Inside Tracks #41: "Then Came You"-Sherman Marshall & Phil Pugh: The Spinners & Dionne Warwick, 1974, w/Covers by Gordon feat. Karin Bloemen, Mieko Hirota

Around two dozen covers have been made of this song in its 5 decades of life, as both duets and solo arrangements! I'd have guessed twice as many! Span the globe? It's got that covered!

👉“Inside Tracks” is working its way through many of The Spinners’ ‘70s hits! We began with 1972’s “I’ll Be Around”:

Inside Tracks #10: Thom Bell & Phil Hurtt, "I'll Be Around" by Spinners, Hall & Oates, The Rippingtons feat. Jeffrey Osborne, Terri Wells, Regina Belle

….and, followed with the song’s place in Disco history, with interviews and videos:

Audio Archaeology: The Birth of Disco Uncovered--"I'll Be Around" by The Spinners, Written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt

The Spinners followed “I’ll Be Around” in 1972 with “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love”:

Inside Tracks #28: "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love"-Melvin & Mervin Steals: Spinners, 1972 w/Covers by Donny Osmond, Worlds Apart, Boyz II Men, Vesta Williams, Paul Stanley

“Then Came You” was written by Sherman Marshall and Phillip T. Pugh, and produced by the late Thom Bell. Recorded on April 2, 1974, it was released as a single the following July 13 as a duet between The Spinners and Dionne Warwicke, with Spinner, Bobby Smith, sharing the lead with his singing partner.

Bell had them sing together in the same studio booth to get the right feel, something Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell did on their duets for Motown. By October of ‘74, the song hit the top of the U.S. charts.

As for Dionne’s last-name spelling, from 1971 to 1975, the numerology adherent added a final ‘e’ to her last name to get it off that pesky 13-letter count.

Where Was Everyone? Pulling Out the Career Map

Four months after The Spinners and Dionne recorded “Then Came You” at Philly’s Sigma Sound, David Bowie began sessions for his Young Americans album at Sigma in August 1974, on a break following the first leg of his Diamond Dogs N. American Tour. The record was produced by Tony Visconti, and released March 7, 1975 on RCA Records.

Sherman Marshall ended up being a longtime songwriter in the Philly music center of Sigma Sound Studios and the TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) team. He co-wrote (with Bell, who also produced and arranged) the 1973 New York City hit, “I’m Doin’ Fine Now,” with “Then Came You” being his second hit.

Phillip Pugh was a session player for Sigma’s house band, MFSB (as a keyboardist and trumpeter), and co-wrote several songs with Marshall for The Spinners.

The Spinners

“Then Came You” was the third song on Side 1 of New and Improved, the group’s second album of 1974 (released in December), following Mighty Love, released in January of that year, and topping the R&B charts, while coming in at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. New and Improved was The Spinners’ 3rd studio album for Atlantic Records, after two with Motown.

Dionne Warwick

Ms. Warwick, now 83, had just moved to Warner Bros. Records in 1972, after spending 8 years (and 14 albums) on Scepter Records, from 1963 through 1970. The 6-time Grammy winner, of course, became wildly popular in the ‘60s with her enviable string of hits written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Three of those Bacharach/David recordings by Dionne (“Walk On By,” “Alfie,” and “Don’t Make Me Over”) have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame!

We’re proud to feature this excellent look at the two master songwriters from veteran professional songwriter (who’s had his songs recorded by Dionne Warwick’s first cousin, Whitney Houston, Julio Iglesias, and Donna Summer, among others), FR&B subscriber, Jay Asher:

Burt, Hal & Me: Songwriter Jay Asher on the Inspirational Magic of Burt Bacharach and Hal David

After hitting the top spot in the States in October 1974, the Spinners performed “Then Came You,” live, with band and horns, on The Midnight Special on Valentine’s Day, 1975. At that moment, Philly natives, Sister Sledge, were enjoying the release of their debut U.S. LP, Circle of Love, after a couple years of success in the UK and Japan.

Corporately, this song and performance was all one big, happy family: The Spinners recorded for Atlantic, Sister Sledge was on Atlantic subsidiary, Atco, and Dionne was on Warner Bros; together, they were all under the WEA tent (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic).

Sister Sledge’s Joni Sledge fills in beautifully, here, for Dionne, while lead singer, Bobby Smith, gets a little reckless with his “bumping” mid-way through:

Poor-quality video, all-in-all, but worth watching for a rare, live performance of The Spinners and Dionne from 1985. Philippé Wynne split in 1977, and was replaced by singer, John Edwards, but Bobby Smith still takes the lead here:

Mieko Hirota, 1975

Right away, in 1975, came this cover by Mieko Hirota, and released only in Japan by Columbia Records. Known as both Mico and “The Queen of Pops,” the Tokyo native was born in 1947, and died in 2020 at 73:

Gordon featuring Karin Bloemen, October 1994

Gordon (l) and Karin rep The Netherlands! Now, if we can just get Karin to come out of her shell!

Tough to not be impressed by this 1994 offering by Dutchman, Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth…feel free to call him Gordon; his agent does. His album, Now is the Time (from whence this cover emanates; this link features session players), was released only in The Netherlands (on Dutch CNR Music) and Indonesia, and impeccably produced by Peter van Asten.

Gordon’s “Dionne” on this is one Karin Bloemen, a Dutch cabaret artist, singer, actress and author, born in 1960 in Alkmaar, The Netherlands.

Some musicians familiar with Americans are featured on this album: Keyboardist/arranger Tom Salisbury (who played on Van Morrison’s Saint Dominic’s Preview album in 1972), and Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman, who was in Focus, and recorded numerous solo albums, stateside, from the ‘70s into the new century!

And, this live performance from 1996, in case you missed it on Netherlands TV! Apparently, Karin Bloemen made prime-time television programs for the network, VARA, called “Een Wapen van Bloemen”: