Marc Gordon

Marcus Melvin "Marc" Gordon (October 14, 1935 – June 16, 2010) was an American Grammy-winning record producer, songwriter and music executive, best known for his work with Hal Davis at Motown, and for his later involvement with The 5th Dimension.

Biography Gordon was born in Denver, Colorado and initially worked as an engineer with the Howard Hughes Corporation. Around 1960, he started managing and also writing songs with R&B singer Hal Davis, in Los Angeles. Though Davis' own recordings were unsuccessful, he and Gordon continued to collaborate on the recordings of other musicians, including the Champs, Bobby Pickett, and the Hollywood Argyles; they sang backing vocals on the latter group's hit "Alley Oop". Gordon and Davis became a record production team and began working with teenage singer Brenda Holloway, as well as recording with Mary Love, a local singer for Modern Records, whose "You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet" became a Northern Soul favorite in the UK.

After meeting Berry Gordy, they were given the responsibility of recording material for Motown in Los Angeles. Between 1962 and 1965, Davis and Gordon collaborated on records including Little Stevie Wonder's "Hey Harmonica Man" and "Castles in the Sand" (and the album Stevie at the Beach), Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts" (a #13 US pop hit), and Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)". They also produced albums by Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, and others. They acted as managers for many of the acts they recorded, and also produced records by Ike & Tina Turner, and the Ikettes.

Marc Gordon became President of Motown's Los Angeles office, before leaving the organization in 1965 and setting up an independent management company. and, with Rivers, produced Al Wilson's recording of "The Snake".

In 1969, Gordon married Florence LaRue, lead singer with The 5th Dimension, in a hot air balloon above the Century Plaza Hotel; The label was renamed Rocky Road, and had a #3 US pop hit in 1972 with "Precious and Few" by Climax. In 1973, Al Wilson had the label's biggest hit with the million-seller, "Show and Tell", a US pop #1 (#10 R&B). After Rocky Road was taken over by Bell Records in 1974, Gordon continued to manage acts including The 5th Dimension, Thelma Houston, Al Wilson, the Staple Singers, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Willie Hutch.