Janie Bradford (born June 2, 1939) – Why You Wanna See My Bad Side (1978)

The songwriter who co-wrote Motown's first big hit "Money" also co-wrote this phenomenal funky opening cut to Smokey Robinson's Love Breeze LP.

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Janie Bradford is a songwriter who worked at Motown for more than a quarter-century and also served as the company’s first secretary. She and Berry Gordy co-wrote the label’s first real hit “Money (That's What I Want),” originally recorded by Barrett Strong.

Born in Charleston, Missouri, her family eventually moved North. During the 1950s she lived in Detroit with her sister Clea, who was just starting out as a jazz singer and performing at local nightclubs.

She was hired by Berry Gordy in 1959 to work as his secretary at the fledgling record label Tamla which he had founded the previous January. She had a love of poetry, and that summer wrote the lyrics for a song Gordy came up with titled “Money (That's What I Want).” It was recorded by Barrett Strong, who later claimed he co-wrote the music with Gordy. He was initially credited as a co-writer, but then had his name removed from the song’s copyright registration. Gordy said it had only been included due to a clerical error.

Released in August, 1959, it became Tamla’s first big hit after Gordy licensed it to his sister’s company Anna Records, nationally distributed by Chess. By June, 1960, it peaked at #2 R&B and #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its success effectively launched Motown, which Gordy incorporated as another label that April.

Bradford later co-wrote songs with other top Motown songwriters and producers like Holland-Dozier-Holland, Norman Whitfield, and Richard “Popcorn” Wylie. Although Wylie parted ways with Motown in 1962 after a dispute with Gordy, the two of them co-wrote many songs that were produced for labels other than Motown. They had to keep their songwriting partnership on the down low because it would have jeopardized Bradford’s position with the company.

She helped name the Supremes after they signed with Motown in 1961. Originally known as the Primettes, Bradford wrote down several possible new names for them to choose from. Other options were the Royaltones, the Darleens, the Sweet Ps, the Melodees, and the Jewelettes. She handed the list to Flo Ballard, the only member of the group in the Hitsville U.S.A. building at the time, and Ballard picked the Supremes.

Bradford also had a songwriting partnership with blind songwriter Raynard Miner, who had co-written Jackie Wilson’s classic “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher” before arriving at Motown in 1968. Together they co-wrote the Four Tops’ superb cut “My Past Just Crossed My Future” for their 1969 Four Tops Now! LP.

During the seventies, Bradford collaborated with Smokey Robinson on several songs. The first was the laid back jam “Just Passing Through,” which she co-wrote with Marv Tarplin and Al Cleveland for the Pure Smokey LP (1974). It was subsequently released as the B-side to “Baby That's Backatcha,” the advance single for his 1975 album A Quiet Storm.

She and Smokey then co-wrote a pair of songs together, the last of which was the mellow love song “Ever Had A Dream” (1979), the B-side to his top-five Hot 100 and R&B hit “Cruisin’.” On the Cash Box charts, the single hit #1 on the Top 100.

Their greatest collaboration, however, came a year earlier, when they co-wrote the phenomenal funky opening cut “Why You Wanna See My Bad Side” for his 1978 Love Breeze album. Initially released as the B-side to the slow jam “Daylight And Darkness,” which went to #9 R&B, the sides were soon flipped and “Why You Wanna See My Bad Side” was re-issued as an A-side but only reached #52 R&B. It was later introduced to another generation when it was included on the official soundtrack to the massively successful videogame Grand Theft Auto V in 2013.

Currently, Bradford directs the Heroes and Legends Scholarship Fund and puts on an annual event in Los Angeles, the HAL Awards Dinner, which raises money for performing arts student scholarships.

Happy 85th Birthday to the great Janie Bradford.

Further info:

“For a Classic Motown Song About Money, Credit Is What He Wants,” The New York Times, August 31, 2013.

“Songs, Signatures and 'Money',” by Adam White, West Grand Blog, June 2, 2017.

“'Money,' Poetry and Philanthropy,” by Adam White, West Grand Blog, March 29, 2019.

“Motown: The Early Years,” SoulRide, April 1, 2021.

#soul #funk #Motown #RichardPopcornWylie #SmokeyRobinson #JanieBradford