Although she’s considered a brilliant jazz singer, Detroit-based Freda Payne will go down in history as the singer of this soul-pop hit written by the powerhouse Holland-Dozier-Holland team. “Band of Gold” hit multiple charts including a number 1 on the UK pop chart. The song tells the sad story of a young, inexperienced bride abandoned on her wedding night by a husband apparently incapable of loving her. The then 37-year-old Payne was initially reluctant to record the song as she didn’t feel it matched her age.