Motown Monday ~ “Love’s Gone Bad” ~ The Underdogs.

1967…Living on the east side of Detroit and this blasting out of my little transistor radio on WKNR & CKLW.

Me and my 10-year-old friends loudly singing it and dancing to it. The much older teenagers going to The Hideout! in Harper Woods to see them perform this number among others. Obviously they heard it a lot louder. And Hideout had their own label which recorded The Underdogs for two years along with using Reprise for national distribution.

Then Motown took an interest in the group and signed them, should have known they were doomed right then and there.

Love’s Gone Bad written by Holland-Dozier-Holland was originally done by Chris Clarke but as far as I’m concerned this was the only rendition we paid any attention to.

Sad that this was just another band that Berry Gordy let go down the drain without much promotion no matter how good they sounded.

The song hit number 2 on WKNR in Detroit and in reality stayed in the top 10 the entire year. But on the VIP label it didn’t stir up as big beyond the Motor City’s borders so when it came up #122 on the Pop 100 Gordy stopped them in their tracks.

But the same kids who ate up the rest also did so with this group, they just weren’t given much of a chance.

This Motown Monday I will pay homage to them.

 

 

Recorded in 1966, Released in 67′.

 

Dave Whitehouse – lead vocals, bass
Tony Roumell – lead guitar, vocals
Chris Lena – rhythm guitar, vocals
Michael Morgan – drums, vocals

Other Credits on the session.

James Jamerson – bass
Jack Ashford – tambourine
Earl Van Dyke – organ

 

Note: God knows how I love The Funk Brothers and respectively give them their due on all my Motown recordings blogs. But it should also be noted that all four members of The Underdogs were more than capable of laying down the music, the exec’s wanted the Funk Brothers feel on the recording yet still shot them down with their one and only release.