Dino was recently the subject of a tv special in England about the song I Will Survive which of course he wrote.
He is interviewed in depth throughout the show and says the turning point for him was when he sat down in front of the tv and all of a sudden on came the Generation film, this as we know was the film that Rare Earth provided the theme song for and which Dino had written along with Zesses.
He reckons after that fate his luck would change for the better!
Nick and Dino wrote and produced quite a lot of songs for Jobete, recorded by Motown artists. Mother Nature by the Temptations springs to mind.
I do remember seeing a track listing many years ago for the unreleased album Head to Head by Other People (R533L), and many of these songs were eventually used on the Matrix album.
Does anyone have the Other People album to confirm this and does anyone know who the group members were?
Nick Zesses & Dino Fekaris were two more of the unheralded geniuses at Motown..as far as writing & producing for The Hitsville Empire is concerned.
Of note, are some gems (personal faves of mine, as well) that they contributed to The Gordy Regime:
"Benjamin" & "(I've Given You) The Best Years Of My Life" (the latter co-composed with Jack Goga) - Martha & The Vandellas
"Supernatural Voodoo Woman" - The Originals
""This Child Needs Its Father" - The Undisputed Truth (1974) and Gladys Knight & Pips (1973)
"Love Me" (co-composed by Tom Baird) - Diana Ross
The entire* 1974 LP "Welcome To The World Of Riot" - Riot (*-Entire album produced by Zesses & Fekaris, and all but one tune composed by Zesses & Fekaris; The one exception being "A Song Of Long Ago" by Gabriel Garcia; By the way, on this LP, "Mother Nature" is featured as Track 3 - Side "A")
"Slow Down" - Michael Edward Campbell
And whilst "Let's Make Love Now" was 1st done in 1971 by The Supremes and The Four Tops (as "The MAGNIFICENT 7), my personal fave was the one that was later done as a 45 by Art & Honey ("Art" being Jobete writer, staff producer & backing vocalist Art Posey)
The clip is merely a still of the white promo label, but this is the masterpiece in its entirety..
I believe it to be Nick and/or Dino singing on their composition "And I Thought You Loved Me", released on Motown by Marbaya in 1973. This track was originally scheduled for release on MoWest in 1972 as by the Music Makers. The song has also been recorded by the Supremes and by Thelma Houston.
According to The Complete Motown Singles, Nick and Dino had a single released earlier than the Impact one, namely "Good Girl"/ "I'll Always Love You" on the local Sound Patterns label.
Rare Earth's "Generation (Light Up the Sky)", co-written with Beatrice Verdi in 1969, appears to be their first Motown composition (Rare Earth RE5010A).
The following Zesses/ Fekaris compositions were issued on Motown singles in 1971:
VIP 25062. (I've Given You) The Best Years of My Life - PJ (Co-written with Jack Goga. The song was covered by Martha Reeves & Vandellas in their 1972 album Black Magic.)
Motown M1181. You Gotta Have Love In your Heart - Supremes & 4 Tops
Rare Earth RE5031. I Just Want to Celebrate - Rare Earth
Rare Earth RE5038. Hey Big Brother - Rare Earth
The following were issued in 1972:
MoWest MW5009. I'm Looking For Love - The Commodores (B-side of " The Zoo (The Human Zoo)" )
Gordy G7119. Mother Nature - The Temptations
Soul S35100. Who Is the Leader of the People - Edwin Starr
Motown M1208A. The Good Things (Where Was I When Love Came By) - The Naturals
Motown M1208B. Me And My Brother - The Naturals
They left Motown in 1976 after which Dino Fekaris collaborated with Freddie Perren for Peaches & Herb's "Shake Your Groove Thing" and of course Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".
^^^ I entered the previous post but forgot to change it from "Anonymous".
The eponymous 1972 album by Matrix (Rare Earth 542L) has already been mentioned. Although the whole album is produced by Baird, Zesses and Fekaris, the only track where Nick and Dino share composer credits with Tom is "I Was Lonely (And They Laughed)".
In 1974 the single by Matrix "Streakin' Down the Avenue" was released by Motown (Motown M1301). It was also written and produced by Tom Baird, Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris.
The tracks on the previously-mentioned 1974 album "Welcome to the World of Riot" by Riot (Motown MS806) which were written by all three are as follows:
Hi, I'm probably chiming in out of nowhere. LOL's I knew Nick Zezzes and family when I was 5 yrs old, in Detroit, he and my Father Marcus Terry were not only neighbors but our best friends. Nick was an amazingly talented person. Reading more about him now at age 50, 45 years later, jaw dropped at seeing all the Music he and Dino had an influence on.. Writing and composing for almost every Motown Artist in the 70's.. Almost every song written, was either composed, produced, written, arranged "all of the above" by this dynamic duo. At age 5 I was clueless, Nick came to CA to stay with us later down the road, just a stopping point to get a new leg up after divorcing his first wife. I was like age 11, and he basically was my caretaker/baby sitter Nanny .. Warms my heart, cause HE WAS THE BEST! He took me anywhere I asked to go, no questions asked. He made my breakfast before school every morning just to my liking, even special ordered with no egg white just sunny side up yolk on lightly buttered toasted bread, and coffee mixed perfectly. He drove me to school, picked me up. He told me stories, and played the piano and sang. Even cuter, he stuttered, something terrible, but when he sang, he sounded like a angel. He'll always hold such a special place in my heart, and I sure am honored to have known him.
Thank you for sharing your heart-warming life experiences with and impressions about Nick Zesses. I've never been able to find out one personal or biographical detail about this great songwriter. This means a lot.
The information that I find says that Nikolas (Nick) Zesses was born on January 20, 1945 and died on June 24, 2006. His last known residence was in California but it seems that he came from Michigan. I find a guy named Nick Zesses graduating from Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan in 1963. Ancestry.com has a high school graduation photo of him on the first page of the graduating seniors. These dates make sense because Dino Fekaris was born in Pittsburgh, PA on January 24, 1945 - the same month and year as Zesses - just a few days apart. Dino attended Schenley High School in Pittsburgh, PA for at least one year. Apparently his family then moved to Detroit and Dino graduated from Mackenzie High School in Detroit in 1963. Ancestry.com also has a high school graduation photo of Dino. Somehow these two guys met one another and started writing songs. I know the information on Dino is correct. I hope that the information on Nick is also correct. His information just makes sense to me -- that both men might be around the same age and write songs together.
After doing more research on ancestry.com, I found that Dino is a nickname. His birth name is Constantine G. Fekaris. I believe the 'G' stands for George, which is the name of his father. He shows up in the 1950 census living on Dawson St in Pittsburgh and is 5 yrs old, which is correct since he was born on January 24, 1945.
