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Motown M 1001 (B), November 1959
Re-pressed April 1960
B-side of You Never Miss A Good Thing
(Written by Berry Gordy)
Eugene Remus’ one and only Motown single, You Never Miss A Good Thing, had the unique “honour” of being withdrawn, re-pressed and reissued not once but twice. The second of those re-toolings was to re-record the underwhelming A-side with a string section; the first was to replace the original B-side (the genuinely dreadful Hold Me Tight) with this. Gordy wrote and produced this replacement song himself, giving the impression that he took matters into his own hands to sort out the situation.
Shoved out less than a month after the original single was released, Gotta Have Your Lovin’ shows every sign of having been written and recorded in a hurry. The song is derivative and fails to stick in the mind; the verses are an almost direct lift from Fever – originally a hit, lest we forget, for Little Willie John, brother of new Motown signing Mable John – while the chorus sounds like Barrett Strong’s magnificent Money (That’s What I Want) slowed to half tempo. Yet again denied the chance to cut his own material, Remus again sounds ill at ease with the sub-par song given to him by Motown, and perhaps as a result he’s on dismally uninspiring vocal form here. He wouldn’t be given the opportunity to set things right; history seems to have lost track of what happened to him after this single, and Motown didn’t invite him back.
To add insult to injury, this is another of the records where the compilers of The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 1 couldn’t lay their hands on an original master recording, meaning it had to be dubbed from a 45rpm vinyl single (and dubbed very well, as always, though a couple of clicks and pops are still audible).
It isn’t as awful as Hold Me Tight, but then neither is having a vagrant sneeze in your face.
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Eugene Remus? Click for more.)
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| Eugene Remus “Hold Me Tight” |
The Miracles “Way Over There” |
Motown Junkies 
Dear fellow Motown Nerd:
I am enjoying the website throughly. I am lucky to own all the Complete Motown Singles volumes 1 through 11b and
am anxiously awaiting volume 12. I totally agree with your assessment of the Remus sides. I have done some research into Remus but can’t find out what happened to him afterwards.
your fellow Motown nerd,
Mary Magaldo
marymagaldo@basicisp.net
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I’ve amended or removed a couple of these visitor comments after being contacted by the grandson of Eugene Remus – apologies for any offence caused.
Thanks for the kind words, Mary, and for your various comments throughout the site, it is much appreciated.
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Wow this Eugene guy couldn’t win for loosing!
So here I am. I’ve finished the entire first year of Motown. The only two keepers were “Money” and “Bad Girl.” Judging from the 1959 singles I wouldn’t have thought much of Motown. It is a wonder the company did not fold. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Motown. I’m looking forward to the music 1960 will bring!
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I loved Eugene Remus previous songs but this is boring and not that memorable, and that “woo” at the end wasn’t hot. 1/10
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What’s odd is that The Fiestas covered this on Old Town in 1963.
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Huh! That makes absolutely no sense at all. It’s dull as ditchwater and surely almost nobody outside Detroit had ever heard the original, so what was the attraction there? Did Motown provide some kind of incentive to someone (the label, the group, a producer, a promoter, someone) to place a Jobete song on another label…?
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Motown issued a version by Marvin Gaye on the album “Motown Remembers Marvin Gaye” in 1985. This version was much better than Remus’s and was recorded in 1964. Unfortunately, like all the tracks on the album, it was over-dubbed with 1980s style percussion and various other instrumentation which spoiled it somewhat. I’d like to hear the original mix of the Gaye version.
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In addition to the Marvin Gaye version mentioned by ‘nafalmat’, there is also one other version listed in D.F.T.M.C., as being recorded on 17 March 1962 by Hattie Littles. The listing notes that this was on an acetate no. JD-035-09. There is no mention of it ever having been released.
Is it therefore possible the original recordings of both of these are still in Motown’s tape vaults? Certainly the Marvin Gaye one, recorded on 4 August 1964 and produced by Berry Gordy Jr. must be, as overdubs were added to it for release on the “Romantically Yours” album in March 1986.
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