Journalist, Political Reporter, Cultural Critic, Editor/Proofreader
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr
January 2014
Billy Griffin
Respect (Expanded Edition)
During the 1970s, Billy Griffin came to be known as the Baltimore native who made his mark in Detroit soul. Griffin grew up in West Baltimore, but when Smokey Robinson announced that he was leaving the Miracles—one of the Motor City’s most famous vocal groups—in 1972 and auditions for a new lead singer were held, being from Detroit was not a requirement. Tamla/Motown Records (which the Miracles were signed to at the time) wanted the best man for the job regardless of where he grew up, and although about 60 people auditioned, Griffin was chosen.
The iconic Robinson was an incredibly tough act to follow. A founding member of the Miracles, Robinson had been with the group since its inception in 1955 (when they were called the Five Chimes and Robinson was only 15) and performed on their breakthrough smash “Shop Around”—which did a lot to put the Detroit-based Motown Records on the map when it soared to #1 R&B and #2 pop in Billboard in 1960 and became Motown’s first million-selling record. A long list of major hits followed for Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, including “The Tracks of My Tears,” “I Second That Emotion,” “Ooo Baby Baby,” “Going to a Go-Go,” “Mickey’s Monkey,” “More Love,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “My Girl Has Gone” and “The Tears of a Clown.” Many of their Robinson-era hits were covered by major rock artists such as the Beatles (“You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”), the Rolling Stones (“Going to a Go-Go”), Linda Ronstadt (“The Tracks of My Tears” and “Ooo Baby Baby”) and John Cougar Mellencamp (“Mickey’s Monkey”).
No doubt about it: Robinson’s departure was a huge loss for the Miracles. But Griffin worked out well, recording a total of seven albums with them during the 1970s. Five of those albums were recorded for Tamla/Motown: Renaissance in 1973, Do It, Baby in 1974, Don’t Cha Love It and City of Angels in 1975 and The Power of Music in 1976. And after that, the Miracles moved to Columbia/CBS Records (now Columbia/Sony Music) for two albums: Love Crazy in 1977 and The Miracles in 1978.
Those who insisted that no one would want to hear the Miracles without Robinson were proven wrong when they enjoyed some major hits with Griffin on board, including “Do It, Baby” in 1974 and “Don’t Cha Love It” and the disco-funk smash “Love Machine” in 1975. “Love Machine” (which Griffin co-wrote) was huge, soaring to #1 pop, #5 R&B and #1 dance on Billboard’s singles charts in the United States and #3 on the UK pop charts. In fact, “Love Machine” was such a success that it helped their City of Angels album achieve platinum status in the U.S. with sales of more than one million copies (which isn’t counting the album’s UK sales).
After leaving the Miracles and pursuing a solo career, Griffin continued to record for Columbia/CBS—and in 1982, Columbia released his debut solo album, Be with Me. Stylistically, Be with Me pretty much picked up where Griffin’s work with the Miracles left off and favored a smooth northern soul sound. But when Griffin recorded his second solo album, Respect, for Columbia in 1983, he updated his approach and showed a greater awareness of the urban contemporary sounds of that era. R&B was moving in a more electronic direction in 1983: the horns, strings and lavish orchestration of 1970s R&B were losing ground to a high-tech world of synthesizers, sequencers and drums machines. And Respect, to a degree, reflected those changes.
The songwriter/keyboardist who produced and arranged Be with Me, John Barnes, also produced and arranged Respect and co-wrote all of the material with Griffin. But while Be with Me was quite 1970s-sounding, Respect was much more urban contemporary in its outlook. That isn’t to say that Respect is totally electronic: some horns are used, and Gerald Albright (who went on to become well-known for his instrumental pop-jazz albums) is employed on saxophone. But synthesizers are definitely more prominent on Respect than they were on Be with Me.
Respect successfully balances soul and urban contemporary considerations. Yet for all its high-tech production gloss, Respect is easily recognizable as a Billy Griffin album—and true to form, he favors both dancing and romancing. Griffin was always a master of romantic ballads and slow jams, and his quiet storm side is alive and well on “Don’t Stop Lovin’ Me,” “So Many Ways,” “Don’t Ask Me to Be Friends,” “Serious” and “Dreaming.” But Griffin’s exuberant side prevails on danceable synth-funk grooves that include “Hit Me with the Beat,” “Save Your Love for Me” and the title song. Griffin’s “Respect” should not be confused with the famous Otis Redding classic, which was a big hit for Redding in 1965 and an even bigger hit for Aretha Franklin in 1967.
Originally an eight-song vinyl LP back in 1983, Respect becomes a 12-track CD with this expanded 2014 edition from FunkyTownGrooves. Offered as bonus tracks are the 7” single versions of “Save Your Love for Me,” “So Many Ways” and “Serious” and a 12” single version of the title song.
Changing with the times can be challenging for an artist, and in the 1980s, R&B singers who had been popular during the 1970s found themselves confronting that challenge and wondering how they could adapt to the new high-tech urban contemporary sounds. On one hand, becoming too high-tech could mean alienating long-time fans—and on the other hand, sounding too much like the 1970s could mean being rejected by urban contemporary radio stations. Many soul and funk singers who sold a lot of records in the 1960s and 1970s were nowhere to be found on urban contemporary playlists in the 1980s and ended up on the oldies circuit, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing if they still had a loyal and dedicated fan base. Griffin, however, opted to change with the times without going overboard. It was a careful balance, and on Respect, Griffin took the urban contemporary challenge with tasteful, pleasing results.
—Alex Henderson, January 2014
Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, Salon.com, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.
Copyright 2022 Alex V. Henderson. All rights reserved.
Alex V. Henderson
Philadelphia, PA
vixenatr