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Tamla T 54092 (A), February 1964
b/w Heartbreak Road
(Written by Smokey Robinson)
Stateside SS 282 (A), April 1964
b/w Heartbreak Road
(Released in the UK under license through EMI / Stateside Records)
Smokey Robinson heralds his return to the Miracles’ songwriting helm with this retread of one of Smoke’s most familiar lyrical tropes: parental advice.
This is very much the forgotten Miracles single. It’s not hard to see why; it’s never above the level of pleasant and entertaining, which coming from Smokey Robinson is something of a disappointment.
Aside from a neat fiddle break that crops up through the song, it sounds – lyrically and musically – as though it’s been stitched together with no great care from six or seven older Miracles records, all of which are better than this one. We shouldn’t be too surprised, of course, since Smokey was already a past master of reworking old material to find new angles – but there’s no new angle here. There isn’t even a great tune or a killer hook to excuse the shameless raiding of one’s own scraps closet; this is a hand-me-down sort of a single, a B-side thrown together at short notice that’s somehow found itself selected as the next A-side from one of Motown’s top acts.
That it still all sort of works anyway is testament to Smokey Robinson’s past strengths; with such great glories to draw upon, even a derivative highlight reel like this can hang together with surprising coherence. It’s lucky for Smokey there was such good material from the past from which to take some cues, because on the day everyone here, including Smokey the writer, Smokey the singer, Smokey the producer, the rest of the Miracles, the band, they’re all just phoning it in.
Supposedly this is a lost classic, a hidden gem, left off any LP or Anthoogy or best-of collection for 30-odd years. But to my ears, those commentators who’ve anointed this as hard-to-find treasure are grasping for something that simply isn’t there. This wasn’t anthologised because while it’s pleasant enough, it’s still comfortably the weakest Miracles single since Ain’t It Baby almost three years previously.
Not bad, per se, but absolutely nothing special.
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.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in Smokey Robinson & the Miracles? Click for more.)
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| Joanne & the Triangles “Don’t Be A Cry Baby” |
The Miracles “Heartbreak Road” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
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Motown Junkies 
“The Miracles Greatest Hits From The Beginning,” about a year from where we are now, was Motown’s first two-disc set on any act, and this was pointedly left off of it. So, a few heads in quality control must have shared your opinion, if not too loudly or in the wrong circles. “The Man In You” also only went to No. 59 Billboard so your opinion echoes more than a few record buyers of the time.
Nevertheless, because only the 45 existed, I was glad to find one in 1978. I don’t avoid it in my collection quite as much as “Come On Do The Jerk,” but if you’ve already been captured by “Everybody’s Got To Pay Some Dues,” and I was, this is unexciting leftovers with an unmistakable hint of staleness. But this group is not going to leave 1964 without two tunes I can never be without, one of which I hope is awarded at least a 9 đŸ™‚
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And yet (leaving aside the future – no spoilers!), this wasn’t leftovers, it was brand spanking new. The Miracles had three non-Robinson numbers in a row for singles, and precious little else in the can by the looks of it (Doin’ Mickeys Monkey not being ripe for mining), while Smokey had given away plenty of good songs to other artists in that time… so this might be Motown figuring eh, screw it, sub-par new Smokey material for the Miracles is better than no new Smokey material for the Miracles – maybe (correctly) hoping he’d write something better once his head was back in the game?
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Pretty much the same in my book. I’d give it a 2 or 3. The melody is inoffensive, but does nothing for me, and the lyrics are … not good. This passage in particular: “That you can go out with the fellas. But if the boy tells ya, stay late. Yeah, late at night” Oh, of course, I thought he meant “late in the afternoon” , until the singer clarified with that last line! Of course! Seriously, this redundancy in the lyrics always bothered me, especially since it’s from the usually stellar songwriter Smokey Robinson.
On a brighter note, this is a great blog project, and I always look forward to new entries. Keep up the good work!
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I like the tune; I like the strings; but I love the “Everyman should understand” and “All you guys should realise” breaks. In fact I like it almost as much as the Chuck Jackson reworking. An easy 7/10 from me.
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One of my favourite things about doing this blog has been seeing the spread of opinions that are out there. I do like the bits of the song you mention, but I think those are what drag it above the 2/3 territory Ben talks about and into a solid 4, rather than making it anything particularly great – but each to their own!
How are you all liking (or not!) the new look?
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The new design looks great. I have mentioned it on SDF.
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Thank you! There are still a few gremlins to iron out, and a few formatting corrections to be made, but it should all be up and running properly in the next couple of days (he said optimistically).
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Just returned from a four-day absence, and I come home to a shining new cyberscape! Lovely to be welcomed with that shimmering image of Hitsville- and the presentation, with the dates both of your comment and of the initial release – though I liked the more compact listing of the singles in the old Master List- but perhaps that’s one of the gremlins you mention). And now – while this isn’t absolutely top-drawer Smokey, I’m with 144man (not for the first time). I don’t mind being preached to in this way – and I really like the long title, which anticipates (even though it doesn’t in any way equal) the genius of ‘The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage’ .
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Re: redesign – the Master Index looked weird because of the new right-hand sidebar – I’ve now taken it off for just that one page, although the bigger font and wider spacing of the new design (which is meant to make regular entries and comments easier to read) still makes it a bit less compact than it used to be. What do people think? The new homepage is meant to be easier to understand (I always felt it was very unwelcoming, too complex and too dull), so I’m hoping the Index makes sense without the recent entries, recent comments etc – or is it too confusing?
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The Master Index page looks fine now – spacious, uncrowded and majestic. This has always been a delightful place to visit, but now it’s going to be hard to stay away. Many thanks, once again!
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When I first heard this song, I didn’t like it , because I felt that The Miracles could do lots better. But then, something totally unpredictable happened . IT STARTED TO GROW ON ME. I found myself singing it…while driving…at work…while eating lunch, etc. Then , after a matter of days, I found myself REALLY LIKING IT. I guess what your editors say is true …even The MIRACLES’ mediocre efforts are miles better than lots of other group’s BEST ONES. You may be right. I may be crazy…but it just might be a lunatic The Miracles are looking for….Liked the song so much… I wrote an article about it for Wikipedia !!
Go Figure.
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Hey, I’m always in favour of that kind of enthusiasm, the world needs more people willing to go in and bat for something they love. Good for you.
Re: suddenly liking a song you previously thought mediocre, the same thing happened to me with the Marvelettes’ “Beechwood 4-5789”; I found myself singing it too. Glad to know it happens to others!
(there are no ‘editors’ here by the way, it’s just me)
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Liked it from day one. And i was well aware that it was totally derivative but there was nothing wrong with a little “lookback” as we used to call it. (My brother preferred to refer to it as “stopgap”).
It wasnt big at parties or on the radio but i do know some people who purchased it and i would explain the low chart ranking the same way i would explain the chart stats for “Run,Run,Run”. With hundreds of records being released domestically everyweek there just is not a slot for everybody. Somebody loses out and like Ronnie White (Miracles) told Martha Reeves—-“Everybody gets a turn”.
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