When most people today think of desegregation that occurred in the United States in the 1960s, they think of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Ralph Abernathy and others that led boycotts, sit-ins, and marches.
Few people think of the influence of Motown music. However, its influence was real. It was Black music that White people enjoyed. Even the people at Motown Records where the songs were coming from called it “Oreo” music. The heart of Motown Records at that time was the trio of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland that got together in 1962. Together they wrote 400 songs, 130 made it into the pop chart, 70 made it into the top ten hits, and 40 reached #1 on the charts. Whatever your favorite Motown song is, they probably wrote it. Eddie and Lamont usually wrote the lyrics and Brian worked the melody because he could hear in his head where different instruments would come in.
Their early hits were songs sung by The Marvellettes. Brian Holland reworked “Please Mr. Postman” (which had originally been written by William Gorrett and Georgia Dobbins) into a version that fit The Marvellettes singing. In 1961, that song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
They also wrote for another group known as Martha and the Vandellas. In 1965, H-D-H wrote “Heat Wave” which reached #1 on the R&B chart. This was followed in 1965 by “Quicksand” which hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and by “No Where to Run” which hit #5 on the R&B chart. The words came to Lamont when he was spending time with a friend who was unwillingly going to Vietnam. That friend later stepped on a mine in Vietnam and was blown-up.
H-D-H also wrote songs for the Four-Tops. In 1964, the song “Baby I Need Your Loving,” made in to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was followed in 1965 by the H-D-H song, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” which was #1 on the R&B Chart for 9 weeks and #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks. Lamont came up with the words “sugar pie, honey bunch” by remembering that his grandfather would say “Hello sugar pie, honey bunch” to women as he greeted them. The Four Tops’ best known song “Reach Out I’ll Be There” was written by H-D-H in 1967. It was the #1 song on the R&B Chart for 2 weeks, #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 2 weeks, and #1 on the UK Singles Chart.
H-D-H even wrote for Marvin Gaye who usually wrote his own songs. In 1963, they wrote “Can I Get A Witness” for Marvin and the song reached #22 on Billboard’s Hot 100. In 1964, Marvin released “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” which was a H-D-H song. It reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B chart. In 1975, James Taylor released his version of the song which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Easy Listening chart.
In 1963, H-D-H wrote “Mickey’s Monkey” which was sung by The Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson. The song reached #3 on the R&B chart.
As noteworthy as H-D-H songs were that were sung by The Marvellettes, Martha and the Vandellas, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, or others; the H-D-H trio’s biggest successes were the songs they wrote for The Supremes.
In 1964, Brian was falling out of love with his wife and in love with Diana of The Supremes. This led to the words of “Where Did Our Love Go.”
Baby, baby, baby don’t leave me
Ooh please don’t leave me all by myself
I’ve got this burning, burning, yearning feeling inside me
Ooh, deep inside me and it hurts so bad
Baby, baby, where did our love go?
Ooh, don’t you want me?
Don’t you want me no more?
Ooh baby
which made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. Brian’s estrangement from his wife and his feelings for Diana also gave him the words for the song “Baby Love”
Baby love, my baby love
I see you, oh how I need you
But all you do is treat me bad
Break my heart and leave me sad
Tell me, what did I do wrong
To make you stay away so long
Instead of breaking up
Let’s do some kissing and making up
Don’t throw our love away
In my arms, why don’t you stay
which was a #1 Billboard pop single chart and #3 on the UK pop single chart. And it gave him the words for a third hit. In 1964, “Come See About Me” which also topped the Billboard pop singles chart as #1.
Meanwhile, Lamont was having a problem when his girlfriend caught him seeing another woman which led to him writing these lyrics for “Stop! In the Name of Love”:
Stop! In the name of love
Before you break my heart
Baby, baby
I’m aware of where you go
Each time you leave my door
I watch you walk down the street
Knowing your other love you’ll meet
But this time before you run to her
Leaving me alone and hurt
Think it over. After I’ve been good to you.
Think it over. After I’ve been sweet to you.
In 1965, “Stop! In the Name of Love” was The Supremes’ fourth #1 hit on the Billboard pop singles chart.
In 1965 Brian remembered talking with his mother who told him the words that became the title of the fifth #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 “You Can’t Hurry Love” which was covered by Phil Collins in 1982.
“I Hear a Symphony” became the sixth song written by H-D-H and sung by the Supremes that became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
A seventh #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 was the H-D-H song “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” as sung by the Supremes in 1965. These were words that Eddie’s girlfriend screamed at him when she was upset because he had gotten another woman pregnant. It was covered by The band Vanilla Fudge in 1966 and that version reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 10. In 1986, the English singer Kim Wilde covered the song and her version also reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
After 1973 when the trio went their separate ways, Lamont wrote “Cool Me Out” in 1981, “Without You” for the movie Leonard, Part 6 in 1987 and “Two Hearts” with Phil Collins for the movie Buster in 1988. He died in 2022.
The Holland-Dozier-Holland trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. They were honored as Black Music Industry icons in 2003.
Although their names are largely unknown outside of the music community, their music helped bridge the gap between Black and White and help the desegregation of the 1960s in a way that won people over through songs with common themes and catchy tunes rather than through confrontation.
