A bad day at the office for Quality Control

[snakepit]

What was going on at QC on the day this got rejected?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KJiFt7GQZhU

[snakepit]

And another..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S6cXfYo7WxA&list=OLAK5uy_k-nWgNTVzRmjx_o432WJ2_JLl66ppDABs&index=37

[luckyluckyme]

I have a question. Was an official record kept of all songs brought to the weekly Quality Control meetings? With as many songs as were recorded at Hitsville and its subsidiary studios in the 24/7 heyday, wouldn't it have taken several days to listen to even a snippet of everything recorded that week? Weren't the songs brought by producers & writers those they thought their best, having the greatest chance of release? Many good songs may have been overlooked because they simply weren't brought to the meeting. How do we know that the above 2 songs were rejected at a Quality Control meeting? Just curious.

[snakepit]

You're right we don't really know.
I think they did it by artist...as in what have you got on Spinners, Marvelettes etc.
Each producer probably put up their choice...And if it failed, maybe tried it again..Or cut a new track. But those 2 must have took some beating

[marv2]

What was going on at QC on the day this got rejected?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KJiFt7GQZhU

This is very nice! Thanks Snakepit

[Motown Eddie]

As we know, there were a lot of Great Songs that didn't make it past Motown's Quality Control for one reason or another. We were lucky that Classics such as Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" & Martha & The Vandellas' "Jimmy Mack" got released [[after both songs were initially rejected by either Berry Gordy or Motown's QC team). And thank goodness that Many of those songs eventually came out on various Motown collections.

[soulwally]

So who gets the prize for the most rejected producer? Is it:
A. Ivy Hunter
B Clarence Paul [[Tammi ‘s All I Do, what a travesty)
C Dean & Weatherspoon?

[snakepit]

Its a bit like the old John West advertising slogan I guess.

If the choices presented to QC were limited, then presumably it was the producers who appraised their own tracks before selecting them.
So perhaps we should query their judgement and not QC?

Soulwally
Hard choice between A and C

[arr&bee]

Perhaps ralph could shed some light on this.

[jboy88]

I personally believe Blinky was robbed of a breakthrough hit when her version of “Your Love Was Worth Waiting For”, was slapped onto an album that didn’t get released until 50 years after the fact.

[ralpht]

Sorry, I can't shed any light on this. I do know that Billie Jean wielded enormous power over releases and, it was said, that a wise producer didn't get on her bad side.
..

[snakepit]

I've seen two quotes on the subject today. [[ Ivy Hunter and Smokey)
Both seem to agree that in the main, the meeting seemed to be organised around releases on particular artists..i.e. " What have got on the Marvelettes ? What's on the Four Tops etc.? "Jr.Walker needs a new 45....let's hear 'em..."
In this scenario, producers must have sifted through their productions, and then took their 'best' effort [[ how many choices were allowed each?) along to the meetings.

Did Producers dare return 3 months later with the 'same' track, even if they believed in it so much? Was it permitted to do that, with QC having passed on it once already. [[ Even if it was better than any subsequent tracks they had produced).
So, it seems that many of the great tracks that were shelved were done by the producers before QC had a chance to hear them.
So we can blame them LOL.
However, all the tracks rejected at QC meetings , and the ones that never got through to meetings must have been played by other staff members surely?
Maybe not, maybe so many tracks were just that , "shelved" and never heard apart from the Producers.
It would be fascinating to read about things like this from people who were there.
Alas, we get the same old same old in books, Documentaries etc.

[stingbeelee]

I seem to recall in one of my Motown books a story on QC: A worker came to Motown from Columbia records in the late 60's. He said that in a QC meeting they listened to about 50-60 records and he recalls only 2 of the records were released. This shocked him, as he said at Columbia, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the records that were reviewed were released! He stated that Motown was very very meticulous about which recordings were released, and he wasn't used to that carefulness.

[TomatoTom123]

I know it’s been said before, but all this speaks to both the quantity and quality of Motown recordings!!!!!!!!! :D

[midnightman]

Perhaps ralph could shed some light on this.

When DID Ralph join? Late '60s?

[ralpht]

1969...........

[Ollie9]

So who gets the prize for the most rejected producer? Is it:
A. Ivy Hunter
B Clarence Paul [[Tammi ‘s All I Do, what a travesty)
C Dean & Weatherspoon?

I had no idea that “All I Do” had been rejected as possible single release. That really is absurd. To anyone with any kind of musical ear the song and vocal performance form an instant classic. I would love to know what the reasoning was behind such a decision being made. Sounds suspect to me.