Roots of The Marvelettes

Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.

The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. The premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal group, with twelve number 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. The breakthrough by the Supremes is considered to have made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.

Richard Dean Taylor was a Canadian musician, most notable as a singer, songwriter, and record producer for Motown during the 1960s and 1970s. According to Jason Ankeny, Taylor was "one of the most underrated acts ever to record under the Motown aegis."

Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and singer. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful hit "The Hustle". He has approximately 700 song copyrights to his credit, and produced songs by such recording artists as Brenda & the Tabulations; David Ruffin; The Stylistics; The Presidents; Faith, Hope & Charity; New Censation; Gladys Knight & the Pips; Aretha Franklin; Peaches & Herb; Lesley Gore; and Stacy Lattisaw.