10 Hit ’60s Songs From Detroit… But Not Motown
Here’s an easy word-association game for you: I say “Detroit… ’60s… music,” and you say…? Like most people, and especially knowledgeable REBEAT readers, I’m guessing you answered “Motown.” If not, then you probably answered with the name of an artist such as the Supremes, the Temptations, the Four Tops, or Marvin Gaye — all of whom, of course, recorded for Berry Gordy’s Motown label or one of its subsidiaries. But despite the fact that Motown ruled Detroit (and to a large extent, the home-grown American music scene) in the 1960s, there were literally hundreds of other music labels working out of the Motor City. While none of them came close to being as successful as Motown, several became enough of a threat that Gordy bought them and signed their artists to eliminate the competition.
What follows are 10 ’60s songs, in chronological order, recorded in Detroit on labels that were “standing in the shadows of” Motown. All are worthy of recognition, yet are often overlooked as one-hit wonders or as the crude early efforts of groups that would find their greatest successes later.
1) “That’s What Girls Are Made For,” The Spinners (1961)
Released on: Tri-Phi 1001
Peaked at: #27
Long before the Spinners reached their 1970s heights with songs such as “I’ll Be Around” and “Could It be I’m Falling in Love,” they were a struggling act looking for their first charting record. Harvey Fuqua, formerly of the Moonglows, thought the group had promise and signed them to a new label, Tri-Phi, that he and his future wife (Gwen Gordy, sister of future Motown magnate Berry Gordy) had founded. The result was a chart record, though the doo-wop sound is decidedly different from their future offerings. (On a side note, that’s Marvin Gaye playing the drums on the record.)
Eventually, Fuqua sold Tri-Phi to Berry Gordy and went to work for Motown, and the Spinners were signed by Motown as well. Unfortunately, at Motown the group was under-utilized, and, in fact, lead singer Bobbie Smith told me in an interview that they were often assigned to chauffeur around the label’s bigger acts! The group would only have a couple of charting songs on Motown, and wouldn’t experience major success until they left the label and signed with Atlantic in the ’70s.
2) “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet,” The Reflections (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJMLZQzOJv0
Released on: Golden World 9
Peaked at: #6
Golden World Records was a small label owned by Ed Wingate and Joanne Bratton, and the Reflections’ “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet” would be the label’s only big hit, going to #6 in 1964. The song is a bit of a throwback, more reminiscent of the late-’50s and early-’60s music that had come before it than the British Invasion and Motown sounds that were taking the world by storm in the mid-’60s. Perhaps the group’s antiquated sound was the reason the Reflections weren’t more successful; “(Just Like) Romeo and Juliet” would be their only Billboard Top 40 record. As with Tri-Phi, Berry Gordy would buy out and absorb Golden World as well.
3) “Agent Double-O-Soul,” Edwin Starr (1965)
Released on: Ric-Tic 103
Peaked at: #21
Most people think of Edwin Starr as the hugely successful Motown artist who took 1970’s “War” all the way to #1. But Starr (born Charles Edwin Hatcher) was a struggling singer when he signed with the tiny Ric-Tic label in 1965. Starr had been doing some songwriting and, based on the popularity of the James Bond movies, he’d written a song called “Agent Double-O-Soul.”
In 1965, he recorded his single, just the fourth release for the new label. The instrumentation was provided by the famous Funk Brothers, the Detroit-based studio musicians who provided the music on the great hit records by the Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations and other acts at crosstown-rival Motown. They would moonlight from time to time, unbeknownst to label founder Berry Gordy, and so by contributing their pulsing rhythms to Starr’s distinctive vocals, they helped the song rise to #21 on the pop charts.
4) “Please Let Me In,” J.J. Barnes (1965)
Released on: Ric-Tic 106
Peaked at: N/A (didn’t chart)
Not every act at Ric-Tic was as successful as Starr, however. J.J. Barnes would have only one charting record with the label (“Real Humdinger” would peak at #80 in 1966), but his finest effort was 1965’s “Please Let Me In.” Unlike Starr, he would not go onto greatness with Motown after Gordy bought Ric-Tic. Gordy apparently believed Barnes sounded too much like Marvin Gaye, and though Barnes had a substantial catalog of recordings at Ric-Tic, Gordy would have them shelved and they would remain unreleased. Ultimately, in the 1970s Barnes would find fame in England on the Northern Soul scene where he would become a bona fide star; “Please Let Me In” is considered one of the 500 Greatest Northern Soul hits of all time.
5) “Love Makes The World Go Round,” Deon Jackson (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqMIzI9nthg
Released on: Carla 2526
Peaked at: #11
Carla was one of four labels owned by Ollie McLaughlin, and three were named after his daughters (Moira, Carla, and Karen). McLaughlin signed Deon Jackson while the singer was still in high school, and “Love Makes The World Go Round” was his first single. Jackson’s self-penned song peaked at #11 and was a national hit, but, unfortunately, it would be Jackson’s one and only Top 40 appearance. Perhaps because it was his most requested song and he had to sing it so often, Jackson came to hate it, claiming “I would cringe every time the song came on the radio. I’d think, ‘God, I don’t like that.'” Jackson’s objections notwithstanding, it’s a great song, and it was the label’s only big hit as well.
6) “Open The Door To Your Heart,” Darrell Banks (1966)
Released on: Revilot 201
Peaked at: #27
The Revilot label was owned by Lebaron Taylor, who was better known by the name Lebaron Toliver (Revilot was his name spelled backwards). “Open The Door To Your Heart” was the label’s first release, and once you hear Banks’ voice, you have to wonder why he didn’t have more hits. In short, it was largely because he had a mercurial temper and apparently couldn’t get along with anyone.
Originally called “Baby Walk Right In,” the song was written by Donnie Elbert, but Banks claimed he had written it and it was only after a protracted legal battle that Elbert was able to get himself listed as co-writer. Banks stayed with Revilot for one more single, then went to Atco, Cotillion, and Stax where none of his releases would chart. In February 1970, Banks let his temper get the best of him and he pulled a gun on an off-duty policeman who shot Banks dead at the age of 32 after recording just seven singles.
7) “Cool Jerk,” The Capitols (1966)
Released on: Karen 1524
Peaked at: #7
Karen was another small label owned by Ollie McLaughlin, and like Moira and Carla (see above), it was named after one of his daughters. Also like several songs on the this list, backing was provided by Motown’s Funk Brothers, who were moonlighting once again. The song was about a derivative form of the dance the Jerk, reportedly done by Detroit pimps who called it the Pimp Jerk because they were too cool to do the popular version of the dance. The title was sanitized for the public, and the newly-christened “Cool Jerk” went to #7 on the charts and became yet another of the dance records to score big in the ’60s. The Capitols, however, would not score so big, racking up just two more low-charting singles on Karen before fading into obscurity; they broke up in 1969.
8) “Oh How Happy,” The Shades of Blue (1966)
Released on: Impact 1007
Peaked at: #12
Frontman Nick Marinelli told me that the Shades of Blue were doing some backup vocals and demos at Golden World when “Edwin Starr heard us and liked our sound, and said he had written a song called ‘Oh How Happy’ that he thought would be good for us.” They took it to Harry Balk, John Rhys, and Barney “Duke” Browner’s Impact label, and in 1966, it shot to #1 in several local markets and went to #12 on the national pop charts. Like several artists on this list, it would be their only Top 40 hit, and like several labels here, Berry Gordy would buy Impact as well. “Motown was like any other big corporation, and they’d buy up record companies, take the stable, and get rid of the competition. But they weren’t really interested in developing anything new for us or promoting us as a group, and eventually we broke up.” As their one and only hit, “Oh How Happy” is well worth a listen.
9) “Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.),” Edwin Starr (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwjLGqQYBBk
Released on: Ric-Tic 109
Peaked at: #48
By the time Starr was ready to record “Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.),” Gordy had learned that the Funk Brothers had been moonlighting at Ric-Tic and fined the session musicians $100 each. Ric-Tic owner Ed Wingate caught wind of this and reportedly showed up at Motown and paid each of them back $200 each. Consequently, the guys were a lot more agreeable about backing up Starr again and did so on “Stop Her On Sight.” The combination of Starr’s powerful voice and the Motown instrumentation drove the record up to #9 on the R&B charts and #48 on the pop charts. Rock critic Dave Marsh calls “Stop Her On Sight” “one of the greatest non-Motown Motown discs ever cut, with the same booting backbeat, the same thunderous baritone sax riffs, and a vocal as tough and assured as any of the early Marvin Gaye’s.” The success of these singles would contribute to Gordy buying the Ric-Tic label, too, and signing Starr as well.
10) “(I Wanna) Testify,” The Parliaments (1967)
Released on: Revilot 207
Peaked at: #20
The Parliaments had the distinction of signing with two doomed-to-failure Detroit labels; they were with Golden World until it folded, then signed with Revilot. Named after a popular cigarette at the time, the group was Revilot’s most successful act, hitting the Top 20 with this song and then charting again with “All Your Goodies are Gone” later that year. “(I Wanna) Testify” was a sign of the success that would follow when George Clinton’s group became Funkadelic, then Parliament, then Parliament-Funkadelic, and would score a number of Top 40 hits in the 1970s, including “Flashlight” and “Tear the Roof Off the Sucker.” “Testify” is a great song, and has a bit more of a traditional R&B sound than their later funk-driven catalog. The group would outlive the Revilot label; it folded in 1969, and the Parliaments’ “I’ll Wait” would be the label’s last release.
