So Who Was The First White Act 'signed' To Motown

[Spacehopper]

this was a question at niccis pub quiz last nite,she asked me when she got home and i said possibly chris clark was earliest i knew after R dean taylor and teena marie..apparently the quiz bloke said kiki dee?...but gave her real name

just googled it and got posts for r dean taylor ,teena,nick and the jaguars,rare earth and the valadiers but no mention of kiki..

what do you lot reckon?

dean

[Spacehopper]

ah just found a post pauline matthews first white BRITISH act

problem solved..dont think nicci mentioned that

[Rbman]

Debbie Dean.....

[Newer]

Howard Crockett maybe? Dorsey Burnette?

[TOAD]

tommy good

[Windlesoul]

Valadiers?

[Sebastian]

Nick And The Jaguars is the correct answer.

They were not signed to the label, but did a one-off 45 on Tamla in August 1959.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Sebastian

[John Reed]

.

Edited February 23, 2012 by John Reed

[Rbman]

Nick And The Jaguars is the correct answer.

They were not signed to the label, but did a one-off 45 on Tamla in August 1959.

Was not the question confined to Motown?

[Agentsmith]

Was not the question confined to Motown?

YOU SHOULD TAKE "MOTOWN " AS A GENERAL TERM, IT COVERS ALL ITS MAIN & SUBSIDIARY LABELS AND THEIR OUTPUT...NICK & THE JAGUARS, AS EXPLAINED, IS THE CORRECT ANSWER AND OTHERS SUCH AS THE VALADIERS, DEBBIE DEAN FOLLOWED SOON AFTER...BY THE TIME R.DEAN TAYLOR TURNED UP "WHITE" WAS A MUCH USED Expression....KIKI DEE CAME RIGHT AT THE END OF THE 60'S/TURN OF THE 70'S...FIRST BRITISH ARTIST,...YES.

[Rbman]

it was a quiz question that included the words "signed for" and "Motown" ....not a 45 released record with a Gordy family label....

[JOE TORQUAY]

am i right in thinking the pretty things were the first uk artists ever signed up by motown,

as for the first white artist bruce channel whilst not the first, must be one of the first i would have thought,

joe.

[p0stscript]

YOU SHOULD TAKE "MOTOWN " AS A GENERAL TERM, IT COVERS ALL ITS MAIN & SUBSIDIARY LABELS AND THEIR OUTPUT...NICK & THE JAGUARS, AS EXPLAINED, IS THE CORRECT ANSWER AND OTHERS SUCH AS THE VALADIERS, DEBBIE DEAN FOLLOWED SOON AFTER...BY THE TIME R.DEAN TAYLOR TURNED UP "WHITE" WAS A MUCH USED Expression....KIKI DEE CAME RIGHT AT THE END OF THE 60'S/TURN OF THE 70'S...FIRST BRITISH ARTIST,...YES.

YES 1970

The Day Will Come Between Sunday And Monday / My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) TMG(I) 739 1970

[Staceys Dad]

am i right in thinking albert finney made a lp for motown.. and granny out of the beverly hillbillies also made a record for motown or am i drinking to much.....or not drinking enough.. .

[CRUMB]

am i right in thinking albert finney made a lp for motown.. and granny out of the beverly hillbillies also made a record for motown or am i drinking to much.....or not drinking enough.. .

Yeah, I think her real name was Eileen Ryan. It was when Berry Gordy was trying to break into films and they released a soundtrack to a musical.

[Guest funky16corners]

Don't forget these guys...

https://ironleg.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/the-underdogs-loves-gone-bad-bw-mo-jo-hanna/

[Robbk]

Nick And The Jaguars is the correct answer.

They were not signed to the label, but did a one-off 45 on Tamla in August 1959.

That's right, and they were with Berry Gordy even before Tamla, as The Biscaines on Ridge Records (on which Gordy also recorded Don McKenzie (later with Miracle). Debbie Dean had recorded with him, previously, for Argo.

[JOE TORQUAY]

YES 1970

The Day Will Come Between Sunday And Monday / My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) TMG(I) 739 1970

i'm sure pretty thing were signed up before kiki dee,

it was in the nme which i used to have every week,

joe.

[p0stscript]

i'm sure pretty thing were signed up before kiki dee,

it was in the nme which i used to have every week,

joe.

It was March 1969 I believe the song Sorrow on Rare Earth Records RS 506, RS 505 being Blues Helping by Dave Edmund's Love Sculpture - so I'm not sure who they actually signed first.

[Sunnysoul]

Connie Haines was at Motown very early on too, possibly '62/3 , was she not ?

[Guest turntableterra]

Yeah, I think her real name was Eileen Ryan. It was when Berry Gordy was trying to break into films and they released a soundtrack to a musical.

sadly you are correct mrs clampet had a release on motown, as did jose feliciano.numbers wise it is debbie dean, unless some one can confirm the ethnicity of wade on rayber. but as a collector of the numbers i need the likes of sam harris pic, i see you laff. but only 126 to go and its complete. there is a lot of tosh on the label but there are unknowns such as the bobby darin, fetches 50 quid with a good wind. i saw the english plonker who had the commodores for 100 quid, i sent an offer of 99p with some serious information thinking she may pull the item, and the stupid girl sent me a counter offer of 99.99 quid. is it any wonder that ebay is all over the place. the tempest as a case in point. i belive its true value is 10 quid, there are much better records around particularly on stardust. i think, in this case, its all down to the nouveux deu jayes who carry around a record box that only copes with 45s and i paid this much for it,( the album wont cost you this much, come on get real) but "went to wigan" ......so what.

[Ritchieandrew]

I auditioned in the late sixties....................but they told me to F##K OFF.

Ricardo (Bloody hell that Exmoor Beasts strong)

[Wicked]

I auditioned in the late sixties....................but they told me to F##K OFF.

Ricardo (Bloody hell that Exmoor Beasts strong)

Yeah what the f**k does that Berry Gordy kow about yodelling

[Sebastian]

it was a quiz question that included the words "signed for" and "Motown" ....not a 45 released record with a Gordy family label....

Using that reasoning, The Temptations wasn't "signed" to Motown until 1980.

Yet I think most people would consider their recordings for Gordy and Miracle during the 60s and 70s to be "Motown recordings". The Motown label was started after Tamla.

[Robbk]

On 2/23/2012 at 11:43, CRUMB said:

 

 

Yeah, I think her real name was Eileen Ryan. It was when Berry Gordy was trying to break into films and they released a soundtrack to a musical.

Her name was Irene Ryan.  She was a "show tune" singer, and sang in a Broadway (type) show partially funded  by Motown.  She played a 70+ year old woman as "Granny", but she used a LOT of make-up.  She was only in her late 40s then.

[Robbk]

On 2/25/2012 at 03:25, turntableterra said:

 

 

sadly you are correct mrs clampet had a release on motown, as did jose feliciano.numbers wise it is debbie dean, unless some one can confirm the ethnicity of wade on rayber. but as a collector of the numbers i need the likes of sam harris pic, i see you laff. but only 126 to go and its complete. there is a lot of tosh on the label but there are unknowns such as the bobby darin, fetches 50 quid with a good wind. i saw the english plonker who had the commodores for 100 quid, i sent an offer of 99p with some serious information thinking she may pull the item, and the stupid girl sent me a counter offer of 99.99 quid. is it any wonder that ebay is all over the place. the tempest as a case in point. i belive its true value is 10 quid, there are much better records around particularly on stardust. i think, in this case, its all down to the nouveux deu jayes who carry around a record box that only copes with 45s and i paid this much for it,( the album wont cost you this much, come on get real) but "went to wigan" ......so what.

Wade Jones was an African-American (you can ask Louvain Demps.  She knew him back in the late 1950s and early 1960s).  But, Universal-Motown doesn't consider RayBer Records part of Motown, as the divorce settlement between Berry and Raynoma Gordy gave RayBer's assets to Raynoma (so, it "left" the Motown "family").  As The RayBer Music Company was founded before Tamla Records, it is and was questionable whether it was ever part of Motown Record Corporation. But, I consider it a Motown label, as it's only release came after Tamla released its first record, and the two were produced from the Gladstone Street address by the same people, and its songs were published by the same music company, and the songs were recorded in the same studio, and the labels went to the same printer, and the session musicians were the same, etc.

Debby Dean was with Motown long before her first Motown Records release. Nick and The Jaguars were the first "White" artists with a release in 1959, Debbie Dean had hers in 1960,  Mickey Woods and The Valadiers in 1961, Mike (Valvano) and The Modifiers, Bunny Paul and The Stylers in 1962, Connie Haines in 1963.  The first European artist was Frenchman, Richard Anthony in 1964.

[Davenpete]

Is that the same Richard Anthony that did No Good/Boston Monkey that was covered up as Mitch Ryder at Wigan?

Dx

[Robbk]

8 hours ago, DaveNPete said:

Is that the same Richard Anthony that did No Good/Boston Monkey that was covered up as Mitch Ryder at Wigan?

Dx

I really doubt that the VIP Richard Anthony is the raucus "No Good"/"Boston Monkey" guy.  The former was French, and sang mostly "torch ballads" in French language.  His VIP cuts were sung in English, but they were "sappy" and MOR Pop at best.  They are so terrible, that they fight with "Randy The Newspaper Boy" for title as the "worst Motown cuts ever".

Edited March 24, 2016 by RobbK

[Kris Holmes]

i remember doing a "huh" first time i saw this on VIP

 

[Robbk]

2 hours ago, Kris Holmes said:

i remember doing a "huh" first time i saw this on VIP

 

Berry Gordy didn't go to Eire to find them.  They were already a big hit in Toronto, back in early 1966.  The song was issued as singles in Canada March 1966 on Arc 1144, and in the US September 1966 on Hanna Barbera 496.  This LP came out on Arc in Canada.  They were formed to provide a friendly atmosphere for The Abbey Tavern in Dublin, and became their house band.

Just an aside - for a couple of years, I worked with Hanna Barbera Feature Animation (in Hollywood, California), while Mike McLean (ex Motown engineer) worked there.  He was gone from Motown when I worked there.  The song was issued as singles in Canada March 1966 on Arc 1144, and in the US September 1966 on Hanna Barbera 496.

Edited March 25, 2016 by RobbK

[Gotsoul]

Didn't Buffalo Springfield record something for Motown back in the day?

[The Yank]

Buffalo Springfield never recorded for Motown. Neil Young was part of the Mynah Birds who recorded an unreleased single 

for V.I.P. . After the group dissolved, Neil went to California and started Buffalo Springfield. 

 

 

[Gotsoul]

Thanks, I Saw Neil Young's name and got mixed up.

[almanc]

I always thought connie van dyke was the first white artist on motown

[Guest keithhughes]

Connie said in her autobiography (titled "For Once In My Life", appropriately as she was the first person to record the song) that Berry Gordy once stopped a take in the control room at Hitsville to ask her "Connie, are you sure you're not black?".

[Robbk]

6 hours ago, almanc said:

I always thought connie van dyke was the first white artist on motown

That was way off!  I can think of several before her later-mid 1962 entry (Nick & Jaguars, Debbie Dean, Mickey Woods, Valadiers Joel Sebastian, Don McKenzie, Mike Valvano (Mike & Modifiers), Stylers, and, I think Johnny Powers was there before her, as well.

[almanc]

Thanks for putting me straight

[zerosprite]

On 22/03/2016 at 22:41, Robbk said:

...Connie Haines in 1963.

I believe you meant Connie Van Dyke: “Oh Freddy” (Motown M 1041, March 1963) as Connie Haines: "What's Easy For Two Is Hard For One" (Motown M 1092, March 1966) - although the vinyl shows a 1963 date for publishing of the Mary Wells original (Motown M 1048, August 1963).

[Robbk]

1 hour ago, zerosprite said:

I believe you meant Connie Van Dyke: “Oh Freddy” (Motown M 1041, March 1963) as Connie Haines: "What's Easy For Two Is Hard For One" (Motown M 1092, March 1966) - although the vinyl shows a 1963 date for publishing of the Mary Wells original (Motown M 1048, August 1963).

I can't believe I wrote that.  But, I must have meant Connie Van Dyke.  But, I don't remember what point I was trying to make, because Debbie Dean was signed by Motown a long time before both of them.  She had been working with Berry Gordy well before he started Tamla Records at the beginning of 1959.

[Soul-slider]

No one's mentioned 'Bunny Paul'. She recorded in 1963. Obviously not the first but one of the earliest.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Soul-slider

[Soul-slider]

40 minutes ago, KenA said:

Probably cause she wasnt.

Well she certainly looks white? 

A quote on the internet:

"We're Only Young Once" by Bunny Paul, one of early Motown white female singer. Released in 1963 on Gordy Records7017, also issued in Canada on Tamla Records...

Edited March 2, 2023 by Soul-slider

[Amsterdam Russ]

Bunny Paul was most definitely white.

I was going to post some blurb I put together about her along with a few image scans, but think maybe that's better for a fresh thread about who the remarkable Bunny Paul was. If anyone's interested...

 

[Robbk]

20 hours ago, Amsterdam Russ said:

Bunny Paul was most definitely white.

I was going to post some blurb I put together about her along with a few image scans, but think maybe that's better for a fresh thread about who the remarkable Bunny Paul was. If anyone's interested...

 

Bunny Paul was a big MOR-Pop star in the early '50s. 

[Amsterdam Russ]

26 minutes ago, Robbk said:

Bunny Paul was a big MOR-Pop star in the early '50s.

And nowhere bigger than in Detroit. 

[Dukeofburgundy]

This old thread keeps giving. According to Bill Dahl in the Complete Motown Singles volume one 59-61; Debbie Dean was the first white artist to sign with Motown. Her first release was 'Don't Let Him Shop Around', an answer record to The Miracles 'Shop ARound' and featuring the Miracles on backing.

She's worked with Berry Gordy for a number of years prior to this and was married to Chicago television and radio broadcaster Jim Lounsbury. As Penny & The Ekos on Argo she'd recorded two Berry Gordy songs in 1957.

She was originally from Kentucky and was based primarily in Chicago. She recorded several sides during the 50s with the Italian-American big band leader Ralph Marterie and under various names that included Penny Smith and Debbe Stevens. I'm waffling and besides you can read about her here....

https://debbdean.wordpress.com/debbie-dean-soul-free/

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Dukeofburgundy
grammar