William "Mickey" Stevenson

William "Mickey" Stevenson was a songwriter and record producer for the Motown Records group of labels from the early days of Berry Gordy's company^[1] until 1967, when he and his then-wife, singer Kim Weston, left for MGM.

Stevenson was head of the A&R department at Motown during the company's "glory" years of the mid-1960s when artists such as The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Four Tops, and Martha & the Vandellas came to the fore. He was also responsible for establishing the company's in-house studio band, which came to be known as The Funk Brothers.

He wrote and produced many hit records for Motown, some with co-writer and producer Ivy Jo Hunter, including "Dancing in the Street", "It Takes Two", "Ask the Lonely", "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", "My Baby Loves Me", "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and "Stubborn Kind of Fellow". He also wrote "Devil with the Blue Dress On" in 1964 with Shorty Long, which became a hit for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels in 1966, and "Can You Jerk Like Me" for Motown group The Contours (also 1964) .

He also wrote under the pseudonym/alias Avery Vandenburg, for Jobete's Stein & Van Stock publishing subsidiary.

Stevenson has concentrated on producing stage musicals in more recent years.

References

1. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Biography: William "Mickey" Stevenson". AMG. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p128627. Retrieved 17 May 2010. 

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Name	Stevenson, William
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