{"id":5789,"date":"2026-08-22T17:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5789"},"modified":"2026-08-22T17:38:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:38:00","slug":"janie-bradford-money-thats-what-i-want-songwriter-dies-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5789","title":{"rendered":"Janie Bradford, \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want)\u201d Songwriter, Dies at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tJanie Bradford, the onetime receptionist for Berry Gordy who co-wrote the R&B classic \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want),\u201d the first big hit for the founder of Motown Records, has died. She was 87.<\/p>\n

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\n\tBradford died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after an extended illness, her family announced.<\/p>\n

\n\tBradford also co-wrote \u201cToo Busy Thinking About My Baby,\u201d which Marvin Gaye took to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, and songs for other artists including Mary Wells, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, the Four Tops and Martha & the Vandellas.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe later served as head of writer relations for the Motown publishing company Jobete.<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn on June 2, 1939, in Charleston, Missouri, Bradford was inspired to be a writer after her idol, poet Robert Frost, visited her high school.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile living in Detroit with her sister, Clea, she became neighborhood friends with singer Jackie Wilson, who had just charted with his first solo single, the 1957 party anthem \u201cReet Petite.\u201d Wilson invited her to meet Gordy, one of the song\u2019s writers, and she gave him a collection of her poetry.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Gordy had launched the Tamla and Motown labels in 1959, he hired Bradford as a receptionist. One day, as Gordy was working on a song, Bradford joined him at the piano to add her own verse \u2014 \u201cYour love gives me such a thrill, but your love don\u2019t pay my bills. Gimme some money, baby!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song, of course, would become \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want).\u201d First recorded by Barrett Strong, it peaked at No. 23 on the Hot 100 and helped cement Tamla\/Motown as hit-makers. It would be covered by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Flying Lizards, The Supremes, Boyz II Men and Charli XCX, among many others.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cJanie was there with me from the very beginning, before there was even a Motown, and she will always hold a very special place in my heart and in the Motown family,\u201d Gordy said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJanie was smart, clever, witty and fun. She was also talented and determined. In those early days, everybody did what was needed to be done, and Janie was no exception. She became Motown\u2019s first receptionist, but her talents quickly took her far beyond that desk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBradford\u2019s credits also included \u201cContract on Love,\u201d recorded by Little Stevie Wonder, Wells\u2019 \u201cYour Old Standby,\u201d Diana Ross\u2019s \u201cI Am Me\u201d and The Supremes\u2019 \u201cTime Changes Things\u201d and \u201cWe Should Be Closer Together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter some 25 years at Motown, Bradford in the 1990s founded the Heroes and Legends Awards, an event that over 30 years honored music icons and presented scholarships to those pursuing higher education.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHer annual gatherings always felt like old home week because Janie kept that wonderful sense of family alive,\u201d Gordy said.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn June, she was inducted into the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\n\tSurvivors include her husband of 55 years, Wardean; her children, Lance and Nicole; her daughter-in-law, Carolyn; and her grandsons, Bradford and Austin.<\/p>\n

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Janie Bradford, the onetime receptionist for Berry Gordy who co-wrote the R&B classic \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want),\u201d has died. She was 87.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3600,3601,39],"class_list":["post-5789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-berry-gordy","tag-motown","tag-obituaries"],"yoast_head":"\nJanie Bradford, \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want)\u201d Songwriter, Dies at 87 - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=5789\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Janie Bradford, \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want)\u201d Songwriter, Dies at 87 - US Property Moves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Janie Bradford, the onetime receptionist for Berry Gordy who co-wrote the R&B classic \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want),\u201d has died. 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