Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.
The A side on the Artistics’ second Okeh 45, a smooth and snappy Sam Cooke-ish groover called “Get My Hands on Some Lovin’,” became a minor local hit in ’64 (and it can’t have hurt that it had been cowritten and originally recorded by Marvin Gaye). By this time Dobyne had ceded the lead spot to Charles Davis and then Marvin Smith, who lent his pipes to a pair of upbeat weepers in 1965: “Patty Cake,” coproduced by Curtis Mayfield, and “This Heart of Mine,” which enjoyed significant regional success. The latter was written by Barrett Strong, who was working closely with the Artistics at the time—his recording of “Money (That’s What I Want)” had become Motown’s first smash in 1960.
The Artistics’ strong 1973 single “She’s Heaven” b/w “Look Out I’m Gonna Get You” sounded as perfectly engineered for commercial success as anything they’d ever recorded, with immaculate harmonies, sassy horns, silky strings, and lush, detailed production by Davis (with direction by Henderson). By then, though, trends in soul favored a funkier sound and lyrics that engaged with social and political realities—the 45 didn’t even chart. The Artistics also dropped the LP Look Out that year, and those would be their last releases. The group left Brunswick and soon broke up.
