Tags
Gordy G 7031 (A), March 1964
b/w A Tear For The Girl
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
Stateside SS 305 (A), June 1964
b/w A Tear For The Girl
(Released in the UK under license through Stateside Records)
Martha and the Vandellas began 1964 at something of a crossroads. Having broken through to the big time in 1963 after being paired with the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, cutting two of Motown’s best-ever singles, Come And Get These Memories and Heat Wave, they’d attempted to follow the latter’s success with two loose variations on the same theme, Quicksand and Live Wire, with diminishing returns both commercially and critically. Now, the way forward was unclear.
The group’s line-up, never particularly solid at the best of times, was also looking shakier; at the time of this single’s release, founding member Annette Beard was pregnant, and would end up leaving the Vandellas by July. (Contrary to most published sources, she was still very much in the group at the time this was cut – as confirmed by the lady herself! – but things were definitely beginning to unravel.) Against this backdrop of uncertainty, the Vandellas convened to record their new single in January ’64, just as Live Wire appeared in stores.
This was the Vandellas’ third single in the space of four months, and in many ways, it’s a similar situation (if not a similar song) to Mary Wells’ What Love Has Joined Together, an attempt to break out of a run of “soundalike sequels” by making small but significant changes to the formula, still recognisably a sequel but hopefully fresh enough to stand on its own merits. It was met with a similar lack of commercial interest on the pop charts (again failing to make the Top 40), although it did go Top Ten on the Cash Box R&B list. Still, whatever the answer was to the problem of where Martha and the Vandellas would go next, In My Lonely Room didn’t seem to be it.
It’s a shame, because (as we’ll end up seeing time and again as Motown’s mid-Sixties Golden Age comes into its own) this is a fine pop record in its own right, only really diminished by its obvious similarities to what had come before. Every Vandellas single since Heat Wave had followed the same basic template while derivating a little more from the pre-stamped mould, and perhaps if In My Lonely Room had followed straight on from Heat Wave without the two records in the interval, it would get more respect. As it stands, this is an incremental advance, evolution rather than revolution, and as such it seems to have been overlooked by history. Quite unfairly, as it turns out, as – just as with every single Martha and the Vandellas had released to date – this is great fun, and has plenty going for it.
Let’s start at the start. Vandellas intros are always worth listening to, and this is another cracker; a high-tuned guitar, almost ukelele-like, strummed over a chiming bed of vibes for a few bars before the horns kick in; then, after a few more bars, the girls arrive at the same time as some handclaps and what feels like a rise in volume as well as a speeding-up in momentum.
It’s a really interesting development, musically, for both the Vandellas and the Holland-Dozier-Holland team; this one has much more of a clearly defined conventional verse/chorus structure compared to the pure hook lines of the last few Vandellas singles crafted by the trio, disguised in large part because it’s dressed up very much like its predecessors. It’s also a harbinger of things to come from the HDH camp, a bouncy, almost jovial tune covering up some really emotionally devastating lyrics; a process begun with Come And Get These Memories and ending with a run of Number One hits for the Supremes, but definitely underway here. Between the glistening vibes, rousing middle eight sax break and gorgeous backing vocals doing both sassy and delicate, it’s easy enough to miss – even with the excellent title – that this is a song of pure and direct loneliness.
I’ll come to Martha in a moment, but let’s have some applause for the Vandellas as a whole. More than one source states that Roz and Annette aren’t on this at all, that it’s really the Andantes covering up for the Vandellas; I don’t think that’s the case, listening to it, and I’m certain someone will be along to clear this up definitively soon! Certainly, the group singers are given more to do here than on any Vandellas record since Come And Get These Memories, floating effortlessly between carrying the main line and indulging in some great call-and-response stuff – and they sound great. It might come across as flippant on my part to praise the quality of their Ooooooohs, but overlook the brilliant backing vocals at your peril; they’re one of the best things about this record.
Time to be controversial now. I don’t think Martha is as good here as on the previous Vandellas singles we’ve covered. Perhaps it’s because I’ve listened to this so much on The Complete Motown Singles: Volume 4, where it has the misfortune to come straight after both My Guy and Oh Little Boy, both acting masterclasses, but I’ve always got the feeling that there’s something being held back here, something not quite on the raw edge that’s in all my favourite Martha records. It’s surprising, then, to learn that the lyrics actually had Martha in tears in the studio; perhaps it was just too raw to come across on vinyl, or perhaps it struck a nerve because there wasn’t actually any acting needed, causing her to withdraw a bit. Or maybe I’m just nitpicking. It’s certainly a strong, forceful lead vocal, showing that Martha was still able to do things no other Motown singers could do, so perhaps it’s best to just ignore my criticism and listen to the words.
The evocation of loneliness in the lyrics is a draw in itself, with Martha playing the part of a woman who puts on a brave face and doesn’t let the world see she’s hanging by a thread (witness lines like I just lock my door / And let myself go / Then I lay right down and cry, a real punch in the gut given the strident power in her voice). But it’s also interesting to compare the central concept with Smokey Robinson’s later lyrics like The Tracks Of My Tears and The Tears Of A Clown which follow the same idea; it’s every bit as heart-wrenching here as it is there (and Smokey would have been proud to have written a line like I push my pride aside, which is treated as an almost ad-libbed interjection), only the angst is played against the music in true HDH style.
I’m not really surprised that this wasn’t the big hit to revive the Vandellas’ commercial fortunes – it’s just not that kind of a song, greatly enjoyable though it is – but that doesn’t mean it’s not both a fascinating listen and a super dancer. Another really difficult one to mark, too; giving things grades is usually a lot of fun, but there are occasions when it just seems impossible to settle on something and strike the right tone. In the end, I flipped a coin to decide between two numbers; I’ll let you decide whether tails was higher or lower.
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 Martha Reeves & The Vandellas? Click for more.)
 |
 |
| Mary Wells “Oh Little Boy (What Did You Do To Me)” |
Martha & The Vandellas “A Tear For The Girl” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
|---|
Like the blog? Listen to our radio show! |
| Motown Junkies presents the finest Motown cuts, big hits and hard to find classics. Listen to all past episodes here. |
Motown Junkies 
Apologies there, readers, for that unscheduled week-long delay; I’ve had a bit of a dental/medical situation going on (the same problem as described in the review for The Interview, strangely enough) and there wasn’t much time for Motown-o-blogging. If you’ve sent me something to use on the site, please be patient – something like normal service should be resumed again in a short while.
LikeLike
Mr. Nixon, I hope you are feeling better. Regards, Landini
LikeLike
Nixon, I have to assume that tails would have meant an eight. It’s what I would give this one, maybe even one higher. Always loved this song. A while back I nominated this as a chance for a 10. Wrong again! Hope that tooth gets better.
LikeLike
I agree completely with my namesake above! I would add that “Live Wire” was a spoiler here. Its failure, I believe, put the kibosh on “In My Lonely Room.” It would have done a lot better if it had followed “Quicksand” (or “Heat Wave” as Nixon points out). It’s a great recording and well-deserving of an “8” or “9.”
LikeLike
Isn’t “In my lonely room, Tears I don’t have to hide” practically the same tune as “Everything I plan to say, Just seems to fade away” in “Live Wire”?
LikeLike
This one was almost like a birthday present from the group to me, released March 23, eight days before I turned 10.
Every Motown release between January and June 1964 gets a little extra grace from when deciding, by chart numbers, if it was a “failure.” And that’s due to the ‘British Invasion’ of the time. “In My Lonely Room” peaked at 44 on Billboard Pop in the U.S. on May 2, 1964, a week when the Beatles still had three different singles in the top ten, and the Dave Clark Five had “Bits and Pieces” at No. 4. People were just simply nuts about The Beatles, and the DC5, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Rolling Stones, Peter & Gordon, and the Animals were very soon after them. “My Guy” was Motown’s only record to claim the top spot in those crazy first six months.
I would literally scream when I’d hear that jingly guitar start up on the radio that spring. WIBG-AM in Philadelphia didn’t neglect this one and I heard it plenty and bought it quick. Motown thought enough of it to put on “16 Original Big Hits Vol. 4” which was out a few months ahead of “Vandellas Greatest Hits.”
I still love this as strongly as I did a kid. No less than a ‘8’ from me, and probably a ‘9.’
Let’s cross our fingers Annette will be by with some added comments.
🙂 We all hope your dental miseries are over, Nixon. 🙂
LikeLike
I think “In My Lonely Room” stands on its own, and is not a carbon copy of “Heatwave”, as “Live Wire” is. I’d give it a 9 rather than 7.
LikeLiked by 1 person
agree. It barely sounds like Heatwave. sax notes but thats it
LikeLike
I’ve always loved this one, and was surprised to learn it didn’t make the pop Top 40. Perhaps this is one of many records that was lost amid the onslaught of the British Invasion? Or was it more of an off-air hit, popular at dances and on record-buyers’ turntables?
Indeed, I find it curoius that this song doesn’t appear to have charted on Detroit’s WKNR at all, if existing online chart data is any indication, but a rather blatant soundalike record (to me, anyway) called “The 81” (recorded, I believe, in Philadelphia) by Candy and the Kisses, did get some airplay later in the year. Of course, I don’t know how accurate the old chart data really is, and not having been alive when either record was originally released makes it hard for me to judge…
LikeLike
According to Joel Whitburn’s series of books on Billboard charts, “In My Lonely Room” began a six week stay on the Pop 100 chart on April 11, 1964, peaking at No. 44. Candy & the Kisses’ “The 81” (Cameo 336) spent 10 weeks beginning November 21, and peaking at No. 51. So even if you weren’t born then, Andrew, you’re got your pop music history homework right. 🙂
I loved “The 81” -still do- in no small part because of its similarity to “Lonely Room.” Frankly, I’m amazed Motown didn’t sue. They’d already taken Cameo to court -and won- claiming Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time” was a copy of “Please Mr. Postman.”
To my own ears, “The 81” ‘borrowed’ quite a bit more of “Lonely Room,” than I hear “Postman” when listening to “Potato.”
LikeLike
I did some research on the 81. According to some sources kids were doing the 81 dance to In My Lonely Room. Kenny Gamble and Jerry Ross wrote the 81 song in response. Does anyone know anything about this?
LikeLike
all i can say is the “81” is one of my favorite records…..the vandellas “lonely Room” obviolusly an influence, but both stand on there own….
LikeLike
P.S.
Your observation “but things were definitely beginning to unravel” is borne out by the fact that there was no 1964 Vandellas album at all in the U.S., and there had been two the previous year.
Obviously Motown wanted “Dancing In The Street” on some album as quickly as possible after its phenomenal success, but instead of a dedicated Vandellas album, it was put on “Collection of 16 Original Big Hits Vol. 3” (Motown 624) in December of 1964, not even two months after “Dancing” had finished its 14 week chart run on the Billboard Pop 100. Typically, most songs selected for that album series were roughly a year old before any inclusion, and sometimes quite longer (ask the Velvelettes!)
By November 13, “Wild One” was on the street too, and if you figure it, plus “Dancing,” “Quicksand,” “Live Wire,” and “Lonely Room” -five charting singles- plus the b-sides “Darling I Hum Our Song,” “A Tear For The Girl” and “Dancing Slow,” you’ve got better than half a Vandellas album that couldn’t possibly fail, no matter what three or four added tracks padded it.
But … by then, another female act at Motown had crashed through an even higher ceiling than the Vandellas and Marvelettes, and maybe, if your last name wasn’t Ross, it didn’t matter if you screamed yourself hoarse begging for promotion and releases.
LikeLike
Wasn’t the Dance Party album released in 64?
LikeLike
The “Dance Party” album was released in April of 1965.
Gordy LP number 915 was designated first to be named “Wild One” as indicated on the label of the same-named single. That didn’t happen, and the single only went to No. 34 on Billboard. “Nowhere To Run” then did much better, reaching No. 8 Pop on Billboard, a stronger compliment to “Dancing In The Street,” and I suspect that’s what changed the name of the finally-released album to “Dance Party.”
LikeLike
“In My Lonely Room” got a decent amount of play on Chicago’s WVON, but its copy. “The 81” got more. I was surprised, as well, that Motown didn’t sue over that, and win easily. It’s a much clearer ob of Thievery than is “Mashed Potato Time”.
LikeLike
I wonder if “81” got more airplay bacause it was more teen oriented & had a new dance craze attached to it. Of course, we will be seeing many more Carbon Copies of Motown music as we go along. There are some songs like The Toys’ “Lovers Concerto” which aren’t exactly a copy of a particular song, but definitely contain the blueprint of a Motown production. We will also soon see artists snagging songs from Motown albums (ie Nella Dodds) to try to have a hit. Things are going to get very interesting!
LikeLike
OK Let’s remember this, Billboard had NO R & B chart throughout 1964, due to the fact that a few #1 R & B hits from ’63 came from such exotic places as Tokyo, Japan and Clovis, New Mexico, not to mention a kid from Hawthorne California whose song writing genius kept his own group’s record out of number one.
So any R & B record was lucky to achieve any high ratings among[as I mentioned before] New Orleans trumpet players, Texas Teen-a-billies, along with Jersey and Mersey Boys.
I like this record ’nuff said [lol]
Rockin’ Ed
LikeLike
Good point, Ed, and I’ll clarify that in the review – the R&B chart placings provided for the period when Billboard stopped running their R&B listings are from the competing (and generally regarded as inferior) Cash Box chart, as provided in the liner notes to TCMS 4.
LikeLike
In my lonely room was a great recording. I agree the 81 sounded like a carbon copy of In my lonely room. I enjoyed both but of course my favorite was in my lonely room. Towards the end Martha does sound a bit like she very emotional on this song. I wonder if she was really crying at the end! I have a question for Nixon, I don’t know if its ever been discussed but there is a old story that the reason the Temps ” You got to earn it” never received the air play that was intended is because a Chicago Djay played the wrong side of the single and was not aware of it until almost the end and he turned the speakers in the studio back on. (they were supposedly off during the
song ). The flip side was ” Since I lost my baby” . That song took off and therefore ” You got to earn it ” never earned recognition. How true is this tale if there is any truth to it at all?
LikeLike
That story may be true, but I don’t believe that was the reason “Since I Lost My Baby” became the “hit side”. “Since I Lost My Baby” was given the “A” quality recording treatment, and was a super recording. I have a hard time believing that Quality Control advised the marketing people interfacing with DJs to play “You’ve Got To Earn It” rather than the other side. I believe they often put 2 good sides on a release knowing they’d have a hit with one side or the other, or, ideally, one side would be played first, chat highly, and after a good few months run, the other side would be played, and the record would have another few months run, producing tonnes of sales.
LikeLike
New York DJ Jack Spector used to tape a programme for UK pirate station Radio Caroline. I remember that he made “You’ve Got to Earn It” his Record of the Week when it first came out.
LikeLike
That may be true but it quickly went into obscurity once ” Since I Lost My Baby” received airplay. I loved “You got to Earn it” but since I lost my baby was the perfect ballard and took off like a rocket.
LikeLike
Weren’t we so spoiled for choice in those days?!
LikeLike
In NYC, R&B station WWRL gave “You’ve Got To Earn It” the majority of play time following its release, but the A-side started catching up and eventually overtook the B.
LikeLike
Let me hear more about this song. I know that Smokey wrote a lot for the temps and often wrote for songs for Eddie to do the lead and then David to lead. This interchange was back and forth on most of the temps recordings.
LikeLike
I had to wait a little while before receiving a reply from Annette as her computer is still playing up. In the end I phoned her. She confirms that she and Roz were in Studio A providing the background vocals on this song. As ever, they rehearsed for an hour or so before the recording session upstairs with Brian Holland and then their backing vocals were laid down very quickly. There was no wasting of time when they entered the studio.
It’s always been a favourite of mine but I didn’t really realise the quality of this song until I heard Martha, Ros and Annette on stage performing it in the
late 80s and 90s. It always goes down a storm when
included in their programme.
Now I know that I’m a biased Vandellas fan but I would
give it a 8 and a half.
LikeLike
Oh, and by the way, one of the most addle-brained decisions concerning Motown’s mid-70s Anthology series: “In My Lonely Room” does not appear on the Vandellas set! (Nor, for that matter, does the zesty “I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playin'”.) I couldn’t believe it; I wasn’t too mad because I already had plenty of copies anyway, but geez!
LikeLike
Agree completely. First thing I noticed upon ripping off the clear plastic wrapping. Not as fortunate as you though. Had to go out, over time, to secure the missing links in M & the V history.
LikeLike
Following on from your comments on this single, Mr Nixon most of which I fully agree with, I’d just like to make the following observations if I may.
I’ve always wondered why there were so few recordings made by Martha and her merrie band in 1964. The group were after all riding high in the charts. They appeared to have the full support of Berry Gordy. The Marvelettes had in essence reached their zenith, The Supremes were yet to make a real impact on the charts and by mid-year Mary Wells had left the company. On paper at least it looked like Martha and The Vandellas were ripe and on form to occupy the female vocal crown at Motown. Yet strangely there appears to have been very little studio activity all through ’64 by them. “Live Wire”/”Old Love” and this particular single “In My Lonely Room”/”A Tear for The Girl” were both issued early in ’64, but only the ‘A’ side of this single was actually recorded in 1964, on 29 January, (the other three tracks being cut in late 1963).
In mid year, “Dancing In The Street” was released (31 July). The track was recorded at the end of June, but its ‘B’ side was recorded two years earlier and was dug out of the vaults, presumably because there was nothing else current by the group available to draw on.
Nothing else appears to have been put down on tape by the group until a few sessions recorded at Hitsville Studio ‘A’ in late September / early October. Most of these tracks (like “Mobile Lil The Dancing Witch” and “Dancing Slow”) ended up as filler songs on the “Dance Party” album released in 1965. Only “Wild One” recorded in October was released as a single in ’64. “Nowhere To Run”, recorded two days after “Wild One”, was held back until 1965. There was therefore very little surplus material available in the vaults from this year, hence no album release despite the number of high chart scoring singles all through ’64. This apparent lack of recorded material is further borne out by the absence of anything from ’64 appearing on the “Spellbound: Lost And Found” set of previously unreleased songs issued in 2005.
Do you or anyone else know why there were so few tracks recorded by the group in 1964?
LikeLike
Jimmy Mack was passed over and held in the can for three years, of course. But otherwise, they had a fundamental line-up change, and they’d released a glut of singles (and two LPs) in relatively short time leading up to that; I think they had used up the material, and the line-up change, promotional commitments for the big hit single and the lack of a defined artist/producer relationship all contributed to them not cutting a lot of new stuff in mid-late ’64.
LikeLike
Thanks for the prompt response. However I disagree with your comments as to why there was little fresh material recorded by Martha and the Vandellas in ’64. I say this, as the reasons you give clearly did not apply when for example Flo Ballard left The Supremes in 1967 and David Ruffin The Temptations shortly after. In the case of both of these groups, they kept being given an abundance of new material to record as witnessed by what was released at the time and the number of vaulted tracks released later.
As I said in my earlier comment this wasn’t the case with Martha and the Vandellas. For them new material dried up almost completely during 1964 despite the fact that at the point when Betty Kelly replaced Annette Beard in December 1963 The Vandellas were the top female group at Motown. The Supremes were at that time still pretty much regarded as the “no hit Supremes” as witnessed by the comparatively poor chart performances of “When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes”, reaching no 23 and “Run, Run Run” no 93 on the pop charts. At the same point Martha and The Vandellas had scored a no 14 pop hit with “Heat Wave” in the summer of ’63 and no 8 pop with “Quicksand” in November 1963. Clearly in 1964 all the energy was being drained from The Vandellas and directed to The Supremes.
In 1965 The Vandellas recorded lots of tracks, despite The Supremes having taken over the number 1 female group position, so clearly there was no lack of new material available to them then. I still wonder why this was not so in 1964.
LikeLike
Betty didn’t replace Annette until rather later than you assert, but I didn’t say it was only the line-up change – just that that was a major factor, especially in conjunction with the other things I mentioned. Anyway, Motown 1964 was not Motown 1967, the ’64 Vandellas with the best will in the world were not the ’67 Supremes, and so it’s comparing apples and oranges.
But it’s a flawed question. Jimmy Mack was recorded in mid-’64, one of the last things (if not THE last thing) the original line-up cut, and Motown didn’t release it for three years. The Vandellas were quiet by Motown standards, but not silent.
LikeLike
Perhaps Nelson George in Where Did Our Love Go can help, at the point in his book where he comes to “Dancing In the Street.”
>>”By the summer of 1964, Martha and the Vandellas’ period as Motown’s most important female vocal group was about to end. Vandellas began to come and go. Martha’s relationship with Berry and his sisters began to deteriorate as she complained about this and that, often with a seeming irreverence that enraged Berry. Martha’s previous show-business experience made her more demanding, and less accepting of Motown’s paternalistic attitude toward its artists. While others went along with the program, Reeves was constantly challenging it. Despite her hits and obvious commercial appeal, Martha had already reached the peak of her career, at least in terms of Motown’s efforts to develop her as a show-business commodity. To Motown she would remain a record seller, and nothing more.”<<
Even to a pre-teen kid on the outside who eagerly gobbled up everything with the Vandellas name on it, some of this was perceivable from the outside. First, we never got to see the Vandellas on TV anywhere near as often as The Supremes, or even the Tops & the Temps. Additionally, when you’re that young, the wait felt interminable(!) between “Nowhere To Run” and “You’ve Been In Love Too Long,” and just as long again between the latter and “My Baby Loves Me.”
That was enough to foster the question -even for a kid- of whether Martha & the Vandellas’ record company understood how much we waiting folks loved the group…?
LikeLike
The line-up of Martha and the Vandellas was consistent between 1964 and 1967. There were no changes in the Vandellas line-up during that time period. Between 1964 and 1967 the line up was Martha Reeves, Rosalind Ashford and Betty Kelley. Martha Reeves fired Betty in mid 1967, After that, you barely heard from Martha and the Vandellas again. It appears that the 1964-1967 line up was the most popular and the line up that produced the most hits and the line up which made the most TV appearances. Any personnel changes that were made after 1967 were irrelevant because after 1967 there were no more top 40 hits for Martha and the Vandellas. I would like to know what gave Martha Reeves the authority to fire any Vandella? Didn’t Rosalind Ashford and Betty Kelley have contracts with Motown and not with Martha Reeves? Betty and Rosalind should have taken their case to court or to Berry Gordy himself as I somehow wonder how Martha Reeves felt she could just fire a group member. I was under the impression that Motown artists worked for Motown and not for a lead singer.
LikeLike
Upon careful listening to “In My Lonely Room”, it seems that Rosalind and Annette are singing the words, and the Andantes are doing the “Doo Doo Doo Dooooo’s”.
LikeLike
Personally, I think Ms. Ashford and Ms. Beard and The Andantes are singing the words and the “Doo doo doo”s together. There’s no mistaking Ms. Ashford’s very unique voice. At the same time, the Louvain-Marlene-Jackie Combo is pretty easy to detect…well, most of the time. I could be mistaken, but there is no denying that Ms. Ashford and Ms. Beard are on this record.
LikeLike
It is somewhat disconcerting that we have to guess who is singing on what record. I was naïve enough to think that if the record was a Martha and The Vandellas record then it was only Martha and the Vandellas singing on the record. If it is a Supremes record then I would think that it would be Diana, Mary and Florence singing on the record. And now many years later we hear that the Andantes may or may not have been on various songs. The Andantes were obviously on Four Tops singles. But why did the Andantes intrude on so many songs when the artists themselves were perfectly capable of doing their own singing as well as the harmonies. I heard Martha and the Vandellas live performance in 1967 when Martha, Rosalind and Betty were with the group. They sounded just as good as their recordings and I don’t think they needed the Andantes. Martha and the Vandellas were even able to duplicate My Baby Loves Me live even though male voices were used in the background on the recording instead of the Vandellas. The Vandellas had great range.
LikeLike
In the early days of Motown there was a certain distinctive sound that Motown wanted to create and did. In my opinion even though Martha and the Vandellas were perfectly capable of producing a quality recording Motown uses the Adantes to add that distinctive “Motown Sound” that separated Motown and their artist from so many other recording companies and artist. The “Motown Sound” was suppose to be the “Sound of Young America”. I agree the Adantes appeared on may artist recordings at Motown, artist that were perfectly capable of doing the job themselves, but once again the Adantes were used to provide that unmistakable ” Motown Sound”.
LikeLike
I remember the 81 coming out of Philly so they must have written it off of the Vandellas song since the dance was being done before Candy and the Kisses layed down their track.
It was one of those weird dances that came and went real quick. Probably quicker than both of these songs slipped off the charts.
LikeLike
I listened and re-listened to “In My Lonely Room” and “The 81” with equal enjoyment, and if a third record had been released that sounded like the above two, I’m sure I’d have liked that one also. I am awarding all of them a “9” including the one that never existed.
LikeLike