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Tamla T 54034 (B), September/October 1960 (3 pressings)
B-side of Shop Around
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
London American HL 9276 (B), February 1961
B-side of Shop Around
(Released in the UK under license through London Records)
Smokey’s second Motown solo songwriter credit, after the magnificent Way Over There, this slight B-side (originally the opening track of the Miracles’ début album, Hi! We’re the Miracles) was apparently held in such high regard at the time that Motown were supposedly keen to promote it over the A-side – that’s the A-side Shop Around, which went on to become the first million-selling Motown single.
They weren’t alone; this is often cited as one of Smokey’s best, especially among his early successes. The liner notes to The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 1 are almost breathless in their exaltation of this song (“a spine-chiller… a surefire winner… one of the greatest B-sides… a seminal ballad”), and such praise is hardly the exception – every review of this I’ve ever read has lauded it as a hidden gem, a criminally-ignored masterpiece.
I have to say, I really, really don’t see it. It’s a nice enough song, a slow, chugging doo-wop ballad with a heavy blues influence, but there’s just so little to it I can’t hear what everyone else seems to be hearing.
There’s almost no tune to be had, and whilst it floats along quite pleasantly while it’s actually playing, it fails the “could I sing this back to you right now” test. (Because I couldn’t. Surprisingly for a Miracles number, I find myself struggling to remember anything about this at all, other than the intro and the outro.)
The lyrics are utterly forgettable, to the point that I still couldn’t confidently tell you what it’s meant to be about (Smokey’s narrator pining over his ex, I think? I found my attention drifting every time I tried to pin it down.)
Smokey gives a throaty, edgy performance, which is an interesting choice, but in fact he ends up going so raw-throated as to actually slip out of key on a couple of occasions (you can totally hear early-period John Lennon in his vocal here, but not so much Smokey Robinson, if that makes sense). It also features a genuinely laughable ending, where Claudette gets a completely unnecessary vocal solo line to sing “Who’s loving you?” over Smokey’s closing note – which was clearly intended to get a rise out of a live crowd but which fails miserably on record.
Unintentionally funny ending aside, I find the record pleasant but unremarkable. Nothing particularly special to these ears, but hey, your mileage may vary.
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!)
COVERWATCH
Motown Junkies has reviewed other Motown versions of this song:
- The Supremes (June 1961)
- Brenda Holloway (July 1965)
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 Smokey Robinson & the Miracles? Click for more.)
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| The Miracles “Shop Around” |
Herman Griffin “True Love” |
Motown Junkies 
I’m pretty much forced to agree. Even on my most generous day, I couldn’t push it past a five. Nor do I understand either the esteem it has drawn since its earliest days.
Play this one after I’ll Try Something New, after Would I Love You after Ooo Baby Baby, after The Tracks Of My Tears, after Save Me,/i>, and after The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage, and its primitiveness is undisguised. To argue it’s an equal in that company is ludicrous (and, vaguely, insulting).
At best, and back in 1960, the record would suggest that there was some serious ballad composing talent to this newcomer Smokey Robinson, someone whose further work you’d want to watch for. But no masterpiece happened here.
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I have to agree. I was always uncomfortable with the vocals, seeming out of key to my novice ear. BUT, over the years sometimes I find myself singing it to myself, so perhaps Smokey knows something I don’t know. No doubt.
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(LOL) Mr. Nixon, you had me scared at first. I thought that you were gonna jump on the bandwagon with all those critics that you mentioned above who think this song is sooo great. Being a huge Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 fan I know this song from start to finish. The Miracles version does pale in comparison to those of The Temptation, Jackson 5 and maybe even The Supremes version is better than this one = ). Disappointing B-side to a wonderful A-side.
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Not nearly one of The Miracles’ best. But, I’d give it a 5, especially given the relatively high ratings you gave to some of the Mel-o-dy and Miracle label and VIP Al Klein-related dreck.
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I can not help but wonder if Claudette would have been the better choice for the lead in this particular tune. Her Who’s loving you in the end of the song is superb!
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Claudette would have done a fine job on this one. I am severely disappointed that The Miracles didn’t sing a LOT more songs with Claudette on lead. That handful she did record were all great.
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Yes, I agree Claudette had a lovely very delicate feminine voice, the type that really appeals to me. I particularly like ‘He don’t care about me’ from the ‘I’ll try something new’ album. A delightful Smokey song that Claudette sings wonderfully. I love the coyly way she delvers the line ‘Drop my hanky and he walked on by. He didn’t even notice oh me oh my’. Gorgeous!!
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Although I’d heard Shop Around a million times, I just stumbled onto Who’s Lovin’ You for the first time and it hit me like a ton of bricks. There is no doubt that this single track had more influence on John Lennon than almost any other (and we know that The Beatles were in the NEMS record shop devouring every single from America at this precise point in history and that they always scoured the B-sides). Aside from melismatic phrases that Lennon uses note for note on many songs, the signature II7 and iv minor chords are there – the emotional “cracks” in the voice – everything. I mean – Lennon always talked about Elvis and Johnny Cochran and Chuck Berry, and those were influences, but Smokey Robinson is clearly THE blueprint on which Lennon’s style is built – more than the others combined. My God, Who’s Lovin’ You is like the Rosetta Stone of the early Beatles. To be honest, for many years, I had considered Smokey Robinson to be just a small cut below the classic Holland-Dozier-Holland-Jamerson tracks, but now that I’m listening more carefully and realizing how far tracks like this one pre-date the HDH stuff, I repent. The man is a genius who literally changed everything.
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The only thing keeping this from getting a 10 in my book is that I wouldn’t know what to give the Jackson Five’s version, which is even better! This is a stone classic like Mary Wells’ similarly, criminally underrated (here) “Bye Bye Baby.” It hurts so good, just an extraordinary blues-soul hybrid gorgeously warbled by Smokey — easily his best performance yet, and one he’d be hard-pressed to top.
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