The Lovetones were Motown's male backing vocal group in the early days, a sort of male answer to The Andantes. Founding member Stan Braceley was still in the group when we recorded them in 1989 in Detroit. Their harmonies were oh so tight and so classic Detroit, that Sylvia Moy wrote one of her best ever pieces of pseudo-Motown, the scintillating, stomping, outrageously careering "Fire Alarm". Stan brought in lead singer Buford "Fab" Glanton, who had been lead singer of classic Detroit group The Tempos (not to be confused with the Los Angeles group formed by Bobby Saunders). Buford went on to co-write many songs with me for The Elgins and The Lovetones, and we ended up releasing an entire album on The Lovetones, called "Turn This Heart Around". Eventually, "Fire Alarm" became such a big Northern Soul record that we brought the group in to England, to perform it at a soul weekender in Torquay in 1991. We then remixed and improved it for a featured slot in our documentary "The Strange World Of Northern Soul". A couple of these original members have sadly passed on since this video was shot.
Comments