Lamont Dozier, “Breakin’ Out All Over”
Greetings again, fellow Thrifty Music enthusiasts!
You thought I was kidding, didn’t you? 20 Thrifty Music tracks in 40 days? Surely not! I say: surely! And today’s track is a stone winner from 1976 — a bit of proto-disco flava from one third of the legendary Motown songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland: Mr. Lamont Dozier.
I’ll spare you the history lesson about Lamont’s disaffection with the Berry Gordy machine and how stingy they were with the proceeds from the hard work of staff writers and performers — and the long, fascinating saga of the Invictus label and its ultimate failure. This track, “Breakin’ Out All Over,” actually comes from Lamont’s years at ABC, when he tried to parlay his undeniable talent and his Gary Coleman, uh, “good looks” into a career as a solo artist.
Well, as great as much of Lamont’s music was during that era, he never quite gained the solo artist traction he was seeking. But the music — much of which remains out of print — was frequently quite good, and this song is no exception. So, yes, as usual, I’m looking for your impressions of this sweeping, soaring, orchestral soul number.
But more than that, I’m looking for an answer to a question: What would you do if you had a million dollars to spend on bringing a musical dream to life?
You know what I’d do? I’d put together my own Love Unlimited-style Orchestra and tour the larger, fancier concert halls of this great, over-compensated nation. I’d work the music media like hell, getting them to realize that it’s been THIRTY FREAKING YEARS since anybody’s been able to hear the orchestral masterworks of Barry White, Thom Bell, Isaac Hayes, and yes, Lamont Dozier in their proper live setting. I’d sell $80 tickets to the 50-something BMW and Mercedes set, and thrill to the knowledge that I could a) keep a magnificent part of America’s musical heritage alive, while b) actually paying my 40-piece orchestra fairly. And I might put on a few cheap shows, too, at larger clubs in town where the proles could actually get down and dance if they wanted to.
That’s what *I* would do with a million bucks. What would *you* do?
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
I’d make my band-mates quit their day-jobs, and hire them to work 40 work weeks on our magnum opus. I would pay them at something somewhat above what they currently are paid. Then I would form my own record label to manufacture, promote & distribute our masterpiece upon an unsuspecting world. Unyielding Rawk-Godness would consume us, and prove to be the salvation today’s mainstream musik scene is so desperately in need of!
One can dream right??
Can you tell that I’ve fantasy for a looong time????
Oooooooooohh! And uh… Hey! That Lamont Dozier track is da bomb. Thanx for a-posting it.
Keep ’em coming.
I hate to think of how much time and money I’ve already spent trying to bring a musical dream to life, so let’s move onto a new musical dream, shall we?
It’s too late for me to take over management of Joe Strummer’s career, convincing him to ditch the world music namechecks of Ethiopian DJs and instead make a direct, hard-hitting rock ‘n roll album in the vein of The 101’ers.
I’d love to research and write up an in-depth analysis of the making of XTC’s English Settlement, complete with a companion CD demonstrating how tracks progressed. I still think that’s the most uniquely crafted Prock album, with a production that I would have thought would blow the gates off the way FM radio sounded but instead only helped producer Hugh Padgham come out from Steve Lillywhite’s engineer’s desk and make a name for himself as producer of Prock-oriented artists like Phil Collins. That was not the revolution I had in mind.
That project would not use up the $1 million dollars, so maybe I’d put the rest toward booking my tour of college campuses, where I’d argue for the merits of The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” as one of the band’s five best post-“Good Vibrations” recordings.
The Dozier track is cool, hrrundi. Shortly before hearing it I was listening to a couple of Wilson Pickett’s TSOP singles. This falls into that vein. What Dozier lacks is a commanding voice. For as much as I love the H-D-H works for Motown, I’ve never learned whether they had a division of labor. Does anyone know if the three of them specialized in one aspect or another of the writing and production?
Pleasant, with little aftertaste, although the flute seems like a mistake. I’m not expert enough in mid-70s soul/disco to really pick it apart, but the whole orchestral thing sounds pretty much like any other full orchestral production–a big fat mattress of sound for the sake of sound, but doesn’t really do anything to drive the song. Is this a dance song? Or was this something that people would listen to at home? I’m not old enough to understand the intended market, I guess.
The lyrics make me think “It’s gonna take an ocean/of calamine lotion” and also of the time where I had unexplained hives everywhere and had to take Benadryl for a solid month. Breaking out all over and itching just isn’t attractive.
Mr. Moderator, I’m down with the English Settlement project, which is a very worthwhile endeavor, but that’s on your dime. I’d take part of my million and do a Bear Family Records style career retrospective of Charlie Chesterman, best known for Scruffy the Cat but who has been putting out great music for thirty years. I’d use the rest to bribe whoever needs to be bribed to put out a proper Buddy Holly career compilation. If there’s any left over, it would go to solving the mystery of who killed Bobby Fuller.
Mod, I can’t find the thread again, but I recall you and Oats recently discussing the need for a Glossary entry on your Kokomo theory/personality disorder and it occurs to be now that the term itself should be Kokomotion. Perhaps something involving “a deliberate attempt by an artist to return to his/her/their moment of greatest success at a time of critical or commercial crisis”?
I will have to listen to the song later, but to answer the million dollar question, three words: sentient robot band.
Yes, alexmagic, Oats came up with that fantastic concept a couple of weeks ago. I hope he can follow up on it. He has enough distance from me so that he could better analyze my condition than I could myself. Beside, I’m pretty spent from my recent flight back from Dayton, Ohio.
Recipe for this song to become smash hit in 1976:
1. Put it in the hands of Teddy Pendergrass when he was fronting Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes.
2. Since it’s over four minutes long and has that cheesy flute near the end, release the single on two sides. Split the song into Parts I & II. Keep the first 2:42 on side one.
I’ll get back to you on the million dollar question.
The mention of Teddy Pendergrass reminds me…last night I finally watched The Original Kings of Comedy, Spike Lee’s concert film of Steve Harvey, D.H. Hughley (sp?), Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac. I laughed hard, and I highly enjoyed Steve Harvey’s bit on the lack of love songs in hip hop compared with the “old school” R&B of his generation.
What did rapper 50cents say? “I don’t make love / I have sex.” Pretty much sums up the generational differences.
My million dollar plan involves my breakthrough solo album. I like bands that have been around a long time, and I always wanted that tight/loose rhythm section sound, without having to build and keep my own band together for years.
So my dream was always to hire several different bands like this to cut a few songs apiece with me. I’d have a few tracks with NRBQ, a few with the Heartbreakers, and a few with the Attractions/Impostors. Recording with The Band is no longer possible, so maybe I’d substitute Nixon’s Head.
If all of that wouldn’t cost $1 million, I could use the rest for the album cover. Or maybe hire someone to write better songs than I’ve got.
Speaking of Kokomo:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f7a03edbd7/pee-wee-gets-an-ipad