Holland–Dozier–Holland, often abbreviated as H-D-H, was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
History
The trio came together at Motown in the early 1960s. and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" for Marvin Gaye.
Lawsuits and solo careers
In 1967, H-D-H entered into a dispute with Berry Gordy Jr. over profit-sharing and royalties. The lawsuit was settled in 1977.
Dozier left Holland–Dozier–Holland Productions, Inc. (HDHP) in 1973 and resumed his career as a solo performing artist. From the mid-1970s onwards, HDHP, with Harold Beatty replacing Dozier, wrote and produced songs for a number of artists. HDHP even worked on material for Motown artists in the 1970s, including The Supremes and Michael Jackson, while its litigation against the company was still pending. Dozier commented in 2008, "The lawsuit was just our way of taking care of business that needed to be taken care of—just like Berry Gordy had to take care of his business which resulted in the lawsuit. Business is business, love is love."
Holland–Dozier–Holland threatened to sue the band Aerosmith in 1989 due to the resemblance of parts of the song "The Other Side" (from the album Pump) to the Holland–Dozier–Holland song "Standing in the Shadows of Love". To forestall litigation, Aerosmith agreed to add Holland–Dozier–Holland to the songwriting credits in the album's liner notes.
Later years
Dozier had his own production company and continued to work as a solo artist, producer and recording artist, while the Holland Brothers own HDH Records and Productions (without any participation from Dozier), which issues recordings from the Invictus and Hot Wax catalogs as well as new material. The San Diego production sold approximately 29,000 tickets in its five-week run. Ticket demand was so strong early on that The Old Globe extended its run (originally four weeks) prior to opening night. However, reviews were mixed to negative, and the producers opted to rework the book.
In June 2014, it was announced that The First Wives Club (with an entirely new book written by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason) would be heading to Chicago premiering on February 16, 2015. The play now included a sprinkling of classic H-D-H songs (including "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "My World Is Empty Without You"), interspersed with the new material. Following the Chicago run, the production was to head to Broadway for a fall 2015 arrival, but the critical reception to the play was lukewarm to negative, and the production quietly closed after its Chicago run.
Legacy
Longtime BMI songwriters, Brian Holland affiliated with the performing rights organization in 1960, followed by Lamont Dozier in 1961 and Eddie Holland in 1963. They have won many BMI Awards, including BMI Pop Awards and Million-Air citations. On May 13, 2003, Holland–Dozier–Holland were honored as BMI Icons at the 51st BMI Pop Awards.
Holland–Dozier–Holland are mentioned (along with the Four Tops and their vocalist Levi Stubbs, as well as Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong) in the lyrics of the song "Levi Stubbs' Tears" from the 1986 Billy Bragg album Talking with the Taxman about Poetry; and also in the lyrics of the Magnetic Fields' song "The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure", from their 1999 album 69 Love Songs.
Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2010.
Discography
Songwriting
Production
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:35px;"|Year
! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:250px;"|Song title
! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:180px;"|Original artists
! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:300px;"|Covering artists
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="text-align:center; " rowspan="3"|1962
| style="text-align:left; "|"Dearest One"
| style="text-align:left; "|Lamont Dozier
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|
|- style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
||"Old Love (Let's Try It Again)"
||Mary Wells
||Martha and the Vandellas, Four Tops
|-
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|"Darling, I Hum Our Song"
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Eddie Holland
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Martha and the Vandellas, Four Tops
|-
| style="text-align:center; vertical-align:top;" rowspan="16"|1963
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|"Leaving Here"
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Eddie Holland
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"| Motörhead, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, Pearl Jam, The Birds, The Who, Brownsville Station, The Gories, The Messengers, The Rationals, and The Volts
|- style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
||"Locking Up My Heart"
||The Marvelettes
||
|-
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|"What Goes Up Must Come Down" /<br>"Come on Home"
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Holland & Dozier
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|
|- style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
||"Tie a String Around Your Finger"
||The Marvelettes
| style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|
|- style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"
||"Come and Get These Memories" /<br>"Jealous Lover"
||Martha and the Vandellas
!Artist
|-
|rowspan="3"|1963
|"Heat Wave"
| style="text-align:center;"|4
||Martha and the Vandellas
|-
|"Mickey's Monkey"
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|The Miracles
|-
|"Quicksand"
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|Martha and the Vandellas
|-
|rowspan="4"|1964
|"Where Did Our Love Go"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|rowspan="3"|The Supremes
|-
|"Baby Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|"Come See About Me"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|Marvin Gaye
|-
|rowspan="6"|1965
|"Stop! In the Name of Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|The Supremes
|-
|"Nowhere to Run"
| style="text-align:center;"|8
|Martha and the Vandellas
|-
|"Back in My Arms Again"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|The Supremes
|-
|"I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|rowspan="2"|Four Tops
|-
|"It's the Same Old Song"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|"I Hear a Symphony"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|rowspan="4"|The Supremes
|-
|rowspan="7"|1966
|"My World Is Empty Without You"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|-
|"Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart"
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|"You Can't Hurry Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
|"Reach Out I'll Be There"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|Four Tops
|-
|"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|The Supremes
|-
|"Standing in the Shadows of Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|Four Tops
|-
|"I'm Ready for Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|Martha and the Vandellas
|-
|rowspan="7"|1967
|"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|The Supremes
|-
|"Baby I Need Your Loving"
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|Johnny Rivers
|-
|"Jimmy Mack"
| style="text-align:center;"|10
|Martha and the Vandellas
|-
|"Bernadette"
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|Four Tops
|-
|"The Happening"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|rowspan="3"|The Supremes
|-
|"Reflections"
| style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|"In and Out of Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|1968
|"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
| style="text-align:center;"|6
|Vanilla Fudge
|-
|rowspan="2"|1970
|"Give Me Just a Little More Time"
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|Chairmen of the Board
|-
|"Band of Gold"
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|Freda Payne
|-
|rowspan="2"|1975
|"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|James Taylor
|-
|"(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave"
| style="text-align:center;"|5
|Linda Ronstadt
|-
|1982
|"You Can't Hurry Love"
| style="text-align:center;"|10
|Phil Collins
|-
|1987
|"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|Kim Wilde
|-
|1990
|"This Old Heart of Mine"
| style="text-align:center;"|10
|Rod Stewart with Ronald Isley
|}
References
External links
- HDH Records Official Site
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee article
- SoulMusic Hall Of Fame at SoulMusic.com