The Rare Earth label

[jboy88]

I was wondering who the musicians were on a lot the Rare Earth label's outputs. There was some damn good rock/blue eyed soul acts that could have taken off if Motown had put more focus behind them?

[1382hitsville]

I wonder the same....at some point Detroit was very hot in the rock music scene...

[ralpht]

Jboy,
Depends on what artists you are thinking of. On the Stoney and Meatloaf project I used the Funk Brothers on some of the songs and S&Ms band on the remainder. Much of the Rare Earth catalog were acquisitions from Europe and a few other places, so there was a large variety of musicians included in this. Guys like Dean Taylor used the Funk Brothers, for the most part.

[kenneth]

Jboy,
Depends on what artists you are thinking of. On the Stoney and Meatloaf project I used the Funk Brothers on some of the songs and S&Ms band on the remainder. Much of the Rare Earth catalog were acquisitions from Europe and a few other places, so there was a large variety of musicians included in this. Guys like Dean Taylor used the Funk Brothers, for the most part.

I didn't know that! I always assumed this label was comprised entirely of self-contained acts. Was that true for the most part, Ralph? Very interesting. I like a lot of the label, actually. Wish there was a good Anthology of the label's varied output and artists.

[jboy88]

I'd figured that the legit Rare Earth acts featured the Funks unless they were a self contained act like Rare Earth, Rustix or Power of Zeus. I assume the bands played on their own stuff right?

[uptight]

Wow, a compilation would be nice, huh?

[jboy88]

I'd settle for an anthology on the Rustix myself! "I Guess This Is Goodbye" was criminally under promoted! The singing wasn't very good but the track is Awesome. R. Dean Taylor really had a raw deal as a producer.

[ralpht]

Jboy,
Yes, most bands played their own tracks, such as Power of Zeus, who I produced. Unfortunately most of the Rare earth label product was, in my opinion, under-promoted. I'm not slamming Motown's crack sales department. I think it was a problem of a very new label containing music unlike the standard Motown fare that was trying to find it's place in the company hierarchy and not given proper time to develop. My goal was to morph Motown into another Atlantic which did very well with R&B and Rock. It wasn't going to be easy, but with a little more time we may have pulled it off. Unfortunately, the L.A. move slammed it all to a stop.

[tomato tom]

Ah..I thought the move to L.A. had something to do with it..Thanks Ralph..Paulo xxx

[ralpht]

You're welcome, Paulo. I think it could be safely said that the L.A. move slammed a lot to a stop.

[stephanie]

Ralph
On VH1 classic they did a thing on Meatloaf [[not behind the music) but classic albums or something about his life and they mentioned Stoney and Meatloaf. They didnt mention you [[sorry) but when I saw it I thought you would have been a good subject to interview. I am sure that Meatloaf fans search out the Stoney and Meatloaf project.

[ralpht]

I saw that one, Steph. I guess I wouldn't have minded an honorable mention since Meat got his Steinman deal on the strength of "As Heavy as Jesus". One of my songs. No big deal though.

There are many Stoney and Meatloaf videos on YouTube that are getting good numbers. I'm always pleased to read the positive reviews on these videos.

[BayouMotownMan]

I think Rare Earth and R. Dean Taylor did some fine work. It was the same thing a few years later when Motown tried to break into the Country and Western market. The first problem was that Motown wasn't known for that kind of music so most radio programmers took this as a lame money-making cash-in which resulted in limited airplay. Secondly, as was the case for the RE label, they signed on too many artists at one time to give them a fighting chance to be heard by the record-buying public. In hindsight, a slower ascension might have worked better. But Gordy's factory-line theory was to put out mass product and let the cream rise to the top. It didn't always work. Same was true for MoWest. Sisters Love and Syreeta put out some great products but they were buried behind the established artists and recognizable labels. Motown should have taken the failure of MoWest to catch on as a clue: Motown belonged to Detroit.

[ralpht]

Bayou,
I agree with you on the fact that the Rare earth label was a little over populated. Acquisition deals were being made which brought in bands like Toe fat and Pretty Things. Decent bands, but nothing that knocked me out.

When Dean Taylor finally hit, Harry Balk was a little upset with him because he wasn't putting a band together and touring. Personally, I don't think Dean was hot on the idea. I think he was more comfortable writing and working in the studio. I may be wrong, but I always felt that way about Dean. And I can't be critical. I understand. The road is no picnic at times.

[BayouMotownMan]

I loved Dean's Indiana Wants Me, but he has lost hits with There's A Ghost In My House and especially Let's Go Somewhere. Criminal that these hot Funk Bros tracks didn't hit

[ralpht]

I agree with you on those songs, Bayou. I probably shouldn't say, or speculate, but Dean had ways of riling the suits[[which generally endeared me to the dude all the more) and it may have hurt him professionally at times. Again, these are just my opinions based on observations and a few conversations. I always liked Dean and was pulling for him in whatever he decided he wanted to do.

[jobeterob]

LOL, about Dean. Well that was his persona on whatever Board he showed up on; I think it was the old Motown Board but it might have been here on SD. He wasn't pleased with the Anthology that came out ~ I believe it was from the UK. I know they felt they'd done a good job and Dean felt just as strongly that the work was unfinished and was not pleased with them.

I can recall he also said that after you split writing royalties 6 ways, you don't end up with much, even off big hits like Love Child.

[ralpht]

Yeah, Rob. From what I remember Dean had come on the forum and addressed his various dis-pleasures regarding the Anthology. I guess I can relate when I think of what the West Coast crowd did to the re-release of Stoney and Meatloaf. What a mess that was but I was gone from the company at that time, so what could I say?