Don't Take It Out On Me - Dennis Dorr & A Triangle
At age 22, Bobbi was ready to go into the teen market. It had been a year almost since the success of the country flavored "Don't Forget I Still Love You." Bobbi wanted to do something more than the country/adult standards that was in her recording material. She needed a teen rocker to hit the top 40 radio charts.
Once again Dennis was waiting in the wings to help her reach that goal. They got together and went through a stack of demos and tapes until they came upon, "Don't Take It Out on Me." A brill building style / northern soul number, "like Motown," Dennis says. It was written by Richie Adams who wrote "Tossin' and Turnin' a #1 in 1961.
Henry insisted on her doing the old songs, often and tried to persuade her away from this one. "Are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes," Bobbi said with a frown. "It would be good for her," says Miriam. "Ok, I'll get Burt De Coteaux." Burt was an arranger who knew how to do soul teen pop music. He was a black man. Dennis remembers the first time walking into a studio, "It was amazing, seeing the orchestra there, and the backup girls.” He stood right next to Bobbi at the mic with a look of wonder.
Henry was going over the material with Bobbi, ‘instructing her how to sing, if that was possible for this new number. Bobbi said, "I want Dennis to be on this one," and Burt looked over to Dennis and said, "hmm, can you play a triangle." “Sure, I can do that,” was Dennis’s reply. Henry was in a fuzz, "he's not a musician!" It didn't matter though; Dennis was playing on the record and one can hear him play the triangle throughout. Especially during the recitation. He stood right there next to Bobbi. "It was her best song," Dennis says. It should've been a big hit for her." If the stations had gotten wind of Bobbi going into the teen rock vein perhaps. It did chart in Michigan, respectfully. Also #93 in cashbox magazine, #114 in billboard also. There is a winter music promo from that winter of '66 where Bobbi sings the song in the snow that was shown by many tv stations.
The music video has not been found since. But Joey Sharp writer of this article and many others including her friend Dennis would love a chance to see the footage of Bobbi singing her teen rocker ballad again. It’s a powerhouse tune, so give it a listen!
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