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Gordy G 7033 (A), July 1964
b/w There He Is (At My Door)
(Written by Mickey Stevenson, Marvin Gaye and Ivy Jo Hunter)
Stateside SS 345 (A), September 1964
b/w There He Is (At My Door)
(Released in the UK under license through Stateside Records)
Right. Well. Okay then.
Eagle-eyed regular readers may have noticed that for a long time now, I’ve been talking about an upcoming review that I felt was bound to cause some controversy. (It’s this one, obviously.) For many months, I’ve been dreading the approach of Dancing In The Street – not “Streets”, incidentally, though we’ll get to that later on – because I knew I’d have more to say about this than any other Motown record, and because it’s perhaps the most sacred of Motown sacred cows.
The fact was, while I liked this record and everything, I’d never even put it in my personal top five Vandellas favourites, and its status as a perennial beloved treasure always left me a bit bemused.
Compound it further: Martha and the Vandellas are my favourite of all Motown’s female groups, perhaps my favourite Motown group overall. If my son had been a daughter, he’d have been named Martha in Reeves’ honour. That this has somehow become their monument – “the Vandellas’ premier signature song” as the very first line of its Wikipedia article puts it – always felt unrepresentative and, frankly, a little unworthy. There are three more Vandellas records that are getting ten out of ten here on Motown Junkies, and this ain’t one of ’em.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I started to bring Dancing In The Street into my playlist, listening to it more and more as I put this review together (as I do with every record featured here), all prepared to say exactly how I felt about it and why, and then to lose lots of subscribers and be forced to turn in my Motown fan club membership card. To admit that a song which has been called Motown’s national anthem, the most socially important song Motown ever released, etc etc etc, wasn’t my favourite? The shame of it all.
But as it turns out, after a fortnight of Dancing In The Street at full volume, I’ve taken what I wrote, and I’ve thrown most of it away. Lo and behold, thanks to the joys of loud and repeated listening, this will instead be the story of how a record won me right back over.
* * *
The title of the blog is Motown Junkies, and to begin with, I hadn’t thought it through at all.
[A throwaway Manic Street Preachers joke, a wry smile at James Dean Bradfield’s expense, it turned out a tribute band in Illinois had the exact same idea at the exact same time, and we’re stuck with the same name. Luckily, they’re really nice people, as I mention on every single page here. Still, it’s doubly annoying, because only the flip of a coin stopped the site being called Everybody Say Yeah! (after the hook line in Stevie Wonder’s Fingertips) instead.]
But it’s a strangely appropriate title, the more I think of it. I wasn’t always a Motown junkie. In fact, I wasn’t always interested in pop music at all. Thirteen-year-old me was into Kraftwerk, T.Rex, the Electric Light Orchestra, and knew nothing of Motown beyond a handful of overplayed oldies on the radio. (I also knew nothing of the Beatles, Stones, Commodores, Coltrane, Cole, Beethoven or Bix Beiderbecke, for that matter. I knew nothing full stop, really.) I was unprotected and unprepared, and I made easy prey for pop music’s most insidious pushers of hooks and tunes. I spent my teens listening to all sorts of random stuff, in search of the ultimate hit (in every sense), eventually rummaging around in the equivalent of the music industry’s scrap bins – samplers from Finnish indie labels, unsigned Louisiana hip hop collectives, anything – to try and get another taste of something that ran through the veins of all my favourite records, something I couldn’t quite grasp or understand but always recognised as soon as I felt it. I didn’t know, of course, that what I was looking for was staring me right in the face the entire time. So when – thanks to a bunch of compilation CDs at a local shop’s closing-down sale – I eventually fell for Motown, I fell hard and I fell deep.
But that left the handful of overplayed oldies on the radio in a weird sort of place. Because those songs – including, of course, this song – had become part of the musical furniture long before I’d had a chance to appreciate them, it was difficult to appreciate them anew.
For a while, I’d feel a tinge of embarrassment when listening to a big hit single; at the time, I thought it was because I was enjoying something as a guilty pleasure, that I’d somehow be embarrassed if a college housemate walked in on me playing Smokey Robinson. Now, I realise I was embarrassed because I’d been such an idiot, somehow not seeing – and intentionally not seeing, I think – how good these things, these ubiquitous things I’d rejected out of hand before I was twelve, had always been.
Nowadays, of course, I don’t care who knows what I’m listening to. Mostly because I’ve developed a rather contrary mindset, I suppose: I know what’s good, I know I’m absolutely right, and I know that exact same thing is true for every single person on the planet. I’m proud that I never feel the urge, not even subconsciously as far as I can tell, to wish someone would turn their music down. The world needs more music in it, and passion for music, any music, is alright by me. Even if it’s Justin Bieber.
* * *
You’d think, then, that a song containing these lines:
All we need is music
Sweet music
There’ll be music everywhere
would be right up my, er, street. But it’s never been that way with me and Dancing In The Street. Quite aside from the fact that my age meant I (along with about five million others) was first introduced to, and thoroughly put off, this song thanks to this abomination:
…even once we get past that, Dancing… always presented me with two fundamental problems, neither of which went away after I’d had my road to Damascus moment.
* * *
So, er, I suppose this is where I write the sort of thing I was planning to write up until a couple of weeks ago. Just remember, outraged Vandellas fans, they’re my favourite group too.
So. Firstly, there’s always the nagging feeling that the song isn’t actually as great as you first think it is. Or, more accurately, parts of it are so great that the rest can’t keep up.
That intro, for instance. Lord, that intro. Motown’s best-ever intro? It’s got to be right up there, for sure. After a tumultuous quasi-tribal drum roll, we’re snagged right away by that killer horn hook, so catchy it’s almost a jingle – instantly whistleable, an earworm to end all earworms. But it’s beaten out a split-second earlier by another horn part, a growling, rumbling one-note bed of brass, an urgent, demented Morse Code message buzzed out right at the bottom of the register, as if to immediately anchor the whole thing, make sure we know this is going to have some balls.
While we’re still assimilating all this stuff (and cut us some slack, will you, it’s only been eight seconds), enter Martha Reeves, but a subtly different Martha Reeves to the one we’ve heard on stuff like Come And Get These Memories or Heat Wave. I don’t mean because she’s so clearly got louder and stronger since we last met her, or gone up a couple of octaves – she did that intentionally, incidentally, because she felt Marvin Gaye’s original demo vocal was too soft and plaintive – I mean because there’s the hint of a majestically pissy sneer in her vocal throughout this song, a hint of impatience that’s clear from the very first CALLING out… that opens the record. When she asks us “Are you ready for a brand new beat?”, it’s part request and part challenge.
(It’s since transpired that no acting was involved here – Martha was reportedly fuming because her first take had seen her singing her heart out onto a tape reel that turned out not to be recording anything. The second and final take, the one used here, was done right after that incident, and Martha’s irritation at having to do it all over again when she felt she’d already nailed it comes across at several points. This, as I’ll discuss soon, would have knock-on effects. But I digress – this is me waxing spasmodic about the intro.)
It would already be one of the great Motown openings, but then comes the coup de grace, a heavy set of snow chains that co-writer Ivy Jo Hunter beat so hard against a stack of wood it made his hands bleed. Sacrifice in the service of art – thank goodness the end result was worth the suffering! Many thanks, Ivy Jo.
It’s one of the best starts to any Motown record in history, and it’s magnificent. (And yes, I was going to write all this before.) But the problem I have, the problem I’ve always had, is that the rest of the song just can’t live up to that start. The whole thing seems to coast along on the momentum it’s built up, and that pseudo-chorus – the All we need is music bit – always felt like it was actually sapping some of the energy from the record. Marvin Gaye’s demo, which I’ve never heard (I don’t know if it’s out there?), apparently envisioned Dancing In The Street as a more low-key affair, a straightforward love song wishing everyone else in the world to join in with a couple’s happiness.
I’m no musicologist, but to me, the chorus feels like it’s been drafted in from another song – that early loved-up version, perhaps – as a late replacement for something else, something a bit tougher, a bit more in keeping with that blockbuster introduction. Going back to my teenage self, sifting through endless cutout bins and the munged-keyword backwaters of EIL, I may not be able to define the magic I’m seeking, but I know when I’m in its presence, and it’s never been present here.
That kind of leads me to the other thing which has always stopped me truly loving this. A love of Motown, the things to me that make Motown great – be it in the tunes, the words, the sound, the personalities – hasn’t always seemed wholly compatible with a love of Dancing In The Street. For a start, it’s a very atypical song for Motown, both musically – which we’ve looked at briefly already – and lyrically. I’ll get on to the social commentary stuff in a moment, but what I’m getting at here is that Dancing… is addressed to the entire world, an open invitation (and reflexively described as such) when almost every other big-ticket Motown single so far has been on a microcosmic scale. Up until now, most Motown lyrics have settled for making big general points on the basis of one relationship, two people, maybe a narrator making sweeping generalisations based on his or her own experience. This, on the other hand, is immediately all-inclusive, immediately trying to make a big statement. Maybe that’s why it feels different, feels out of place when it inevitably appears on “Classic Motown” compilations and playlists; I don’t know. But it does.
It’s not just what’s actually on the page, though. It’s more to do with the way this record has been received throughout its almost fifty-year lifespan. Some serious heavyweight thinkers and cultural commentators, black and white, have throughout that time seen Dancing In The Street as a rallying post, a call to action for an unspecified but supposedly clear cause (named candidates ranging from general happiness and harmony, racial equality, civil rights, through Black Power and right the way up to violent civil disobedience and rioting). Certainly it was born at a time when such a song was badly needed and largely justified, and certainly the instrumentation and production and that grab-you-by-the-throat intro and Martha’s highly annoyed vocal performance all add up to make it sound angry enough. But it isn’t an angry protest song.
It isn’t an angry protest song.
Angry protest songs are strong, born of strong convictions, made for strong purpose, and above all they’re meant to be angry protest songs. How successful they are is tied to whether they achieve their aims, which in turn is tied to whether they gain popular acceptance. Dancing In The Street certainly gained popular acceptance, but no matter what socioeconomic-historical gloss any one of a thousand commentators has seen fit to put on it – the most intriguing one I’ve seen saw the rhythm of the drumbeat and the use of chains explicitly cited as a direct reference to the slave trade – it’s just not in that class.
It’s a song about solving all the world’s problems by getting together and dancing – perhaps in the absence of government and police interference, but there’s not an explicitly negative word in the text. (Interesting that it’s so often misremembered (including by me) as being angrier than it actually is, and that it’s so often (including by me) mistitled with an extra “S”, as though its inclusionary nature expands the subject matter to cover all streets everywhere ever.) All of the violence, all of the supposed encouragement to get out there and smash things up, is subtext. A lot of it is self-referencing subtext, too – there’s little doubt that when this was banned from the airwaves three years later during the Detroit riots, some of the mystique became reality, and this became a protest anthem; not for nothing did the Stones directly riff on these lyrics in Street Fighting Man – but it’s still subtext, and no more than that.
I mean, anything can serve as a protest anthem in a pinch, especially if the general drift of the lyrics seems to fit – I’m thinking specifically of that Nineties revolution in Sierra Leone which supposedly used McFadden & Whitehead’s Ain’t No Stopping Us Now for the purpose. But to me, and I’m someone who feels he owes his life to music, in a number of senses, this is a song about the unifying power of music, the universal power of music, and it’s as deliberately open and non-exclusionary as it could possibly be.
I’ve always subtly and subconsciously reacted against this record, then, on two levels, apparently without noticing the inherent contradiction: firstly, I don’t like seeing a song I believe to be about something I believe in get co-opted as if it were obviously about something else (especially if the end result is for it to be used as some sort of moronic looters’ charter, with dancing a synonym for rioting – and Martha has made comments herself making it very clear she wasn’t exhorting anyone to riot.) Secondly, if it were an angry protest song, it would be a terrible angry protest song, veering perilously close to John Lennon hippy bullshit territory. Things need to change? Then change them. Do what you have to do. But if you don’t believe that everyone coming together and dancing and fucking and having an amazing time together is the solution, then choose a different song. Otherwise, you’re marching towards the rifles with petrol bombs, while simultaneously singing about trying to put flowers in the barrels. It just doesn’t work.
* * *
So, yeah, I’d been holding all of that stuff against this song, and it was going to get a middling mark as a result; can’t hold too much of a grudge against that intro, of course.
But then I realised I was being stupid too.
* * *
It took something like fifteen goes around with this to scrape off fifty years’ worth of cultural commentary, assumed motives, insistence upon the record’s inherent greatness (something I’ve always mistrusted!), plus my own worries – about whether this was the sort of thing I should be in favour of, about whether the reaction was something I should be in favour of, about whether I was being pointlessly iconoclastic, about whether I was trivialising the entire civil rights movement.
For some reason, putting this on repeat while I went about my daily business, having it playing back to back, over and over and over again, turned out to be something like one of those 90s detergent informercials where a salesman gets a shill to put an old penny in a bucket of their all-new cleaning product and all the grime and detritus just sort of fizzles off and floats away, and what you’re left with is a newly bright thing, gleaming like treasure. Something like that.
At the end of the day, I guess everyone takes away from this what they want, or need, to take away from it. But what I take away from it is that while I still don’t think it lives up to its full potential, it’s nonetheless a surprisingly happy, joyful record, something I’d not really picked up on before, not until I forced myself to hear it with fresh eyes. I don’t see it as the joy in wanton destruction, or a valedictory kiss as the oppressive structures of power come crashing down – rather, it’s a simpler kind of joy, I guess harking right back to whatever sentiments Marvin Gaye seems to have picked out of it when it was first being carved out.
Love is great and powerful, and music is great and powerful, and music is so great and powerful that it can convey the greatness and power of love – get up and dance, together, it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you wear, just as long as you are there, and we can all feel the same way. And we can do it right now, right this second, even fifty years later, but only if we all do it at once. We can do anything, but only if we all do it at once. Of course, we won’t all do it at once – but the thing, the brilliant thing about this is the record’s so full of energy and crackle and wild-eyed, wide-eyed hope for a brighter future that, so long as it’s playing, there always feels like there’s a chance you might turn on the news or look out of the window and see people have indeed spontaneously started dancing in the street. That’s what I was missing all these years. That’s what makes it great.
I can finally accept this as being brilliant, then (if not in the way that’s generally accepted) rather than merely “good”; but it still isn’t the record Martha and the Vandellas deserve to be remembered for. That doesn’t stop it from being a classic, of course. Or a “Classic”. But that’s a whole new can of worms for another day.
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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Martha & The Vandellas “There He Is (At My Door)” |
DISCOVERING MOTOWN |
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Motown Junkies 
…And that’s the longest thing I’ll ever write here. (I promise!)
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I always thought the loud clink on “Dancing in the Street” was a crowbar being hit with a wrench, and “Nowhere to Run” was the one with the chains. At least I know they were both done by Ivy Jo Hunter. Thanks again to Mr. Hunter, a musical genius!
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“The record is simply an etched-in-stone masterpiece. It is deathless. It will outlive Motown’s first babyboomer fans, and even all the Vandellas and Martha herself, and still remain a spirited and open-hearted imploring to dancing, and loving, and celebrating life itself. Martha takes a piece of your heart with this performance and you’re glad to let her take it. Magic exists, and it’s right here.”
That’s what I wrote at YouTube over a year where one is confined to 500 characters, not easy for a gasbag like me. Oh, I meant it and still do. If “Heat Wave” alone did not seal the immortality of the Vandellas and Reeves, “Dancing” removes any question. And yet…
With Vandellas b-sides like “Old Love Let’s Try It Again,” littler A’s like “In My Lonely Room” or album tracks like “No More Tearstained Makeup,” I can delude myself into a proprietary approach toward them, as if they’re ‘mine’ and I don’t have to share them if I don’t want to.
But “Dancing,” by no later than four months old, belonged to the Whole Wide World. It is known by the laziest of popsters, and every self-proclaimed R&B ‘expert,’ even if the individual never picked up any book on their professed passion. Put it on, and they’ll leap to their feet exclaiming “That’s my song! That’s my group,” while they sing the lyrics wrong, can’t name you three other Vandellas hits, and may indeed, insist the ‘Vandellas’ are Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard! I sometime wonder if the group themselves –especially after hearing some new, dreadful cover of the song- consider “Dancing” something like the ‘kid’ they could never keep ‘at home.’ I don’t know about M&V, but I’m not appreciative myself to have my reverence for the song marred by the memory of Jagger and Bowie’s middle-aged asses shaken in my face.
All that aside, “Dancing In The Street,” in 1964 or any(!) year, is as perfect a 45RPM record as “The Wizard of Oz” is perfect a movie. It deserves exactly the same quality of reverence; it is not be trashed, not to be roasted, lampooned or used in commercial jingles. Oh, and Whoopi, Martha Reeves and Diana Ross are not stand-up comics, and you’re not a singer.
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AMEN!
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Even when Dancing in the Street raced up the charts in Toronto when it first came out, it didn’t make a huge impression on me. I had a totally different reaction when Nowhere to Run was released, and it’s still my all-time favourite Martha & the Vandellas single.
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Relax, Nixon, an ‘8’ is just fine, and I’m glad there are three more 10’s coming to M&V, and now each of them’ll be more of a surprise and less likely ‘the obvious.’ Good for you! 🙂
And what is fostering this sense for you that any review of yours is “too long?!” Good God, I gobbled down every word of this like a guy handed a cheesecake after 20 years deprivation. Keep. On. Talking. 🙂
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While I would call “Dancing In The Street” a landmark record of the Motown Golden Era, I don’t think it’s Martha & The Vandellas best. “Come & Get These Momories”
“Heat Wave” “Nowhere to Run” “Jimmy Mack”and even “Honey Child” rate higher with me now . “Dancing In The Streets” sounded hot blasting out of a car radio speaker in 1964, but I don’t think it has stood the test of time.
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An “8”?
Eight?
VIII?
Whoa. I’m going to have to let that spin around my brain for a while…
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How about “huit”?
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It’s not even remotely one of my favourite songs by Martha and The Vandellas. It was nice to dance to, but is missing several elements that make a great song to my taste. I like “In My lonely Room. “Come and Get These Memories”, “Jimmy Mack”, “Heatwave”. “Live Wire”, and even “There He is At My Door (Vells), better. I’d give it a “7”.
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Okay to bring in Nelson George at this point, from Where Did Our Love Go?
>>”Dancing” was not only Reeves’s best vocal performance; it would also prove to be Mickey Stevenson’s most important on-record contribution to Motown. With Marvin Gaye, for whom he’d already penned, “Hitch Hike,” “Stubborn Kind of Fellow,” and “Pride and Joy,” Stevenson had conceived a driving dance record that would be perfect for the summer. Moreover, he took the musical elements H-D-H had used on “Heat Wave” and tightened them up. The tambourines are right on the beat now, the horns, the backing voices of the Vandellas -Stevenson, Ivy Hunter, and Gaye- are arranged more elaborately, and James Jamerson’s bass line is much higher in the mix. All the rhythmic elements, including Gaye’s piano figure, bolster a rigid beat perfect for doing the jerk or Philly dog. Stevenson, a student of Berry’s work and H-D-H’s boss, had refined the formula and gotten a better vocal performance from Martha than anyone had before or would again.
>>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 deteriorated 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.<< (1985, St. Martin's Press.)
I'm sure the first time I read that my head must have been nodding like a dashboard toy. It's not the only area of the book that confirmed suspicions set before the 60s ended. In his superb Forward to the book, Quincy Jones notes, "In the grandest and most arrogant tradition of early Hollywood, Motown has always fed the press pap and expected unmitigated subservience in return." That didn't end even long after Gordy sold the company: in the booklet accompanying the Supremes 4-disc boxed set in 2000, the gamey details of Florence's expulsion were still being glossed over. Bitterly laughable if one had already read the books by George, Mary Wilson and J. Randy Taraborelli.
In the early autumn of 1964, as I was about to enter 5th grade, my family moved to a new tree-lined street of row houses in yet another area of Philadelphia. As the leaves fell, I'd like to meet the then-10 year old kid more anxious for the next Vandellas record as I was. It arrives November 13th, handicapped both by the anthem status of its predecessor, and timing: "Baby Love" is in the middle of a 4 week run atop Billboard, and "Come See About Me" is in stores ahead of it too. Maybe I'm more curious -when we get to it, Nixon- where "Wild One" sits in your affection than this one.
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Correction: that quote about Motown and the press belongs to Robert Christgau. The book has a Forward (Jones), and an Introduction (Christgau).
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Martha & the Vandellas were my favourite group; “Heat Wave” was the best record ever made. When I saw “Dancing In the Street” zooming up the Billboard charts, because it had such a great title, I built it up so much in my mind that it was inevitable that I would be disappointed when I eventually heard it.
8/10 is fine with me.
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While I’m still amazed (although I shouldn’t be after all this time) that your assessments of these classic records pretty much match my own (and we’re many years apart in the age department!), I’m equally amazed that this warranted “only” an 8.
I, too, wasn’t swept off the planet when “Dancing” first came out. I didn’t even buy the 45, as I did with “Heat Wave” and subsequent M&V singles. Yet, over the years, successive listenings have elevated it in my estimation. Yes, there’s that killer intro (one of Motown’s best ever), but the overall, joyous spirit of the whole thing becomes downright inspirational.
A few years ago, on a trip to Scotland, I was feeling homesick and listening to my iPod at Inverewe Gardens in the Highlands, when “Dancing” came up on the shuffle. Suddenly, everything–including the already-gorgeous surroundings–seemed more alive and sharply focused. Indeed, each time I hear it, anything I’m doing or experiencing is placed in a new context. That’s saying quite a lot for a three-minute pop song.
So, a definite “10” from me–but, as you indicate, there are other M&V records (coming up) I consider even more brilliant.
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I believe this went to #2 on the charts. Does anyone know what kept it from the #1 spot?
Like Mr. Nixon, I had little familiarity with Motown beyond a casual acquaintance with overplayed songs like Stop!, My Girl, and I Can’t Help Myself before I started buying compilations for myself. I was always a bit partial to ‘Wild One,’ which feels almost identical musically, but feels melodically just a bit sweeter. And while it’s near the top, it’s definitely not heads and shoulders over the rest of their best singles.
I think an 8 out of 10 is fair. Yes, the intro is fantastic. It’s too bad there’s no instrumental counterpoint elsewhere in the song–a sax solo, a drum break where everything else drops out.
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Manfred Mann’s “Do Wah Ditty Ditty” kept “Dancing” from the very top on Billboard in America.
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This one makes me count my blessings – born in 1945, and ready for this song when it emerged… it didn’t have to live up to anything, except perhaps for the expectation established by ‘Heat Wave’ – my own Damascus song, as I’ve indicated earlier. I agree with Dave, and can love this song with no reservations: musical, political, sociological. But I’m grateful to you, Nixon, for insisting that it isn’t an angry protest song. You’ve nailed everything about this song – except its immortality. Dave, I didn’t realize that the song arrived in Philadelphia on my 20th birthday! .. Well, I couldn’t have asked for a better present. It’s a ten plus for me, and one of my top ten Motown songs – along with Heat Wave, Ooo Baby Baby, the Temptations’ Get Ready, Reach Out I’ll be There – I think, just for fun, I’ll do some arithmetic and figure out how many 10s are left – and do some guessing. If I had only three more 10s for Martha I’d probably give them to ‘Nowhere to Run’ ‘Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things’ … and perhaps ‘Never Leave Your Baby’s Side….’ Anyway, something told me I was in for a shock – but this one was considerably less painful than ‘What’s the Matter With You Baby!’ Onward and upward! Your blog has only gained in lustre.. but I am infinitely grateful not to have heard Mick and David first!! One of the few perks of being a senior!
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The game of Motown Junkies 10/10 Bingo is an officially approved pastime. 🙂
The 10s, i.e. my fifty favourites, are the only scores that are decided in advance, which is really all a bit unfair but there we are. There have been eleven awarded so far, which means there are 39 left to be handed out, including – spoiler alert! three more for 1964, and three more in total for the Vandellas.
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Wow a lot of comments about ” Dancin” and a lot admitting that the song just did not move them. Well… I too am a M&V fan , but sadly.. Dancin did nothing for me , it was a good dance song at parties of course but after the party was over the record was shelved until the next party. As for my personal taste there were several M&V songs that were better and far more enjoyable than “Dancin”. “Come and get these memories “, Now where to run” , and Heat Wave to mention a few. I for one feel that M&V’s signature song should be ” Come and get these memories” but that’s just me. Rating.. 7 in my book!
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I give this a 10 out of 10 and there’s nothing that would ever make me think any different. To me this performance is perfection personified and has been so since 1964 when I first heard it. It’s still the most played track of all time in my collection.
Velvelette Cal Street accompanied Betty to the session to give moral support on her first recording session as a “Vandella” albeit Betty was still a working “Velvelette”.
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Fair enough! To be honest, I was expecting many more comments like this one (especially from those who first heard it when it was new and fresh), and I didn’t anticipate so much broad agreement with my assertion that whilst it’s good, it’s not their best.
Some day, there’ll be a plugin which will let readers give their own marks, and we’ll be able to compare my idiosyncratic individual ratings with a visitors’ consensus. I know that when I get to finally handing out the last of my fifty 10s, I’ll be seeking and publishing readers’ own Top 50s as part of a special feature – but that’s a long, long, long way in the future yet…
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The Record that held “Dancing In The Street” at Number 2 for the weeks ending Oct 17 and 24 on Billboard’s Hot 100 was “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” by Manfred Mann.
“Do Wah Diddy Diddy” was then knocked of by “Baby Love” which went from #6 to #1 and stayed there for 4 weeks.
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“Dancing In The Street” finally took Martha and the Vandellas away from the H-D-H
“Charelston Beat” of the “Heatwave” sound..However, my favorites from that era is still “Quicksand” especially that reverbarating drum solo and “In My Lonely Room”
I finally got tired of “Dancing” because it was and is over played.
I have to agree with Bob Harlow, “Nowhere To Run” and “Honey Chile” are still right up there with me. Also, the mono version of “I’m Ready For Love” great intro, and then there’s “My Baby Loves Me”..”Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah..Yeah!!
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I’m guessing that there is probably a ten year age gap (at least) between us, yet for all of the records you are reviewing here, I have much the same problem as you have; I wasn’t old enough to be buying them when they first came out. That means I have to base my feelings on them on catching up several years after the event.
It is a pity the TCMS train is scheduled to stop at 1972 – it would have been interesting if at least another year or two could have been covered, because then we would be right in the middle of the era when I was really getting into Motown. As a dance record, for example, I think ‘Keep On Truckin’ is one of the greatest of all time, infinitely better in my opinion than ‘Dancing In The Street’. Protest song? I think ‘Law Of The Land’ (either version, Temptations or Undisputed Truth) hits home harder.
But, and this is a but on the scale of Shantel Baker, the very fact that we can discuss the importance of a record nearly fifty years after the event is a sure sign of its importance, relevance and popularity. And ‘Dancing In The Street’ is still great to dance to, even if my movements aren’t quite as frantic as they were nearly forty years ago when I first danced to this at the Top Rank, Watford.
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Well, if it’s any consolation, I’ll be carrying on to 1988, even if it’ll be rather more difficult without a TCMS 17A or something. (Not that 12A looks like appearing any time soon, of course.)
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I can’t wait to find out what you make of Sam Harris 🙂
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I am a frequent reader (and lurker) here. So today I come out of hiding to add my 2 cents- and maybe a bit more. First, thanks to Nixon for taking the time to make sure that his judgement was sound for “Dancing”. It seems that we are always too rushed nowadays to reconsider our set opinions. No need to apologize for the length of the post. I’m glad that you took the time that you needed to take to make your opinions are clear.
As for my opinion, I agree that it justifies an “8”. I see most Motown records as the work of the writers and producers first and then the Funk Brothers and lastly the actual singers. A quick aside, I met Duke of The Four Tops once at The Motown Cafe in Las Vegas. In our conversation, he told me that they were always so busy touring that they always (except for the first few sessions) come in and record vocals to what had already been cut. I don’t mean to take anything away from the magic that any of the Motown singers added. IMHO, “Dancing In The Street” doesn’t have the spark in the groove of the song. I know others disagree, but I think this is one of the few times that The Funk Brothers dragged a record down. I hear the joy of the record battling with a leaden track. Also, I’m haven’t heard much discussion about the backing vocals on here. What a joy to hear. Without it, the record would have lost much of what magic it had.
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Thanks Frank – hope you’re enjoying! I didn’t talk about the backing vocals too much (I agree they’re excellent), mainly because I don’t know who exactly is doing them and didn’t want to needlessly ruffle any more feathers.
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I agree with the 8. I loved it then and I love it now, but it’s not my absolute favorite M & the Vs. I must say that I also loved Do Wah Diddy when it first came out. This was a great time to be alive for a 16 year old who loved to dance!
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Gah! I meant 14 year old – flummoxed by my brother’s weird math!
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And perhaps flummoxed by your brother’s inexplicable failure to include ‘Girl, You’ve Been In Love Too Long…’ among the candidates for a 10, n’est-ce pas??
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You nominate an outstanding one there, John. The record’s no-bullshit, almost menacing intro grabs you by the throat in the first seconds and doesn’t let you go. From Martha’s exasperated delivery, I’ve always imagined she’s talking to a daughter or beloved but less-experienced sister she doesn’t want to watch travel the same troubled path Martha herself regrettably did. What a great actress.
Motown didn’t seem to want to corner the market on girl-to-girl ‘advice’ songs, but when they now and then did one, they sure did it right.
And Mary, thank you 🙂
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I’m trying to keep my powder dry for when we get there, so as always I won’ t be talking much about upcoming singles, but I’ve often thought that musically You’ve Been In Love Too Long belongs to a sort of “suite” of arse-kicking pop stompers (mostly with long titles) from roughly the same time – Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead, Lonely Lonely Girl Am I, Take Me In Your Arms, I’ll Keep Holding On, He Was Really Sayin’ Somethin’, of course Nowhere To Run, even stuff like First I Look At The Purse… it’s fascinating to see how Motown recordings work in clustered cycles like this throughout the Detroit era, obviously as a result of whatever new work the Funk Brothers were doing at any given time.
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Mary, if you’re truly into R&B, you’d have loved Jamaica, New York’s Exciters’ original version of “Do Wah Diddy” even more.
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This record generates maximum good will and it’s undeniably strong in the production and singing departments (I agree, the background vocals are one of its brightest spots). Maybe this is a case of a record that releases its magic too soon and too easily. I can still listen to You’ve Been in Love Too Long, In My Lonely Room, Come and Get These Memories–even Love Bug (Leave My Heart Alone)–and get an extra kick I don’t get from Dancing in the Street. It could be it’s just too “on the nose” for me.
Wonderful post, though.
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Mark, “Love Bug (Leave my Heart Alone)”..a 2 minute and 10 second gem!! The album it came from “Ridin’ High”, I still have a copy on vinyl I haven’t opened up yet.
Our local radio station in Salem Oregon must have had “Love Bug” in heavy rotation in the spring of 1967..You’re right, I prefer this song over “Dancing”..It’s just wore better over time for me
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Ron,
I don’t know if you’ve heard “Ridin’ High,” but if you haven’t you might want to throw it on a turntable. The fourth cut on side one is a great “could have been” Vandellas single, “Leave It in the Hands of Love.”
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One of a stack of great “lost” HDH tracks that never made it out as singles by any artist. And Ron, I agree with Mark – do have a listen to Ridin’ High if you haven’t already, it’s certainly a worthwhile endeavour (though maybe get another second-hand copy rather than opening that pristine LP!).
As always, I’m not going to make any specific comments on future singles until the reviews appear. Got to save some surprises 🙂
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This DITS backlash is disconcerting. Certainly, the song is overplayed. It’s not fresh anymore. But it’s overplayed for a reason: it really is that good. No, I don’t think its the Vandellas’s best song: ‘I Tried’, ‘Quicksand’, ‘Bless You’, ‘Jimmy Mack’, or ‘Never Leave Your Baby’s Side’ would get my vote, although, really, it’s too difficult to single out even a top 5-10 among the group’s embarrassment of riches in terms of (truly) great songs.
However, DITS is — along with ‘Nowhere to Run’ — one of the handful of Motown songs that gives me INSTANT chills the moment it comes on. Maybe that’s a testament to the amazing intro. But it sustains my interest the way through. The ending break to the outro where Reeves modulates on “it doesn’t matter what you *wear* just as loonng as you are the-e-re, so come on every guy grab a girl / evv-ery where aroooound they wo-o-o-rld they’re dancing….” One of the great line deliveries in Motown history.
Its reputation suffers from being overplayed. No one seeks it out because you don’t have it: it’s always there, multiple times a year. So it’s impossible at this point to hear it freshly. Maybe take ten years off from this record, then play it one day after listening to some tripe on contemporary radio. Maybe only then can this record be appreciated as the 10/10 it is.
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Interesting – for me, it was quite the opposite, it was only forcing myself to listen to it over and over that helped me appreciate it better! I do think it’s good, as I always did.
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DudeKembro,
to give a record a rating as high as 8 doesn’t constitute a backlash in my opinion. Moreover, there is such a gulf between my enjoyment of “Nowhere to Run” and “Heat Wave” as compared to DITS that I have to rate it that much lower.
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Nixon, it looks like your head is safe on it’s shoulders, and you’re not going to see the shock that your grades for “Try It Baby” and “Guarantee For A Lifetime” drew.
“Dancing In The Street” is a fantastic and strong Martha & the Vandellas’ side. But it also the most overexposed one, played to death and back on radio since 1964. That’s bound to foster a little backlash, and make one wonder where all the other great M&V sides went to. I myself have not heard “In My Lonely Room” on a radio since WIBG Philadelphia had its ‘going out of business’ week in 1977. They called back all their star DJs from the 60s, and I also heard played again, maybe for the last time, items like “Put Yourself In My Place,” “Everything Is Good About You,” Third Finger Left Hand” and “Tune Up.”
But the narrow of focus of subsequent oldies programming could make a lot of younger people suppose the Martha & the Vandellas Story starts and ends with “Dancing” and “Heat Wave,” and great as they are, they’re only two wonderful chapters in a fantastic ‘book.’
🙂
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Dave L, I must say, I enjoy reading your comments almost as much as Nixon’s posts – and you make me very nostalgic for Philly and for wonderful WIBG!
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Ditto to all. Fond memories of WIBG and WFIL and growing up in Philly (well, Cherry Hill) in the 60’s. “Third Finger Left Hand” is probably my favorite Martha & the Vandellas . And I love “Jimmy Mack.” “Come & Get These Memories” is lovely – kind of old-school girl group. I remember when the early M & the V songs came out, listening to the 45s with my cousin on Staten Island.
But “Dancing in the Streets”? A 10. This sond conjures up the most powerful memories for me. If an alien showed up and I had to define “Motown music” that’s the song I’d play.
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For 26 years, Nixon I’ve tried to forget that execrable 1985 video, even while I understand why you needed to acknowledge it. Nevertheless, I felt moved just now to defend our damsels at You Tube:
“Somebody deserves to be incarcerated for this violent crime committed against a founding Motown goddess.
As far as I know, Martha & the Vandellas never seriously harmed anyone, yet this atrocity amounts to visiting a Mommie Dearest-treatment on the poor women. Very luckily for Bowie and Jagger, Martha Reeves is too classy a lady to seek revenge demolishing “Fame” or “Satisfaction” in the same manner.
See you in the locked wing of the geriatric ward, boys.
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Once upon a time I really did have that picture sleeve to go along with “Dancing.” I wonder where it got to and don’t have a ready $100(!) or more to fetch another one on eBay. 😦 The oldest picture sleeve to any 45 still in my collection is the Stones’ for “She’s A Rainbow,” from 1967. The very oldest intact 45 disc, The Supremes’ “Childrens Christmas Song,” bought the very day after the holiday in 1965. I was 11.
It wasn’t until about the latter half of 1966, where the idea really took root with me to start preserving my collection. Maybe, I thought, a new copy of any favorite might not remain just a bus ride away to half a dozen different favorite stores. The copies I bought of Meet The Supremes (the stool cover too!), Where Did Our Love Go, and More Hits in 1966 -since supplanted with added copies- still will spin fine on any turntable and not with so much noise to deter enjoyment. Same with my first “Vandellas Greatest Hits” from the same time.
As I type this, my eyes look up from the flatscreen in my garage-office at a huge, long table of 20+ boxes -from Hammermill, Xerox and Staples- that once held heavy packages of computer paper but now keep 45s safe and covered. Over 5,000 in all but the exact count was lost in a pc meltdown of 2003, and I’m never typing them all again. They’re alphabetical by artist, so at least I can still find one I know I have easily enough.
The stars themselves apparently don’t always have vast collections of their own stuff. Florence Ballard told Peter Benjaminson in The Lost Supreme, “I can’t keep a record,” either giving them away, or them growing feet or loaning them out and never seeing them again. If Martha Reeves herself had none of her own 45s and LPs, and had to troll eBay like the rest of us, I’m not sure even she could find a vinyl copy today of everything she sang.
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I give it a 8 also. Way too much oldies radio airplay and re-issues from muddy 200th master tape sources (thank you John Matousek) almost did this song in for me.
It wasn’t until DITS appeared on the Girl Group compilation CD “Dick Bartley Presents Collector’s Essentials: The All-Time Greatest Girl Groups” from an amazing sounding master tape (in stereo – but that mix really emphasizes how great the arrangement is) that I finally appreciated this record.
I also think it should have had a faster tempo. I knew a couple of club DJ’s who always “pitched up” DITS about 1-2% faster and it sounded much better.
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Mark V,
I just read your post about “Leave It In The Hands Of Love” from the “Ridin” High” LP..I agree, that was my favorite non hit cut on the LP..If I recall, it seems that it was a Holland Dozier contribution to that Album..Motown pulled a quite a few cuts from Ridin High..
“Love Bug”
“Honey Chile”
“Forget Me Not”
“(We’ve Got) Honey Love”
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More than one critic, you’ll find, refers to Ridin’ High as the Vandellas’ “last commercial gasp,” and it’s true even if there were some artistic achievements yet ahead. I love Ridin’ High; I have two vinyl copies of it in good shape and the 45s from it too.
The Holland-Dozier-Holland walk-out effected the chart consistency of every act they worked with. But the Supremes and the Four Tops would eventually recover; the Vandellas never would. Then too, by the end of the decade Motown’s foremost concerns were pulling Ross successfully out the Supremes and launching the Jackson 5. If acts like the Vandellas, the Marvelettes and Jr. Walker still sold records it was only thanks to fan loyalty, not company promotion.
But first, you had to know they existed. I myself, didn’t discover I still had Vandellas 45s to hunt like “I Gotta Let You Go” and “In And Out of My Live” until they showed up on the Anthology set of the mid-70s.
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“Leave It In the Hands of Love” [mentioned above] was definitely strong enough to be a single. Does anyone know if Martha ever performed it live?
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I don’t know about live, but I certainly agree about the quality of the song. “Leave It In The Hands Of Love,” “No More Tearstained Makeup” and even “Keep It Up” were superb LP tracks, and I wouldn’t have hesitated to buy any or all of them in 45 form as well. I feel the same way about the Marvelettes euphoric “This Night Was Made For Love” on their near-perfect, self-titled ‘pink album.’
But by 1968, any girl singer at Motown not named Ross was pretty much left standing in line like folks waiting to renew their license plates at motor vehicle. Then too, during this time, the HDH walkout and subsequent lawsuits had to be far more pressing a concern than whether two already-neglected girl groups had hit records out or not.
The unfairness of this still stings, but at least aggressive fans like you and I and many others never ceased hunting -and trumpeting the greatness of- these lost treasures by these talented ladies. 🙂
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Hi. There are definitely some great B sides/album tracks by Martha & the Vandellas. I really enoy the Ridin High & Sugar and Spice albums. One of my favorite songs form S&S is “Hope You Have Better Luck Than I Did”. Also really like “I’m In Love & I Know It” & “Show Me The Way”.
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Absolutely love” “i’m In Love and I Know It” !!!! Just my little ole opinion but “I’m In Love and “Honey Chile” are hands down and by far the best records that Martha and The Vandellas made after H-D-H basically stopped working with them. As far as the rest of the Vandellas post 1967 recordings go, I basically take them or leave them. Hell, I think that both “I Gotta Let You Go” and “I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing” never should have been released as either a single or an album song!!!!!
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I would have to agree with the previous comments about ‘Leave it in the hands of love’, I’ve loved this track for decades and never seen it mentioned by anyone till now on this blog. An Incredibly attractive melody with a fantastic arrangement that adds a sense of urgency to it that makes it really exciting to my ears. Also there’s a lovely slightly subtle held back string arrangement that adds tremendous feeling to the finished product. I love it and recommend anyone not familiar with it to give it a couple of spins.
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Do anyone like the Mamas/Papas remake of this song? I love the original but also like the M/Ps version. I think Cass Elliott had a very soulful voice. I actually heard their version before the original. I didn’t really start listening to rock/soul music until 1967.
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I do.
With both “Dancing In The Street” and “My Girl,” the group approached the songs in rearrangements that made them sound akin to John Phillips’ own material, and thus their remakes don’t court comparison with the Motown originals. I think it speaks of great respect (and affection) of the part of the M&P’s to go for the method they did, rather than try note-for-note copying of what was already out there. In the finished results Cass and Denny, respecitvely, remind you no more of Martha and David, than Diana Ross reminds you of Marvin and Tammi once Ashford and Simpson got done rearranging “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” just for her.
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The Ms&Ps version is very different, with a much slower tempo
for one thing. In my opinion it’s merely a curiosity.
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While I have the floor. May I vent for a minute? I get so frustrated when I see people (NOT YOU GUYS!) get Ivy Jo Hunter & Ivory Joe Hunter mixed up. I have seen people in books get them confused. Of course, old bonehead here thought Ivy Hunter was a woman when I first saw the name listed as songwriter. So I guess I’m one to talk right? Though in my defense I was only 10! Anyway, I feel much better now.
PS. Isn’t there another Joe Hunter who played guitar for Motown sessions?
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Yes. Joe Hunter was an early member of the Funk Brothers and was, in fact, the first band leader until he left in 1964 (that’s when Earl Van Dyke took over). Mr. Hunter played piano/keyboards.
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Hi buddy,
I haven’t checked in for some time, but this is the perfect record on which
to chime in again. My usual response has been “Damn I agree with every thing you say, yet come to a different conclusion/assessment in the end.” I won’t even bother with that this time. I’ll only say that Motown records have a unique sound and that sound has in general not been captured by the cd masterings. The new excellent beatles restorations (NOT remasterings) that replace the earlier cd remasterings we’ve been saddled with for 25 years, show just how badly these old records can be represented by idiotic remastering policies. I’ve got a bunch of the original 45’s (not as many as I’d like) and I assure you they don’t sound like the cd’s (there is an exception – but I don’t recall the name, I’ll chime in again after looking it up). So you will be reassessing this stuff when and if you get an opportunity to hear it for real.
And it just may be that when you hear this record, uncompressed, with the original mono mix, unremastered, you may find it is indeed the record of legend, along with some of the others that have disappointed you. I love this sight and your analyses.
This is just a small reality check. I know that I personally can’t listen to a lot of my very favorites because the only versions that are available I find unlistenable. The fabulous Hip-0 complete singles collection is stellar in many ways, but it doesn’t sound right! The typical over compression (the originals are compressed to a 10 db range. On most of cd versions, including Hip-0 collection, they are compressed to a 1 db range, zero dynamics! I’ll find the name of that one compilation that doesn’t overcompress and you can judge for yourself, certainly this track is on it.
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Hi,
The collection that sounds decent is called HITSVILLE, USA.
Note: vol. one covers 59-71 releases. vol. two covers the later stuff.
Only the first vol. has the good sound, which is ok since who cares about
motown in 1980? Vol one was mastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch, and
all you have to do is listen. It’s a shame that similar, hands off policies weren’t used on the Hip-0 complete collection, as Hitsville vol. one is only 100 tracks and only
about fifty of these are on my personal “good” list., which runs to about 350 tracks.
Only about 25 appear on my personal “great” list, which runs to about 150.
Nonetheless it gives some basis for comparison (and it DOES include this single).
This is very available so let me know what you think of the difference.
M
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I agree about the quality of the first round. Hitsville USA, in fact was the first CD(s) I ever owned. In the US, it was issued in the autumn of 1992. What I found most telling is that first round confined itself to 1959-1971, and still left off a heartbreaking amount of goodies in order to keep itself to four discs. The later round, also four discs, had to allow itself twenty years, and still strains the definition of ‘essentials.’
Of the three repackagings (so far) of the Supremes Anthology (1986, 1995, and 2001) it is the 1995 version I prefer because it was entirely entrusted to Inglot and Hersch. It’s the one that uses the most mono too.
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Pingback: Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964 — The Curvature
Since someone responded to my blather about the “sound,” I’d like to amend a bit:
I’ve gone back and a/b-d a bunch of THE COMPLETE SINGLES with HITSVILLE, VOL. I and while I stand by my claim that HITSVILLE is definitely better, nonetheless COMPLETE SINGLES is very good indeed, and definitely worthy. I think I over exagerrated the flaws in the mastering oF COMPLETE, because this is the one that should have been the very best sounding. The fact that it doesn’t sound as good as the HITSVILLE smattering of hits, is just too frustrating to process. But as I say, COMPLETE does the job.
Why bring this up now? on this record? Well, because Motown was never audiophile by any stretch. Just listen to that first Brenda Holloway single Every Little bit Hurts, recorded in L.A. The classic Detroit stuff sounds lame by comparison. I’m not talking about the music, I’m talking about the sound of the recordings. And for me this record is a good example. Even though I’m a big fan of the record, and love the intro almost as much as our host, I grimace a little everyime it starts, because the sound of the band sounds so filtered, so de-natured, so thin, so …..ugh! Remember I’m not talking about the playing, I’m talking about the recording. I winced when it first came out and I still do. I can understand how they might have felt they needed to mute the band sound in order to showcase Martha’s vocal. but to my ears, the way they did it really ruins the sound of the band, and thus the impact of that neat intro in particular.
I love love love motown, but these geniuses, had their weaknesses, individually and collectively. Thus, this record, one of my favorites, is simultaneously, for me, a missed opportunity. I’ve heard some of the raw tapes, pre-mastering, of some motown recordings and they sound great. This strange kind of processing resulting in the sound of Motown, was apparently done in the original mastering of the records, not in the original recording. So I fantasize that there might be a way to UNDO the mastering and hear the actual sound of the recording sessions some day, as opposed the somewhat wonky sound we now think of as the sound of motown recordings. I am a true fan of Motown. But I’ve never been a fan of how they ………..sound.
This is not a dissent of any sort, it’s simply a side to Motown that as far as I can tell hasn’t been brought up on this forum. Let me offer a place where this “wonkiness” is particularly noticeable. Ok lots of the strings added to many of the recordings are redundant or indifferently arranged, but let’s take a case where the strings are appropriate and arranged intelligently, say, DREAM COME TRUE (The Temptations). Take the first few seconds of the record. The strings sound terrible. I’m talking about the sound. Do they sound remotely like violins? Yuck! Now when those strings were recorded they sounded just fine. But in mastering (for the original record) the producers/ingineers opted to do this to the sound. Why? Who knows, but it drives me up the wall…………………..and I’m a fan.
But even after all that frustration I STILL give this a 10 in the Motown universe.
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The stabbing ‘violins’ at the start of “Dream Come True” sound odd because they weren’t violins at all, but rather Miss Ray playing those chords on an Ondioline alongside the Funk Brothers. The main selling point of the Ondioline at the time was its supposed ability to mimic various string instruments – I think you just made some keyboard salesman’s day, 50 years late.
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Thanks for the correction, boss. 🙂 But that was just an example (a bad one as it turns out), that I threw out as I was typing, without going back to the record to check.
So this begs the real question, which is the matter of of THIS record, Dancing In the Street. Is there anybody else out there, among the endless fans of this record ( which includes me), that feels, as I do, that the sound of the backing track is a bit, er, frustrating or perhaps puzzling?
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Yes. It could have had a lot “cleaner” mix.
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At first i was shocked that this wasnt a 10/10—then i read some comments and thought a bit and heres what i came up with:
Back in 1964 radio was still in the business of ‘breaking records’ so as soon as a record hit the streets some enterprising personality jock would snap it up and broadcasting it for all of his loyal followers,
Today, radio is in the business of profit-making. The street dictate the hits and this is how program directors call their shots. The have to guarantee their sponsors that they can help move product. The way they do that is to make us (baby boomers) their demographic. They tell their sponsors that their core audience is in the age range that grew up “Dancing In The Street” so they will relate to whatever product is being pushed. Other oldies radio stations pick up the gauntlet so 50 years later “Come And Get These Memories” and “Live Wire” fall by the wayside while DITS gets its umpteenth spin this year. Taking a break from that song (and stations with stilted playlist) would help kick this up to a 9/10.
Sorry for the long post.
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No, you’ve misjudged the importance of this tune. Dancin in the Street was declared the unofficial anthem of Motown. It is worth more than an “8″. It is the mega hit that deserves a “10″.
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I can’t say I’ve ever had any of those notions about the song when I listened to it, so the fact that people cited it as a protest song, and an angry one at that, never really bothered me (I always heard it as a very joyous and upbeat song). Also the fact that it doesn’t have the typical Motown formula makes it all the better. A lot of the time when Motown broke from their usually formulas they ended up with greatness – see later projects like Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered album and Marvin’s What’s Going On.
Anyway, the song is a 10 in my book. I appreciate the insight and breakdown you gave this song though. I hadn’t really thought about it or dissected it that much before.
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WOW 8/10 really? Not only is this one of THE greatest MOTOWN records ever- It is one of THE GREATEST RECORDS EVER. A masterpiece. It is the perfect example of the definitive Motown sound
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Everybody has the right to his/her own opinion, and every opinion is valid.
As for mine, I’d have to say that “Dancing in the Street” is my all-time favorite Motown song. I was a kid when it was first released, and the song’s impact was massive; everyone seemed to love it. I grew up in Los Angeles, and when you were on the beach and “Dancing in the Street” came on the radio, no one changed the station – in fact, people turned the volume UP. Hey, Martha even sent a shout-out to us on the West Coast: “Way down in LA, every day, they’re dancing in the street.”
I love Martha’s powerful vocals, which are both polished and full of soul. Love how the Vandellas and the Funk Brothers back her up. Simply put, this song is one of the greatest expressions of pure joy and celebration, and I give it a 10 (out of 10).
And if I could rate it higher, I would.
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The relationship to Street Fighting Man that you’ve identified was a revelation to me.
I don’t hear any subtext or double meaning in Dancing in the Street – I think it’s meant to be an ecstatic celebration of the heady surges in music and culture that were occurring at the time – and not only at Motown. While the song has a powerful and forward-looking groove, I hear the phrase “brand new beat” in a broader sense – with “beat” being a metaphor for a “musical creativity a new sense of cultural identity”.
The Stones song – (now that you’ve brilliantly pointed out the connection) – now sounds to me like a conscious and wickedly sardonic twisting and negating of the original sentiment – changing “dancing” to “fighting” – as the ecstasy and hope of the mid-60s was crushed and turned militant by the war, the ’68 convention, the King and RFK assassinations, Altamont et al.
So I hear this song as exactly what it appears to be – an optimistic and truly iconic anthem with great hooks and fully deserving of its high profile in the “soundtrack of the 60s”. All that said, while it’s also a great composition and a great vocal performance, it’s not nearly as great in either category as Baby I Need Your Lovin’, or Heat Wave for that matter (or a whole slew of classics that I imagine we’ll be getting to very soon). Your comment on the chorus confuses me as I’m not sure which part IS the chorus! I assume it’s “it doesn’t matter what you wear” with the Sittin’ by the Dock of the BAY chord (III). I think it’s that chord, and the throbbing pedal and horns at the beginning that give the song legs to hold up against relentless replayings in spite of lacking any truly shocking strokes of genius like Baby I Need Your Lovin’.
In summary, I could easily understand giving Dancing in the Street 10/10 for being such a powerful and iconic anthem of its time, or giving it 8/10 for not being as transcendent on a purely musical level as some of the other 10/10s of the 1963/1964 period.
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Love this site!
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I know some have tried to tie this song into various political movements over the years, but it’d only work for the most peaceful of movements (“This is an invitation across the nation” is a pretty benign lyric after all).
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Steve, I agree, for the most part, with everything you wrote in this post especially the part about this being possibly the most you ever wrote about any particular record on this blog!!!!LOL!!!! Seriously though, I think that your rating of “Dancing In The Street” as an “8” is pretty fair. Personally, I would rate the record as a “7”.
Personally. I loathe the intro on this record. The horns on the intro are too loud and seem to be out of sync with the rest of the musical arrangement because they seen to be playing at a faster tempo than the musical instruments at the beginning of the record. Martha’s lead vocal doesn’t sound bad but, for my ears, it’s the vocals by background singers that usually capture my attention when I hear it played nowadays. Still, what “Dancing In The Street” has going for it is that it has a solid set of lyrics although, for the life of me. I will never to be able to figure out how the hell the song ever got it’s reputation as a freakin’ protest song!!!!
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I totally agree with Greg, I certainly feel there are better recordings that should be contributed to Martha and the Vandellas. I personally would give this song a 7 maybe even a 6 for content and overplay. Like I said there are better songs that they should be remembered for , for instance…, Come and get these memories which was their very first recording to chart, “Heatwave” a song that had a driving beat, great dance tune and still has the same makes me wanna dance feeling today when I hear it. Also.. Nowhere to run and of course Jimmy Mack. All of these are superior recordings compared to “dancing in the streets” and does not give me that “oh no, not again” feeling each time its played.
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Bryon, I personally would like to thank you for both your compliments and your response because I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to respond and/or read my posts on this blog. After all, I am not a former record company employee and/or a musician like some of the poster on this website. My only connections to the music business are that I was once the music director of the student run college radio station, WFIB-AM, at the University Of Cincinnati in the United States. I also spent part of my college years working “on call” at most of the used record stores on the west side of Cincinnati.
I agree with that “Nowhere To Run” , “Come And Get These Memories” and “Jimmy Mack” are way more memorable than “Dancing In The Street” However, I am not so sure about I feel about “Heatwave” these days!!! Like “Dancing In The Street”, I also feel that “Heatwave” also suffers from a bad case of radio overplay plus I have always felt that the intro on that record was just a tad bit too long,. I realize I am in the minority on this but I have always liked “Quicksand” more than I do “Heatwave”. As far as I’m concerned, I would rate “Quicksand” as a “10” whereas I would rate “Heatwave” as being an “8”. Enough Said.
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Two indications of the importance of this song: the number of covers (40-ish) and the fact that a book was written about it (Ready for a Brand New Beat: How ‘Dancing in the Street’ Became the Anthem for a Changing America” by Mark Kurlansky). If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it!
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This one’s a little troubling. Here’s the story: When this recording first hit the radio stations and record shops in 1964 I thought it was a smash, and I couldn’t stop listening to it. And the stations couldn’t stop playing it over and over and over, day after day, week after week, year after year, decade af…….you get the picture. And over this time I became somewhat bored with it (as I did with “Shop Around,” “My Guy,” “My Girl,” “The Tracks of My Tears”, and a few others) until my feelings for it resembled those for a beige wall, and when I heard it on the radio, I would do what Ms. Warwick told that guy to do…… walk on by, and move on to another station. So how do I rate this song? It’s not the song’s fault that it’s been overplayed. That’s an asset and a tribute to its greatness. Also it should NEVER be compared to other songs in determining its value, especially those that came around later. That makes no sense to me. A SONG MUST BE JUDGED ON ITS OWN MERITS. Therefore in consideration for my feelings when I first heard it. I award it a well-deserved “9.”
Now for the message in the music. I recall reading several articles about this song regarding its significance, but I never heard of its being referred to as a protest song. From what I remember its status took on the appearance of an anti-protest song that would serve as a calming influence amid the civil disobedience and rioting that was still being experienced in some urban areas at the time of its release. We needed that “sweet music…everywhere” and “records playing” and “dancing in the street” to get back on an even keel. If this song helped, then good for Motown.
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First Motown song I heard when I was a teen and for me this song IS Motown, and will always be. For me it’s 10/10, or even more, if possible.
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I cant believe I’m still commenting on this song :). Well Greg the only place we seem to differ is Heat Wave and Quicksand, lol I’ll give it to you Quicksand was and still is a great song, but my favorite still remains Heat Wave. As far as a “protest song” I think not. I know in Brooklyn at that time we did a lot of dancing in the streets. In front of the record shop, in the park with our little radios and portable battery operated record players and at Coney Island in front a ride called ” The Himalayas” lol that was real fun. I don’t think any one of us thought of dancing in the streets as a protest , just a way of Motown telling us to keep on dancing!
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Well as far as I’m concerned there are three outstanding Martha & The Vandellas songs: Nowhere To Run, You’ve Been In Love Too Long, and this one. They are naturally all 10s. There are other artists from Motown that I think have produced an equal number of outstanding 10s; The Four Tops, The Supremes and The Temptations, maybe The Marvelettes too. Out of them all though, if I had to pick one song that I will claim for the rest of my days is the best song ever produced, anywhere, it’s Dancing In The Street. How Manfred Mann’s Do Wa Diddy Diddy ever kept this off the Billboard Top 100 #1 spot is a mystery to me. Yep, out of your 50 10s I’d give this an eleven.
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I find ‘Dancing’ to be a little unsatisfying. It’s like some of the Northern Soul classics that are good to dance to but don’t seem to ‘go’ anywhere. I mean, it’s still great but I prefer ‘I’m Ready For Love’ or most of their other records. I really enjoyed this review- really balanced and insightful and critical in the true sense.
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First off I am not going to ramble on about how this record impacted the times or what it meant personally to the some people. All I want to say is the song while relevant due to the times and in its own way delivered a message of togetherness and equality, it soon became a loud and boisterous piece of nonsense. There was nothing great about this song, although it had a catchy beat, sound and lyrics it was to me not the best that Martha and the Vandellas had to deliver. In my and the opinion of many that grew up listening to this song it had way too much airplay, so much to the point where it became annoying rather than relevant or enjoyable. I cant imagine this being labeled as M&V greatest song or their signature song. There is so much more that can be attributed to M&V, for instance my 4 absolute favorites from M&V. 1. Come and get these memories 2. Love makes me do foolish things. 3. Nowhere to run and 4. Jimmy Mack. In my opinion these 4 songs show the true talent of M&V . If i had to choose a signature song for M&V it would probably be that raucous, driving beat and lyrics of ” Jimmy Mack. A truly danceable and fun song that was easy and fun to listen to as well as watch them perform this song. I am a Motown Junkie having grew up and lived during the Motown era. But on the same note I have to admit M&V were one of the best girl groups to grace Motown, but being brutally honest… The Supremes DID reign Supreme with their endless and very memorable hits.
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Have never been surprised that “Dancing in the Street” was so popular. Right from that instrumental fanfare that kicks it off, it always struck me as something destined to be a monster hit.
That said, it’s never been a personal favorite of mine. I’m with Mr. Reed in considering “Come and Get These Memories” their top of the mountain title. Followed by “My Baby Loves Me”, “No One There” (really a Martha solo but marketed as a Martha & the Vandellas record; I believe it was released as a single in the U.K.), “Quicksand” and “In My Lonely Room” .
Love all those records. But if I had to choose my favorite Motown group it would be the Marvelettes.
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