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Afterword

Ron Banks and the Dramatics, with an L.A. twist

By Claire Noland
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Ron Banks, the falsetto voice of the Dramatics, a Detroit stand-up vocal group that was an enduring act in R&B since the late 1960s, died Thursday. He was 58.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Banks died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Detroit.

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As reporter Brian McCollum explains:

Banks’ sweet voice and smooth choreography helped distinguish the Dramatics, particularly on Detroit’s post-Motown scene of the 1970s, when the group enjoyed crossover pop success with songs such as ‘Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get’ and ‘In the Rain.’

The video is the opening of the 1973 documentary ‘Wattstax,’ about the 1972 music festival Stax Records put on in Watts, which uses ‘Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get.’ Love the ladies’ white hats!

-- Claire Noland

Afterword
Claire Noland

Claire Noland, who joined the Los Angeles Times in 1994, became editor of curated email newsletters in spring 2015. She had been in the Obituary Department since 2006, the last six years as editor. Before that, she was an editor in Sports. A California native and graduate of Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, she worked at the Antelope Valley Press, Los Angeles Daily News and Minneapolis Star Tribune. She left The Times in December 2015.

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