Dream Machine

After departing Motown, Norman Whitfield also severed his long-running creative partnership with the Temptations. He launched Whitfield Records, taking the Undisputed Truth with him and crafting their output, in the eyes of many listeners, as quirky counterparts to the Tempts. The enterprise proved short-lived, however, and the label soon collapsed. Still drawn to production work, Whitfield assembled Dream Machine in 1980 as a self-contained unit that included two former Undisputed Truth members, Taka Boom and Joe Harris. The lineup featured Taka Boom (aka Yvonne Stevens, Chaka Khan’s sister), Joe Harris, Melvin Stewart, Lloyd Williams, Trey Stone, James McKinney, Ron Artis, and Pete Carr. Their debut single, “Shakedown,” gained traction in clubs yet failed to generate meaningful retail sales. The group’s self-titled album appeared on RCA in 1981 and received scant attention despite bass-heavy funk tracks such as “Dream Machine” and “Living Too High.” RCA quickly lost patience with the commercial results and ended the relationship before a second album could be recorded.