Motown legend's message for the Pirate Party

It's you or me

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 16th October 2009 11:02 GMT

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Exclusive interview Earlier this year in Washington DC I had a chance to talk to Motown legend Lamont Dozier, part of the songwriting and production team that created some of the greatest and most enduring pop songs of all time. Dozier wrote or co-wrote not only most of the Supremes and Four Tops' hits of the Sixties, but also classics such as Roadrunner, Quicksand, Jimmy Mack and Band of Gold. The trio left the Motown label in 1967, and a ten-year lawsuit followed.

We met shortly after the Swedish Pirate Party gained its first European seat — so invited him to make a response. For his message, you'll need to click on the audio.

A Message to the Pirate Party

Lamont Dozier on Politics and Technology

For music fans who don't want to hear about the industry, I also asked him a bit about how he composed some of these great songs. You can hear a moment where a composer hears a cover version of one of his compositions for the first time, which is quite magic. If you only have time to hear just one excerpt, this is the one:

Lamont Dozier on Writing the Songs…

Much of the rest of the interview follows. If you don't want to read or hear anything, but just want to get something off your chest, click here, or here to mail me.

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