Ring My Bell

Ring My Bell is a 1979 disco song written by Frederick Knight and performed by Anita Ward.

"Ring My Bell" went to number one in June 1979 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the Disco Top 80 chart and the Soul Singles chart. It also reached number one on the UK singles chart. The song's popularity led to Ward's nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1980 Grammy Awards.

The song was originally written for eleven-year-old Stacy Lattisaw as a teenybopper song about children talking on the telephone. When Lattisaw signed with a different label, American singer and musician Anita Ward was asked to sing it instead, and it became her only major hit.

Composition

The song is noted for its innovative use of the Synare electronic drum, playing a decaying high-pitched tom tone on the first beat of every bar. It also uses chimes. The lyrics concern a woman encouraging her partner to relax with her after a hard day at work.

The lyric "You can ring my bell" was seen as sexually suggestive according to 1984 book The Slanguage of Sex, "'You can ring my bell any time you want to' would be regarded as a 'come-on' phrase in the US if used by a female," and "Songs like 'Ring My Bell' by Anita Ward caused scarcely a raised eyebrow in the '70s." Songwriter Frederick Knight, however, said that he deliberately avoided any overly suggestive lyrics, wanting to project a clean-cut image for Ward.

Legacy

In October 2000, VH1 ranked "Ring My Bell" No. 53 in their list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs". In 2010, Billboard magazine included it in their list of "The 50 Sexiest Songs of All Time". In 2020, Slant Magazine ranked "Ring My Bell" No. 80 in their "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time" list. The significance of the song to the history of disco is discussed in Episode 3 of the 2024 PBS series Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution. Same year, Forbes ranked it No. 12 in their list of "The 30 Greatest Disco Songs of All Time".

In March 2025, Billboard ranked it No. 33 in their list of "The 100 Best Dance Songs of All Time", writing, "Anita Ward was working as a substitute teacher in Memphis when she recorded "Ring My Bell", a disco song that became her only major hit.

The track was written by Frederick Knight, who had minor success in the early 1970s with the famed soul outfit Stax Records. Knight initially penned "Ring My Bell" for the young singer Stacy Lattisaw, envisioning a song about teenagers chatting on the phone. This origin story is often disputed, as the opening lyric was often interpreted as a double entendre: You can ring my bell, anytime, anywhere. The instrumentation is pleasingly plush, with a "whoop"-ing sound accenting the first beat, guitars pawing around the edges of the drums, and a chiming motif that pairs perfectly with Ward's flirty hook."

Charts

Certifications

Collette version

"Ring My Bell" was covered by New Zealand-born Australian pop singer Collette and released in 1989 as her debut single. The song peaked at number five on the Australian ARIA Charts and was certified gold by ARIA.

Track listing

• 7" (CBS 654631)

A. "Ring My Bell" – 3:22

B. "Save Yourself" – 4:06

• 12"

A1. "Ring My Bell" (Ring-a-Ling Mix) – 6:12

A2. "Ring My Bell" (Ding-Dong Mix) – 5:41

B1. "Save Yourself" (Survival Mix) – 5:53

B2. "Save Yourself" (Pow Wow Mix) – 6:39

Charts

Certification

See also

• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1979
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1979
• List of European number-one hits of 1979
• List of Billboard number-one dance singles of 1979
• List of Hot Soul Singles number ones of 1979
• List of number-one singles of 1979 (Canada)
• List of number-one singles in 1979 (New Zealand)
• List of number-one singles of 1979 (Spain)
• List of RPM number-one dance singles of 1979
• List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1970s
• VG-lista 1964 to 1994

External links

• on YouTube
• "" at Discogs (list of releases)