Music Alive! Music Education for Today's Generation

Motown Man

Tell us more about your experience writing songs for Motown.


The first song I wrote for Motown was for the Marvelettes: “Locking of My Heart.” I was 19. To hear them do my song was fascinating. That particular song went to #20 on the charts, which felt really great. Shortly after that, I started writing with Brian Holland, who had been one of the writers on “Please Mr. Postman.” And then Brian’s brother Eddiel, who had been making vocal demos for Jackie Wilson, decided he didn’t want to sing any more. I used to write both lyric and melody, but the load was getting heavy for me, so we decided that if I could start the idea, Eddie could finish it up. So as a team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, we became like a factory within a factory.


I was the idea man. I would come up with an idea and then work out the melody part with Brian. Then I ‘d start a lyric and pass it on to Eddie—he would finish the lyric and teach it to an artist while Brian and I started on another song. It was like an assembly line that we had going. We were able to do that successfully with quite a few artists and rack up a lot of history.


We were trying to turn out the hits and whatever felt good, we would create that for whichever artist. At that time, the artists didn’t have a particular style—they had the style that we gave them in the song. That’s how the Motown sound came about. Basically, what we started—the songs that we put on albums by the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, and so on—those were the beginning of the Motown sound. These artists knew that we were singers, too, as well as songwriters, so they respected our writing and they respected our leadership. Whatever we proposed for them to sing, they trusted that we knew what we were talking about.

Is co-writing very different from writing a song on your own?


Co-writing is a giving thing. You have to have a giving spirit to do it, and you have to be able to listen. You have to listen because you don’t want to pass up something that might be better than what you just came up with. We had that understanding right off the bat as a team—we were able to keep our egos in check. And there was no ego when it came to the music; the music was king and whatever we had to do to keep the music happening, that’s what we did. We put the song first.


Every now and then, I co-write again. I got back together with the Holland brothers about 4 years ago to write the music for the First Wives Club, which was being made into a musical. I got back into the team because my love for musical theater is huge. We just closed at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego with standing ovations every night—people loved it! We’re making some personnel changes now, before we go to Broadway, but I think we’ve got a smash on our hands.

In your opinion, are there any songwriting “no-no’s”?


Well, you have to be serious. If you’re not going to commit 100% to the music, it’s not going to work. Music is a very selfish taskmaster. You have to give it your all or it won’t reward you. You have to have a good relationship with the music by giving it your all. If you give what it requires, it will give back to you a thousand-fold. Lord knows I’ve been so successful, beyond my imagination, and people are still singing my songs after 45 years…

What are the keys to writing a great song?


Perseverance. Commitment. Passion. If you’re writing music, you have to be in it for the music, not for money or girls. You have to have a commitment. I work 7 days a week, still. I get up in the morning and write. I sing in the shower—and I think the best ideas come when you’re fresh and rested. I’ll write from about 10:00 until noon.


I can’t say enough about the work ethic. That’s where the leather hits the road. If you put in enough time and work, it will pay off whether you’re a good writer or a mediocre writer because you’re going to get better, and one day while that happens, you’re going to realize that this is what you want to do. A light is going to come on inside of you and you’re going to be rewarded for the work you put into it. That will drive you as far as you want to go.