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| The Originals consisted of bass singer Freddie Gorman, baritone Walter Gaines, and tenors Ty Hunter and Henry Dixon. They joined Motown Records in 1965 long before the "disco" craze. Their first year with Motown was an incredible one for the company. "Back In My Arms Again," "Stop In The Name Of Love," "My Girl," and "How Sweet It Is" were just a few of the hits pouring out of Motown that year. It would have been easy in that enviroment for a new group to simply be forgotten. But The Originals had already established themselves so well within the Motown hierarchy they were never relegated into obscurity.
Freddie Gorman was already a well-known songwriter, having penned the major hit "Please Mr. Postman" for The Marvelettes. His other credits include "Romeo & Juliet" for the Reflections and the very first Supremes record, "I Want A Guy." The other Originals were equally admired for their achievements. They had either sung with other groups (Ty was a member of Glass House, which featured Freda Payne's kid sister, Scherrie Payne. Scherrie would become the last Supreme and have a successful disco career of her own in the 1980's), or had been proficient backup vocalists for artists such as Marvin Gaye. The Originals had their first hit in 1969 with "Baby, I'm For Real." Another hit, "The Bells" followed and the group settled in as a permanent fixture in the Motown family. But it would be seven more years for The Originals to hit the number one spot. In the summer of 1976 "Down To Love Town," a track from their album "Communique," began receiving enormous club play. The result was a slow climb to the number one spot on Billboard's Disco Charts, where it stayed for three weeks. Finally achieving the success they deserved, it's no surprise that when work began on their next album in December of 1976 they found themselves singing the song responsible for their surge in popularity. They took "Down To Love Town" and re-recorded it, giving it a stronger disco flavor than it had originally. The resulting version was released on the first Motown commercial 12" single. The label credits it from the "Communique" album as the "Down To Love Town" album had yet to be released. During the mid 1970's Motown lost some of their biggest acts to other labels. The Jackson Five, The Four Tops, Gladys & Her Pips and The Miracles all moved on, thus making The Originals one of Motown's oldest acts. The Originals all grew up in Detroit, and were part of the exciting music scene there in the late 1950's and 1960's. Thus, it was a real surprise for many people, including The Originals, when in the early 1970's Berry Gordy pulled up stakes and moved the entire company to Hollywood. Gradually, most of the performers, from Diana Ross to Smokey Robinson, moved out to the West Coast too. The Originals were one of the last to make the sojourn. In early 1975 The Originals transplanted themselves to Hollywood to be closer to the producers, writers and studios. Their music became Los Angeles-inspired instantly with the release of their first album after the move aptly entitled "California Sunset." After one more hit-less year at Motown the group eventually moved on to Fantasy Records in 1978. There they released several 12" singles and scored another mediocre hit with a dance flavored remake of "Blue Moon." Sadly after three releases for Fantasy Records The Originals seemed to finally fade into the background. Relegated to "oldies" shows and without a recording contract and label to call home their chances for a number one hit seem almost nil. However the next time these "legends" are appearing near you, catch them and see a real piece of not only disco history, but Motown legends as well. |
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