HOF: Mike Terry - Pre Production Inductee

I reckon that's a distinct possibility Ady.  I especially love how Mike's 'sound' changed over this period. I'm guessing it was a sort of 'coming of age' for him when he worked with Mel and Josie.   Truly a giant in musical terms eh? Glad you like the page. Lots more in the pipeline as we develop this Hall Of Fame project.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

Superb article!

Date Of Induction : 01 November 2014 Category: Pre Production

It's nothing less than he deserves .. a fitting tribute to a genius

 

I wrote this when he passed ... and just reading it again brings back so many memories

 

 

Rob Moss told me that he read some of that out at his funeral which made me feel very humble ...

 

And I still get goosebumps whenever I hear him

 

Andy

Brilliant, informative and just the kind of thing this site should have more of.

Well done Dave.

amazing article , very informative thanks Dave

... and actually this is such a wonderful idea ... paying tribute to those dear to our hearts that have contributed so much to our lives ... and we should pay our respects to Dave et al for doing it with so much style and integrity

 

Andy 

Superb Article...MIKE TERRY what a legend!

Motown & Northern

Many thanks

Great Dave. Thank you.

 

This is a shock - "Girls Are Out To Get You b/w You’ll Be Sorry". My favourite record. Time to play it and ponder.......

 

Nice to see soulfuldetroit mentioned. That was the beginning o fmuch for me......

well done dave, a considerable article about a considerable man, a "giant" in every sense of the term. with the greatest of respect to our terminology, "northern soul"...his terminology "sax break" is unequivical in the importance of our music...exactly what drove almost everything recorded in detroit, also has driven us. mostly, we easily associate his text book with "the middle eight" as has been said but, imho, i believe the record that he dominates the most, and is forever one of the greatest uptempo motown records of all-time is "something about you" by the four tops...you could not imagine that thunderous start without his machine gun staccato -like intro.

speaking personally, my last introduction to the man's talent, was probably the last and most recent discovery that displayed his moniker...that being margaret little " love finds a way"...all of 12 years ago now..even in the new millenium his dynamism is still evident. you know we're all aware of how many number one hits the funk brothers played on, over 15 years, yet it appears that mike terry's influence and legacy is responsible, not only for the continued love of motown, but the adulation shared by millions of us for a myriad of stone classic northern soul gems that bear that charisma only he could magic out of his beloved baritone sax.

i'm sure everyone will agree, that andrew "mike" terry sits proudly in a place of true honour within this hall of fame.

Mike Terry, an absolute giant of our music who can rightly be described as a legend.

Great stuff, thanks   

Inspirational talent! An artist in the highest sense of the word! 

He worked driving a lorry in the 1990’s!!

If there was any justice in the world a man of his talents should have been a multi- millionaire!

At least he got to know that all his great work was eventually really appreciated by the Northern Soul fraternity. 

When I read how many great records he was involved with I find it incredible that he knew what Northern Soul was, before it had been invented! 

One of the very best music makers ever!

There ain't no justice .

I think I can add something to this which may be of interest.

Way back in the late 70’s and thru to the 80’s and 90’s I was tracking people like crazy; artists, producers, songwriters etc. I was writing letters and making phone calls like a mad man!

I have about 15 files full of letters from those years from many big name label credits; Charlie Calello, Sandy Linzer, Joe Hunter, Sammy Lowe, Jet Loring, Chuck Holiday, Sam Ward, Miles Grayson, Paula Durante, Billy Arnell, Laura Greene, Cody Black, Johnny Northern, Mickey Lane, Kenard Gardner, Herschel Dwellingham, etc etc; hundreds of em. Anyway top of my hit list was Mike Terry. Everyone was trying to find him. I remember many conversations with the likes of Gilly about his likely whereabouts. But no one could find him. 

Sammy Lowe was a great contact for me coz he had been in the music business so long, (right back to Big Band era etc), much like Joe Hunter who also later led me to many Detroit people such as Billy Kennedy etc. Anyway one day out of the blue in 1989 I get a letter from Sammy with the contact details for people I’d been asking about. I opened the letter and nearly fell off my chair! Coz bang smack in the middle of these other names sat Mikes, with a note from Sammy that he knew Mike well, not least coz he lived around the corner from him right there in Teaneck New Jersey! We’d all been looking in the wrong place!

Anyway I then immediately wrote to Mike who sent me back a card with a little note about some of the Motown songs he’d played on. Mike said he’d played on about 90% of Motown hits. 

On a subsequent trip I visited Mike and his wife on the 10th of April 1990 at their home in New Jersey, and interviewed him. I have 2  x C90 tapes of the interview, which I’ll publish one day when time allows. Mike was a lovely guy, and his wife too. I of course asked Mike the obvious question about whether he had any records, acetates etc. He said not, which was a huge disappointment given that he’d played on so much. Mikes explanation of this was that coz he was a session musician, he turned up at the studio, did his bit and left, being pretty much unconcerned about ending up with the physical vinyl disc; he said there was just too much material to follow up on, as we know only too well. The funny thing was, the only record he had, was an LP by the Atlanta Disco Band which he’d played on, which of course I had less than zero interest in! I seem to recall him saying that he’d been living in Atlanta; maybe that’s another reason why no one had found him.

He was an absolute legend and I’m proud to say I think I was the first person from our scene to ever talk to him, meet him or interview him. Sometimes even now I can’t believe I met him, but I have the photos as evidence. For any doubters check out my attached photos complete with the Baritone Sax which became so much an integral part of the sounds we love. The proof that this meeting took place a long time ago is that me (and Mike) still actually had hair lol.