Holland-Dozier-Holland

 From 1963 into 1968 if you purchased a Motown Record and saw Holland-Dozier-Holland listed as the writers, you knew you were getting quality.  

Brothers Eddie and Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier wrote for Martha & The Vandellas (Heat Wave; Nowhere To Run; Jimmie Mack), Marvin Gaye (Can I Get a Witness; How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), The Miracles (Mickey's Monkey), Freda Payne (Band of Gold), Jr Walker & The All Stars (I'm A Road Runner), The Isley Brothers (This Old Heart of Mine), and Chairmen of the Board (Give Me Just A Little More Time).

H-D-H scored 27 Top Ten singles in those five years, peaking with their work with The Supremes and The Four Tops.  For The Supremes they wrote ten #1's and two other top ten singles, including Come See About Me; Stop In The Name of Love; and You Keep Me Hanging On.

The Four Tops were my Motown favorites in the mid-60s, and H-D-H wrote their 1965 breakthrough single, I Can't Help Myself, which reached #1.  They followed that up with Baby, I Need Your Loving; It's The Same Old Song; Bernadette; Standing In The Shadow of Love; Wake Me, Shake Me; and the greatest of all Motown songs, Reach Out I'll Be There, with lead singer Levi Stubbs' passionate vocal alternating between singing and shouting.

 

Reach Out hit #1 in October 1966.  It's funny what was important to my 15-year old self and that I still remember; there was a back and forth at the top of the charts between Reach Out and an execrable song by The Association (1), Cherish, so I was rooting for the Four Tops.

The Holland Brothers and Lamont Dozier are all alive and in their early 80s.  Thanks for the great music, guys!

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(1) The Association was one of those mid-60s groups mostly put together in the studio but which evolved into a real band.  They had three huge hits, Cherish, Never My Love, and Windy, none of which I liked but I thought their very first single, Along Comes Mary was great.  This is the fast paced single version and below is a slower paced take they did on Ed Sullivan which also contains the unusual lyrics, which were difficult to understand on the original single.