LAMONT DOZIER: An Architect of Modern Music's Pop Sound
New Documentrary Reveals The Life of One Man Behind the Scenes Who
Helped Create the Motown Sound
(Los Angeles, --
August 28, 2007) A new feature film documentary about hit-songwriter and
producer Lamont Dozier, the mastermind behind such milestone smashes as “Stop
in the Name of Love,” “Baby Love,” “I Hear a Symphony,” and “Reach Out, I’ll Be
There,” promises to reveal a vital chapter in American music history. While the
legendary Motown artists such as The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations,
and Martha and the Vandellas are well known -- and their songs have been
playing on the airwaves virtually non-stop since their creation -- Lamont
Dozier, the writer and producer of these songs, has remained largely out of the
spotlight.
All of this is about
to change with what promises to be an engrossing and revelatory documentary
about this prime architect of modern pop music and the creative genius who
influenced legends like Babyface, Joss Stone, Lennon/McCartney and countless
others. Lamont Dozier has essentially
shaped the definitive soundtrack for an essential era in modern American music
and culture.
With 54 #1 charting
songs, including 13 consecutive #1 hits, Dozier has been named by Billboard
magazine as the #2 songwriter of all time and has been inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame. Post-Motown, Lamont helped shape the modern 80’s UK
Pop sound by writing, producing and aligning himself with 80's electronica
diva, Alison Moyet (#1 song, “Invisible”), Phil Collins (the Grammy winning/Oscar-nominated #1 hit “Two Hearts”),
Simply Red, Boy George, Pete Waterman, Aretha Franklin and many others, who
continually kept Dozier at the creative forefront.
The film is directed
by visionary indie auteur AJ Schnack who is well-versed in capturing musicians
on film, having previously directed a film about the front man of Nirvana, Kurt
Cobain: About a Son. About a Son
was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award, and debuted at the 2006 Toronto
International Film Festival. About a
Son offered piercing insights into the life, music, and times of the
troubled rocker. Schnack’s first feature
film was also a music documentary, about the Brooklyn-based band They Might Be
Giants, entitled Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns.)
The documentary is
being produced by Helen Yu (who is also a well-known Hollywood entertainment
lawyer) for Seattle based Nola’s Salon Entertainment. Helen Yu’s extensive
relationships, both in the major studio and independent film worlds, are a
major component as she has envisioned a call sheet of first-class talent to
bring this project to the marketplace. The film’s line producer, Anne Clements, is an award winning
producer. Her prior film, Quinceañera,
took the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and also
won an Independent Spirit Award in 2006.
Dozier’s on-screen stories are complemented by a series of interviews with such contemporary luminaries as Elton John, Joss Stone, Eric Clapton, John Legend, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Phil Collins, Diane Warren, Pharell Williams, Glen Ballard, Dave Stewart, Alan Warner, Pete Waterman, and Michael Bolton that will underscore Dozier’s undeniable role as a key originator in the history of American popular music.
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