Dobie that's Dobie Gray of our very own northern soul scene Classic star, the one who gave us such gems as” out on the floor","see you at the go go" ,"Honey you can't take it back” a man or maybe At the time only just more than a boy cut his first disc in 1963 was born on the 26th of July 1942 in the town of Simonton, Texas, born into this world as One Lawrence Darrow Brown this young man was soon to find the music in his soul No wonder really as his grandfather was a Baptist minister, in his early teens our Hero found in himself the ambition to be a star, And with a move to L.A ,Dobie made his first recordings under the name of Larry Denis, but soon changed it To Dobie Gray at the suggestion of his long time friend Lou Fields. The young man soon signed to a small time local label called cordak one of many labels to pass in the history of this music. It was with this label he got his first hit, "Look at me now" This was his first taste of what he wanted, A top 100 place in the billboard top 100. At number 91. For him this was the big time. Unfortunately this was a false start and the only release On Cordak to do anything much at all, It was not until 1964 with Cordak now gone and Charger records came into being from the fall out did Dobie return to the charts, and how!!! Dobie hit the charts with the record that he will always be remembered for "I'm in with the in crowd" A mod classic at sold two million records and his first gold disc. I wonder how many of today’s artists Can claim the same sales for a single, not too many. Charger released four more singles in the two years that followed but it would be seven long Years before Dobie would taste the same success that "in crowd" had given him, Only one of he four releases did anything much at all And that was a similar sounding track called "See you at the go go" during this lean time Dobie continued to record, It was at this time that the song of most Interest to the Northern soul fan came into being, a total flop at the time it was released In 1966 it did nothing at all until four years later when first picked up by the northern scene,In fact the song made no money until it was released in the UK in 1975 due to the growing demand From the scene and a good eye for making money, the song charted in the top 50 no mean feat Back in the days of 45's selling millions. Anyone not know this song??? It became an anthem for the then Northern soul heyday; "out on the floor" said it all. This was to be one of Dobie's last tracks with Charger as the company stopped Trading late the same year (1966) Again we find Dobie in a break from recording until 1968, he kept his hand in by Doing small parts in film and TV he also did theatre, appearing in the L.A production Of "Hair" from 1969 to 1972 In late 68 he signed to an inde label called White whale records, this label had had quite A big success with a band called "The Turtles” and as such put most of its buget and promotion Into trying to continue the run of luck.It's no wonder to me that Dobie didn't do well at White whale with a lack of backing And next to no promotion, in fact very few of his records made it out of California Due to the very poor distribution, sad indeed and a small wonder that it was one of These recordings that was to become another classic "Honey, you can't take it back"In 1971 Dobie joined a group called "Pollution" and had a few releases on Prophecy.Always one to experiment with styles, this new direction was to lead to the most Successful time in his long singing carreer, he found himself leaning towards The country sound, so much so he moved to Nashville!! So what can I say but thanks for the great songs you made on your way there? As far as I know Dobie still lives and records in Nashville

  Dave Barrett