V.I.P
jsREVIEW:
In 1966, for Motown subsidiary V.I.P. records, Chris Clark (one of the few white artists who succeeded under Barry Gordy) released “Love’s Gone Bad,” a Holland-Dozier-Holland joint. It made it to 43 on the R&B charts, 105 on the pop charts, fueled by her hard voice and sparse, bass-heavy production.
That same year, the first white band (not white artist) signed by Gordy, The Underdogs, also took a crack at it. It’s hard to argue that their version is better— it’s one of those Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin “Respect” moments. It goes from being a thumping R&B floor-filler to a badass garage moment, recalling just how rock and roll got going in the first place (and where later bands like The Buzzcocks got their inspiration).
The Underdogs were Grosse Pointe’s premier rock group at the time, and I have to imagine that if they’d ever been heard outside the Detroit area, they’d be on Lenny Kaye’s rolodex. As it stands, this track’s bleak lyrics (”I see a rainbow/turn to black/it’s a sign/ you’re not comin’ back”) and absolutely fantastic backbeat make for a perfect companion to better-known songs like “96 Tears” and “Black Monk Theme.”
No comments
Comments feed for this article