The Underdogs, "Mo Jo Hanna" c/w "Love's Gone Bad," V.I.P. 25040 (rel. 1/1967)

 

We conclude our mini-survey of American garage bands with a rarity. Motown kept an eye on worthy white artists in the 1960s and ‘70s. Berry Gordy had a fondness for washed-up pop crooners; Tony Martin, bland wartime big-band singer (and co-star with The Marx Brothers in one of their lesser movies), had Motown releases. What was Gordy thinking? Dean Martin had pop hits in the ‘60s; lightning might strike twice. (Sad truth: it never does.)

Motown tapped into the talent pool of the metro Detroit area. By 1965, this included rock ‘n’ roll combos inspired by the omnipresence of British groups on the pop scene. Among the Motor City’s many hard-rockin’ combos, The Underdogs were chosen to become Motown artists. Their lone single appeared on the company’s V.I.P. label—a reservoir of unusual and eccentric performers and songs that soul snobs loathe, and that’s their problem. This is was among the final moments of Motown’s eclectic approach. By 1967, Gordy had honed in on specific artists and approaches that got his people on the pop charts, on TV, on the radio—in everyone’s business. And good for him; it took a lot of hard work to reach that point.

Doing so lost the label its fringe projects. A group like The Underdogs was an exception by 1967; their one single stiffed (#122 on the Billboard charts) and several recorded sides sat in the vaults until music researchers uncovered them decades later. Its choice of two Motown standards was good for Gordy’s coffers, but didn’t give the group much creative room.

The group? From Grosse Point, The Underdogs were high schoolers bitten by the Beatle bug and fans of a local nitespot called The Hideout. Said club had its own record label, and The Underdogs, once established as crowd-pleasers, got some group originals on vinyl and/or styrene. Their moody garage sound, with electric organ, is far more polished than the mass of regional bands, but with a grit that remains impressive. Their debut single featured a poem penned by an Alcoholics Anonymous member, “The Man in the Glass,” set to music as a minor-key mood-piece. This debut was picked up by Reprise Records for wide distribution; then someone noticed the boys had borrowed this shame-inducing poem for a song lyric and the reissue was pulled. (It got to #133 on the national pop charts.)

The group’s originals are decent enough; it’s a pity they didn’t get to do their own stuff for Motown. Producer Clarence Paul had them focus on Motown copyrights, including The Temptations’ hit “The Way You Do the Things You Do.” For their single, two lesser-known items got the Underdogs treatment.

“Mo Jo Hanna,” first recorded by Henry Lumpkin for Motown, gets a gravel-voiced performance by lead singer Dave Whitehouse, and a big, atmospheric sound. The band appears to play their own parts, but I sense the presence of some studio ringers in the room. This r&b/rock standard gets a capable and sometimes-inspired performance by the group. This was the intended B-side, but might have been a better pick for the A; it’s quite radio-friendly.

Cash Box reviews got a bit robotic by 1967. Typos in song titles abounded;
where was the editor?

“Love’s Gone Bad” was first recorded by another Caucasian Motowner, Chris Clark, whose 1966 rendition was a minor hit. It’s one of the better songs by Motown’s Holland-Dozier-Holland combine, who penned the songs that brought the label into the mainstream.

Clark’s version sets a high bar; this group opts for an Animals-style treatment with a tough, urgent approach. Whitehouse’s vocal is impressive, and percussionist Michael Morgan gets that Motown drum sound; producer Paul was a studio veteran with a golden ear for a hit.

This is a great recording—less commercial-sounding than “Hanna” but a fine specimen of this group’s hearty, forthright approach. Motown didn’t do much to promote the single and it was The Underdogs’ swansong on vinyl.

“Love’s Gone Bad” was chosen for the Rhino Records 4-CD box set Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968—no small honor. Some of the group’s unissued Motown material can be found on the YouTube. Perhaps a compilation of the group’s known recordings will show up; stranger things have happened.

Tomorrow: a fun Friday fling with a sorta-forgotten Top 30 hit by UK mod Georgie Fame. Two jazzy numbers from a 1965 Imperial Records platter. Edited by US record execs, who excised a sax solo just because they could.