Lamont Dozier: He was Motown’s hitsmith

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obituary

“You Can’t Hurry Love” and more
You’re guaranteed to know his immortal hits – on the death of Lamont Dozier

Lamont Dozier (centre) formed the legendary songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland with Eddie Holland (left) and Brian Holland, which was responsible for countless Motown hits. In 2015 they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

© Michael Nelson/EPA/DPA

Carsten Heidboehmer

08/10/2022, 12:41 p.m

2 min reading time

As part of the Holland-Dozier-Holland trio of authors, he wrote immortal hits specifically for Motown stars such as the Supremes, Marvin Gaye and the Four Tops in the 1960s. Lamont Dozier has died at the age of 81.

Some of the greatest artists in popular music history are largely unknown. Composer and producer Lamont Dozier is one of them. His life’s work is world-famous: “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Baby Love”, “Stop! In the Name of Love” or “You Can’t Hurry Love”: Everyone knows these songs and, when reading the title, immediately knows the melody in the ear. They all come from the pen of the legendary songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland.

And these are just some of the hits the trio wrote for the Supremes. They created many more classics: “Baby I Need Your Loving”, “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” or “Bernadette” for the Four Tops, “Heatwave” and “Nowhere to Run” for Martha and the Vandellas or “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” for Marvin Gaye.

Lamont Dozier created hit after hit

It was the 1960s, and Motown, a black-run record label, was preparing to win the hearts of white youth with black artists. Motown had the stars for it, now you just needed enough songs: And Lamont Dozier delivered them together with the brothers Eddie and Brian Holland. They created pieces of music like on an assembly line. By the end of the decade, the three were involved in a total of 70 Top 10 hits – an incredible number.

It was a happy coincidence that this came about – several things came together here: Like the Holland brothers, Lamont Dozier was born in Detroit, an industrial city that had previously been known primarily for its car production. It was here of all places that Barry Gordy founded the label in 1960 that would conquer the world and also influence artists like the Beatles. And artists like Diana Ross lived here.

Motown

How Soul Music Changed America


In January 1959, former professional boxer Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to start his own record label. Without knowing it, he laid the foundation for a success story that goes far beyond the musical significance. In segregated America, Motown was one of the first record companies to bring black music to a white audience. Gordy's trick: He smoothed out the raw soul and emphasized catchy melodies. That's how an incredible 110 Motown songs made it into the American top ten between 1961 and 1971. In its heyday, Motown produced hits like on an assembly line - the working method was similar to that of the big car factories in Detroit. Fixed teams of composers like the Trio Holland-Dozier-Holland developed the songs. The studio was open up to 22 hours a day, and house band The Funk Brothers played for all of the label's artists. Motown had its first number one hit in 1961 "Please Mr Postman" from the Marvelettes. A song that the Beatles would later cover. The most successful group was the Supremes around lead singer Diana Ross (middle), who had twelve number one hits in the 60s, including "baby love", "Stop! In the Name of Love", "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

In January 1959, former professional boxer Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to start his own record label. Without knowing it, he laid the foundation for a success story that goes far beyond the musical significance. In segregated America brought Motown one of the first record companies to bring black music to a white audience. Gordy’s trick: He smoothed out the raw soul and emphasized catchy melodies. That’s how an incredible 110 Motown songs made it into the American top ten between 1961 and 1971.
In its heyday, Motown produced hits like on an assembly line – the working method was similar to that of the big car factories in Detroit. Fixed teams of composers like the Trio Holland-Dozier-Holland developed the songs. The studio was open up to 22 hours a day, and house band The Funk Brothers played for all of the label’s artists. Motown’s first number one hit was in 1961 with the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman.” A song that the Beatles would later cover.
The most successful group was the Supremes around lead singer Diana Ross (centre), who had twelve number one hits in the 1960s, including “Baby Love”, “Stop! In the Name of Love”, “I Hear a Symphony”. “, “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”.

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That went well for a decade, but by the end of the 60s the catchy soul-pop from Motown was no longer in demand. In addition, a dispute over a higher financial stake caused a break with Motown. Holland-Dozier-Holland continued to publish compositions, temporarily under a pseudonym, Edyth Wayne, and founded their own label Invictus. There they landed hits like “Give Me Just a Little More Time” by Chairmen of the Board.

In 1973 Lamont Dozier left the trio in favor of a solo career. Despite self-confident album titles such as “Black Bach”, he was unable to continue his success as a songwriter. After all, he had a few hits in the 80s: Together with Phil Collins, Dozier composed the songs “Two Hearts” and “Loco in Acapulco”, which appeared on the soundtrack to the film “Buster”.

In the final decades of his life, Dozier reaped the rewards of his life’s work: in 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the Holland brothers. In 2015, the three received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The composer also received a visiting professorship. On August 8th the great Lamont Dozier died. He was 81 years old.

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