by Martin Sejas
Have you ever listened to a song and just thought, “I’ve heard that before”? But then your friend tells you that it’s a brand new song that’s just been released. But you’re not convinced. The song has a familiar rhythm, a familiar beat and perhaps a familiar voice. However, it isn’t a cover version. It has a brand new title and has probably been released as a brand new single, yet you still feel a sense of déjà vu. You start thinking that this ‘brand new song’ pinched someone else’s beat or rhythm and made some slight modifications to make it appear like their own original composition.
This is exactly what happened in the 1960s. 4 different songs from 2 different artists were released over a period of 12 months that sounded pretty much the same. And the amazing thing is that 3 of these songs became number 1 hits in the US while the other one made the Top 5. Can you guess the songs and artists I’m referring to? I’ll give you a clue: Motown.
Motown Records was one of, if not, the most successful record label of the 1960s. In total, they produced 20 number 1 hits on the US Billboard Charts, including countless others that charted in the Top 20 and Top 100 of the Billboard Charts. The main production team that was responsible for most of these Motown hits was a group known as Holland-Dozier-Holland (HDH) and they were made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland.
HDH came together at Motown Records in the early 1960s. Eddie Holland arrived at Motown as a recording artist who had a top 30 hit in 1961, but soon realized that his stage fright would not allow to perform at his best. His brother, Brian had already been a songwriter at Motown and had already tasted success as a co-composer of the 1961 number 1 hit “Please Mr. Postman” which has since been re-made by many artists such as The Carpenters. On the other hand, Lamont Dozier had been moving from one record label to the next as a recording artist.
Before long, all 3 realized that they were more comfortable being songwriters and producers rather than recording music themselves. As a result, the HDH production team was formed and their first songs were created for Martha and the Vandellas with which they had some chart success including a top 10 hit. However, their first big success wouldn’t come until 1964 when they created a song called “Where Did Our Love Go” for the Supremes, which up until then, had had 8 failed singles. It became both HDH’s and the Supremes’ number 1 hit in the US.
The tremendous success of the song prompted HDH to think that it had the winning formula to writing and producing hit songs. As a result, they used the same elements that made “Where Did Our Love Go” a hit in the Supremes’ next single “Baby Love”. It’s not a surprise that both songs sound very much alike in beat and rhythm. However, it worked like a charm! Soon enough, “Baby Love” was on top of the US charts and eventually ended up being a bigger hit than “Where Did Our Love Go.”
Apart from the Supremes, the other Motown group that had incredible success with the HDH production team was The Four Tops. They were a male vocal group signed to the Motown label. Due to their earlier success with the Supremes, HDH sought out to use the same elements on their Supremes hits on songs for the Four Tops. It is, therefore, no coincidence that the first number 1 hit “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” uses the same melodic and chordal progressions as “Where Did Our Love Go.” You can be forgiven for thinking that “I Can’t Help Myself” is just a cover version of the Supremes song.
“I Can’t Help Myself” became the group’s first number 1 hit and as a result, Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown records, was keen on producing another hit song to capitalize on their popularity. This was in response to Columbia Records (The Four Tops’ former label) re-releasing an older song in order to capitalize on their popularity. However, Gordy wanted another song written, produced and recorded in 24 hours time.
So HDH were put straight to work on a new song and they were having trouble finding inspiration. To help their cause, they were listening to the radio changing channels which eventually made Lamont Dozier say, “It sounds like the same old song.” At that moment, he got an idea and made a new song by reversing the chord changes of “I Can’t Help Myself” and naming it “It’s The Same Old Song.”
“It’s The Same Old Song” lives up to its title as it is extremely similar to “I Can’t Help Myself” and it is common for people to mix up both. In fact, the Four Tops normally perform both songs one after the other at their concerts. However, unlike “I Can’t Help Myself”, it only reached number 5 on the Billboard Charts.
I guess the lesson to be learnt from these 4 different, yet similar-sounding songs is that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s what HDH did when they had their first number 1 hit with the Supremes. It worked a treat for them and it serves as a lesson for us in everything we do.
It’s also a wake-up call for all of us so that we do not accept anything deemed “original” as purely original. Songs influence songs, artists influence artists, so you shouldn’t be surprised if next time you think you’ve heard a certain song before, because chances are, you probably have.
More from The Supremes
More from The Four Tops
