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Motown M 1059 (A), May 1964
b/w Here Comes That Heartache
(Written by Berry Gordy and Robert Gordy)
More Bobby Darin than Bobby Breen, this is a full-on show tune, a mock standard with Broadway practically tattooed all over its heavily pancaked face. And there in the spotlight is Bobby the former child star, in top hat and tails, backed up by a Busby Berkeley chorus line, clearly having the time of his life.
Oh, he’s no star turn any more, our Bobby; nearing forty, and appearing on his second and last Motown 45, his voice is reedy and nasal, adding a slightly queasy quality to his ad-libbed asides (ooh! yeah! sugar! mmm! darlin’! ahh!) that does the song no favours at all. But gosh darn it, he’s just having so much fun out there, living out scenes from some alternate 1956 where he was wowing the crowds every night in Las Vegas; it can’t help but carry you along, at least some of the way.
This is an absolutely note-perfect pastiche of a standard, as accurate as anything Motown would ever achieve – for good and ill. Published by Motown’s pseudo-standards arm, Stein and Van Stock, its writers (Motown boss Berry Gordy and his brother Bob Kayli) adopting the pseudonyms “Martin and Kay”, everything about You’re Just Like You is an appeal to white MOR audiences, the sort of audiences who might have lapped this stuff up ten years previously.
This could absolutely have come from some long-forgotten stage show hovering just outside the range of public consciousness – the show that was playing down the road the night The King and I opened in New York, or something. Except for Bobby, that is, whose voice simply isn’t strong enough for him to have won the part in this theoretical show – so instead, it sounds like a dapper crooner’s cover of a well-known standard, which is of course exactly what its writers were going for.
It’s a good song, too; the big, string-laden chorus, all finger-snaps, horns and high kicks, is engaging, Bobby’s voice swooping woozily around the scale before delivering an almost spoken hook-line, complete with half-laugh.
It’s a strong tune, eminently whistleable, the sort of thing to be sung in a hundred thousand showers nationwide as Bobby delivers his paean of everlasting love.
Absolutely nothing to do with Motown at all, but one still has to applaud the sheer effort that went into getting all of the details of this pastiche so spot-on. Quite what audiences in 1964 made of this – epecially when they could just as easily buy LPs of the real thing – is another matter, but you’ve got to admire the craftsmanship.
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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Bobby Breen “Here Comes That Heartache” |
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Much too reminiscent of Wayne Newton’s “Danke Shoen.” Give it a 2 or 3, at the most.
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That’s probably what they were after.–but……………Motown’s records went out to all stations–black and white, that played Motown records.
What would Rufus Thomas do with a record like this if he had recieved it at WDIA???
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Discus practice off the top of the Exchange Building, probably.
Berry Gordy was hell-bent on having a prestigious white MOR act alongside his R&B-pop stable, and the picture sleeve makes me think he believed Bobby could be The One. Not that he didn’t care about credibility, just that credibility meant something different to him then than it does to us now. If Bobby had shifted 100,000 units – if ANY of Motown’s MOR ventures throughout the Sixties had done that – then Gordy would have considered every insult, every accusation of having sold out, to have been totally worth it. It’s only selling out if you’re actually selling, after all, he’d have reasoned – and Gordy was never shy about trying to sell.
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There’s no accounting for different people’s tastes. I don’t see how this gets a 5 and The Serenaders on VIP gets lower. I’d give “If Your Heart Says Yes” an 8 and this a 1. I find it extremely hard to believe that Berry Gordy thought any of the Bobby Breen, Bunny Paul, Tony Martin, Paul Peterson, Irene Ryan, Richard Anthony, Stylers, Chuck-A-Lucks, Bert Haney, et al records would sell anything.
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Well, the ratings are my own personal opinions, and I’d be astounded if any two people had the same views on every Motown record, so there’s bound to be plenty of dissent (which is great, otherwise things might get tedious!) I find this to be cheesy but well-made, while the Serenaders record strikes me as a sloppy, cacophonous affair. But hey, horses for courses…!
On sales, I don’t agree at all. The picture sleeve alone and the amount of orchestration can’t have been cheap. If you go back through the site, have a quick count up of the number of Motown records you’ve stated you believe to have been made without enthusiasm or hope of sales – it’s almost a sixth of the entire output so far! 🙂
I think it’s probably true in some cases that records were cut as business favours, vanity projects etc, but the majority of the “outlying” stuff Motown released strike me as genuine attempts to sell, the old “throw ’em against the wall and see what sticks” approach. Berry Gordy was a ruthless and shameless CEO who wanted sales, sales and more sales, and chased every potential cent going, be it from bobbysoxers, grandparents, cowboys or teds. I get the feeling that if he’d got wind of a hot new trend in Buffalo for records featuring the sound of cans blowing in the street, Motown would have had a “That Tin Can Alley Sound!” LP in stores within a month.
Similarly, it’s very unlikely to me that Motown pre-1964 would intentionally write off so much precious money on fripperies, not when there were so many “real” records to promote – or that Esther or Barney would willingly sign off on so much wasted expenditure knowing that kind of cavalier attitude to cashflow was what sank the likes of Vee-Jay.
Odd though it seems, I’m sure there’s a difference between you and I (and Berry, for that matter) thinking a record is poor, and Motown thinking it wouldn’t sell.
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Interesting you mention Irene Ryan, Robb. I was chatting with Damecia elsewhere about that. I believe the Ryan signing was connected to the “Pippin” musical soundtrack album which Motown released. So that may have been the impetus for signing Miss Ryan. Don’t quote me on this, but I think the singles she recorded while at Motown were associated with “Pippin”. Sadly, Miss Ryan died during Pippin’s run. With your Motown connections you might have some more perspective on this.
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I feel I have to rush to the defense of this track because I’ve got a feeling nobody else is about to. As you mentioned, Bobby Breen was a singing movie star in the 30’s. One of his films “Way Down South” was actually co-written by Langston Hughes and Afro-American actor Clarence Muse. And, believe me, mainstream Hollywood films scripted by black writers were no common occurrence in 1939. Anyway, Bobby had some experience, then, of collaborating with creative black artists. The famous Hall Johnson Choir even joined him for several songs in the film. Who knows? Maybe Berry Gordy saw the picture when he was a kid and retained some kind of affection for Breen (hence the Motown signing all those years later). Whatever, Breen seemed to vanish in the 40’s. So I always wondered how that boy soprano voice panned out after puberty. I knew he’d cut some 60’s sides for Motown. But never got to hear them till last year (thank you, i-tunes). I like his grown-up voice – at least on this song. Certainly I’d rank his other three Motown tracks as duds, perfectly idiotic pairings of singer and material. But ,for me, “You’re Just Like You” ‘s a total winner. Yes, it’s going for the “Danke Schon” groove, but I like it better than that disc on every level. For openers, I give Breen points just for NOT being Wayne Newton. You characterized the record as having “absolutely nothing l to do with Motown at all”. But ,you know, I disagree. The instrumental backup’s got that wonderful 1964 Snake Pit acoustic that I love, love, love. I like Breen’s tone here,too – and the whole approach is kind of ingratiating (and I usually find that Vegas night-club bonhomie thing a complete turnoff). Certainly the melody’s a real beguiler and I can’t help thinking (because it seems, with me, all roads lead to Rome) that this would’ve been a natural as a track on Mary Wells’ first post “My Guy” LP for Motown (you know, the one that never was). Buoyant, mountain greenery fresh – it’s right in her “My Guy” wheelhouse. Her version would’ve reeled in the arrangement’s Count Basie brassiness for something more pop-radio friendly. But basically the tempo’s perfect for her. And I could certainly hear her tossing off every one of those lyrics with breezy aplomb Voila! Another great Mary Wells track that might have been. Which is not to say Breen’s version isn’t a charmer. Several of those big-band-ish MOR things were making noise on the charts around then (“Wives and Lovers”.”Danke Schon”). A different roll of the dice could’ve added “You’re Just Like You” to the list. For me, though, it’s still one of Motown’s most pleasant surprises.
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