Holland-Dozier-Holland
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Holland-Dozier-Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr.. The trio wrote and arranged many of the songs making up the Motown sound that dominated American popular music in the 1960s. During their tenure at Motown Records from 1962-1967, Dozier and Brian Holland were the composers/producers for each song, and Eddie Holland wrote the lyrics and arranged the vocals. When the trio left Motown, they continued to work as a production team (with Eddie Holland being added to the producer credits), and as a songwriting team until about 1974. In 1990, the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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[edit] History
The trio came together at Motown Records. Eddie Holland, in fact, had been working with Motown founder Berry Gordy prior to that label being formed; his 1958 Mercury single "You" was one of the earliest Gordy productions. Later, Eddie Holland had a career as a Motown recording artist, scoring a US top 30 hit in 1961 with "Jamie".
Eddie's brother Brian Holland was a Motown staff songwriter who also tasted success in 1961, being a co-composer of The Marvelettes' US #1 "Please Mr. Postman". Dozier had been a recording artist for a few different labels in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the Anna label (owned by Berry Gordy's sister) and Motown subsidiary Mel-o-dy.
The three came together to create material for themselves and other artists, but soon found they preferred being writer/producers to being performers. (Especially Eddie, who suffered from stage fright and retired from performing in 1964.) They ended up writing and producing dozens and dozens of songs recorded by artists on contract to Motown Records, including 25 Top 10 hit singles such as "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" for Martha & the Vandellas and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" for Marvin Gaye. Their most celebrated productions were probably the singles they created for The Four Tops and The Supremes, including a string of five consecutive US #1 singles for The Supremes, beginning with 1964's "Where Did Our Love Go".
The trio left Motown in 1967 because of a dispute with the founder and head of Motown Records, Berry Gordy, over profit sharing and royalties. They started their own labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records, which were only mildly successful. Motown sued for breach of contract, and H-D-H countersued. The subsequent litigation was one of the longest legal battles in music industry history. Because of the lawsuit, H-D-H were forced to give composer credits on their earliest Invictus/Hot Wax recordings to the team of "Wayne/Dunbar". The lawsuit was settled in 1977 with H-D-H paying Motown a mere several thousand dollars in damages.
Dozier left Holland-Dozier-Holland Productions, Inc. (HDHP) during the early 1970s to resume his career as a solo performing artist. From the mid-1970s onwards, HDHP, with Harold Beatty replacing Dozier, wrote and produced songs for a number of artists. Curiously, HDHP worked on material for Motown artists, such as the Supremes and Michael Jackson, even while its litigation against Motown Records was still pending.
The trio are back together and own HDH Records, which issues recordings from the Invictus and Hot Wax catalogs as well as new material.
[edit] Production and songwriting highlights
- 1963: "Leaving Here" - Eddie Holland later covered by Motörhead, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, Pearl Jam, The Birds and The Who.
- 1963: "Come and Get These Memories" - Martha & the Vandellas
- 1963: "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" - Martha & the Vandellas, later covered by The Who, Linda Ronstadt and The Jam.
- 1963: "Mickey's Monkey" - The Miracles
- 1963: "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" - The Supremes later covered by Dusty Springfield
- 1964: "Where Did Our Love Go" - The Supremes, later covered by Soft Cell
- 1964: "Baby Love" - The Supremes
- 1964: "Come See About Me" - The Supremes, later covered by The Afghan Whigs
- 1964: "Baby I Need Your Loving" - Four Tops, later covered by Johnny Rivers
- 1964: "Can I Get a Witness" - Marvin Gaye later covered by Dusty Springfield and the Rolling Stones
- 1964: "You're a Wonderful One" - Marvin Gaye
- 1964: "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" - Marvin Gaye, later covered by Jr. Walker & the All-Stars and James Taylor
- 1965: "Stop! In the Name of Love" - The Supremes, later covered by The Hollies.
- 1965: "Nowhere to Run" - Martha & the Vandellas
- 1965: "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" - Four Tops, later covered by Bonnie Pointer and the heavy metal band Axe
- 1965: "Back in My Arms Again" - The Supremes
- 1965: "It's the Same Old Song" - Four Tops, later covered by KC & The Sunshine Band.
- 1965: "I Hear a Symphony" - The Supremes, later covered by The Isley Brothers
- 1965: "Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" - Kim Weston, later covered by The Isley Brothers, Jermaine Jackson (1972) and The Doobie Brothers (1975)
- 1965: "There's a Ghost In My House" - R. Dean Taylor
- 1966: "(I'm a) Roadrunner" - Jr. Walker & the All-Stars, later covered by The Who
- 1966: "Reach Out I'll Be There" - Four Tops, later covered by Diana Ross and Michael Bolton
- 1966: "Standing in the Shadows of Love" - Four Tops
- 1966: "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)" - The Isley Brothers, later covered by Ronald Isley & Rod Stewart
- 1966: "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes, later covered by Phil Collins
- 1966: "You Keep Me Hangin' On" - The Supremes, later covered by Vanilla Fudge and Kim Wilde
- 1966: "Heaven Must Have Sent You" - The Elgins, later covered by Bonnie Pointer
- 1967: "Bernadette" - Four Tops
- 1967: "Jimmy Mack" - Martha & the Vandellas
- 1967: "Reflections" - Diana Ross & the Supremes
- 1970: "Give Me Just a Little More Time" - Chairmen of the Board
- 1970: "Band of Gold" - Freda Payne Also covered by Sylvester in the 80's
- 1970: "Want Ads" - Honey Cone
- 1971: "Bring the Boys Home" - Freda Payne
- 1975: "Just a Little Bit of You" - Michael Jackson
[edit] Trivia
- Holland-Dozier-Holland are mentioned in the lyrics of The Magnetic Fields' song "The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure."
- Holland-Dozier-Holland threatened to sue the band Aerosmith in 1989 due to the resemblance of parts of the song "The Other Side" (from the album Pump) to the Holland-Dozier-Holland song "Standing In The Shadows Of Love." To forestall litigation, Aerosmith agreed to add Holland-Dozier-Holland to the songwriting credits in the album's liner notes.
- Holland-Dozier-Holland are mentioned (along with the Four Tops and, separately, vocalist Levi Stubbs, as well as Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong)in the lyrics of the song "Levi Stubbs' Tears" from the 1986 Billy Bragg album "Talking with the Taxman About Poetry".
