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UNRELEASED: scheduled for
Motown M 1061 (B), July 1964
B-side of When I’m Gone
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
According to the paperwork, Motown scheduled this single – catalogue number, B-side, release date, everything – long in advance, setting it up as the follow-up hit to My Guy before Mary Wells dropped the bombshell that she was leaving the label.
When discussing the topside, the impossibly cool When I’m Gone, we covered the reasons for Motown dropping it from the schedules pretty comprehensively. There’s an almost equally pressing question out there still unanswered, though – namely, who thought this was a good idea?
Like When I’m Gone, this was first released to the public on the Christmas 1966 odds-and-sods compilation LP Vintage Stock. That’s as far as the comparison goes between the two sides. When I’m Gone showcases Mary at her best, maturing all the time, laying down a great contralto vocal over the top of a taut and deliciously sparse backing. Guarantee is a throwback in every sense; the recording had been in the can for over a year by the summer of 1964, but it had been started even longer ago than that, several musical lifetimes ago back in September ’62 when the as-yet unproven new Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team were still finding their feet.
It’s not very good.
Nothing about Guarantee comes across as a good idea. In exactly the same way as the Marvelettes’ similarly-disheartening A Little Bit of Sympathy, A Little Bit of Love, it all feels unnaturally forced, as though everyone involved (and this goes for Mary, HDH, the band, the backing singers) knew they were making a bad song into a bad record but ploughed on regardless anyway.
The song features lonely single Mary seeking a boyfriend via a clunky metaphor which has her comparing herself to a market trader whose top product is love. It’s not a promising premise – the sales metaphor is tawdry given even a moment’s consideration, and the song’s big central motif – her proclamation that after too many years alone, she’s now slashing her prices to attract a quick sale (“Listen, hear what I say / It’s bargain day / And I’m giving away true love”) – isn’t any more flattering. Once we’ve gone past one chorus of this, you’re literally begging her to stop it – but the song’s so thin without the costermonger stuff that there’s no option but to grimly press on with an increasingly tired and shaky metaphor.
So, instead, we get the backing vocalists (I don’t know who they are on this one) playing a chorus of barrow girls trying to drum up business in a wonky, hard-to-understand chant (Who’ll take Mary’s love? It’s guaranteed for a lifetime!, the third-person reference to the singer a very early HDH attempt at “personalising” the song that ends up distancing her from the listener, quite the opposite of the desired effect). The whole thing makes Mary’s narrator seem like a pathetic, desperate character, willing to throw herself at the first man who comes along and declare unconditional, undying love. Consider how bad a song has to be to make a direct proposition to the listener from Mary Wells seem somehow unappealing.
It doesn’t even sound good, with no tune to speak of, and exceedingly rudimentary instrumentation in a pale and poorly-executed pastiche of Smokey Robinson’s then-current run of calypso-tinged midtempo Mary Wells hits. The whole thing should have been consigned to the dustbin long before it got near a studio, but the idea that the finished product was somehow passed as fit for release – and on a single Motown might reasonably have expected to go Top Ten, no less – is mind-boggling.
This is utter swill, and it’s only avoiding a (1) purely on the strength of Mary’s voice, which I could listen to all day. Even if the day in question is an off-day like this one.
(Here, it’s mostly a semi-spoken monologue, but there are enough hints of her throaty, passionate deliveries of Smokey’s songs that – even though she clearly knows she’s wasting effort on a poor song – she comes away with some credit, and actually tries hard to save the patently wretched thing. You’d be laughed out of town if you claimed this was anything like her best work, but at least she’s trying to make it work.)
Otherwise, it’s crass and tacky in every possible sense, and Mary comes across as already too dignified for this sort of thing.
Unlike the A-side, there would be no revisiting of Guarantee by any other artists once Mary had left the label. Motown have been proven to hold vaults full of hidden treasures, but amid the excitement that a great new find always brings, it’s always worth remembering that some records remain unreleased for a reason. Quite how or why as rotten an example as this came so close to being rescued from obscurity is still anyone’s guess.
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 Mary Wells? Click for more.)
Mary Wells “When I’m Gone” |
The Four Tops “Baby I Need Your Loving” |
Dave L said:
Agreed đŸ™‚ With “He’s The One I Love,” “Does He Love Me,” and “One Block From Heaven” all ready and waiting, Motown 1061 would have been a double-sided hit with any of those three. In fact Vintage Stock would have been better with Smokey’s “My Heart Is Like A Clock,” and let “Guarantee” wait till the Looking Back CD set in ’93.
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Robert Doherty said:
In 1974 I picked up Vintage Stock for $1.88 at Woolworths in Halifax, Nova Scotia, not sure what to make of it. It wasn’t a greatest hits album exactly, some people thought it was the My Guy album, which it clearly isn’t . The 1966 issue date suggested it was an unfinished album padded out by Miss Wells biggest hits, which it mostly is.
A treasure, a prize – I was immediately charmed and taken by “Guarantee for a Lifetime”. Light, bouncy, sexy, a bit “naughty” and corny as hell. All quite tongue in cheek, slightly absurd and 100% Motown. I mean what the Hell do you expect? The withdrawal of “When I’m Gone” was unfortunate enough, but to rob the pop world of “Guarantee for a Lifetime” as its flipside is a personal tragedy. I don’t doubt that record would have been turned over or the flip at least charted respectably in its own right.
Then there’s the little matter of the background singer. Anyone we know? Don’t suppose it could be, I don’t know, Diana Ross or anything. Always fancied it was. Unconfirmed, but certainly sounds like her. Ross was definitely doing backgrounds in ’62 and ’63. “We all did backgrounds for each other” Miss Wells told me herself after a club date in Toronto in 1983. Would love to know for sure.
Note: Vintage Stock was reissued on Pickwick Records in 1974 and retitled “My Guy”, and to add to the confusion the label reads “Vintage Stock”. As is often the case with licensed reissues at least two tracks are omitted from the original lineup. In this case they are “I’ll be Available”, “Goodbye and Good Luck” and (!) “Guarantee for a Lifetime”.
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BILLY RICHARDSON said:
I absolutely LOVE “GURANTEE FOR A LIFETIME”. The first time I heard it I thought it was fabulous and one of her best. Motown should have released it.
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Dave L said:
đŸ˜¦ Oh boy. We better get used to this folks, as Nixon slowly takes us through our wonderful memories.
Just opened my yahoo email, and there was another one:
>>Edgar “Chico” Edwards Former lead singer of the Spinners, pasted Saturday this week, Album debute was in 1967 The Original Spinners 1967 debut album by The Spinners for Motown Records. Originally a Tri Phi record compilation, the label was bought out by Motown in 1963, and the Tri Phi album was cancelled until the group moved over to Motown. The LP includes the group’s earliest singles on the label (such as Top 20 R&B hits “I’ll Always Love You” and “Truly Yours”), as well as their first ever single “That’s What Girls Are Made For. The group original consisted of Bobby Smith, Henry Fambrough, Billy Henderson, Pervis Jackson and George Dixon (he left before the album release). Henry went off to the Army and was replaced temporarily by Chico. Eventually Dixon left, Henry came back, and Edwards was in as a member. Bobby Smith and Edwards were the primary lead singers of the group. The Motown album is the only recording Edwards appeared with the Spinners on. No further info is available about his funeral.<<
Rest in peace. đŸ˜¦
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John Lester said:
The backing vocalists? If you listen carefully to a stereo version, Martha’s distinctive lead voice comes through loud and clear.
This happens to be my all time favourite Mary Wells recording so I was a little sad that it only registered a 2 out of 10 rating. But hey, we can all have different tastes.
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Dave L said:
I might go to a five for this, I don’t find it quite as weak as Nixon does, but now that he tells us the recording date of it, that clarifies why it sounds nowhere in a league with “You Lost The Sweetest Boy” and “One Block From Heaven.” To be told it was made before HDH made their “Heat Wave” chops makes complete sense.
So too does it bolster the any impression of Martha Reeves among the background singers. If the Vandellas were on-call for any sessions in latter half of 1962 for Marvin, surely if Mary needed their help, she got it also.
Annette would know; maybe she’ll remember.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Your *favourite*??? Now that really DOES stun me. Please don’t be disheartened, I’m plenty wrong about a great many records according to popular opinion! I’m just one voice among many. Feel free to post your views on any thread, comments are open and uncensored for that very reason.
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John Lester said:
I have this on my mp3 player and it was recorded for me by the late David Castell (Chrisclarkfan) from his copy of the Sounds Superb album and it’s in glorious stereo. I love it.
It is definitely my favourite of all her recordings and the one I play the most. I was never able to find it on youtube.
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bogart4017 said:
First heard it on the 2-disc “Looking Back” set anad fell in love with it instantly! Its got a toe-tapping quality i can’t really explain—but the lyrics? Oh god. i call it “The Retired Hookers’ Going-out of Business -Sale Blues”.
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144man said:
I must be listening to a different record. 8/10 from me.
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The Nixon Administration said:
I’m genuinely more flabbergasted than at any point since I started doing this site. What record are you guys listening to? Is the version on TCMS 4 an unreleased demo or something? Or is this all an elaborate joke…?
I was seriously going to give this a one until a last-minute change of heart (as I explained above, I felt Mary’s performance was better than the song deserved) – I know I always say this when this sort of thing happens, but I honestly didn’t see this coming, it felt like one of the safest pannings I’ve ever given anything. I’ll never learn… đŸ™‚ A chacun son goĂ»t!
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144man said:
Between now and 1969, I think you need to be prepared for practically anything you might dislike being liked by somebody…with the exception of the Melody label.
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Dave L said:
Agreed đŸ™‚
And I know I’m definitely already curious if any single -like Motown 1056- earns a 10 for both sides again.
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The Nixon Administration said:
There is one more of those, yes… Stay tuned, Motown fans đŸ˜‰
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The Nixon Administration said:
True, true đŸ™‚ and that’s without including the ones I *do* anticipate arguments – I’m already bracing myself for the reaction to one particular upcoming act of iconoclasm in a couple of weeks’ time…
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MichaelS said:
Not so bad to deserve a “2,” not so good for an “8” but surely deserving of a solid “7.”
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Robb Klein said:
I’d give this a 7. Consideration to give this a 1 and a Bobby Breen cut a 5 is well beyond my understanding.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Easy: The Bobby Breen record in question is a dead-on pastiche put together with obvious care and affection, and it sort of succeeds by its own low standards; whereas this is the Marvelettes’ “Strange I Know” except with the same writers*, producers and musicians doing literally everything wrong. Even without Mary being made to sing “I’m givin’ it away!”, it all sounds so forced and clunky and ugly and joyless I just can’t find a place in my heart for it. But I’m off base again, by the looks of things! đŸ™‚
*(except: read Eddie for Freddie, I know)
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Henry said:
My first time posting as I just became aware of the site a few days ago. I would give the song a seven. My grading was based on if say Two Lovers was a ten, seven is where this would come in at. I think it is a good song and admit to being a little biased as I am a Drummer and the drumming knocks me out. I remember when “Looking Back” came out in the early nineties and hearing it for the first time. Also having a copy on my cassette walkman and playing it over and over again as I was trying to run, chew gum, and rewind the walkman at the same time.
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The Nixon Administration said:
Welcome Henry, hope you enjoy the site. I particularly dislike the rhythm track on this, with the incessant tink tink tink pattern (beating on a cowbell?) – so it’d be good to hear a professional rebuttal!
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John Plant said:
re Dave L’s post: I have a splendid memory of the Spinners opening for the Supremes in Burlington, Vermont, in 1965 – shortly after Stop! in the name of love. I’d never heard of them, and was quite blown away – by the beauty of the singing and the professionalism of the act. Very exciting show – the Supremes hadn’t yet been combed to the last degree of ladylike refinement, and their contribution had a nice raw edge to it, as I recall. Very sorry to hear of Edgar Edwards’ passing. Thanks for posting, Dave! P.S. – I confess that I don’t know this song… but i can’t help crying out in anguish, ‘Where were all you dissenters when ‘What’s the Matter with You Baby’ (which is a 10 for me) received its 4??’
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Mark V said:
I’ve always liked this tune, too. It has the ascending vocal line (“Who will take Mary’s love?”) that Holland, Dozier, Holland trademarked into a “hook” that draws you in to later songs like “Nothing but Heartaches” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love.” When I first fell in love with Motown it was because of the sound and the musicianship (and the singers) rather than the lyrics. One of the reasons that this site is my favorite is because of Nixon’s viewpoint on elements of the Motown Sound that were secondary for me when I first heard it–namely, the words. Not that they’re unimportant: Smokey’s one of favorite lyricists. Great site and great work!
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The Nixon Administration said:
Thanks Mark! Regarding lyrics and words: I actually consider them to be two different things. A great lyric is quotable or memorable if you read it written down, but may scan terribly; “Bleep bloop blarp yeah yeah yeah yeah!” can be a great use of words if they fit the tune and the performer’s voice (their range, their natural cadence and speed, their breathing patterns, the works). Smokey and Eddie Holland excelled at both, at their best not only coming up with great stories, killer lines, clever puns etc., but also matching them superbly to vocalists – Diana Ross, Levi Stubbs, Mary Wells, Eddie Kendricks – who you wouldn’t necessarily call *conventionally* great singers, to draw out a fantastic all-round experience.
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bogart4017 said:
If thats the case Eddie Holland wasn’t always the greatest lyricist. To go for the “rhyme time” he had a tendancy to bend or make up words or the tense of a word (please see “Helpless”-Kim Weston 1966).
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ThinPaperWings said:
Don’t think this song is on YouTube, though I managed to hear part of it on Mary’s MySpace page (it kept cutting off). I really dig the backing vocal part (who will take Mary’s love) and for that alone I’d say it’s at least a 4. But no way is it better than ‘My Girl’ or ‘When I’m Gone.’
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Nick in Pasadena said:
As a completely (or at best partially) irrelevant comment, I picked up an old (2009) copy of Architectural Digest the other day with a list of celebrities on the cover whose homes they were featuring in the issue. At the bottom was “Mary Wells”! I thought, what? She’s living somewhere posthumously? Turns out the Mary Wells is in question is an (apparently) famous advertising executive. Okay. But the article was about her yacht, which is named “Strangelove.” So the name of her yacht is the same as the title of one of the (more famous) Mary Wells’ singles? Was that pure coincidence? Alas, the article does not divulge the origins of the yacht’s name. This remains one of those serendipitous mysteries.
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Henry said:
Hmmmmm…………………
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John Lester said:
Makes sense, I can’t see anyone wanting to call it “TWOLOVERS” unless they wanted to be battered with a rolling pin. HAHAHA
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Graham Betts said:
You beat me to the punch (line)….
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Henry said:
A great way to start the morning, the only thing missing is a rimshot. Thanks guys!
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Governor Milton P. Shapp said:
I have to agree with Mark V. This song actually has a very nice tune, and the “Who will take Mary’s love” bit is actually quite a catchy little hook. The lyrics aren’t my favorite thing, but the background singers singing about “Mary’s love” is a little campy or something so it works in that way for me. Mary’s vocal is, as usual, quite convincing.
This is an example of what I call the Motown Cha-Cha, a feel I like very much. A lot of these earlier Motown songs are tied to dance rhytms because, after all, that was a basic function of the music- to be danced to. So you have a lot of Cha Chas and Twist beats cropping up in these early ones.
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Richard said:
Just at the end – when Mary sings – “Who’ll take my love?…” with chugging cha-cha and chirping chorus – my heart melts. I feel so sorry for her, unloved, leaving Motown – sadness grabs me. No matter when recorded, it’s Mary. It’s one of her best and most telling works. I love it, can’t get it out of my head. It’s unratable, it’s art, it was her life. I’ll take your love, Mary. Guaranteed for a lifetime.
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Days of Broken Arrows said:
I came here looking for info on this song, after I heard it on an online oldies station. Count me in the crowd of commenters who think “Guarantee” is one of the best things they ever heard from Wells. Impossibly catchy, great background vocals, fantastic chorus and lead vocal.
Is there some sort of political agenda going on that’s influencing people not to like this song? Something to do with H-D-H or Mary leaving the label? Whatever the case, I am definitely not a Motown neophyte and think I know a good song when I hear it. “Guarantee” jumped out at me and I still can’t shake that chorus from my head.
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billie richardson said:
I have stated years and years ago how fabulous this song was. I loved it from the very first time I heard it back in ’66 from her Vintage Stock lp; far as i’m concerned it was her best work on Motown period. I hated “MY GUY” and still do. “GUARANTEED” surpasses that song far as I’m concerned. I wlll never know why it wasn’t a single. Motown did some weird stuff anyway. I just this year came across an unbelievable curt from Kim Weston entitled “GOT A WEAK HEART” that is an absolute floor filler if I ever heard one and Motown did not have sense enough to release this song. It’s an incredible tune. Go on you tube people and have a listen and I dare you not to agree. This too was produced by the phenoms H-D-H. Long live the KINGS!!
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Mark Vining said:
“I Got a Weak Heart” IS a great song, no question. I would bet that it never saw the light of day in its time because Kim and her husband Mickey Stevenson were on their way out of Motown. It’s on Kim’s double CD “Motown Collection.”
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billie richardson said:
its a shame tho because it was denied big hit status. It surely would’ve been top 5 R&B at least and possibly top 25 pop if it had been released. I wonder when I listen to it how The Supremes would’ve handled that song after all it was a H-D-H creation. I think Diana would’ve tore it up especially the baby,baby,baby parts. Don’t you agree?!
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Henry said:
How ironic, I was listening to I believe the Mary Wells Lost and Found set this week in the car, and this was on it, I probably played it about 3-4 times. I first became aware of this great song on the 2CD set from the early 90’s, and as a drummer, go crazy over Benny B’s snare hit. Which to a non drummer may sound weird, and out of place, which may be why it wasn’t promoted as a single.
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billie richardson said:
Yes this song was a gem and like I said before should’ve been a big hit. One of her greatest in my opinion.
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Robb Klein said:
I don’t think this was forced or “clunky” at all. It’s a very nice mid-tempo which fit well into Mary’s style. It should have been a single. Motown should have released a new single on Mary (and plugged them) every 4-5 months after Mary left, at least for a couple years, They could have released 7-8 singles, most of which were better than much of her 20th Century Fox and ATCO output, except, perhaps “Dear Lover”, and maybe “Me Without You”. I was sorely disappointed, not only when she left, but also that they stopped releasing her records. I KNEW that they had to have enough good cuts left for at least 3 quality singles.
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billie richardson said:
Yes I loved Guranteed but I loved her 20th century fox and atco stuff to an even her Jubilee stuff too! My best friend was a Mary Wells fan to the 10th power and if I didn’t he kept me up to date with ALL her stuff. I loved most of it. Motown just dropped the ball on her and a lot of other artists from time to time; I have found this out through facebook and you tube and encountering a lot of unreleased stuff that should’ve been including Mary stuff. I ran up on a song by the Originals called “SUSPICIOUS” that is tremendous produced by H-D-H of course that either was never released or just didn’t get pushed. WTF!! Are you serious. These are fabulous definite hit records that they let sit up on damn shelf and meanwhile all of us fans missed out! There are couple people on FB that have sites specifically showcasing such tunes. I got HUGE collection of stuff they been posting.
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Robb Klein said:
“Suspicion” by The Originals is from 1965, and before their 1966 debut with “Good Night Irene”. The former is by FAR my favourite song by that group. I had it picked out for our From The Vaults 2nd LP. But that never came about. “A Tear From A Woman’s Eye” is right up there with my favourite Temptations’ songs. Same with “Crying In The Night” by The Monitorrs and “I Should Have Known Better” by The Marvelettes. I could go on and on with unreleased Motown. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED all Mary’s 20th Century Fox cuts, except her Beatles remakes, and all her ATCO 45 cuts. I only liked “The Doctor” on Jubilee. We were talking with her about recording for Airwave Records in 1980, but, sadly, nothing came of that. She was one of my all-time favourite female singers.
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Abbott Cooper said:
Being on an unreleased record, this song did not reach my ears until I purchased TCMS Volume 4. After playing it for first the time, I couldn’t stop pressing the return button. After reading Nixon”s review, I couldn’t believe he was writing about the same song I’ve been enjoying since that first play. There is absolutely NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS RECORDING. I like the concept and the presentation. Mary is Mary. The backups are tremendous. The fade (and by now you that I value those fades) is terrific. HDH had done it again. Another fine product, and a strong “8” from me. There’s only one thing left for me to do and that’s to add my thumbs down to the previous 10, so here comes Number 11. Take that. Nixon!
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The Nixon Administration said:
That’s what they’re there for, Abbott đŸ™‚
On Wed, Feb 15, 2017 at 7:06 AM, Motown Junkies wrote:
>
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billie richardson said:
i have always LOVED “GURANTEE FOR A LIFETIME” and always will. She does an outstanding job on this song. Being an extremely staunch Supremes fan, I didn’t pay Mary Wells too much attention and had a best friend who loved her and that’s how I became a fan nd this song we ran in the ground!!
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Slade Barker said:
Admittedly, I wasn’t listening to it that closely, but this was a perfectly likable record. Sure, it sounds like it was recorded in an earlier era, but as of now, these are ALL earlier eras, so that doesn’t matter at this point. Not sure why Pres. Nixon is SO down on it.
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Michael said:
A mere 2 for this delightful throwaway? This might be the first time my rating and yours differ so much. It’s a little clunky in places and the verses are unmemorable, but I find the chorus (“Who will take Mary’s loooooove, it’s guaranteed for a LIFE-time”) clever and catchy. 6 at least for me.
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