Mass Production is an American
funk/
disco musical group, best known for their 1979
hit, "Firecracker." Based in
Norfolk, Virginia, the ten-piece group had a series of minor
R&B
hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. "Firecracker" is commonly
misattributed to the similarly named (and sonically/stylistically
similar) band
Brass Construction.
The band consisted of Kevin "D'No" Douglas (bass and vocals), James "Otiste" Drumgole (trumpet, flugelhorn, clarinet, flute, piccolo and vocals), Agnes "Tiny" Kelly (lead vocals, vocoder; later replaced by Dee (DeeDee) Henderson), George Jefferson (trombone), Larry Marshall (lead vocals, triangle, percussion and xylophone[1]), Gregory “Sagittarius” McCoy (saxophone, tuba, bassoon and kazoo), Emmanuel Redding (percussion, kettle drums and marimba), Ricardo Williams (lead vocals, drums, percussion), Tyrone Williams (keyboards), Rodney Phelps (lead guitar, keyboards) and LeCoy Bryant (rhythm guitar, vocals).[2] Phelps left the band prior to the recording of their 1980 Massterpiece album, leaving Bryant to handle all guitar duties. Phelps was later replaced by Dan Harris (lead guitar).
Harris toured with the group as a freelance guitarist for a couple of
years, then left the band to work as a recording session musician.[3]
The band would soon expand back to ten, with Samuel Williams joining
on drums in the early 1980s, allowing Ricardo Williams to concentrate
more on vocals.
In addition to "Firecracker," which hit number four on the R&B chart
in the late summer of 1979, other hits by the band include "Cosmic
Lust", "Groove Me", “Shanté” and "Turn Up the Music." The group stayed
together for several more years, scoring a string of small hits, before
deciding to disband in 1983. At that time, the group’s popularity was
such that they were the only people who knew they had disbanded.
Mass Production has recently reunited with the mostly
original lineup, is in the process of recording new material, and has
been playing live shows since 2017.
