Ready for the World

Ready for the World
Origin	Flint, Michigan, USA
Genres	R&B, funk, soul, pop, electro, new jack swing
Years active	1982–1991, 2004–present
Labels	MCA, Thump Records
Members	Melvin Riley Gordon Strozier Gregory Potts Willie Triplett John Eaton Gerald Valentine
Notable instruments
bass, guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, drums

Ready for the World is an American R&B band from Flint, Michigan, that scored several pop, soul, and dance hits in the mid to late 1980s. They were founded by Melvin Riley and Gordon Strozier.

The group originally consisted of frontman Melvin Riley, Gordon Strozier (lead guitar), Gregory Potts (keyboards), Willie Triplett (percussion/keyboards), John Eaton (bass guitar), and Gerald Valentine (drums). They had performed throughout Flint at high school talent shows and were discovered by WJLB Detroit Radio personality The Electrifying Mojo in 1982. They gained regional fame with their first release, "Tonight," in 1983. "Tonight" was an underground hit in Flint and Detroit which helped garner them national prominence shortly after their signing under the MCA label. They recorded their debut album, Ready for the World, during 1984 with producer Bernard Terry and engineer Charles Brown, Jr.

In 1985, the band signed to the Steven Machat-Rick Smith management company, AMI. The agreement with MCA was redrawn, and promotion and marketing dollars were committed to promote the group. This proved successful as the group was steered to #1 on the US pop charts as well as top five in all the Western European countries and Australia, with their best-known hit "Oh Sheila." In the US, this song went to #1 on the R&B, Pop Charts, and the Hot Dance Club Play charts that year, becoming the first ever single to hold the #1 spot on all three of these charts simultaneously. The song "Digital Display" followed and hit #21.

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