Ringo Starr’s jovial, lighthearted approach made for a surprise success in the early to mid-‘70s. Help from his former bandmates in The Beatles and other high-profile friends like Eric Clapton, Elton John, Dr. John, and Harry Nilsson made his solo albums feel like well-attended parties. However, with Ringo’s Rotogravure, the formula had yielded just one Top 40 hit, “A Dose of Rock & Roll.” So for 1977’s Ringo the 4th, a new dance-oriented approach was explored. Producer Arif Mardin was suitable, and Ringo’s cowriter Vini Poncia was worthy. However, the only song here to nearly make a commercial impact was a cover of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s “Drowning in the Sea of Love.” Artistically, the Starr-Poncia song “Wings” also has great life, while other lesser-known soft rock tunes—“Gave It All Up,” “It’s No Secret,” and “Gypsies in Flight”—are decent Ringo performances. It was mainly because few could see Ringo as a dance-oriented artist or an R&B singer that fans questioned this move.