Thanks to a Genius! / Ronald Isley & Beyonce "Make Me Say It Again, Girl"
My summer vacation has been so busy (mostly serving as my son's servant) that it's been a while since I've written on this Note. In the meantime, there's been all sorts of drama between Beyonce and Kelis, Koshien (high school baseball) has started and ended (the speech by the Sendai Ikuei manager during the championship interview was just wonderful!), and the BayStars have been on a hot streak (well, until last week. Sob). But what really shocked soul fans was the news of Lamont Dozier's passing. As a member of the production/songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland (H-D-H) alongside brothers Brian and Eddie, he was one of the most important figures in soul history, having established the Motown sound. After leaving Motown following a dispute, he became famous for founding the Invictus/Hot Wax labels and for his solo work.
There are countless songs he worked on that I love, such as The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," and "Stop! In the Name of Love," or The Four Tops' "I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)," but as someone who was obsessed with Invictus/Hot Wax for a while, I have a special attachment to Freda Payne.
Freda Payne / Band of Gold
It's a fantastic track with that lingering Motown flavor (it is played by the Funk Brothers, after all), but I was shocked when I learned much later that the lyrics are about a bride who was left at the altar by her groom... I wonder why they wrote such lyrics over such a happy-sounding track.
Future Flight / Hip-Notic Lady
I think I like this one the best. Well, there's no ranking when it comes to what you love. This was a Lamont solo production, not H-D-H. It's a masterpiece by a mysterious group that only released one album. It's not a Motown sound, but an 80s urban medium track.
Lamont Dozier / Let Me Make Love To You
I think I like this one best from his solo work. It was sampled in Maiah's "After the Rain."
As I pulled various things from my record shelves and CD racks to listen to after a long time, I thought about how it's because of geniuses like this that culture becomes rich and we can live our daily lives happily. I'm grateful to Lamont for leaving behind such wonderful music. I'll get through the rest of my summer vacation listening to lovely music!
<Today's Track>
Ronald Isley & Beyonce / Make Me Say It Again, Girl
A track that is currently the talk of the town. A self-remake of the Isley Brothers' 1975 song, featuring Beyonce. The original was sampled in Naughty By Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray" and Raja-Neé's "Turn It Up." But man, it's just perfect. It's so wonderful that it almost brings me to tears. It's a passionate number that doesn't lose the mellowness of the original. Sigh, I can keep living because of songs like this.
The Isley Brothers / Make Me Say It Again, Part.1 & 2
This is the original. It's amazing, it's too good, he's too much of a genius (dying of ecstasy).