Thursday July 7, 2022 “What Does It Take (To Win You Love for Me)” Junior Walker & the All Stars
Junior Walker (Autry Dewalt Mixon Jr.) is a saxophone player and never intended to be a vocalist or even a frontman however they were scheduled to record their first Motown single “Shotgun” and the singer hired to do the vocals didn’t show-up. Berry Gordy, never one to waste studio time for any reason, enlisted Junior Walker to do the vocals and he delivered a number one single.
Junior and his All Stars would have a number of R&B singles following in the style of “Shotgun” but would then shift to more ballad styled songs ultimately getting them to today’s stuff “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love for Me)” which would be a top five single and stretch Junior’s successes into the 70s.
Today’s song was co-written by Harvey Fuqua who was the founder and lead singer of the 50s group the Moonglows which would at one time late in their career include a young singer by the name of Marvin Gaye. Fuqua would go on to form his own record label which would eventually be absorbed into Motown and he would produce records like Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” as well as Gaye’s duets with Tami Terrel.
Stay safe and well…and that’s Junior Walker on saxophone on Foreigner’s top five 1981 hit “Urgent”.