The Dynamic Superiors, Leave It Alone | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 81st edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Leave It Alone” by The Dynamic Superiors.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 81^st edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Leave It Alone” performed by The Dynamic Superiors.

Not all soul groups achieved rousing success.  That was the case with the Washington, D.C.📍 Motown quintet, The Dynamic Superiors. The Dynamic Superiors charted only one song on the pop charts: “Shoe Shoe Shine”,  which peaked modestly at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Despite the lack of commercial success, The Dynamic Superiors were a respectable, well-rounded 70s Motown collective. Tony Washington (d. 1989), the lead singer, was openly gay.  That was a big deal for Motown and the 1970s. However, most important is the talent that Washington and his fellow bandmates brought to the table. Focusing on the song at hand, “Leave It Alone” is the third track from their self-titled 1975 album.  It was written and produced by Motown royalty: Nikolas Ashford (1941 – 2011) and Valerie Simpson (1946 – ), best known as Ashford & Simpson.

“Leave It Alone” is a glorious soul record.  It features great production and sublime orchestration.  Not only are the ears treated to a tight rhythm section, but the orchestral music cues that dominated 70s soul are alive and well.  Tony Washington brings it on lead vocals.  He is dynamic, expressive, nuanced, and soulful to the nth degree.  “And I guarantee / Beyond a shadow of a doubt,” he sings in the first verse, continuing, “If you’ve been closed up too long / I got the love that will bring you out.” Ooh-la-la! Similarly, in the second verse, he  touts, “When life gets heavy on your shoulders / Don’t worry ‘bout the rescue / ‘Cause I’ll be there, I’ll be right there to take it over.” Washington sounds particularly elite when he dips into his falsetto during the chorus, excerpted earlier.  Listening to “Leave It Alone”, a song with rich harmonies, top-notch songwriting, and tuneful melodies, it is sad that it didn’t achieve greater attention.  Notably, it has been sampled a few times.

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The Dynamic Superiors »The Dynamic Superiors » UMG Recordings, Inc. » 1975

The Dynamic Superiors, Leave It Alone: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 81 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings, Inc.; AcatXlo, OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]

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