

YES!! I love this. Viva la vida mang!

[Khultan]

 Awesome story : )

[beaverjamesrivera]

Ish, you're awesome! "Party Boys", another favorite tune, "Fascinated", you got it going on! We love you on the west coast, Southern California, Los Angeles Area! Keep those interviews coming!

[NativeMoon]

Still love you Ish - and turning on some very clueless folks to your music. <3

[thepoppieprince]

Ish Ledesma is Awesome...im sitting here with his cousin Lou Rodriguez watching the footage!!! Lou says hi, and would love to come down and see you perform sometime!

[mphandel]

Get the girls !?? REALLY ?

[rabidwatchdog59]

Started off as a Piss Off song and morphed into a #1 nationwide hit in 6 weeks. SWEET REVENGE at its best !!! Way to go Foxy !!

[galadeluxe]

I just learned this story and ,although not very deep,still something to add to the trivia files of the mind. I grew up with Galdo in Hialeah and both of us were in band and orchestra. I hope he`s doing well with his studio and wonder what the other members are doing.

[badsquirrel987]

I thought this song was done by Menudo

[goldbergje]

What's great about the one VH1-type video of this is what appears to be very androgenous and fluid sexuality.

[Kaaawa2000]

The background music on this video is very obnoxious.

[Riff156]

LOL! Oh god, I remember Hating this song! But now that I've heard the great story behind it, it's kind of grown on me. Thanks for posting this!

[oronbaba]

Great story, Ish! One question, though: who were the female vocalists on the record?

[oneclowndown]

why does he have to lie? We know you're all ghey, we've seen the videos, its a little late for the cover up guy.

[duskemaiden]

the story is interesting but the music playing it soo loud and distracting..........

;-{

[BoxingChaos1]

Get Off - Hot Number and Rrrrock Greatest fuckig songs by Foxy. I was shocked when I was older to find out they were Cubans. What a trip. Great stuff from the Cubans :)

[PhuckHue2]

Get Off was a MAJOR hit in the Black community in 1978. It was blasted at every party and club and played over and over. This was way before rap. Great songwriting. The use of the StingRay bass was new back then, not too many records had it besides the Brothers Johnson

[longlivethe80s]

If this is the real ish, are you still married to the company b singer? I had a crush on her back in the day.

[blacquePattie]

Please do not get offended because I do love the gett off song so much, but did you date men before? I have a guy friend who is interested.

[chaosband]

Nice Back Story! This Dude is High!...

[JellyBean2144]

Wow. This was sweet. Thanks for the info on why this song was created. All I know is, my mother use to pay the heck out of this song back in the day, and I loved it!! Classic disco song. Great song!!

[Alydar11]

I was a little white girl from Bayside Queens and I LOVED this song!! I didn't even now what "get off" meant lol All these years later, here I am looking for it ~ Great Song! Thanks!

[ROCKSTARCRANE]

I was playing rock bars in LA when the disco thing hit. That meant replacing jeans with leisure suits and replacing Doobie Bros and Steely with Bee Gees and Van McCoy. 1st time I heard this tune and those "disco whoops", I wanted to kill the nearest human being in sight. That fucking song drove me NUTS and I wanted to hunt down that band and tar & feather them. A few years later, I wind up back in Miami and working with them in the studio. Very talented and nice guys...

[ishledesmay]

Well, considering the song was written only to piss someone off, It's not a surprise that it pissed more than one person off:)

That was the point:) I'm glad you found out we weren't so bad after all.

[marysman1960]

@ishledesmay Well done and well said. This was one of the funkiest songs of the era and it STILL gets played in the clubs, whether live or on the box. Every time my band covers it, people have nothing but good things to say about it, seriously.

[BlankfrackCripledFUK]

@ishledesmay Foxy had 15 great minutes of fame,and Get Off was one of the best songs of its era...very under rated/under played tune...What made you write Hot Number?

Love Ocean City,Maryland and all the pussy and bars,The Paddock,Purple Moose etc Rock even today.

[PhuckHue2]

@ROCKSTARCRANE the "whoop whoop whoop whoop" chant was strictly a Black club thing but Michael Zaeger decided to bring it to everybody else. For some reason everything that Black people do is considered "hip" and has to be copied

[bleuivy]

ooha, ooha ... get off! love that song.

[therickheagerty]

Put the damn song on here!

[ishledesmay]

WMG takes it off! Call them and tell them to let me put it back on:)

[meechamaka411]

Get Off was the shit...great story 'cuz that's how stuff jus' B happen'n!!!

[tibiafinger]

Cool.Love a great Band story

[jayjay4000]

Ish! I always thought the song was a combination of rock, german electro (Kraftwerk), P-Funk and European disco. It is a grabbag of eclecticism that just worked!

[ishledesmay]

It came together very quickly:) Since we were a bar band and we were playing all those styles you mentioned (except for Kraftwerk. I wasn't aware of them at the time) that's the way it came out. We actually tried mixing in an Isley Brothers/EWF type of vocal style into it. Nasal and growly.

[daphnie7]

the great stuff usually happens that way... comes together like that!

[Minordd3]

Wow!!! The creation of one of my FAVORITE songs!!!!

Thanks for the story and thanks a zillion times for the song.

[artbyvince]

Hey Ish, thanks for posting your story there. I, like some people, thought your group was composed of black musicians. Nonetheless, you guys did a fantastic job on that song. I had a blast when I first heard it back then and found it funny at times.  I always loved the voice box on the guitar part. Hope you release something new with the "FUNKINESS" of the 70's.

[Knowbility]

Hi Ish, me again,

Once again savoring the "get off" clip and I noticed there's this girl to the right playing keyboards who turns up late in the clip, but I don't actually hear any keys on the number. Was she in the band or just there for decoration?

[ishledesmay]

I don't know of any girl playing keyboards. There was Lezlee and Jamine as backup girls but they weren't IN the group. We used Wildflower on Get Off and then a trio from Nashville on Hot Numbers. I can't remember their group name but they were the ones that sang on Al Greene's stuff and a lot of Muscle Shoals sessions.

[Knowbility]

Wow those are some pretty impressive backups!

The "girl" I'm referring to appears all the way to the right of the frame at around 3 minutes into the standard clip of "get off" (on youtube without sound and dailymotion with sound)

(apologies if I've mistaken a "him" for a "her," sometimes hard to tell with those late '70s fashions...)

[ishledesmay]

You must be thinking about Charlie that did sort of have a soft look, I guess. It's a guy. There's a piano on the choruses of Get Off and there is a synth doubling the bass part the whole time and also a synth playing a white noise kind of slap over the snare drum as well. So there's actually keyboards on it playing the whole time even though they aren't very noticeable but the piano is.

[mxxjss]

The group from Nashville - was it Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes?

[FBU32804]

ISH! Thanks for this story, I could listen to things like this for days!! "Get Off" & "Hot Number", to this day, remain in my set list, be it a club or my car.

[ishledesmay]

Thanks! I'm planning to do some more recording soon. Time to get back to what I like doing.

[fairfax17]

know what bro!!!! that was their lost. cause that was one of the best disco jams ever. But it must have been a rumor cause my boyfriend at that time swore to me that Foxy was a bunch of faggs. I remember the post er and I think this is the one in the middle the finest one. Any ways, you all was right and got paid. The oooooh oooooh was a phemon and still gets play today. I''m from B-more and we know a hit when we hear one. Glad not to be from Ocean city, they are late catching on to things .

[ishledesmay]

Thanks. I won't back down.

[musej2s]

I'm 33 & I remember this being one of the 1st 45's my moms bought me. I used 2 wear the shit outta this on my little plastic suitcase record player. Now I just wear it out on my iPod. This shit is a timeless jam. Perfection!

[valleart]

Amazing story. Thank u immensely 4 sharing... talk about memories... 13 at the time in the turbulent windy city... captured all the emotionality of the time - poetic funk/disco.

[skok65]

This is hilarious!

[ishledesmay]

Thanks! It's all true. Ish.

[skok65]

It's interesting how whenever one door is closed (slammed, more often than not) another one opens. . . If you are lucky enough to see it.

[daphnie7]

.. give us more "live" stuff like that. maybe the 411 on your current project. (dont forget your electric guitar, wear your hair long with black leather pants)

[Knowbility]

Absolutely brilliant. This has gotta be about the best back story+song combo I've ever heard of.! Everybody I've sent it to is just bent over double! Thanks so much for sharing it! You kicked ass now and you still do!

[ishledesmay]

Thanks! The story is exactly what happened. Haha! We lasted one night and one song the next night and out we went flying! Thanks again. Ish.

[BonbondeParis]

thanks for the backstory Bugs, it is almost as great as the song! Loved it then, love it now, oooha oooha!!!

[ishledesmay]

No problem. I don't mind the dissing anyway. My favorites when we worked in the clubs were the hecklers! Anyway, thanks for the retraction. Apology accepted. God bless you too.

[daphnie7]

u are too sweet.

[jjosephdubya]

I want to personally apologize to you for dissing you about a year ago because I didn't believe you were who you said you were. You influenced me as a musician and love what you did with Foxy and XOOO? You're a legend dude. God bless you.

[wanderingtaoist]

I saw Foxy with Sister Sledge and Michael Jackson at Kemper Arena in 1979. Damn that show was awesome.

[doogle1001]

"Wig" by the B-52's is an homage to "Get Off". Did somebody already mention that?

[revelwoodie]

Is that Esquivel in the background? Hold on -- I have to get a martini...

[ishledesmay]

You got that one right! Space Age Bachelor Pad Music. Something like that.

[punchcar]

great story and inspiration....

[ishledesmam]

Dan! I'll write to you in message.

[Fakename75]

I remember you guys being among my best clients. When Brian Avnet brought me on board as your publicist the disco thing was just exploding. When I booked you on Merv Griffin, I stood in the wings with Marcia L. and thought to myself, "these guys are going to be huge." As is typical in the music business, talent does not always win, but your music lives and you are among the iconic artists of the era. Regard, Dan Acree.

[MINMICHELE67]

I used to listen to the entire Hot Numbers album and stare at the cover--i loved that album cover because of the pretty brown eyes on it and would read the liner notes wondering which one on the cover was Ish Ledesma.... nice to see you are still having fun.

[em3digital]

Hahahaha... wow! I was like 13 years old when "Get Off" was a hit (1978). I would play this tune over and over and over again trying to figure out the lyrics! Oh the memories... I still play "Get Off" in my ride, love it and always will!

[voxhaul]

thanks for filling us in on the story of that song and that chant--thanks for all the great grooves you made and the infectious energy that I felt in your songs at that time and still feel it when I hear your hot tracks!

[texonthebeach]

We used to listen to your stuff here in Oklahoma! 1978 was a great year.

[howardtheman]

So the reason the clubs didn't like the song was because of the sounds they made?

[ishledesmay]

It only annoyed the owner of this particular club. Everyone else seemed to be fine with the Oooahh, Ooooahh's

[Beatleologist]

Back in '79 I was into Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Cars and that now obnoxious song, My Sharona but I loved Get Off. I hated disco but I really got into your song! It was kind of a secret, if any of my friends knew I'd be dead! I had your 8 track and played it in my car all the time.

Funny hearing about getting thrown out of the club in O.C. I'm Maryland born and raised so I know the Ocean City boardwalk well. That club wouldn't be the Purple Moose would it? That was a funny story.

[Beatleologist]

I'll bet the club manager wished he hadn' been a dick after you hit #1 with it.

Do you have a website? I'd love to get an autograph! Can you hook me up?

[ishledesmay]

I can't remember the name of the club. It was owned by a guy name "Pete". He owned "Pete & Lenny's" in Ft Lauderdale as well but we never played there.

[Madrrrrrrr]

Mademoiselle is ever better! why aint it on youtube? come on!

[ishledesmay]

There is no video of it.

[northwestern04]

Wow...that's crazy. Well don't get me wrong I don't wanna come off as a douchebag but I do love the songs and the music you guys made...I was raised on it. Lol

[ishledesmay]

One thing is certain: Wildflower had as much to do with the success of "Get Off" as Foxy did because they most certainly gave the song it's spirit of partying like there's no tomorrow. They difinitely were the "Party" in it. It's really just as much theirs as it is ours.

[ekocentric]

I love your mantra. Life is truly too short to be blind sighted by other people's mental ailments.

Thanx for sharing this video, you rock!

[ishledesmay]

Thanks! I was almost tempted to give the guy co-writter credit for bugging me so much as to make me write a song to piss him off! Peace!

[ekocentric]

Where in the El Debarge are my "co-writers" when I need them? .....piece. lol

[northwestern04]

Yes...I do apologize about the oooha's I did talk to her this morning and she did set me straight..however the fact remains they're no videos of them singing the song so people do assume that its all you guys singing and I think that's unfair...don't get me wrong I love the songs and love your voice I would just like to some video's up where they are singing in your set. Again I apologize for thr false info about the oooha's.

[ishledesmam]

It wasn't us that didn't want them to appear with us. The record company simply did not book airplane tickets for them to go with us to these tapings and it wasn't as though we were making tons of money and book it ourselves to have them there. We weren't making any money at all. In fact, the record company said that we owed THEM money!

[northwestern04]

first off i think this is so sad..because my mother and her group were the background singer is this song for all you people who think thats them singing the chorus and doing the ad libs in this song its NOT its actually a group of black women whose group name was wildflower i know because my mother was apart of the group and i know the real story about the ooha ooha thing beaus e my mother originated it and told me how furing the recording session they told them to act like they were ina party

[ishledesmay]

This is the story of how the song was written, not how it was recorded. We credit Wildflower as being the singers of the choruses and yes, we did ask them to act like a party was going. No one, least of all me, discredits them. They also have credit on the album liner. As far as the oooahhhs, your mother did not originate this and neither did I. The first time I heard this, it was on a song called "Let's All Chant" by the Michael Zager band. Get your story right!

[marialissa]

Great story.... love the captions. I was only ten when the song Get Off came out but I remember my older sister and her friends getting ready to go out in NYC listening to it and loving it. Love it and you still look great!

[Tgyrl66]

That song has a nasty bass line.You can really get off on it.

[barry8844]

What bar was this??? Guess it wasn't the Purple Moose cause it's on the ocean side.

[ishledesmay]

I don't remember the name of the bar. It was an open type thing on the water. We only lasted one night and half a set the next night. As soon as we started playing Get Off, out we went.

[barry8844]

Ish, after reading your reply and the rest of the blog, I realized that I was speaking to the lead singer of Foxy (is that right?). That's pretty awesome! I just got back Sunday night from a wild and hellacious weekend at O.C. and got screwed in the traffic because of the truck that rolled off the bridge over the weekend.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for responding and thanks for the great music. Get Off and Hot Number are two of my all time favs! Cya!

[vanintexas]

GREAT song, great band, great story, thanks for posting. I still have a few of your 45's.

Thanks for providing the soundtrack to alot of great times.

[kpitt1204]

Very interesting, with a happy ending! "Get Off" still can oack a floor today. It is one of my favorite songs from that era. It played everywhere when it first came out. There was not a ,party without it! Great story and presentation!

[solfulovit]

I was putting my favorite Disco tunes on my playlist, and "Get Off" was one I did the freak to. I enjoyed your story, and particularly your new material. I'm a 50'ish young woman, my kids grown, my husband died recently of a heart attack, I am so nostalgic for the music and dancing of the 70's, I seriously need to know how to get back some of that spirit and figure out how to have a good time now. Any suggestions how to "Get Off?" I wonder when we die if heaven will be my big studio 54.

[artemisbell]

I can't stop loving your song and it's one of the best dance songs of all time in my opinion!!!!!

Congratulations!

Love this story!

[Obelisk2290]

Henry stone was an ass George McCrae had to threaten him to get paid. What a jerk

[Ulai777]

Wow! I remember the song from when I was in grade school. I only heard it once and it stuck in my head for YEARS. I am glad that you survived the 70's . Amazing band, a ton of talent there. Thankyou for the background on the song too!

[crankerny]

Thank's for the inside scoop on Get Off !!!. Foxy was a great disco funk band and i cut the rug many times to this awsome jam !!!.

[bigeyerio]

Ish, i had no idea that you did "get off" I danced to that in Rio, too funny. It was so weird to see you with all that hair, that was when i realized that you do look like M Jagger, but a latin version (Just the mouth).. too funny..I love the Get Off story.. You need to play the guitar when i move up there..LOL

[Dietpepsivanilla]

Hey, cool but I gotta ask. Were you stoned when you did this?

[ishledesmay]

No, just drunk enough to tell the truth.

[Dietpepsivanilla]

Thanks. I and millions of others enjoyed your work back in the day. Disco wasn't a bad thing and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. It was great to go to a disco, listen you your song, have a drink and get laid. Mega karma to you.

[Knowbility]

i suppose that would all be true if this song were disco--which it's not. it's in a category all itself but if I had to put it in one, it would have to be FUNK.

[jimihazelisley]

Ish, thanks for this!!! I am a fan from way back...

I just may add "Get Off" to my Myspace Page :).

Paul "Kidd Funk" Hazel-Isley

"kidfunkadelicstl" on Myspace

[bingbong35]

One of my favorites of all time and I remember "Get Off" being played every morning on the radio as I went to school. They'd always seem to play it before "Hot Child In the City". Thanks, a really great and fun song.

[frboone72]

You guys are still the bomb.

[Muziclvr07]

LMAO!! What a funny story! Thank you for sharing it with us. I was in high school when that song came out, and you couldn't go to any house party or club (that I could get into at that age...lol) without hearing it!

Thank you! :)

[kievpatty]

Rock on, dude. It was funny. I could tell you were a stoner!

[blessmysunnysoul]

This story rocks lololol gotta love the attitude reminds me of me LOL!!!

[krmlkng]

I cannot believe 30 somethin' years I did not know these guys were hispanic,(it does not matter)but on the album cover I thought they were black,fascinating this song is historically da SHIZZNIT!!!

[slapalistics]

is this guy a homoflexual?

[ishledesmay]

Nope. I like girls, not guys.

[bolt767]

Gene Simmons from Kiss was right when he said most guys get into bands to meet girls, LOL

[mazinhaweb]

beatifull

[meloearth]

LOL. Thanks for doing this. This was my fave disco song ever. I had to get a 45 record of it years ago. It's nice to hear your story.

[FluxCapacitor111]

Get Off is an awesome track. What a dumb ass(the club owner), I bet he's still kicking himself in the ass today for letting that opportunity go.

[dominoize]

Pete rocks! Because of that asshole, the best song EVER was created! Thanks Pete-by-the-bay! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha­ha! You dick!

Foxy is one of the bestestestest groups ever! Do you know how many times I sampled Get Off? You guys rule the (disco)galaxy!

[awwfunkme]

This is the funniest shit I've ever heard! I've always loved this band (was 17 when Gett Off was released). Just so you know Ish, that "oooa oooa" was a thing that originated in black america's club scene, and quickly grew to be a sort of disco chant once "mainstream" americans learned that asses were made for more than just sitting on. Ish...miss you guys.

[Qogo]

The background of this song is hilarious.

[bigbadwolfami]

I was a DJ when Get Off was released and I loved it. The first time I played it at the club, people had this perplexed look on their faces and NOBODY danced. The next week, I gave it another shot but this time had a friend sequence the lighting with the music. Well, for the next two months I must have played Get Off 4 times a night by request and/or threat. :) When the 12" came out... people went nuts.

[Shardith]

Ish, this is the funniest damn story. What really makes this hilarious is your delivery. I bet it just killed that club owner that he was the inspiration for this hit song.

[musicminded64]

By the way, now i find this video has wonderful music in the background and... it is a nice blue film.

[musicminded64]

"If they get in your way, then that is even better." Thanks. (I loved that song way back then by the way, bought that single but of course, turned it i don't know how many times, and my sister had the whole album. The song was hugely popular. I just only was 14, if i remember well.)

[justinomorales]

Nice one Ish, that was funny shit.

[trublueone]

i love it. good o seee the lead singer.

[artemisbell]

yay!!!!!!!!!Good for you!

[tcb2004]

ooooh ooooh...ooooohhhhhhh

[theoriginalcrazydave]

LOVE the song, all my friends in 1979 thought I was totally kooky for playing it all the time

[discothequeplus]

Ish, you're great! hehe! 'Get Off' is a hymn!

[phildphunk]

I think if the club owner must've been drug free. I he did a line of coke he woulda went Ooha Ooha!!!

Damn I love the song, and its been a pleasure playing it while djaying parties.

Dj Phil"d"Phunk

[ziggy42scoop]

ok i enjoy listening to one of the leaders great posting

[flocklestoog]

Great story. Great song. Too funny.

[BufordStone]

Funny story. Ish is the man.

[tonifreakshow]

Big,Big joint!I knew there had to be a reason why I loved this song so much.Since I was a little kid I've been crazy about this song and I'm a metalhead!!! Fuckin CRADLE OF FILTH!

[NativeMoon]

LMAO!! That club owner must've had a massive coronary when this blew up on the charts! Success on your own terms is always sweet revenge. I totally own the moral of this story lol!! Love you Ish!

[RitzyTrailer]

THAT is the COOLEST, and FUNNIEST story I've heard in a while! I'm GLAD I've been groovin' to this song for 20+ years - and even MORE so now, that I know it burned this guy's nerves! BRAVO, Foxy! GET OFF!

~ Never let ANYONE tell you who to be - or what to do ~

[mxxjss]

Ish, the club owner was obviously unaware of the concept that "The customer's always right!". I think

he's the one that should have had the fifth of Southern

Comfort & big joint. You hit the nail right on the head with the moral of the story!