MusicTrivia

Things that make you say... I DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

STUBBORN KIND OF FELLOW, HITCH HIKE & PRIDE AND JOY sung by Marvin Gaye and backup by Martha & the Vandellas.
CAN I GET A WITNESS: Marvin Gaye; The Supremes backing vocals.
TRY IT BABY: Marvin Gaye ; Tempations backing vocals.

Marvin Gaye co-wrote DANCIN IN THE STREET with Ivy Hunter and Smokey Robinson.

Melvin Franklin's cousins are David Ruffin and Richard Street of the Temptations. Rick James is the nephew of Melvin Franklin who recorded with the Temptations on the Reunion LP in 1982 with the song STANDING ON THE TOP.

Sam Cooke's nephew is R.B. Greaves who sang TAKE A LETTER MARIA.

Valerie Simpson's brother (Ashford &Simpson) Ray Simpson was lead singer with Village People.

Valerie Simpson recorded the female part duet with Marvin Gaye on GOOD LOVIN' AIN'T EASY TO COME BY, WHAT YOU GAVE ME & THE ONION SONG replacing Tammi Terrell due to poor health.

IN THE STILL OF THE NITE was recorded in a New Haven church basement by the Five Satins.

General Johnson of the Chairmen of the Board wrote PATCHES for Clarence Carter.

The Chantels got their name from a rival school in the Bronx, St. Francis de Chantelle.

Dennis Edwards of the Temptations was originally with the Contours in 1967.

The Gap Band are 3 brothers from Oklahoma and cousins of Bootsy Collins.

When Mary Wells was 17 years old, she wrote a song for Jackie Wilson BYE BYE BABY.

Jackie Wilson was an amateur boxer, godfather of Jody Watley and cousin to Hubert Johnson of the Contours.

Isaac Hayes co-wrote with David Porter SOUL MAN and HOLD ON! I'M A COMIN.

The Pointer Sisters did backup work for Cold Blood, Boz Scaggs and Grace Slick.

Barbara Mason wrote and sang YES, I'M READY at 18 years of age. (She is also the cousin of James Brown).

Brenda Holloway was a backup singer for Joe Cocker.

Booker T & The MGs; MG stands for "Memphis Group".

Gladys Knight, & The Pips; named "Pips" for their manager James "Pips" Woods.

Cindy Birdsong, of the Supremes, originally sang with Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles.

Santo & Johnny are brothers.

Bill Cosby recorded 3 songs for Motown; LITTLE OLE MAN, YES,YES,YES & I LUV MYSELF BETTER THAN I LUV MY SELF (James Brown parody).

Bobby Day who sang ROCKIN ROBIN wrote LITTLE BITTY PRETTY ONE sung by Thurston Harris.

The Cadillacs who sang SPEEDO were the first R&B vocal group to exclusively use choreography in their stage routines.

Billy Butler is the youngest brother of Jerry Butler. He formed a group called the Enchanters. First recorded for Okeh in 1963 produced by Curtis Mayfield.

MFSB (THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA) stands for "Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers".

Dee Dee Warwick is the younger sister of Dionne Warwick; their aunt is Cissy Houston and cousin is Whitney Houston.

Alvin Cash (of the Crawlers) went to high school with Luther Ingram, Billy Davis (5th Dimension) and Tina Turner.

The Contours song DO YOU LOVE ME (written by Berry Gordy) was originally intended to be sung by The Temptations.

Chaka Khan's daughter, Milini, sang with female teen vocal quintet, PRETTY IN PINK in 1991.

Little Richard earned a theology degree in 1961 and was ordained as a minister.

Kenny G, at age 17, was a member of the Love Unlimited orchestra that backed Barry White.

Sylvia (Mickey & Sylvia) produced most of the songs done by the Moments.

The Dells did backup vocals for Barbara Lewis on HELLO STRANGER. They also did backup in their early days for Jerry Butler, Etta James and Dinah Washington.

Billy Stewart is the cousin of David Ruffin.

The Bar-Kays, Betty Wright, Millie Jackson, The Stylistics, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Ike & Tina Turner and Clarence Carter never had a #1 hit.

Undisputed Truth, a group put together by Norman Whitfield, recorded an early version of PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE which later became a huge smash for the Temptations. Taka Boom, sister of Chaka Khan, later became a featured vocalist for this group.

We all know that Smokey Robinson wrote MY GIRL, but what some may not know is that he had the Miracles in mind to cut the song, but when the Temptations heard the song they pleaded with Smokey to let them do it and as they say, "the rest is history".

Berry Gordy was going to originally name his record company "Tammy Records," after the song "Tammy" by Debbie Reynolds. But when he went to register the label, the name was already taken. After finding this out, he still wanted to use some of the name so he dropped the last two letters of the name, added "LA", and came up with TAMLA.

Martha Reeves was a professional entertainer before she was discovered. Martha was working at the renowned 20 Grand nightclub in Detroit when Mickey Stevenson (A&R Director for Motown) seen her, and asked her to come audition. Also, for her graduation Martha was presented at the HENRY FORD AUDITORIUM and performed BACH'S ARIA ALLELUJAH, before an audience of 4500.

Chuck Jackson sang with the Dell-Vikings from 1957-59 but is not heard on their hit singles.

The Supremes were the first girl group for Motown records. Though they were the first, they certainly weren't the first to have a hit. The Marvelettes were the first to dawn that honor with 'Please Mr. Postman'.

Groups such as the Andantes got a whole $5 to sing backup on many of the Motown recordings. Took a long time for them to get a raise of $7 a song, and even longer to get $15 a song.

The background vocals on Rick Dee's 'Disco Duck' was performed by Hot Buttered Soul. The group was formed by Motown alumni Pat Lewis. The group was also the background vocals on Isaac Hayes' mega hit 'Shaft', 'and 'Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree' by Tony Orlando. At the time, there was no group called Dawn. The group Dawn was added as an after thought. Hot Buttered Soul sang the backgrounds, and Thelma Hopkins was a sit-in for one of the groups singers. She later joined Tony Orlando as the other half of Dawn.

There was a group that was nicknamed "the Deacons" at Motown. The Deacons is the nickname Smokey Robinson called the "Temptations". They were tall, could sing, and all wore suit like deacons in a church!

"I Heard It Through The Grapevine" was originally sang by 2 different groups. The Isley Brother recorded the first version of the song, then the Miracles recorded the second version. Marvin Gaye recorded the third version but, Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded the first release of the song. It is believed that the Isley's track must have been recorded over by the Miracles version. Marvin Gaye's version though recorded before the Pips version was released after the Pips' version. . . . Does any of that make sense? . . .To top the confusion off ....the Isley/ Miracles' version .... the Pips' version .....and Marvin Gaye's version were all different versions of the same song!

The Supremes smash hit 'Where Did Our Love Go" was meant for the Marvelettes. The song was meant for Gladys Horton (lead singer of the Marvelettes) to sing. The song was produced in a lower key, the key Gladys sang in, not Diana's key (Diana sang in a higher key). This forced Diana to sing lower, breathier, and sexier.

The FOUR TOPS were already professionals before they recorded with Motown. In fact, they had been together almost a decade before signing with the record company. They had even been touring with Billy Eckstine, and done shows in Vegas before the creation of the Temptations.

Stevie Wonder signed as Stephen Hardaway Judkins when he auditioned for Motown. It's true, Ronnie White of the Miracles brought Stevie to Motown for Mickey Stevenson to here. Mickey brought Berry over to check out the eleven year old blind child. Berry was not impressed with Stevie's voice at the time, but he was impressed with his harmonical playing!

Junior Walker of Junior Walker and the All Stars never felt that he was a star. Junior (who was known best for his mega hit song 'Shotgun') always kept his feet on the group as an entertainer. Walker was a mechanic at heart. Though he played music, and performed for millions world wide, he enjoyed fixing cars. Some of his former musicians tell the story of when Junior use to come to rehearsal, " His hands would be black from the oil and dirt of a car he would have been working on prior to us getting together."

The Parliaments started out as a doo-wop group formed in 1955 by George Clinton.

The Supremes mega hit 'Where Did Our Love Go' was recorded on 3 tracks. One was the rhythm track, the second track was for horns, and a third track were dedicated to vocals.

The first group signed to the Motown label were the Miracles, with the test pressing of 'Bad Girl.' But the first catalog numbered group was the Satintones with the 1960 single release 'My Beloved.' The first Female artist signed to the Motown label was Mary Wells with 'Bye Bye Baby.' The first Male solo artist signed was Eugene Remus. The first band was Popcorn and the Mohawks. But ... that only applies if you're a Motown record purist! You'd actually would have to take Motownism back to January/1959 to the Tamla label. In which case, Marv Johnson was the first act for the label. Nick and the Jaguars would have to be the first group to record on the label, and Mabel Johns was the first female solo artist to record on the label. The Supremes were the first female group to record on the label. The first duo was Ron & Bill aka ...Ron White & Smokey Robinson of the Miracles.

Motown had a label called Melody, and another one called Melodyland. The label Melody was the company's first venture into the country music scene, even though there were other non-country artist on the label such as Lamont Dozier, the Pirates a.k.a ..Temptations, and the Vells a.k.a...Martha and the Vandellas. The Melodyland label took an interesting dive when a small ministry from Orange County, Florida claimed rights to the name. Motown didn't want to fight the ministry, so they converted everything to the Hitsville label.

Bobby Taylor of Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers auditioned for the vacant lead singer spot in the Temptations. When David left Taylor saw an opportunity to join the nations greatest singing group, so he auditioned. He didn't get the gig, because he was too short, and his feet were flat!

Mary Wilson didn't just sing backup for the Supremes at Motown. Mary also sang solo for the company. In 1979 Motown recorded a solo single on Wilson. The songs were 'Red Hot'/ 'Midnight Dancer'.

The rarest Motown record is by one of Motown's most obscure groups. The Easybeats recorded under the Rare Earth label. There was an album supposedly released called "Easy Ridin' ". The problem is . . . no record collector has ever seen the record! Some of the biggest collectors of Motown memorabilia has yet to even have heard the recording! (If anyone has A COPY OF THIS RECORDING PLEASE LET ME KNOW!)

Some of the Motown singers didn't consider themselves the best singers. Singers such as Levi Stubbs and David Ruffin considered themselves . . . Stylists! David Ruffin said in his last recorded interview, "Just turn on the tape, and what comes out . . . comes out! But, for God sakes don't erase or overdub the recording, because I may not sing it the same way a second time."

Junior Walker's growling sax was famous for something other than Motown songs. Junior also played the theme song for the smash UK sitcom Benny Hill. His sound was so distinct, that true fans of Walker asked for years who the sax player was, recognizing that distinct growl. Junior was flown over from the United States, for what was to be an all day session; but Junior had other things in mind, (such as hanging out in England), and knocked it out in one take!

The "Loco-Motion" song written by Gerry Coffin and Carole King never intended to use Little Eva, their babysitter, as anything but a demo singer for Dee Dee Sharp. But Eva's demo came out so well, they issued it and it went to number one.

The song "Sea Cruise" was recorded by Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns. Frankie Ford, who sometimes appeared with Smith, used their track with his own vocal.

From 1961 to 1963 Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks were the lead vocalists for the Temptations. In fact, Paul Williams was the first lead vocalist for the group along with Eddie on "Oh Mother Of Mine". Paul went on to sing the majority of the Tempts songs trading off with Eddie Kendricks until 1964 when David Ruffin who took Eldridge Bryant's place sung lead on the monster hit "My Girl".

Marvin Gaye was terrified to perform in front of a live audience even after the 'Lets Get It On' album was released. He was afraid that people wouldn't like him because he was a little rusty from not singing live for years. But, it took his friend, and party bud Wally Cox to convince him that the people still want him to perform. Though Gaye agreed to perform in the Bay area in California on November of 1973, he bowed out the last minute. Cox pursued him once again and Gaye eventually changed his mind to perform at the Oakland Coliseum on January 4, 1974, to a deafening crowd of thousands.

Smokey Robinson had help writing the Temptations hit song "The Way You Do The Things You Do". Bobby Rogers the tallest member of Smokey's group, The Miracles, was the person that helped Smokey to finish the smash hit song.

Patti Austin is the God-daughter of Quincy Jones.

The Rivingtons who did "The Bird's The Word" in 1963 did back up for Paul Anka's first recording. Duane Eddy's "Rebel Rouser" and "Little Bitty Pretty One" by Thurston Harris.

The song "Mustang Sally" was written by Sir Mack Rice but Aretha Franklin is responsible for naming the song.

"I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan was written by Prince, Grandmaster Melle Mel does the "rap" and harmonica by Stevie Wonder.

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Updated: April 9, 2005