Holland Dozier and Holland - ‘Why Can’t We Be Lovers’
Sanctuary Records CMDDD 046 (Double CD)

As a youngster in the middle sixties discovering the delight’s of Tamla Motown it didn’t become apparent in the early days that nearly all the records I was collecting were written and produced by HDH. In fairness it wasn’t until a couple of years later that someone told me who these people were. Thereafter it became an essential purchase if it had their name credited on the label, as I found myself buying every 45 I could lay my hands on knowing it was going to be brilliant. In the end I used to buy the singles even before I had heard them just on the strength of the label credits.

It was a sad day in late 1967 when HDH left the company and whilst other songwriters and producers at Motown continued to produce great songs the reality was that Motown was never quite the same without HDH.

Like so many other music and soul fans at that time we though that they had gone forever until the launch of Invictus/Hot Wax in the early 70’s. There was so much material being issued in such a short space of time it was difficult to keep up with, and even more difficult to choose which product to buy.

When the title track of this CD was issued in 1972 it was the best thing since sliced bread. Here was a song that wasn’t a balled, nor made specifically for the dancefloor as previous label issued had ( Freda Payne/Chairmen etc.) but a song that oozed real soul and Lamont Dozier’s vocal performance on this song has already gone down in the history books as one of the all-time soul greats.

The next two years saw a couple more singles issued in the UK by HDH most notably ‘Don’t Leave Me Starvin’ For Your Love’, and the Brian Holland vocal led ‘I’m So Glad’. At that time of course as with their stint at Motown they had created their own sound and identity at Invictus thus you could always spot one of the labels recordings at a hundred yards.

The ultimate groove on this set has to be ‘New Breed Kinda Woman’ which I have to say is my personal favourite on this CD. A truly brilliant mid-tempo dancer with Lamont Dozier at the forefront.

The trio did not issue a great deal of material on themselves, in fact is was restricted to just one LP and a handful of singles, and whilst there are numerous long versions/instrumental’s on this two CD package of songs already featured, don’t let that put you off making this a priority purchase because once you hit the play button with this set you tend to leave it on permanent repeat.

Personal rating 9/10
Available October 2000
Expect to pay around £9.99 in the UK
Also check out Lamont Dozier - 'Going Back to my Roots' - Sanctuary Records CMEDD 058