By brianday (212.137.156.166 - 212.137.156.166) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 08:27 pm:

i have the motown treasures album from the usa
i just love the track by the underdogs ,but i cant find any history on this group ,they sound like the contours .any info? also there was a big hard back book about 10 years ago ,it had all the dates ,artists, personnel etc on motown history
any idea on the title it cost about £27 pounds then ,a lot of money for me at the time so i missed it any ideas of title? ,it was a usa book

By Ritchie Hardin (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 08:40 pm:

The Underdogs were a white guitar, bass & drums quartet From Grosse Pointe, Michigan who had only one 45 released - a cut of "Love's Gone Bad". I'm sure John knows of their entire recorded works, but only that one 45 escaped. They also appeared on the Motown Revue at one time.

I have a pic of them and they look exactly as you'd expect a post-Beatles white US band to look - "long" hair, and neat jackets, collars and ties.

By brianday (212.137.156.166 - 212.137.156.166) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 08:52 pm:

blimey they sound black ,especailly as they did
the temps number "the way you do the things you do"
i will be spinning barry manilow next if iam not careful

By Ritchie Hardin (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:06 pm:

Hi Brian

Don't joke ;o) At a club I used to go to in 1974, they used to play his "It's A Miracle" - remember that? It wasn't a bad record, actually. And if Frankie Valli or Dean Parish had done it, nobody would even think twice about playing it.

By brianday (212.137.156.166 - 212.137.156.166) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:27 pm:

only joking, 1 record the black crowd used to love was crystal blue perrsausion by tommy and the shondells also "do it again" cant remember
who that was by i think it was dr john
my all time favorite frakki valli was the night.
ps i wish there was a spell checker on this site

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.107.27.25 - 213.107.27.25) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 10:14 pm:

brian
i recall enjoying that track on the cd too.

By recordboyusa (208.61.5.193 - 208.61.5.193) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 02:57 am:

"Love's Gone Bad" was the final Underdogs single. They'd previously recorded for Hideout and Reprise, and were mainstays at the Hideout club run by Dave Leone and Ed 'Punch' Andrews. Six tracks by the group can be heard on the compilation "Friday At The Hideout", recently issued on CD by Norton Records.

Jeff Lemlich
http://www.limestonerecords.com

By detroit gal (205.188.196.31 - 205.188.196.31) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 05:23 am:

The Underdogs were a hot band on the '60s circuit. Berry Gordy wanted to expand into the rock market ... he had them playing Jobete songs of course! I thought their biggest song was "The Man in the Mirror" though ...

p.s. Deee-troit history: Edward "Punch" Andrews went from running the Hideouts with Dave Leone and releasing records on the Hideout label to managing Bob Seger and of course now manages Kid Rock.

By recordboyusa (208.61.5.193 - 208.61.5.193) on Saturday, March 16, 2002 - 06:06 am:

Their biggie was "The Man In The Glass", based on an alcoholics anonymous saying or slogan. It came out on Hideout first and then Reprise, probably a year or so before "Love's Gone Bad".

The flip side, "Friday at the Hideout (Judy Be Mine)" was covered thirteen years later by the Romantics!

Hideout had some hot records! So did Seger in his early days!

Jeff Lemlich
http://www.limestonerecords.com

By Joe Moorehouse (64.12.101.183 - 64.12.101.183) on Monday, March 18, 2002 - 09:23 pm:

The Underdogs started as a six-piece garage band in 1965. Man in the Glass was a big local hit on Hideout, then their next two singles, though excellent, didn't get any air play. They were very much a black leather band until Berry put them into fancy clothes to match the Motown style. Their version of Love's Gone Bad was a monster regional hit, finishing in the top 10 for the entire year 1967 on WKNR. They did two sessions for Motown, the first produced by Clarence Paul in 11/66, the second produced by Norman Whitfield in 3/67. The single came out of Clarence's session, the Tempts cover out of Norman's. Not surprisingly, they preferred working with Clarence, who was more willing to let them play it as they wanted to, than Norman, who was famous for micro-managing performances. But I'd love to get a hold of some acetates or tapes of their unreleased material. I think they were a great, great band. The lead singer was Dave Whitehouse, who went on to play with a variety of other rock and roll, blues, and jazz bands through the '70s before moving out west. I think he's presently in Utah.

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.107.27.25 - 213.107.27.25) on Monday, March 18, 2002 - 09:42 pm:

welcome to the forum joe and thanks for the detail.

By John Lester (213.122.192.234 - 213.122.192.234) on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 - 12:17 am:

They have about an album's worth of material...

and a fw more titles......

You Hit Me Where It Hurt Me
Come See About Me
Last Train To Clarkesville (Ivy Jo here!!!)
Function at The junction
Shake and Fingerpop

By mh (212.150.104.97 - 212.150.104.97) on Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 06:34 pm:

Another Underdogs title:
Get Down On Your Knees

By Geri (68.43.121.90 - 68.43.121.90) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 06:58 pm:

Yes, I remember the Underdogs. I had the 45 "Loves Gone Bad. I wish I could find that record. I found a Cd at a local record store called Michigan Memories, it has the song and alot of other songs from the soulful sixties. Geri Gillespie in St. Clair shores, MI

By sy (205.188.209.48 - 205.188.209.48) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 12:59 pm:

Does anyone know about Mike Hanks and D-Town recording studios?

By Davie G (213.18.222.34 - 213.18.222.34) on Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - 04:25 pm:

I've a line-up for the Underdogs somewhere
around - I'll see if I can find it.

John, thanks for the list of their Motown
tracks - I really want to hear "Come See About
Me", Bet it's a lot closer to Junior Walker'
version than the Supes.

I love "Way You Do The Things You Do" - sounds
just like a Detroit Wheels track - wonder if
the Underdogs are actually playing on it or
just did vocals over Funk Brothers tracks.