Get Off
by Foxy

Album: Get Off (1978)
Charted: 9
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Get Off" stands out as one of the most lascivious hits of the disco era, right up there with Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby." Sure, the title is ambiguous, but we have a pretty good idea of what they mean in lines like, "Love me wild and love me crazy, so we can get off."

    Foxy was a Miami-based band stocked with young Latin guys who did very well with the ladies. They had a gig at a club in Ocean City, Maryland, where the owner, a guy named Pete, really hated the latest disco chant, which went something like:

    Ooo-ha ooo-ha ooo-ha ooo-ha...

    Well, Foxy did that chant in their set, and when they were done, Pete told them to never do it again, threatening to throw them into Sinepuxent Bay if they did. Foxy frontman Ish Ledesma didn't like this guy, so the next day, he and another band member, Carl Driggs, smoked a "big joint" and wrote the song "Get Off," with an exaggerated version of the chant right at the start of the song. It was specifically designed to annoy Pete the owner.

    After the marijuana smoke cleared, Driggs realized it would be a bad idea to antagonize the guy at the club giving them gigs, but Ledesma couldn't resist. When they returned to play at the club, they behaved themselves during the first song, then Ledesma called for "Get Off." They didn't even finish the chant before a team of bouncers forcibly ejected them.

    Foxy was the house band at Miami's TK Records, where KC & The Sunshine Band emerged. The studio's owner, Henry Stone, agreed that the song was worth recording, so they cut it and released it as the first single from their second album, which they also titled "Get Off." The song was a hit, but so saucy that it couldn't get airplay on many pop stations. It reached #9 on the Hot 100 but was a #1 R&B hit for two weeks, giving the group some sweet revenge.

    In 2006, Ish Ledesma had a few drinks and told this full, glorious story in a video he posted on YouTube.
  • Four of the five members of Foxy left Cuba and arrived in Miami in 1959. Percussionist Richie Puente is the son of Tito Puente.

    The group had one more hit - "Hot Number," which went to #21 as the follow-up single - and broke up in 1980. When "Get Off" was hot, they opened for both The Jacksons and Sister Sledge. Ledesma went on to form a band called Oxo.
  • The female backing vocals were supplied by a Miami-based trio called Wildflower. Foxy brought them in when they realized the chant was too high for their falsettos.
  • The distorted vocals were created with a talkbox, a device hooked up to a guitar with a tube you can speak into. It was all the rage in 1978 thanks to Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive album, which used it on songs like "Show Me The Way" and "Do You Feel Like We Do."
  • Movies to use this song include Celtic Pride (1996), Set It Off (1996) and Roll Bounce (2005). It also shows up in the 2016 episode of Scandal, "Pencil's Down."
  • In 1991, Prince had a hit with an equally racy song called "Gett Off." This came at a time in his career when he was putting out some highly suggestive songs - it was after his '80s hits and before he changed his name to a symbol.

Comments: 11

  • George Pope from Vancouver - CanadaNice disco feel. . . brings back good memories of simple times with friends down at the local community centre for Saturday disco! Had my bell bottom jeans on, of course! None of us could dance, but nobody cared. . .
  • George Pope from Vancouver - CanadaNicely done. A play on "get off" as the threat was, but putting in the sexy "getting off type subtext! Classy!
  • Gwendolyn Tabb from Bowie, MarylandWhen Get Off by Foxy hit the scene you couldn’t help by but move unstoppable w/ arms up & down or to the sides along with oop oop sounds working your body. Whenever I hear it I am working it!
  • Chad G from Uptown Minneapolis Usa ( Prince’s NeighborhoodStill bumping as if you wrote it yesterday. It’s a princess neighborhood because when I would go to Ragstock secondhand store in my neighborhood I would occasionally see prince there. That was when I was in junior high when I was 19 I ended up working for him for five years. Thank you for contributing music that is memorable
  • That Guy from The 3rd House On The LeftBorat on bass is the best.
  • Mike from SfIt is very clear, if you listen to the record, that they are saying "TIE ME UP at your place...", not "CALL me up". Yet every lyrics website has it as "Call me".
  • George from Cumming , Ga.Singing the chorus is the girl group trio named Wildflower, signed by the same label Dash/T.K. Records as was Foxy.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyPer: http://www.oldiesmusic.com/news.htm
    Carlo Driggs, lead singer with Paul Revere and the Raiders from 1983 to 2004, passed away May 31st, 2017 from a heart attack at the age of 67. Born in Havana and raised in New York, he sang and played percussion on Foxy’s "Get Off" (#9 in Pop, #1 R&B in 1978), which he also co-wrote.
    May he R.I.P.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn September 16th 1978, Foxy performed "Get Off" on the ABC-TV program 'American Bandstand'...
    Exactly two months earlier on July 16th, 1978 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #86; and on November 5th, 1978 it peaked at #9 {for 1 week} and spent 21 weeks on the Top 100...
    On August 20th, 1978 it reached #1 {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's R&B Singles chart...
    The quintet had one other record make the Top 100, "Hot Number", it peaked at #21 on the chart {#4 on the R&B Singles chart}.
  • Bill from Minneapolis, MnDon't be fooled, those are women singing the chorus. They're never in the videos nor are credited in any bios of the band or song. some people even think/thought Foxy is a girls group.
  • Donna from College Station, TxNo 9 Soul Single chart Oct 1978, source Billboard hits of 10 years ago Oct 8, 1988
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.

Devo

DevoSongwriter Interviews

Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoungSongwriter Interviews

Dennis DeYoung explains why "Mr. Roboto" is the defining Styx song, and what the "gathering of angels" represents in "Come Sail Away."

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Evolution Of The Prince Symbol

Evolution Of The Prince SymbolSong Writing

The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.