Happy Birthday to Brian Holland, who turns 79 on Sunday (February 15th)!!! Holland along with brother Eddie, and Lamont Dozier, formed Motown's legendary songwriting and production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, and have written nearly 300 songs — including the Four Tops' Top Ten hits "Standing In The Shadows Of Love," "Bernadette," "It's The Same Old Song," and their Number Ones "I Can't Help Myself" and "Reach Out (I'll Be There)." Holland-Dozier-Holland are also responsible for writing and producing Martha & the Vandellas' "Nowhere To Run," "Heatwave" and "Jimmy Mack." However, they are best known for their string of Number Ones with the Supremes, including "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Stop! In The Name Of Love," "Come See About Me," "Back In My Arms Again," and "I Hear A Symphony."
Lamont Dozier told us that he and the Holland brothers took great pains to make their compositions great records — as well as timeless songs: ["If I'm there working on 'I Hear A Symphony' or Brian is working on 'Stop! In The Name Of Love' — whatever it is, we would get together and figure out where do we go from one point to the other, so that the song sounds different, that it's not trite musically, production-wise. And have something that would say something that would give a person a lift."] SOUNDCUE (:19 OC: . . . person a lift)
Motown labelmate Martha Reeves says that it was the Supremes being taken under the wings of Holland-Dozier-Holland that first turned the group's then-hitless career around: ["The machinery got intact when Holland-Dozier-Holland were assigned to the Supremes, who had been there all along, and very well deserving of a hit. Well, Smokey Robinson had put out a whole album of singles on the Supremes, but none of them had a hit the way that his music had hit with Mary Wells."] SOUNDCUE (:14 OC: . . . with Mary Wells)