Lamont Dozier

Lamont Herbert Dozier (/ləˈmɒnt ˈdoʊʒər/; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit. He co-wrote and produced 14 Billboard #1 hits in the US and 4 #4 in the UK.

Born in Detroit in 1941, Dozier was best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team responsible for much of the Motown sound and for numerous hit records by artists such as Martha and the Vandellas, the Supremes, the Four Tops, and the Isley Brothers. Along with Brian Holland, Dozier served as the team's musical arranger and producer, while Eddie Holland concentrated mainly on lyrics and vocal production. Along with the Holland Brothers, Dozier followed his work for Motown Records as founder and owner of Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records, producing top-charting hits for acts such as Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Chairmen of the Board, and 100 Proof Aged in Soul.

Dozier recorded a few unsuccessful records for various Detroit labels before the trio started working together as a songwriting and production team for Motown in 1962. They first made their mark the following year with Martha and the Vandellas' early hits, including "Come and Get These Memories" (no. 6 R&B), "Heat Wave" (no. 1 R&B, no. 4 Pop), and "Quicksand" (no. 8 Pop).

In 1964, "Where Did Our Love Go" became the first of 10 no. 1 Pop hits which the trio would write and produce for the Supremes over the next three years or so. After Holland–Dozier–Holland left Motown in 1968 to form the Invictus and Hot Wax labels, Dozier began recording as an artist on these ones. The most successful song was "Why Can't We Be Lovers" (no. 9 in the Billboard R&B charts). Dozier departed from the trio in 1973, and was succeeded by new arranger-producer Harold Beatty.

Dozier went on to record a number of albums as a performing artist in his own right, also writing much of the material. The 1973 LP Out Here On My Own (by Probe Records) featured the single "Fish Ain't Bitin'" (no. 4 R&B, no. 26 Pop). The 1977 album Peddlin' Music on the Side (for Warner Bros. Records) contained "Going Back to My Roots", which was later recorded by Odyssey.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.