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Motown M 1025 (B), March 1962
B-side of Everybody’s Talking About My Baby
(Written by Janie Bradford and Richard “Popcorn” Wylie)
Comfortably the worst of Debbie Dean’s six sides for Motown in the era, this uncomfortably awkward bit of would-be white radio bait (from the usually-dependable team of Bradford and Wylie), a naff lament in doo-wop tempo, is a real listen-once-and-forget job.
The concept seems to be that Debbie is in despair over the end of a relationship, but this is conveyed in two ways, neither of them a good idea. Firstly, we get her literally screaming the lyrics, in an almost-unlistenably piercing primal howl that’s meant to convey emotional anguish but goes much too far, to the point it stings your ears; for added measure, we then have her simply reading the lyrics out, spoken-word style, while pretending to cry. Yes, you read that right, pretending to cry, as in peppering her monotone reading with a series of incredibly fake hiccups, sobs and sniffles. Then, back to the anguished howling again.
It’s genuinely horrible, only slightly less horrific than listening to someone actually bawling their eyes out, FOR REAL, interspersed with some of the worst “acting” ever committed to vinyl.
Debbie Dean was never the most gifted singer in the world, but when she was asked to sing within her range – as on the lovely A New Girl, for instance – she had a beguiling and charming voice. This is barely-listenable garbage, a bad execution of a poorly thought-out idea which should never have been released.
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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| Debbie Dean “Everybody’s Talking About My Baby” |
Little Otis “I Out-Duked The Duke” |
Motown Junkies 
Now let me get this straight, Motown has a woman in her thirties, mind you, trying to emulate a love sick teenage girl!
lesley Gore did better singing It’s My Party! And Miss Gore was a teenager! And she was singing in a better voice range with better material! I guess an artist turning down bad material with the declaration “You Don’t Own Me” did not work with Mr. Gordy! Motown should have been ashamed to insult Miss Dean with such ludiocrous material!
Mary Magaldo
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This record is not “barely-listenable garbage”. It is definitely unlistenable garbage. 0/10 from me for the worst Motown record ever made.
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I’ve only just started adding ratings to all the old reviews (as well as hopefully provoking debate, it’s also surprisingly good fun – I’ve never given anything marks before), and made an arbitrary decision that one out of ten would be the lowest rating possible. This record really is crap, though, lest any future readers be in doubt; well deserving of its place in the Motown Junkies Hall of Shame alongside atrocities like Eugene Remus’ Hold Me Tight, Funny by the Contours, or Mickey Woods’ They Rode Through The Valley.
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Thanx to 144man I left the 1961 reviews to read this 1962 review = )
So I’m gonna be the first to disagree with the 1 point this song has received. When I first heard the song I did not want to forget that I heard it. In fact I wanted to listen to it again. While listening I nodded my head, laughed, and even started learning the words. I admit that the song is over-the-top, but that’s the reason why it’s so great in my opinion. I think the concept of the song is brilliant. Lifetime teen movie on record (lol). Interesting enough Debbie Dean (what a sweet name!) wasn’t a teen singing this (lol). I also like the backing vocals on this track. It may seem like I’m laughing a lot, but I really do like the song. Considering all of the bad tracks Motown put out during those early years, for example: “It” & “Custer’s Last Man,” this song isn’t that bad. On the marks out of ten page Mr. Nixon says a 5 is a record that “may veer between sublime brilliance and shocking crapulence” IMO that’s exactly what this song does. For this reason I would give it a 5.
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I find the “I cried and cried and cried and cried” line actually painful. If I wasn’t worried about hitting someone on the head, I’d throw the record out the window.
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LMAO!
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I played it again yesterday…and I cried all night!
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Lol, stop playing this record, so we all can stop crying.
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Should have gotten a “0”. One of the worst Motown releases.
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I sometimes wish I could do that – maybe adopt the some approach as a few film journals and not bother trying to grade anything awful, finding ways of drawing distinctions between degrees of awfulness; I also think some 1s are worse than others, and a 0 might appeal (She’s Got The Biggest Parakeets In Town, The Interview, 75% of the oeuvre of Howard Crockett, that sort of bottom of the barrel junk). This is absolutely dire, whatever the marking system.
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But they were only novelty records…they weren’t meant to be masterpieces. “I Cried All Night” was a serious attempt to make a credible pop record.
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I wouldn’t be so harsh, this is not one of the best Motown releases at all, but it gives us something to talk about and is an attempt, a bad one for that matter, but an attempt at singing soul/pop music. I would give this a 2/10. because the backing band is spot on.
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