Artist:Tom Clay
Song:What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John
Album:Tamla Motown: Big Hits & Hard to Find Classics Volumes 1-3
This record was a top ten hit in 1971. It combines the popular songs What the World Needs Now Is Love and Abraham, Martin and John with audio news clips preaching tolerance and civil rights. The guy behind it was DJ Tom Clay. He tried to turn this record into a new career but as a veteran DJ, he should know when a record is a one hit wonder. He was born Thomas Clague Aug. 20, 1929 in New York City. He started out in the 50s on Detroit radio station WJBK. He was known for doing stunts and on air comic characterizations. For example, he was working for Buffalo radio station WWOL in 1955 when he conducted a stunt where he played Rock Around the Clock repeatedly from atop a billboard in Buffalo's Shelton Square. He was fired and arrested. Then he admitted that he accepted payola. Like many DJs, he bounced around a lot until he landed at Windsor, ON radio station CKLW. With the rise of Beatlemania, CKLW became Detroit's most popular radio station. He was fired for his Beatles Booster Club scheme where listeners sent a dollar to join a phony fan club. Clay was working at Los Angeles radio station KGBS when he decided to put together this six minute mix of What the World Needs Now Is Love and Abraham, Martin and John interspersed with sound bites and excerpts of speeches by John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. It's not known where Clay got the idea to make this record but he convinced Motown owner Berry Gordy to release the record on his Mowest label and it reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The vocals are by Motown background singers The Blackberries led by Clydie King. It was arranged by Gene Page. Clay recorded an album. But a concept like this wears thin over the length of an album so it flopped. Motown dropped Clay. He self released a second album but it went nowhere. You can get get this single on this 3CD various artists comp from Motown's British label Spectrum. Clay went on to do voiceover work until he died on Nov. 22, 1995 at age 66. Here's a video of What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John by Tom Clay.
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