Category Soul

“Westbound #9” (The Flaming Ember)

Westbound #9, Flaming Ember

When Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (AKA Holland-Dozier-Holland, AKA H-D-H) left Motown over a royalty dispute in 1968, they formed their own record label. Actually, they formed two labels, Hot Wax and Invictus. They signed a bunch of new or newish artists to those labels and kept working their magic, turning out hit after hit. One of the…

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“Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” (Diana Ross)

Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand, Diana Ross

Yesterday’s classic song of the day was the Supremes’ very first number-one record, “Where Did Our Love Go.” Today we fast forward a few years to the time when Diana Ross left the group to go solo and her first solo hit, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).” Motown released the single in April of 1970 and it went to…

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“Pay to the Piper” (Chairmen of the Board)

Pay to the Piper, Chairmen of the Board

Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (AKA Holland-Dozier-Holland, AKA H-D-H) were a songwriting/production team responsible for dozens of huge hits for Motown artists in the ’60s. They left Motown in 1968 after a long-simmering dispute over profit-sharing and royalties. They subsequently moved across town to form their own record labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records, and nurture a…

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