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Tamla T 54083 (A), July 1963
b/w Whatever Makes You Happy
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
Oriole CBA 1863 (A), September 1963
b/w Whatever Makes You Happy
(Released in the UK under license through Oriole Records)
I’ve been anxiously noting this record’s approach on the horizon for about three months now. Everyone loves Mickey’s Monkey, don’t they? It’s a classic, one of the Miracles’ most beloved early singles. The first intersection between the two greatest creative forces in Motown history, William “Smokey” Robinson and the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio. And a great big Top Ten hit to boot, too.
I don’t really care for it.
I mean, I don’t hate it, I’m not even claiming it’s bad or anything. It’s just never quite hit the spot for me.
This was the first song to feature on either side of any Miracles 45 without a writing credit for Smokey Robinson. Following the surprising failure of the gorgeous, all-enveloping beauty of the Miracles’ previous single, A Love She Can Count On, Smokey went back to the drawing board; apparently, that drawing board was located next to a room where Lamont Dozier was rehearsing. Robinson happened to be passing when he heard Dozier messing around on the piano with the germ of a riff –
…Lum de lum de lai…
– and, knowing a killer hook when he heard one, Smokey asked Lamont if he could have it. Dozier readily agreed, and the resultant record was in the shops within a fortnight, steaming its way up the charts (it eventually made No.8 pop and the R&B Top Five, healthily restoring the Miracles’ commercial profile to the levels they’d enjoyed at the time of You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me).
I think my problem with this, really, is that I find it disappointing. This could have been incredible. Instead, it sounds rushed, half-finished, not quite realised. The first intersection of the two greatest creative forces in Motown history, and they’re both phoning it in – as if they just knew they were making a hit record (which was still a big deal for both camps in the summer of ’63, right on the cusp of Motown’s mid-Sixties Golden Age).
D’you know what’s just occurred to me? This would be SO much better without the intro.
The record begins with the sound of Smokey shouting “Alright, is everybody ready?!”, answered by the Miracles and some studio guests all cheering and hollering in agreement. We’re meant to believe we’re at a raucous, loose-limbed party, and the Miracles are going to get things rocking. Except that the crowd sounds tiny, and they don’t sound at all spontaneous or even happy; they sound like they’re murmuring agreement with a street-corner political speaker. Then Smokey counts off – “Alright, now, here we go. A one! A two! A one-two-three-four!” – and the song strikes up.
But Smokey’s count-off is wrong. The Brill-Building-meets-Bo-Diddley groove the drummer immediately locks into – bomp-de-bomp-de-bomp (PAUSE) bompbomp – doesn’t quite fit with what Smokey just did, as both the timing and rhythm are fractionally off, and the effect is jarring and weird. The song proper begins sparsely, almost acapella, Smokey and the Miracles trading off that great call-and-response jingle, Lum de lum de lai, accompanied only by drums and handclaps for the first few bars. No “crowd” noise, no other instruments, no atmosphere, and a new rhythm your brain can’t quite grasp in time. It’s disconcerting, and it always takes me a moment to readjust, by which time the song’s already underway and that opening momentum is all gone.
If that bit was clipped off, this would work better. The early Miracles’ “rock-outs” – their raw, “fun-loving” songs, regardless of tempo – have never been quite as affecting for me as their more contemplative numbers, mostly because (for me) Smokey always seems to have more lyrical and vocal fun when he’s giving the impression we’re meant to be taking in his words. This – the story of a guy named Mickey who invents a new dance, “the Monkey”, which the Miracles themselves worked into a routine for their stage shows when performing the song live – is probably the most banal lyric of any Miracles single so far, so all that’s left is the sound; switch your brain off and dance.
And you definitely can dance to it, discombobulating intro aside; the call-and-response hook is little more than a jingle, but it’s a very catchy jingle indeed, to the point it’s easy to see what Smokey saw drifting down the corridor. The record’s high point is a coruscating sax break in the instrumental middle eight, which is so much fun it’s worth an extra mark all by itself.
Oh, it’s stupid, of that there’s little doubt. It’s a scribble, a childish frippery with no real lasting value beyond that sax solo. But that’s no reason to be down on something, as sharp-eyed long-time readers (and I know there are a lot of you out there… hello!) will already be thinking to themselves.
“But hang on”, they’ll say, “you praised Stevie Wonder’s Fingertips precisely because it was a big, stupid record made solely for the dancefloor. How can you be in favour of pure dumb dance music like that, and then turn around and criticise Mickey’s Monkey for being pure dumb dance music?”
And I suppose I can’t, really. Not objectively, anyway. I maintain Fingertips (Part 2) is a better dancer than Mickey’s Monkey, but it’s not as though it’s giant seven-league strides ahead. As always, and I’ve been guilty of this time and again throughout the course of this project, I seem to hold Smokey Robinson to higher standards than lesser mortals.
So, what’s my apparent beef with this? I don’t mind that Smokey seemingly wanted a payday after his recent lovingly-crafted, self-penned Miracles records had flopped. That’s perfectly understandable; Mickey’s Monkey is undemanding, unsophisticated fare compared to Robinson’s recent songs, both for himself and others, but that’s not meant as a criticism (some of my favourite records are undemanding etc etc), and besides, perhaps he just fancied switching off for a bit.
I think it’s really that having enjoyed Lamont Dozier’s noodling at the piano, he saw an obvious potential hit in a tiny kernel of a song (shades of What Goes Up, Must Come Down) – but then failed to properly build on that, apparently not feeling the need to flesh it out into anything beyond a repeated hook and a bed of handclaps. The writing credits indicate he didn’t append his own lyrics to Dozier’s ad-libbed riff, either trusting the HDH trio to come up with the goods (and that’s quite a bit of trust, given Smokey had written or co-written every Miracles A- and B-side since 1958), or – and I think I’ve worked out what my problem is – just assuming that with a hook as good as that, it didn’t matter what else they did to the song. Just keep that lum de lum de lai bit, and the Top 20 beckons.
Hard to be too critical, though, since he and HDH were absolutely right. Commercially, this is bang on the money, and posterity has been kind to it – even if it’s completely out of character for both HDH and the Miracles, neither of whom would ever really venture close to this kind of territory again, giving the overriding feeling that everyone involved was on a sort of busman’s holiday. And the reason it sold so well then, and the reason it’s so well-liked now, is because it’s so undeniably catchy. You can’t keep that hook down, and it turns out it is enough to hang an entire hit single upon, however much my head keeps telling me it’s not.
So, having spent the entire review bashing this, I’m now involuntarily clicking my fingers and drumming on the desk in time with the beat. Oh yeah, they all knew this was some infectious junk alright. Damn it, Smokey, you know I can’t stay mad at you – you’ll always get me in the end.
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:
- Choker Campbell’s Big Band (June 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 “Whatever Makes You Happy” |
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Motown Junkies 
That 6 feels both absurdly generous, and incredibly stingy and mean-spirited. Concise abstract: I grudgingly enjoy this record despite itself, getting up to dance even as I know it’s manipulating me in the cheapest way possible. Contradictions, contradictions.
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Martha & The Vandellas’ version of Mickey’s Monkey (same backing track) eliminates Smokey’s introduction and starts right off with “lum de lum…” How would you compare the two?
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Ha, I’d forgotten that even existed. Dance Party quite often gets edited out of my memory… Listening to it as I type, I’m not even sure I’ve ever listened to this, actually! I think it definitely works better without the intro, just straight in – that’s the way I’d have done it – but they got rid of the sax solo, which is my favourite bit!
Comparing versions is difficult; I think that “Mickey’s Monkey” is an artefact of its time, and – like so much of Dance Party – doing it again later seems a little forced, like trying to recapture the magic in something that was a one-shot deal in the first place (shades of the Contours’ attempts to redo “Do You Love Me” in increasingly joyless fashion). Having said that, I’d listen to Martha read the phone book, and the Vandellas’ superb backing “oooh!”s at the end are a huge improvement on the original; either Smokey or HDH missed a trick not having the Miracles do that in the first place.
The Supremes’ version (since nobody asked) is a horrible mess.
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Is the “See no evil, hear no evil” refrain in the Vandellas’ version something the Miracles did on stage? I’ve never heard the Miracles doing this live, and I know they kept it as a set-closer LONG after its sell-by date (if I recall correctly, Going To A Go-Go was written specifically as a replacement), so it’s possible they adapted it by the time Martha & Co. got around to it.
(Although I don’t actually know when the Vandellas’ version was actually made. Don’t Forget The Motor City claims it’s from 9th July 1963, but I think that just refers to the original Funks backing track – otherwise the Vandellas cut would be the original, which I’ve never heard before?)
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Endlessly replying to myself… the Miracles’ performance on Shindig in 1964, which is on YouTube, is a live recording rather than mimed lip-sync, so if (like me) anyone hasn’t heard a live version before, well, here you go!
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The Miracles sure could dance!
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I just noticed a line in that particular Miracles’ performance that I had never realised: “Do THE MOTOWN WALK, now”. Were The Miracles doing “The Motown Walk” in their dance routine when they WEREN’T doing The Monkey?
Was Smokey calling the elaborate Motown group choreographed steps taught by Cholly Atkins, a generalised dance Motown artists referred to as “The Motown Walk” (a la “The Temptation Walk”)?
I’m surprised that being so close to Motown’s product and operations and knowing Motown employees and artists, I had never heard of this in all my years. Have any of you heard of “The Motown Walk”, other than the reference lyrics in this performance?
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I think The Vandellas’ version is missing that big party feeling The Miracles’ version. Maybe it’s just because the backing vocals are quieter. And I wonder who’s doing the “oohs” throughout the song.
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1. Those Vandella “ooohs” throughout their version gave them the edge over the Miracles’. That being said, I maintain that the score given to Smokey and Co. is a bit low. I give it an “8.” 2. Mr. Nixon states that the Miracles did not enter this territory again. I believe “Come On Do The Jerk” is firmly embedded in the same real estate. Finally: 3. The “see no evil, hear no evil…” Miracles’ dance routine can also be witnessed as they performed in the T.A.M.I. show.
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As usual, regardless of how much I enjoy the record, I hear the same weaknesses, and strengths, that you do here. Your review as usual gets a *****.
As I’m sitting here I’m thinking his later “Jerk” record
is just a reworking of this. Hm, maybe he felt the same way about it as you and wanted to give it another shot.
Ya think?
As for martha…….hm. even (the great) Vandellas didn’t have the one thing they’d really need to put it over,
Smokey himself. But that’s just me.
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Great comments, guys! Nixon, I saw The Miracles live at least once or twice during the early to mid 60’s at Murray The K’s shows in downtown Brooklyn, NY, but couldn’t tell you if Smokey did the “see no evil…” line. It’s just been toooo long ago!
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You raise a lot of good points–particularly about this sounding somehow unfinished, which I’d never considered before–but I’d rate it higher, in the 7 or 8 range. That intro, as artificial as it sounded even at the time, has never failed to suck me in, and the dumbness of the lyrics is sort of immaterial. In fact, I remember being in awe of how such a seemingly stupid song could have such power. Ultimately, it was one of the early doses of the pure Motown groove, which was getting under my skin and infecting me for life, without my even realizing it.
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This is one I’ve never left out of a Miracles mix tape or one of HDH material. It’s good, but…
What this second Top Ten HDH composition is missing, good as it is, is an emotional connection. The cat named Mickey from out of town, spreading his new dance all around, can’t ever hope to strike hearts like ‘sometimes I stare in space/ tears all over my face/ I can’t explain it, don’t understand it/ I ain’t never felt like this before.’
Even the follow-up here, which sounds quite similar and didn’t do as well commercially, makes a little room for the kind of message we’re already used to from Smokey: ’cause nights are lonely since we’ve parted/ her memories keep me so broken-hearted/ got to dance to keep from crying.’ The Smokey on that record, at simply a more uptempo pace, is undeniably one in the same man that folks take for the life of the party, but if you look closer, you’ll see the tracks of his tears.
What’s still true though is that “Mickey’s Monkey” is impossible to sit still to while listening. Maybe it’s a little calculated, but its rests among the finer popcraft of 1963.
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Yep, that’s it exactly. And I like the sequel very much indeed, but that’s a story for another day.
Something else I hadn’t thought of until just now: considering two straight-to-the-hips HDH smashes, Heat Wave is all action, a full-on sensory onslaught, no respite, and is amazing; Where Did Our Love Go has a stately froideur to it, almost ALL respite, and is amazing; Mickey’s Monkey seems to be in two minds, built on a breathless killer dancefloor hook but with slightly too much dead space, too many gaps, and would be a better song if either half or twice as much was happening. Hm, wish I’d thought of that yesterday.
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What you have to see is the version they present on the T.A.M.I. show, in which they sing themselves hoarse and dance themselves silly. It’s THRILLING. They put the Stones to shame.. and fully justify the existence of this song, which I’d never been crazy about for all the reasons you mention. The dancing – and general exuberance – is not put in the shade even by James Brown and Tina Turner, both of whom are also on top form. Smokey’s next collaboration with HDH will be more inspiring, no? – Come Round Here? –
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Thanks for the tip – I shall have to seek it out.
Come Round Here is quite, quite brilliant, but it’s not the next Smokey/HDH collaboration… stay tuned!
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Maybe it’s something about growing up in America in the 80’s and 90’s (I’m 30 now), but a reference to someone’s “monkey” brings to my mind a different sort of connotation. It’s hard to get into a song about a dance that’s apparently based on Mickey’s penis (though it is slightly fun to imagine what that would look like).
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Thankfully, I’ve never heard that expression…
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I’ve never heard that expression, but I’ve been pretty much outside the USA loop since 1972. I’ve heard it called “member”, “Willy”, “thing”, “Dick”, “prick”, but never “Monkey”. I suppose “The Monkey” was coined based on movement in the dance that was supposed to be like that of of a monkey. But, I never saw a monkey make moves like those in the dance. But, then, I thought the “Hitchike”, “Popeye”, “Frug” and “Freddy” were silly dances with silly movements. They should have been handled by The Ministry of Silly Walks.
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I grew up in the late ’40s and ’50s and beginning of the ’60s. I remember “Mickey’s Monkey” when it was out. I bought it, as I did ALL the Motown records of the time (and all pre-1970 Motown records). But, I was disappointed in it. It was a good record to dance to. But, it wasn’t all that interesting or nice to listen to, as compared to most of The Miracles other cuts. I think of it as a novelty dance record. It’s certainly not beautiful to my ears (although it beats just about all the pop music from 1973-present).
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That’s really interesting – I was only really old enough to start listening to music in the late 80s/early 90s, and by the time I first encountered the Miracles, they were already long since gone from the charts, even Smokey was barely active. I therefore came to this song via a Miracles CD retrospective, knowing its place in history, with raised expectations as a result… I’ve often wondered if my subsequent view of the song has always been coloured by that, so it’s fascinating to know people felt the same way in 1963!
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I’m with Robb entirely except I DIDN’T buy it. Just couldn’t get into it. I was disappointed in the Miracles (Remember, the labels still said The Miracles). They had brought us into the 60s with some great songs, yet this leads to a teeny-bopper morphing into a girl in a cage wearing go-go boots. Was our limited history with this Detroit label ending?
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The MIRACLES (Smokey, Bobby , Ron, and Pete) singing an extended version of “MICKEY’S MONKEY” and “COME ON DO THE JERK” LIVE surrounded by other Motown artists -1965
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Was that Ready Steady Go show a special TV showing (live filming) of The British Motortown Revue of 1965?
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Yes, it was, hosted by Dusty Springfield and syndicated to TV stations in the USA. I taped in on my Voice of Music 7-inch reel to reel tape recorder. Today , it is available on YouTube in fragmented segments that can be located by googling individual songs and artists. My 2 favorites are “Kiss Me Baby” by Stevie Wonder and “I Can’t Hear You” by Dusty, backed by Martha and the Vandellas. In the show, the 2 songs ran back to back. It was a terrific show , beginning to end.
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Special guests on this record (that I know of):
– Mary Wilson (of The Supremes)
– Martha and the Vandellas
– The Marvelettes
– The Temptations
– DJ “Jockey Jack” Gibson
To me, they sound very happy. I would be, too, if I got to work with the legendary Miracles! “Yay, Smokey!”
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Actually nixad, thats not a four-count that Smokey is giving as an intro, its a three-count. And yes some of us actually enjoyed this in 1963. In retrospect though it was probably better as a showpiece than a record if you’d ever seen the Miracles live at that time.
The type of Monkey we use to do was hard to maintain at this tempo. We did much better with Major Lance.
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I admit it. I did it. I posted s comment before reading ALL the accompanying comments posted prior to mine resulting in a couple of redundancies. From here on. I promise to read all previously posted comments before posting my own, even if they number 80+. (Do I sound contrite and sincere enough?)
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Does anyone know why the ORIOLE Motown releases originally had the slogan ‘TAMLA SERIES’, but later changed it to ‘MOTOWN SERIES’. Presumably, it should have been ‘MOTOWN SERIES’ all along as that was the company name, where Tamla was merely a label. Was this simply a mistake which was corrected later? I believe that great British composer/producer John Schroeder who was head or A&R at Oriole at the time the licensing deal with Motown was done would know the answer.
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As UK fans, before the formation of the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society, my friends and I always used to refer to the music as “Tamla” whichever label it was on. Because Tamla had had success earlier, I don’t think we knew that Motown was the main label..
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