Biography
Mike & the Modifiers earned the distinction of becoming Motown Records’ first white act under contract. Born in Detroit in 1943, Mike Valvano brought an instinctive passion for music to the label and contributed in multiple capacities, among them stomping feet on the Supremes’ earliest singles. The quartet, composed of neighborhood friends who shared similar tastes, coalesced at the close of the 1950s with Mike Ondercin handling lead guitar, Ronnie Greb playing rhythm guitar, and Rick Greb on drums. Although Valvano stood out as the most accomplished and dedicated musician among them, all four spent considerable time at the Motown offices; Ronnie Greb later recalled witnessing the Contours lay down “Do You Love Me,” the session that preceded his own group’s lone Gordy Records release, and he also remembers acting as an unofficial driver for an eleven-year-old Stevie Wonder.
Issued in August 1962, that solitary single—“I Found Myself a Brand New Baby” backed with “It’s Too Bad”—was co-written by Valvano and staff songwriter-producer Clarence Paul. Valvano subsequently produced the U.K. edition on the Oriole label, an edition now counted among England’s rarest R&B pressings. The group’s blend of doo-wop and guitar-driven rock & roll sat uneasily within Motown’s prevailing style, yet its vocal harmonies and prominent rhythm-guitar attack closely anticipated the Merseybeat sound that would soon emerge (had the band been able to pass for British or, like the Strangeloves, for Australian). When the record failed to chart, the Modifiers disbanded.
Valvano, who died in 2002, remained active in music for the following thirty-nine years, chiefly as a producer. His credits include work with Detroit’s Frijid Pink and Meat Loaf’s debut album, Stoney & Meat Loaf (1971). He later joined Johnny Powers to form the Hornets, a group that recorded two sides for Motown’s V.I.P. imprint. Since the 1990s, the band’s name and recordings have surfaced periodically in expanded Motown discographies and on more comprehensive reissues of the label’s singles catalog. As recently as 2008, rhythm guitarist Ronnie Greb continued to perform.
Issued in August 1962, that solitary single—“I Found Myself a Brand New Baby” backed with “It’s Too Bad”—was co-written by Valvano and staff songwriter-producer Clarence Paul. Valvano subsequently produced the U.K. edition on the Oriole label, an edition now counted among England’s rarest R&B pressings. The group’s blend of doo-wop and guitar-driven rock & roll sat uneasily within Motown’s prevailing style, yet its vocal harmonies and prominent rhythm-guitar attack closely anticipated the Merseybeat sound that would soon emerge (had the band been able to pass for British or, like the Strangeloves, for Australian). When the record failed to chart, the Modifiers disbanded.
Valvano, who died in 2002, remained active in music for the following thirty-nine years, chiefly as a producer. His credits include work with Detroit’s Frijid Pink and Meat Loaf’s debut album, Stoney & Meat Loaf (1971). He later joined Johnny Powers to form the Hornets, a group that recorded two sides for Motown’s V.I.P. imprint. Since the 1990s, the band’s name and recordings have surfaced periodically in expanded Motown discographies and on more comprehensive reissues of the label’s singles catalog. As recently as 2008, rhythm guitarist Ronnie Greb continued to perform.