Working Titles

[Stax_of_Motown]

Why did Motown give songs "working titles" before release that seem to bear no resemblance to the released title and the lyrics?

[snakepit]

I think it was a musician's union thing....to log recording sessions but not yet titled or completed.

[jobucats]

As a composer [[no where at the scale of being a professional), I often give my works a 'working title' until it's complete. Often, I'll have this idea; however, during my working on it and sometimes completing it, I can't come up with a title. We know that some of the songwriting teams at Motown designated one person to come up with a musical idea [[and even a completed arrangement), and then the next person would provide the lyrics. I think in HDH's case, Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier mostly came up with the melodies and the instrumental tracks while Eddie would provide the lyrics. One of the possible reasons for a 'working title' at Motown was a way of temporarily cataloguing a track/arrangement so it could be found easily by a producer when he/she wanted to be able to update/revise/complete a particular song. It's a possibility that there might have been some legal protection provided one the song was entered as a 'working title' into the catalogue.