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TL;DR:

  • One of Ringo Starr’s albums embraces funk and disco music.
  • The album was not a huge hit at the time.
  • The record makes more sense in light of a late 1970s trend in classic rock.

Ringo Starr’s albums took a turn for the worse in the mid-1970s. Notably, Ringo wasn’t fond of a disco album he produced in 1977. Despite this, Ringo rerecorded the most famous song from the record in a different genre.

Ringo Starr’s albums got worse after ‘Goodnight Vienna,’ according to Ringo

Ringo had a few hit albums in the 1970s. He peaked with the 1973 album Ringo, which features the No. 1 singles “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen.” His following record, Goodnight Vienna, was a hit as well, producing the hits “Only You (And You Alone)” and “No No Song.” Then, he made the forgotten album Ringo’s Rotogravure and the disco/funk album Ringo the 4th. 

During a 1992 interview with Rolling Stone, the “Back Off Boogaloo” singer discussed the trajectory of his career. “After Ringo and maybe Goodnight Vienna, I started tearing it up and turning up less and less,” he said. “That’s going to show in anyone’s art.”

Ringo Starr said he didn’t believe in ‘Ringo the 4th’ the way he believed in a later record

Ringo said his post-Ringo career was bumpy. “For a lot of those albums, I was just in a hurry to get home — or, more often, someone else’s home,” he said. “The other thing is that — unless you’re interviewing Paul or George — you’re talking to a guy who’s been in the business longer than most When you’re around this long, you’re going to have ups and downs. In my case, after the Ringo record it was downhill. But we’re coming back now.”

Ringo contrasted his previous work to his then-recent album,Time Takes Time. “I’m out here pushing, because I really believe in this,” he said. “And that’s a thrill for me, because it wasn’t always so. I mean, it’s not like I had a lot to say about some of those old records, like Ringo the 4th.”

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Ringo the 4th might sound ridiculous today, however, it would have made more sense at the time. In the late 1970s, numerous classic rock acts released disco records to try to keep up with the times. Elton John’s Victim of Love, Kiss’ Dynasty, and Rod Stewart’s Blondes Have More Fun are all examples of the phenomenon. 

Ringo the 4th didn’t do much for Ringo commercially. It merely reached No. 162 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for a total of six weeks. Of course, plenty of flop albums managed to accrue a fan base. Despite this, Ringo the 4th is mostly forgotten today. Perhaps its biggest legacy is the song “Wings,” which Ringo rerecorded with a reggae-rock grove for his album Ringo 2012.

Ringo the 4th was a flop but the “It Don’t Come Easy” singer eventually started putting effort into his albums again.

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