UNSUNG: MY STORY OF THE ANDANTES, MOTOWN, AND THE BLACK WOMEN BEHIND THE SOUND OF YOUNG AMERICA (Harper, 2026)

The Andantes––comprised of Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks, and Louvain Demps––were Motown Record’s premier vocal group who appeared on every major Motown hit during the 1960s and ’70, sparking a pop culture renaissance that captured the attention of everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to The Beatles. The group recorded background vocals for tens of thousands of songs for the company, and earned the moniker of the “Clean-up Girls.” But despite having arguably sung on more combined Billboard pop and R&B Top Ten hits than Elvis, Mariah Carey, or Beyoncé, The Andantes were never properly credited for their work. For songs that went on to earn millions in revenue, they were paid a recording fee of $10. And when Motown abandoned Detroit for the glimmer of Hollywood, The Andantes––along with many other artists who’d been the company’s lifeblood––were left behind, their seismic contributions to American music and pop culture essentially erased. Until now.

Radiating with warmth, wit, and grace, UNSUNG chronicles Louvain’s remarkable journey from a rowdy tomboy doo-wopping on Detroit streetcorners to singing with The Andantes in Motown’s famed Studio A. With the unique vantage point of being one the first women to “audition” for Motown, Louvain provides a true inside look into the birth and growth of a cultural phenomenon––vividly rendering talented Black teenagers like Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Four Tops, and Stevie Wonder spinning gold from nothing but their creativity and tenacity. Lovain also (re)introduces readers to figures we don’t know, many of them Black women like The Andantes, who formed the bedrock of contemporary pop music but were ultimately relegated to the background due to ambition, competition, and greed. Most notably, there is Louvain’s inspiring personal story interweaved throughout: a brilliant Black woman fighting for recognition and survival, literally running barefoot from an abusive marriage, working multiple jobs to support her two sons after Motown left Detroit for Hollywood, and ultimately discovering success and fulfillment on her own terms.