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Motown M 1019 (A), October 1961
b/w Real Good Lovin’
(Written by Janie Bradford and Richard “Popcorn” Wylie)
Richard “Popcorn” Wylie’s third Motown single, and his last for ten years, ends up (unsuprisingly) having nothing to do with the previous two. Following on from the painfully unfunny break-in comedy routine Custer’s Last Man and his boogie-woogie piano rock cover of Money (That’s What I Want), here Wylie and songwriting partner Janie Bradford turn in a slinky faux-blues bar-room R&B stomp, made with one eye firmly on getting some radio play.
It seems a good match at first, and the band are well up for it – there’s a splendid guitar solo at 1:15 and some great sax work, as well as a shrill, piercing operatic female backing voice which comes in right at the very end which would have livened up the rest of the song considerably had it featured earlier – but oddly for such an individual personality, Wylie’s vocal here lacks character, and doesn’t come across as dynamic enough to carry this off. He just isn’t blues enough for the material, coming over flat and uneven. Worse, the song is based on a central vocal hook that plainly just doesn’t work – “Well if I don’t have the right / Then give me the right, right away”, awkwardly timed and scanning poorly – and as a result, the whole song just feels rushed, slapdash, as though it wasn’t quite ready.
Not as painful as Custer’s Last Man, this is probably still the most disappointing of Popcorn’s three Motown forays in the era; Custer’s… was a bad idea from the off, whereas this one definitely had promise – it just doesn’t sound finished. Moreover, it’s not at all clear what could have been done to salvage the song, short of a fundamental rewrite. The result is a half-formed song idea which should really have ended up in the wastepaper basket.
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.
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| Freddie Gorman “Just For You” |
Popcorn & The Mohawks “Real Good Lovin'” |
Motown Junkies 
Produced by Janard, new one on me. Probably Janie and ???.
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JANie (Bradford) and RichARD (Wylie).
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The “Brangelina” naming convention is just another way that Motown was years ahead of its time.
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I recognise the convenience of using the compound names rather than printing ALL the complete names over, and over, and I guess that RayBer, Janard and BrianBert are easy enough to figure out, and even “Mikaljon” is discernable IF one knows the names of most of the Motown producers and songwriters. But I draw the line at “Cheddarsanjamon”!
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That should read: “Cheddarsamjun” (the combination of 3 writers sharing writing rights with Popcorn Wylie on his “Shimmy Gully” (Motown1002).
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Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually like this Popcorn & The Mohawks records. Reason being its fun & has a good beat!
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sounds like a movie toss off from Elvis…
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Here comes the dissension! I love this song. I played it several times in a row today. It hits my ears as a good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll tune.
Motown was not even within 2,000,000 feet of the years of turning out innovative song after innovative song so of course, the bulk of the early sides are going to be reflections of their time. That said, this is among the better tunes from Young Motown’s output.
I thought the word play was just fine. Maybe not quite as tight as something Smokey would come up with, but it works for me. Nothing wrong with the scansion. Nothing at all disappointing here except that it ends too soon.
It kept my foot tapping and my head bobbing along, so it did its job! A solid 6 on Tomovox’s chart.
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