1967
YOU HAVEN'T SEEN MY LOVE * THE ONES * MOTOWN 1117 * USA
Dear Johnny,
Back in 1967 I was the manager for the
group "The Ones" who were really my high school buddies living in
Lansing Michigan, about 90 miles west of Detroit. We used to do gigs on the
weekends at teen clubs all over Michigan doing all the latest Motown tunes as
well as many other popular R & B and soul tunes of the time. One day we
decided to cut one of our original tunes in a local two track recording studio.
We had the 45rpm records pressed on our own label and took them around to
the local radio stations in Lansing. Before we knew it, the record started
climbing up the charts in Lansing and soon thereafter other radio stations
across Michigan started playing the record as well. The record went all
the way up the charts to number one all over Michigan including both the big
Detroit radio stations, C.K.L.W. & W.K.N.R. We received a lot of attention
from many of the major record companies but waited for our chance to sign with
Motown. We went on promotional tours with many Motown acts including
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. The Ones consisted of four teenage guys,
Kevin Nicholoff on bass, his brother Kerry Nicholoff on Hammond B-3, Mark
Boomershine - drums and Danny Hernandez guitar and lead vocal. The Ones
were the first non-black group to sign with Motown and the first independent
record master ever to be purchased by Motown Records. I could go on with pages
and pages about The Ones and Motown, but I thought you might be interested in a
brief history. I still can't believe that you found the record in the
first place, it's a rarity. Danny Hernandez passed away a couple of years
ago and the other three guys still live in Lansing and we are still friends and
see each other from time to time.
Best regards,
James R. Joseph