Throwback: Happy Black History Month!/Happy 85th Birthday, Brian Holland!

Today is the fifteenth day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month: 

• You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people 
• Black lives — and Black art matters 
• Black culture is American culture 

As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list. So far I’ve talked about the following: 

• Big Boi, who celebrated his 51st birthday on February 1
•  Rick James, who was born 78 years ago on February 1
• Sudan Archives, one of the most talented and dynamic artists performing out there today
• The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards who was born 83 years ago on February 3 
• Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, bassist and JOVM mainstay Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner
• Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 57th birthday on February 5 
• The legendary Bob Marley, who was born 81 years ago on February 6 
• Natalie Cole, the daughter of the legendary jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole, who was born 76 years ago on February 6
• J. Dilla, who was born 52 years ago on February 7
• The pioneering Sister Rosetta Tharpe
• The uncompromising and trailblazing Tracy Chapman
• The legendary Roberta Flack, who was born 89 years ago on February 10
• D’Angelo, who was born 52 years ago on February 
• Bad Brains‘ founder and frontman H.R., who celebrated his 70th birthday on February 11
• Brandy, who celebrated her 47th birthday on February 11 
• Grammy Award and Brit Award-nominated artist Billy Ocean 
•  Freedom Williams, whose sonorous baritone flow was part of C+C Music Factory‘s biggest hits of the early 1990s celebrated his 60th birthday on February 13

Holland-Dozier-Holland, the songwriting and production team of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland wrote, arranged and produced some of the most indelible, deeply beloved, important and most covered songs ever.

During their five-year stint at Motown Records, the legendary songwriting, arranging and production team helped create and define the classic 1960s Motown soul sound. For casual music fans, Holland-Dozier-Holland probably won’t be all that familiar, especially because for most of their careers, they were behind the scenes. But I can tell you that not only do you know their songs, so do your parents — and in some cases, your grandparents, too.

Holland-Dozier-Holland were behind 10 of 12 of The Supremes‘ 12 #1 singles, including “Baby Love,” “Stop! In The Name of Love,” “Where Did Our Love Go,” and “You Keep Me Hanging On,” Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” Martha and the Vandellas‘ “Nowhere to Run,” and “Heat Wave,” and The Four Tops‘ beloved hits, including “Reach Out (I’ll Be There),” and “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).” And this is an extremely short list that came to mind. Believe me y’all, it’s much, much, much longer.

Deservedly, the trio were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame back in 1988 and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. They didn’t just write great, ridiculously memorable songs, their work is the soundtrack of our most cherished memories, and the bedrock of American post World War 2 culture. What we’re talking about with this trio is unparalleled Black Excellence. (Speaking of cherished memories: I was playing a Four Tops video. My mom comes in, smiles and says to me “I brought that one as a 45[RPM] single when I lived on 120th Street. No one sounds like Levi Stubbs. No one!”)

The trio’s Brian Holland celebrates his 85th birthday today y’all. And as I’ve repeatedly said on this site, we should give our legends their flowers while they’re still here to receive them. So, to that end, thank you Mr. Holland. Thank you so much. I can’t imagine a world without your work. Happy birthday! May there be many, many, many more!

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