Aired on Treasure Island Oldies on July 14, 2024
In the summer of 1978, one of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grandstand shows in Toronto featured two marquee entertainers. One was a stand-up comedian/actor, the other was an R&B vocal group.
It was a toss-up that night as to who would be first to perform. That was soon resolved when the crowd heard the first few bars of one of the group’s signature hits. As the members of the group hit the stage, the audience rose to their feet.
*****
The group popularized, and came to epitomize, the lush sound of Philly Soul in the 70s, signing on with Atlantic Records in 1972, and teaming up with producer Thom Bell in Philadelphia where the group blossomed under his tutelage.
Formed in 1954 in Ferndale, Michigan, the group got its start in Detroit and made their debut in 1961 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B charts via Harvey Fuqua’s Tri-Phi label. In 1963, Tri-Phi and its entire roster, including the Spinners, was sold by Fuqua to his brother-in-law, Berry Gordy Jr., at Motown Records.
In 1965, the Spinners scored their first Top 20 hit with “It’s A Shame,” a song that was co-written and produced by Stevie Wonder. To avoid confusion with a British folk group with the same name, the Spinners were referred to as the Detroit Spinners and the Motown Spinners in the UK.
The turning point in the Spinners’ career came when they followed up on Aretha Franklin’s suggestion to finish off their contract with Motown and sign with Atlantic Records.
Thanks to Bell’s direction and guidance, they appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 twenty-four times from 1972 through 1982. Included in their seven Top 10 releases was the #1 hit “Then Came You” (1974) that they performed with Dionne Warwicke who, on the advice of an astrologer friend, had changed the spelling of her last name in 1971 for good luck. (She later changed it back to Warwick.)
However, it was in 1976 that the Spinners released a song that constantly got everybody on the dance floor or on their feet at concerts. Written by producer Bell and singer-songwriter Linda Creed, it is about Bell’s son Mark, who was being teased by his classmates for being overweight. Intended to improve his son’s self-image, the song eventually evolved from being about “The Fat Man” to “The Rubberband Man.”
Epilogue: That stand-up comedian that closed the 1978 grandstand show at the CNE and unceremoniously closed himself off from society forty years later was Bill Cosby.
YouTube video of this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QwUCR1NHpg
This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.
