Post by Motown Honey on Jul 21, 2007 8:44:56 GMT -5
Motown's mistake, soul music's legends
'Chrome Collection' highlights Spinners' music
By Todd Leopold
CNN
(CNN) --Motown messed up.
In 1970, when the label was riding high on its '60s supremacy, it let the Spinners go. And that was after the band was coming off its biggest hit for the label, the Stevie Wonder-penned and -produced "It's a Shame."
Billy Henderson, the group's co-founder and tenor singer, shrugs off the label's mistake.
"There were so many hits coming out of Motown at that time," he says in a phone interview from his home in east-central Florida. "Somebody had to get lost."
Henderson can afford to shrug now. The Spinners soon signed with Atlantic Records and were paired with legendary producer Thom Bell, one of the architects of the early and mid-'70s Philadelphia sound. The combination reeled off a string of hits -- "I'll Be Around," "One of a Kind (Love Affair)," "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," "The Rubberband Man."
"The Spinners were the greatest soul group of the early '70s, creating a body of work that defined the lush, seductive sound of Philly soul," writes Stephen Thomas Erlewine on Allmusic.com.
The history of the Spinners is now compiled on a three-disc box set, "The Chrome Collection" (Rhino). (Rhino Records is a division of AOL Time Warner, as is CNN.) The set is a chronicle of the changing styles of black music, from R&B to Motown to soul to funk to disco.
"There's a lot of history in there," says Henderson.
'Everything was designed for us'
The Spinners were naturals for Motown. The group -- the core of which still consists of Henderson, Bobbie Smith, Henry Fambrough and Pervis Jackson -- hailed from the Motor City and sharpened its chops in Detroit's music clubs. The Spinners were signed by R&B notable Harvey Fuqua and his soon-to-be wife, Gwen Gordy -- Motown founder Berry Gordy's sister -- for a small local label, Tri-Phi, which later became part of Motown.
The group became known for its showmanship, something Henderson credits to Motown's artist development system -- and the group's own sense of fun.
"We had one act, which we did for four or five years, in which we called ourselves the Brown Beatles," he recalls. "We had props, wigs ... we just imitated the Beatles. I was Ringo."
But as a recording entity, the group was on Motown's fringes. After a couple initial successes in the early '60s, they didn't hit the charts again until they were taken under Wonder's wing for "It's a Shame," which hit No. 14 in 1970.
"He's so creative," says Henderson in admiration. "He was always so far ahead." "It's a Shame" has Motown's big drums, but the guitar lines, horns and vocal arrangement identify it as something distinct from the label's usual sound.
That fact actually hurt the Spinners. Motown was losing its bearings with the changing times, and couldn't figure out how to present the group. (It wasn't the first time the label played it too safe; it shelved Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for a year, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown" for three, and battled Gaye and Wonder in the early '70s for the creative control they desired.)
Joining Bell was like ascending to an aural penthouse, says Henderson.
"His way of producing was top of the line," he says. "Motown would cut a track and have you sing across it. With Bell, everything was designed for us."
The producer tailored arrangements for the Spinners' powerhouse singer of the time, Philippe Wynne (G.C. Cameron, who left in 1971, sang lead on "It's a Shame"), and loved playing with odd instruments in concocting his dramatic instrumental beds.
Bell also had a good ear for hits.
"I think the first batch [of songs] he brought us had three gold records in it," says Henderson.
'That song shipped gold'
From that point, the group was unstoppable.
"We had always been promised [by Motown] that 'This is your year,' " Henderson says. With Atlantic, the years really did belong to the Spinners. "Nobody predicted that many hits in a row. That moved us into a new circle."
After a string of top 10 hits, the group finally hit No. 1 with a duet with Dionne Warwick, "Then Came You." Henderson laughs about Warwick's reaction to the song.
"She didn't believe 'Then Came You' was a hit. She liked another tune," he recalls. "But she was wrong. That song shipped gold."
The group's last major pop hit was a disco medley of Sam Cooke's "Cupid" and a Michael Zager song, "I've Loved You for a Long Time." Since then, they've worked steadily as a live group, playing venues from the Tanglewood Music Festival to Disney World.
Though their name has faded in the States, they've remained legends in Britain (where the band is known as the "Detroit Spinners" to prevent confusion with a British Spinners). Elvis Costello has raved about the Spinners in many interviews; in the box set's liner notes, David Bowie credits them with the best show he ever saw at New York's Apollo Theater.
Henderson revels in all the music.
"Thom Bell never picked a bad tune for us to do," he says. "He had such good taste."
Motown's Mistake
'Chrome Collection' highlights Spinners' music
By Todd Leopold
CNN
(CNN) --Motown messed up.
In 1970, when the label was riding high on its '60s supremacy, it let the Spinners go. And that was after the band was coming off its biggest hit for the label, the Stevie Wonder-penned and -produced "It's a Shame."
Billy Henderson, the group's co-founder and tenor singer, shrugs off the label's mistake.
"There were so many hits coming out of Motown at that time," he says in a phone interview from his home in east-central Florida. "Somebody had to get lost."
Henderson can afford to shrug now. The Spinners soon signed with Atlantic Records and were paired with legendary producer Thom Bell, one of the architects of the early and mid-'70s Philadelphia sound. The combination reeled off a string of hits -- "I'll Be Around," "One of a Kind (Love Affair)," "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," "The Rubberband Man."
"The Spinners were the greatest soul group of the early '70s, creating a body of work that defined the lush, seductive sound of Philly soul," writes Stephen Thomas Erlewine on Allmusic.com.
The history of the Spinners is now compiled on a three-disc box set, "The Chrome Collection" (Rhino). (Rhino Records is a division of AOL Time Warner, as is CNN.) The set is a chronicle of the changing styles of black music, from R&B to Motown to soul to funk to disco.
"There's a lot of history in there," says Henderson.
'Everything was designed for us'
The Spinners were naturals for Motown. The group -- the core of which still consists of Henderson, Bobbie Smith, Henry Fambrough and Pervis Jackson -- hailed from the Motor City and sharpened its chops in Detroit's music clubs. The Spinners were signed by R&B notable Harvey Fuqua and his soon-to-be wife, Gwen Gordy -- Motown founder Berry Gordy's sister -- for a small local label, Tri-Phi, which later became part of Motown.
The group became known for its showmanship, something Henderson credits to Motown's artist development system -- and the group's own sense of fun.
"We had one act, which we did for four or five years, in which we called ourselves the Brown Beatles," he recalls. "We had props, wigs ... we just imitated the Beatles. I was Ringo."
But as a recording entity, the group was on Motown's fringes. After a couple initial successes in the early '60s, they didn't hit the charts again until they were taken under Wonder's wing for "It's a Shame," which hit No. 14 in 1970.
"He's so creative," says Henderson in admiration. "He was always so far ahead." "It's a Shame" has Motown's big drums, but the guitar lines, horns and vocal arrangement identify it as something distinct from the label's usual sound.
That fact actually hurt the Spinners. Motown was losing its bearings with the changing times, and couldn't figure out how to present the group. (It wasn't the first time the label played it too safe; it shelved Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" for a year, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "The Tears of a Clown" for three, and battled Gaye and Wonder in the early '70s for the creative control they desired.)
Joining Bell was like ascending to an aural penthouse, says Henderson.
"His way of producing was top of the line," he says. "Motown would cut a track and have you sing across it. With Bell, everything was designed for us."
The producer tailored arrangements for the Spinners' powerhouse singer of the time, Philippe Wynne (G.C. Cameron, who left in 1971, sang lead on "It's a Shame"), and loved playing with odd instruments in concocting his dramatic instrumental beds.
Bell also had a good ear for hits.
"I think the first batch [of songs] he brought us had three gold records in it," says Henderson.
'That song shipped gold'
From that point, the group was unstoppable.
"We had always been promised [by Motown] that 'This is your year,' " Henderson says. With Atlantic, the years really did belong to the Spinners. "Nobody predicted that many hits in a row. That moved us into a new circle."
After a string of top 10 hits, the group finally hit No. 1 with a duet with Dionne Warwick, "Then Came You." Henderson laughs about Warwick's reaction to the song.
"She didn't believe 'Then Came You' was a hit. She liked another tune," he recalls. "But she was wrong. That song shipped gold."
The group's last major pop hit was a disco medley of Sam Cooke's "Cupid" and a Michael Zager song, "I've Loved You for a Long Time." Since then, they've worked steadily as a live group, playing venues from the Tanglewood Music Festival to Disney World.
Though their name has faded in the States, they've remained legends in Britain (where the band is known as the "Detroit Spinners" to prevent confusion with a British Spinners). Elvis Costello has raved about the Spinners in many interviews; in the box set's liner notes, David Bowie credits them with the best show he ever saw at New York's Apollo Theater.
Henderson revels in all the music.
"Thom Bell never picked a bad tune for us to do," he says. "He had such good taste."
Motown's Mistake
..it must have been very frustrating for the Spinners to be there so long and never really get that shot, but they were lucky to have a good career after Motown because they are one of the few acts who did...I put them right there with Gladys, the Isleys and the Jacksons 
...going to have to cop that Chrome set too 
