Lamont Dozier became a legendary force on the Billboard Hot 100, helping drive the domination of the Motown sound in the 1960s, scoring 14 No. 1 hits as a writer and 13 as a producer in his career.
As previously reported, Dozier, part of the acclaimed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team, with brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, passed away at age 81, as confirmed Tuesday (Aug. 9).
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Over the Hot 100’s 64-year history, Dozier has tallied the eighth-most No. 1s among producers and the 10th-most leaders among writers.
Here’s a recap of all of Dozier’s Hot 100 No. 1s, which span nearly 25 years from 1964 through 1989. He co-wrote and co-produced all the titles below, except for Kim Wilde’s remake of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” which he didn’t produce. (Thanks to The Supremes’ and Wilde’s versions, the anthem is one of just nine compositions to top the Hot 100 by different artists.)
Lamont Dozier’s No. 1 Hot 100 Hits:
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- “Where Did Our Love Go,” The Supremes, beginning Aug. 22, 1964 (two weeks at No. 1)
- “Baby Love,” The Supremes, Oct. 31, 1964 (four)
- “Come See About Me,” The Supremes, Dec. 19, 1964 (two)
- “Stop! In the Name of Love,” The Supremes, March 27, 1965 (two)
- “Back in My Arms Again,” The Supremes , June 12, 1965 (one)
- “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” Four Tops, June 19, 1965 (two)
- “I Hear a Symphony,” The Supremes, Nov. 20, 1965 (two)
- “You Can’t Hurry Love,” The Supremes, Sept. 10, 1966 (two)
- “Reach Out I’ll Be There,” Four Tops, Oct. 15, 1966 (two)
- “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” The Supremes, Nov. 19, 1966 (two)
- “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone,” The Supremes, March 11, 1967 (one)
- “The Happening,” The Supremes, May 13, 1967 (one)
- “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” Kim Wilde, June 6, 1987 (one)
- “Two Hearts,” Phil Collins, Jan. 21, 1989 (two)
“The songs had to be fast because they were for teenagers – otherwise it would have been more like something for your parents,” Dozier mused to The Guardian in 2001 of his and the Hollands’ trademark feel-good sound. “The emotion was still there, it was just under cover of the optimism that you got from the uptempo beat.”
Dozier also notched two top 40 Hot 100 hits as a recording artist, both in 1974: “Trying to Hold on to My Woman” (No. 15, that March) and “Fish Ain’t Bitin’ ” (No. 26, July).
Holland-Dozier-Holland were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later. HDH received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 1998. Dozier won the 1988 Grammy Award for best song written specifically for a motion picture or television for “Two Hearts” from Buster, which he co-wrote with Phil Collins. It was his only competitive Grammy Award.
Dozier continued to impact the Hot 100 from the ’90s on. In 1991, Debbie Gibson hit No. 26 with “Anything Is Possible,” the title-track first single from her third album which the pair co-wrote and co-produced. “I still cannot believe I got to make music with this true legend who we lost today,” Gibson posted in tribute on Twitter. “Send me those golden ideas from heaven Lamont, my new song angel!”
In 2010, the Glee Cast’s cover of “Stop! In the Name of Love” (in a medley with an update of En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind”) returned the classic to the Hot 100’s top 40, spending a week at No. 38.
In 2018, Holland-Dozier-Holland added another top 10 Hot 100 writing credit, via Lil Wayne’s No. 7-peaking “Uproar,” which interpolates the evergreen “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”