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.
Continued
