Artist: Ready for the World
Alter Ego: Melvin Riley, Gordon Strozier, Gregory Potts, Willie Triplett, John Eaton, Gerald Valentine
Web: readyfortheworld.net / myspace.com/thegroupreadyfortheworld

Ready for the World is a R&B / funk / dance band from Flint, Michigan who scored several moderate pop, soul, and dance hits in the mid to late 1980s. Founded by Melvin Riley and Gordon Strozier in Flint, Michigan.

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.

Ready for the World recorded their album Ready for the World during 1984 in Flint, Michigan under the production of Bernard Terry. The album showed influences by, and is often compared to the work of Prince from around the same period - in particular the vocal style of Melvin Riley shared many similarities with the aforementioned.

Career
The group consists of lead vocalist/keyboardist/occasional rhythm guitarist Melvin Riley with Gordon Strozier (lead guitar), Gregory Potts (keyboards), Willie Triplett (percussion/keyboards), John Eaton (bass guitar),and Gerald Valentine (drums). Their aforementioned self-titled debut was released in 1985 and included perhaps their best-known hit “Oh Sheila,” which went to number one on the R&B, Billboard Hot 100, and the Hot Dance Club Play charts that year, becoming the first ever single to hold the number one spot on all three of these charts simultaneously. The song “Digital Display” followed and hit number 21. In 1986, the band released their second album Long Time Coming, which returned them to the Top 10 on the pop charts when the slow jam “Love You Down” climbed to number nine. The band would go on to release a couple more albums into the 90s, but they weren’t as successful as the first pair. (source: Book of Billboard Top 40 Singles)

When the band later separated in the early 1990s, lead singer Riley went on to record solo albums, one in 1994 and one in 2000. A Ready for the World reunion album followed in 2004, featuring mostly urban ballads.

“Oh Sheila” is according to legend written about Sheila E. A cover of “Oh Sheila” by Angel City (entitled “Love Me Right”) was released in 2003.