b. 4 January 1937 · Detroit · Motown’s head of A&R
William ‘Mickey’ Stevenson co-wrote the song with Shorty Long. Born in Detroit on 4 January 1937, he ran Motown’s A&R department through the label’s peak years and organised the in-house studio band that became known as the Funk Brothers — arguably his largest single contribution to twentieth-century pop. His writing credits include ‘Dancing in the Street’, ‘Pride and Joy’ and ‘It Takes Two’. That a man with that resume is invisible on a song most people file under ‘Mitch Ryder’ is a fair summary of how songwriting credit travels.