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Motown M 1051 (B), October 1963
B-side of When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
Stateside SS 257 (B), January 1964
B-side of When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Stateside Records)
Vibes, organ, high notes aplenty; a shimmering crystal castle of an intro, giving way to Diana Ross, who joins in by clambering youthfully right up to the top of her range to give a shrill, thin rendition of the title phrase.
Miss Ross is back firmly in “shrill coquette” mode here, somehow sounding even younger than she had on the A-side When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, especially when next to the sexy, mature voices of Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson, very audible here doing call-and-response backing vocals over the Love-Tones’ male choral accompaniment. But this is no artistic decision; this was one of the first collaborations between the Supremes and the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio, cut six months before the A-side, and the gap between May and October 1963 sounds like a musical lifetime.
Diana’s slightly uncontrolled lead, at least a semitone too high for the backing track, nonetheless provides a remarkably effective hook, using her unusual voice (both flat and nasal here) as an instrument in its own right; very Smokey Robinson, that. When, in the song’s astonishing, undeniable highlight, she turns it into a refrain (Don’t know which way / Don’t know which way to turn), your heart could melt.
A pity there’s so little else to stop and enjoy with this one; the song pads itself out for an entire minute after that brilliant bit without going anywhere interesting. It’s as though everyone involved has settled for “good” rather than “spectacular”: a staging post on the road to stardom for the Supremes, in the process of being moulded by their new writers and producers, to be broken down from the unsuccessful girl group with the identity crisis and then built up again from a fresh start into the number one group in America. On this evidence, they’d get there, but it would take time. Good work, everyone, lots of progress – let’s call it a day now, I think. See you again tomorrow morning, girls, bright and early!
Still, for that very reason it’s a fascinating listen, and it’s all very pretty in its own right. Diana’s flat tones in the verses veer close to spoken word territory, but it’s really quite charming, more so in the knowledge that this is one of the last chances we’ll ever get to hear these unschooled, decidedly teenage Supremes doing their thing.
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!)
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I like the song too, and a six is a fair grade, but you might be tempted when it’s over to want to offer Ross a throat lozenge. Let’s hope this one didn’t require a dozen back-to-back takes or more.
Nelson George finds it ‘historically important’ because HDH would rework the idea of the title, years later, into the ‘considerably more successful’ “Standing In The Shadows of Love” for the Four Tops.
According to the liner notes of Hip-O Select’s deluxe re-issuing of the Where Did Our Love Go album, its “I’m Giving You Your Freedom,” that was the first complete work done between the Supremes and HDH, circa September to December 1962. That terrific song, of course, is their next b-side.
A not-uninteresting commercial clunker for them next, and then unbroken glory.
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‘Where Did Our Love Go’ was the first Motown album I ever bought (and only the third pop album); it’s very much associated with late night (or all-night) studying; this song in particular has the melancholy sweetness of too much caffeine, and there’s a sort of diffusion of intellectual excitement, vague but omnipresent longing, so different from the sharp and specific nerve-end thrill of Martha and Marvin. My heart DID melt – along with a few brain synapses, no doubt. Again, I love your description; you’ve nailed it. 6 is probably just, but as with so many Motown songs one has an affection for it which perhaps exceeds its merits.
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“But as with so many Motown songs one has an affection for it which perhaps exceeds its merits” : That’s a really astute observation, and something I’m often guilty of.
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Of all the early Supremes songs ,this is one of my favorites and in my opinion, a classic. i love how you can really hear the harmonies of all three ladies . to bad motown didnt capitalize on this in the years to come. this is when they were Supreme with a hint of things to come
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I soooo badly want to disagree with your verdict and vote this song much higher, but I can’t for the reason you said above which was everyone said alrite this is good let’s go home. Miss Ross’s vocals are too drowned out and the girls sound a little off-beat. I feel like this song could have been a hit if reworked or if the super Supremes would have released it a year later. “Standing” has a more classic girl group sound. I’m torn between Diana’s delivery because it sounds like she doesn’t care, yet she’s whiny and sounds sincere which makes this brilliant. In a way it is the appropriate precursor to “Where Did Our Love Go.” I always wonder do Diana & Mary ever hum these early tunes around their houses lol. Regardless, if I were alive in ’63 I would have bought this A-B side. Great combo.
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This was the a-side to me. It has all the earmarks of an early Motown 45 right down to that cha-cha beat. In my minds eye i can just Diana hunching her shoulders while she sings this one. It was a nice danceable record but hardly the rave-up that the top side was.
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Mmmm…hard for me to say that “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” should be a b-side, but I can definitely picture Miss Ross as you described. Great song.
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OK. I agree that she’s nasal and shrill and unsophisticated. I still love the melody and the highighted instruments, and that’s what matters to me. I give it an “8.” Done!
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I agree with everything everyone has said. I always loved this song, and only wish Diana was a bit more comfortable with the vocal. Or perhaps H-D-H could have simply lowered the key!
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