Lenny Luffman owned the Markie label and these Chicago 45s were released in 1962.

Markie

Once James Holland and the Barksdale brothers returned to Detroit from their military service they immediately set about resurrecting their musical careers. They were joined by Johnny Mitchell, a friend of theirs who just had recorded with The Majestics for the local Chex label. They decided to call themselves The Four Hollidays.

The quartet was raring to go and the Motor City now offered more opportunities than when The Five Masters had disbanded in ‘59. Robert West now had his Lupine label and had scored with “I Found a Love”, but it was Motown Records that had established itself as the city’s main recording company, getting hits with the likes of Mary Wells, The Miracles and The Contours. By 1962, it was the obvious place to go for an audition, but Jimmy explained why they opted to try out Chicago:

“We actually decided to go to Chicago because we didn’t want to go to Motown. We really didn’t want to. I knew everybody there, I knew the Contours… as far as I was concerned, Berry wasn’t being very fair with the money: guys had big-hit records but no money. We didn’t particularly care for that, so we went to Chicago to audition for Vee Jay Records, for Chess…and we ran into (producer) Andre Williams. He said ‘Come on over here. I’m at this new company - I know a guy who’s starting a new label’. So, we went over to Markie and Lenny Luffman liked the group and he signed us.”

Here’s another bit of Motown trivia: Jimmy’s friends The Contours had actually auditioned at Motown with a song that his group had written called “Move Mr. Man”. It was subsequently put on the flip of “Do You Love Me” – the Contours’ disc that scaled Billboard’s chart right to the very top when it was released in the summer of ‘62. And Jimmy Ruffin, who had had a 45 on Motown’s short-lived Miracle label in 1961, helped pen a couple of the Four Hollidays’ Markie songs.

The Four Holliday’s catchy first Markie record was released in ’62. The A-side was a dance-fad song, “Grandma Bird”, although “Step By Step” became the seller, especially in Chicago where popular WYNR radio jock “Wild Child” Dick Kemp dubbed it the “47th Street Stomp”. This was reference to the street in Chicago’s Near South Side where Black American’s had created a vibrant community. It was also where Markie Records was based.

The quartet followed up in September ‘63 with the super “I’ll Walk Right Out The Door”, which is one of those records that only seem to exist as promotional copies. Musically it’s a step up from “Step By Step” but it wasn’t as successful, although the group did their best to push it.

They headed back to Detroit and did a record hop at the 20 Grand: a Michigan Chronicle photographer snapped the group on stage in the club’s Goldroom with WJLB jock Ernie Durham. The accompanying blurb stated the four guys were 22 to 23 years old and had a national fan club (The Hollidears) based in Chicago.

“I’ll Walk Right Out The Door” might not have sold by the truck load, but the success of ”Step By Step” kept them going on the club circuit for quite some time. An advert for an Easter revue at The Graystone Ballroom bills it as their hit, yet this was in March ’64 – nearly two years after its release. And despite them having just put out a great 45 on their hometown Master label.

The Graystone Ballroom advert is from March 1964 and has The Four Hollidays still plugging their 1962 record “Step By Step”. Theresa Lindsey recorded for Correc-tone, The Adorables and The Reflections were both signed to Golden World while Emanuel Laskey was with Thelma Records. The Chex 45 by Johnny Mitchell and The Majestics was released at the end of 1961– Johnny joined The Four Hollidays in ‘62.
 

Researched and written by Graham Finch