THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,874) The Monitors — “Bring Back the Love”
How was this James Dean/William Weatherspoon/Brian Holland/Jack Goga written “blazing ballad” (RDTEN1, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-monitors/greetings-were-the-monitors/) “featuring [future Temptation (see #142) Richard] Street at his best” (Classic Motown, https://classic.motown.com/artist/the-monitors/) not a hit?!
RDTEN1 writes:
Unless you were tone deaf, or simply had no interested in music, even if you didn’t know who The Monitors were, there’s a good chance you’d recognize “Bring Back the Love” as part of the Motown sound. That distinctive production sound was seldom as strong . . . . Moreover, Street seldom sounded as good and the Fagin-Harris backing harmonies were sweet, sweet, sweet.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-monitors/greetings-were-the-monitors/
RDTEN1 turns his exasperation as to the fate of the Monitors up to 10!
I’m routinely amazed to discover just how deep and talented the Motown recording roster was. Anyone listening to 1968’s Greetings! We’re the Monitors [their sole LP] is likely to wonder how these guys were so overlooked. Had they been signed by any other label, it’s hard to imagine them meeting with the same indifference that befell them on Motown.
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-monitors/greetings-were-the-monitors/
Well, my exasperation is turned up to 11!
Richie Unterberger is not exasperated:
Even many knowledgeable Motown fans haven’t heard of, or have barely heard of, the Monitors, despite the group’s five-year stint with the company. Like some other Motown acts who didn’t have an extensive release schedule and barely dented the charts, however, they managed to record quite a bit of material for the label. . . . The problem the Monitors faced commercially, in common with some other obscure Motown acts, was that they didn’t sound different enough or get a song or two strong enough to serve as a hit that would have launched their career. . . . The result was music that, while pleasing, was rather generic Motown. . . . The biggest of their two modest R&B hits, “Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam),” was something of a novelty given currency by the escalating Vietnam War. . . . But it wasn’t enough to lift the Monitors above second-tier or third-tier Motown status . . . .
https://www.allmusic.com/album/say-you!-the-motown-anthology-1963-1968-mw0002145741
Andrew Hamilton tells us about the Monitors:
A short-lived group, the Monitors had only one release on Motown from November 1965 to August 1968. The group consisted of Richard Street, Warren Harris, and Sandra and John Fagin . . . . the Peps, a group including Joe Harris . . . . The Peps, like the Monitors, were exciting live and very visual, but couldn’t translate that to recording success. After Street formed the Monitors with Harris and the Fagins, the group debuted on VIP Records with “Say You,” a coy, sweet ballad that lacked promotion. . . . The next Monitor singles, “Greetings This Is Uncle Sam” and “Since I Lost You Girl,” appeared within several months but did nothing to advance the Monitors’ career. Motown iced them until April 1968 before releasing “Bring Back the Love.” The label then switched the Monitors to its Soul imprint for the group’s final single, “Step by Step,” released in August 1968. Three months later Greetings! We’re the Monitors, originally scheduled for release on VIP, surfaced on the Soul label.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-monitors-mn0000406062#biography
Oh, and “[w]hen Paul Williams was forced to depart The Temptations due to the failing health . . . Richard Street stepped in for him in 1971 and The Monitors’ fate was sealed.” (Doo Wop Heaven, https://doowopheaven.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-monitors-3.html?m=1)
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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