Men Are Getting Scarce
1971 · Invictus IS 9103 · USA
- Artist
- Chairmen Of The Board
- Title
- Men Are Getting Scarce
- Release
- Men Are Getting Scarce / Bravo, Hooray
- Year
- 1971
- Label
- Invictus # IS 9103
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- General Johnson & Greg Perry
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The song "Men Are Getting Scarce" (Invictus # IS 9103), a hard hitting soul / funk anti-war track by the Detroit group Chairmen of the Board, the first flag-ship band of Invictus - as mentioned above, Holland-Dozier-Holland founded this label after they left Motown Records in 1967. The track started with a spoken-word intro, in which the narrator asked the woman of the world to speak out against the war in order to save the men, otherwise "sons and fathers soon won't exist". The single featured on the 1972 album Bittersweet (Invictus # ST-9801). On release Billboard included the single in its pop spotlight, noting its "timely material" (6 November 1971).1 A few weeks later, on 27 November, it reached # 48 in the Billboard soul charts, moving up to # 46 on 11 December.23 It peaked at # 36 in the Billboard soul chart (18 December).4Sources1Billboard, 6 November 1971↩2Billboard, 6 November 1971↩3Billboard, 6 November 1971↩4Billboard, 6 November 1971↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs
The song "Men Are Getting Scarce" (Invictus # IS 9103), a hard hitting soul / funk anti-war track by the Detroit group Chairmen of the Board, the first flag-ship band of Invictus - as mentioned above, Holland-Dozier-Holland founded this label after they left Motown Records in 1967. The track started with a spoken-word intro, in which the narrator asked the woman of the world to speak out against the war in order to save the men, otherwise "sons and fathers soon won't exist". The single featured on the 1972 album Bittersweet (Invictus # ST-9801). On release Billboard included the single in its pop spotlight, noting its "timely material" (6 November 1971).1 A few weeks later, on 27 November, it reached # 48 in the Billboard soul charts, moving up to # 46 on 11 December.23 It peaked at # 36 in the Billboard soul chart (18 December).4 Sources1Billboard, 6 November 1971↩2Billboard, 6 November 1971↩3Billboard, 6 November 1971↩4Billboard, 6 November 1971↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: As long as man can remember he has been forced to engage in senseless wars of hate, greed and prejudice / If he refuses to fight, whether his reasons are just or not he is deemed a coward... / But should man be forced?... / I beg the woman of the world, help us, help yourself / Permanent woman's liberation and domination is coming sooner than you think / Men are getting scarce, they're killing us off like flies... / Protest, get us out of this mess / Talk to our leaders... / Sons and fathers soon won't exist
Notes
Invictus IS 9103 (45-10416PA); "Men Are Getting Scarce" (G. Johnson, G. Perry), total 3:13, Gold Forever Music, Incorporated, BMI; Holland-Dozier-Holland Prod., Inc.; produced by Greg Perry, General Johnson; "Produced & Mixed for Greater & Sharper Sound Reproduction on the Air"; from the LP "Men Are Getting Scarce" ST-9801; "Mfd. by Invictus Records, Inc.". [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
American soul group formed 1968 in Detroit, Michigan. [Source: Wikipedia]
Themes
In collections
Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs