Dream Machine

When Norman Whitfield left Motown, his association with the Temptations ended as well. He started Whitfield Records, brought the Undisputed Truth along, and to many, produced them as eccentric versions of the Tempts. All good things come to an end, however, and soon the label went under. Whitfield still had the producing bug so in 1980 he created Dream Machine, a self-contained band including a pair of ex-members of the Undisputed Truth (Taka Boom and Joe Harris). Dream Machine consisted of 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 first single, "Shakedown," was an item in clubs, but the frenzy didn't translate to record sales. Their first and only album was self-titled and released on RCA in 1981, but was widely ignored despite bass-heavy funkers like "Dream Machine" and "Living Too High." RCA had a short fuse and an eye on the bottom line, and dropped Dream Machine before a second LP appeared. ~ Andrew Hamilton