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 new stable of artists.
Among H-D-H’s new artists was a Detroit-based group called the Chairmen of the Board. The Chairmen consisted of General Johnson, former lead singer of the Showmen (famous for the Carolina Beach Music classic, “It Will Stand”), Eddie Custis, Danny Woods, and Harrison Kennedy. The group quickly became Invictus’ flagship act, scoring a #3 hit with 1970’s “Give Me Just a Little More Time.”
The Chairmen of the Board followed up that hit with two more minor hits (“(You’ve Got Me) Dangling on a String” and “Everything’s Tuesday”) then, in November of 1970, released today’s classic song of the day, “Pay to the Piper.” Written by General Johnson, Greg Perry, Ron Dunbar, and Angelo Bond, and produced by H-D-H, “Pay to the Piper” was the group’s second-biggest hit (after “Give Me Just a Little More Time”). The single peaked early in 1971 at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
“Pay to the Piper” was the group’s last big hit, with the group breaking up in 1976. General Johnson reformed the Chairmen in 1978 and switched their sound fully to Carolina Beach Music; the group was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 1999. The group continued to perform following Johnson’s death in 2010, with several new and younger members.
Now back to 1971 and today’s daily bonus video of the day. It’s the Chairmen of the Board lip-synching “Pay to the Piper” on Soul Train. It cooks.
