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Motown M 1080 (A), July 1965
b/w He Holds His Own
(Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr.)
Tamla Motown TMG 527 (A), August 1965
b/w He Holds His Own
(Released in the UK under license through EMI/Tamla Motown)
Alright then.
When the Supremes notched an unbelievable fifth US Number One single in a row with Back In My Arms Again, Motown for some reason became uncharacteristically tentative in choosing a follow-up. There was a wealth of great new Supremes material available, much of it recorded for the group’s magnificent new album, More Hits by the Supremes, and any number of potential singles among the bunch – along with stuff like Honey Boy which we’ll never get to meet here on Motown Junkies (but which I have a lot of time for, a record managing to be both Motown-by-numbers and magnificent), there were two particularly obvious picks to be had: the first was The Only Time I’m Happy, the second Mother Dear.
To their credit, Motown did slate both of them as singles – but perhaps the company got cold feet, perhaps their confidence wasn’t quite high enough in either song becoming the group’s mythical sixth Number One in a row, or perhaps there was just too much choice, so many temptations to second-guess one’s hitherto-reliable gut instincts for picking winners, that paralysis struck. For whatever reason, neither of those tracks – great songs both – became the next Supremes single proper. Instead, the final choice was bestowed upon Nothing But Heartaches.
This is an interesting one. In terms of its musical style, it owes little to the Supremes singles that had gone before – and indeed to those two would-be singles already mentioned – and far more to the physical thump and clatter of the work Norman Whitfield had been pioneering with the Velvelettes, taken up so readily by the Marvelettes and Vandellas, a new, more muscular Motown sound. What’s more, it throws us right in at the deep end, as though it’s missing an intro, as though we’ve opened the studio door to find the Supremes already in mid-flow; after a brief guitar riff, there’s almost no time to catch your breath and get your bearings before the song sweeps us all along in its pummelling, tunnelling tow. It’s absolutely remarkable.
But it’s not a single.
I’ve never quite understood how to fit this into the Supremes narrative as far as the pop charts go, and it seems America agreed with me – Nothing But Heartaches not only didn’t become the girls’ sixth Number One in a row, it didn’t even make the Top Ten, a faintly astounding stat when one considers how huge they were in the summer of 1965. It’s very hard to argue Motown didn’t make the wrong choice.
That said, it’s not a bad pick because it sounds so little like the Supremes’ previous singles – indeed, one of the things I found least appealing about Back In My Arms Again was that it was so comfortable, and not enough of an evolution of the group’s sound. This is an evolution alright, tougher and meaner and louder than any Supremes record we’ve yet covered, and I applaud that wholeheartedly – it sounds fantastic. The problem with Nothing But Heartaches, for me, is that it’s a great rendition of a song that’s barely there.
In short – and I can practically feel Supremes fans’ blood pressure rising through the screen as I type this, but then I’m sure people know to expect me to speak my mind here by now – in short, Nothing But Heartaches just isn’t a very good song. It’s a mood piece, a series of hooks stitched together with no great care and no greater purpose than to get your attention and get your feet moving. On the album, where it forms the second half of a killer opening diptych with a demented remix of Ask Any Girl, Nothing But Heartaches is magnificent, a towering overture summing up what’s around the corner: these girls have grown up and they’re ready to knock you on your heels.
The sheer drive of it, not just the barrelling drums and the wailing backing vocals and the unexpected quick repetition in the chorus but also the sense of urgency that runs throughout the track, is absolutely exhilarating; you can’t help but be pumped up after hearing it. It papers over its own cracks as it heralds the coming glory to be found later on the album. And the power of some of those hooks can’t be denied – two moments in particular, the three-line pre-chorus breakdown of “Just keeps me / Keeps me crying / Myself to sleep” with the chorus following right after the third line, and the repeated growling bass sax riff that ends each verse line and then sends Diana back to start the next one, like a typewriter carriage return (a reference for the kids, there), would rank right up there for me.
But as a single? By the Supremes? With the hope of hitting the very top? There’s not enough here. I wouldn’t say it sounded half-formed or unfinished, as in the context of the LP, it clearly does what it wants to do; it’s more that this is a great riff and a couple of great hooks in search of a song. Every time I play it on its own, divorced from the surroundings of the album, I keep expecting there to be more to it, something extra I’d remembered in my mind, and every time it ends I’m faintly disappointed… was that it? Are we sure there’s not something more to this?
A truly great Motown single, and in particular a truly great Supremes single (more so in light of Berry Gordy’s famous declaration that from now on Motown would only be releasing “Number One product” on the Supremes), is something that grabs you, moves you, sweeps you away until you find yourself standing in the record store with money in your hand: something to be taken as a self-sufficient little bubble, an inlaid miniature jewel, something you can play to anyone and say: this is what pop music is about, listen to it, isn’t this incredible?
This one doesn’t do that. Nothing But Heartaches is no masterpiece – the chorus after the main refrain drags on for what feels like two lines too many, running out of ideas before the next blazing moment, and the verses chug along to no particular end. Now, I should be clear that it never comes close to being a bad record. It’s easily as good as something like Needle In A Haystack or Mickey’s Monkey, and just like those two, it’s entirely serviceable as a stopgap single – it’s just never a Supremes 45, never in a million years.
To reuse a phrase from when I was talking about Mother Dear, it’s not what we came for. I don’t mean it’s too much of a wild departure from what Supremes fans might have been expecting; I don’t even mean to suggest that a wild departure wouldn’t be welcome. What I mean is that the last seven Supremes singles, including that run of five Number Ones, were all perfectly formed pop songs (even When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, the messiest and rowdiest Supremes 45 before this one; even Back In My Arms Again, the most plodding.) All of them, for me, have something about them which I can’t quite pin down, but which lifts my soul, warms my heart, shows the hand of genius at work, reminds me again and again how good the Supremes really were. This one doesn’t do that; it’s a riveting record and I can easily see why Motown were seduced into thinking it would work standing out on its own, for people who hadn’t heard the full album, hadn’t got the rest of the pieces of the Supremes’ 1965 jigsaw to be able to process the magnitude of what they’d achieved here. Instead, what this is is their equivalent of Needle In A Haystack, a bold experiment, a bunch of disparate elements that haven’t quite interlocked yet, the glue not quite dry, the finished product not polished up enough to work as a single. It sounds better than Needle In A Haystack ever did – it sounds fantastic, to be fair – and yet it’s built on much softer sand, there’s just not enough song going on underneath the stylistic trappings, threading the hooks together. As a result, while I think it’s good – it’s definitely good – it’s also my least favourite Supremes A-side for almost two years in either direction.
A genuinely thrilling album track, and that’s where it should have stayed.
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!)
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Wow… a “7” for “He Holds His Own” and a “6” for this? I just can’t see that.
What I love about this song: The simply outstanding back-up work by Flo & Mary. This was a stage when the Supremes truly were a trio. If you clock the voice time of F&M compared to D in this one, F&M clock pretty well. Shortly after this record, they would begin their fade into the background (literally and figuratively). And this is some of the hottest Motown sax ever.
I know my judgement of this is influenced by my memories of seeing them perform this song, and the joy on the faces of Flo & Mary… but I’ll donate a point or two for this song!
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The million pound question, I suppose, is whether I’d look more fondly on this if it was a B-side (or whether I’d have done He Holds His Own, which is lovely, out of a few marks if it had been a single rather than a flip); I’ve talked about both Mother Dear and The Only Time I’m Happy in glowing terms and mentioned how good it is that we get to talk about them outside the context of the album, and I’m aware there’s an inherent conflict in me then saying I don’t like this because it’s manifestly not a single. Context, it could be convincingly argued, is pretty meaningless here, fifty-odd years later. But if you’re going to hold something out as a Motown single – a Supremes single – a Supremes single aiming to be a sixth number one – then a certain amount of context is bound to “infect” my view. (That’s my theory, anyway.) And my view is that this sparkles in the context of the album, but makes almost no sense in isolation, separated out on its own as a follow-up to Back In My Arms Again. As viewpoints go, I’m well aware it won’t be popular…
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I will always love “NOTHING BUT HEARTACHES”, but I do agree with junkies as it should have been lp cut and Motown should have released “MOTHER DEAR” in its truest form of which I’ve heard a few different from original lp cut; Then the girls would’ve had 6 in a row!
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Wow. I knew you weren’t going to be very kind to “Nothing But Heartaches,” but a 6? Really?
It’s not that you don’t (as always) make some great points, and (as always) some I’d never considered. It’s true that this isn’t a truly full-formed song, more of a string of hooks, yet given the time at which this came out, is that such a bad thing?
Because this is a killer single. It has one of the most shoulder-grabbing, “Listen to me!” intros of all time. “Heartaches” demands our attention from the start and then plunges us right into the chorus, not giving us a chance to catch our breath, as you wisely observe. And that’s the point. Motown didn’t want us to catch our breath. They’d swung their hammer and hit the bell five times in a row and this one fairly screams with the momentum they’d built. When I first heard it on “More Hits” I felt it would be the biggest smash on the LP.
I’m still scratching my head as to why this only peaked at #11 in the U.S. Could it be that the fans had already bought the “More Hits” album and didn’t need the single? Could it be that a.m. radio was finally tiring of the Supremes sound and formula (even though this was something of a departure)? Well, that theory was laid to rest by seven more Number Ones.
All I know is that I still absolutely love this record, and can always count on getting a major endorphin rush from hearing those six opening notes blast forth.
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Not that commercial success necessarily means anything at all – as I’ve said before, most truly great pop singles are big hits, while the reverse is not at all true – but this failed to chart at all in Britain, which is interesting.
I’d never hold myself out as a top-rank pop picker, a seer of future hits, but this just doesn’t strike me as a single at all. Did a lot of people happen to agree with me back in ’65, or was its failure the result of a confluence of complex factors at play? We’ll never know for sure – some commentators (like me) think it’s the former, that the song just wasn’t right, and some commentators (like you) rule that out because you really like it.
I’m expecting a lot of downward thumbs, but it doesn’t change the fact this was a bust. (And while we’re talking in terms of fuzzy logic here, this single’s performance – which would have been a career highlight for some groups – was definitely a failure).
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I don’t remember ever hearing it played on British radio, so it’s not surprising it wasn’t a hit over here.
As far as the merits of the song are concerned, out of all the records the Supremes ever recorded this is the one I find myself singing the most, so it must have something going for it! I thought at the time that it was commercial enough to continue the run of US Number Ones.
I rate the track 8/10, but I rate the alternate version with the instrumental break on the expanded “More Hits” more highly at 9/10.
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Sorry for the belated reply, but that’s fascinating, thank you 🙂
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Not charting in Britain is no criterion for me. This song has a fabulous Funk Brothers background, with super bass line on an extremely well-written HDH song, with a great arrangement, mixing the fantastic background vocals with all the fine music (horns(esp. sax), strings, percussion, etc.. It’s one of my favourite Supremes’ songs after “Run, Run, Run”, and “Back in My Arms Again”. I’d give it at LEAST an “8.5”, and sometimes a “9”. 6 is awfully low, and makes no sense if a Bobby Breen song can also be rated at “6”.
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I have to go to a 7-to-8 -and pull this at least into the green, if only for myself- just on sentiment and gratitude. It got us through the summer of ’65, and those of us that snapped up “It’s the Same Old Song,” “I’ll Always Love You,” “Storm Warning” (The Volcanos), “I Do” (The Marvelows), and “Yes I’m Ready” (Barbara Mason) loved this no less.
I was in day camp that summer -to keep me out of the hair of my toddler brother’s live-in babysitter- and I still remember obeying the order of that twanging guitar start, moving swiftly to the radio and staying through every audible note. Factor in -and they’re on their way- “Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead” and “You’ve Been In Love Too Long,” and it was a great summer.
When I fix myself at that time and moment, then of course “Nothing But Heartaches” is a Supremes side doesn’t need to make any apologizes. But now it’s 48 years later, and there’s no denying it’s lacking in magic to the legendary five-No 1’s-in-a-row, and even “Mother Dear” and “Whisper You Love Me Boy.” Nor could we see in that summer of ’65, that very next Supremes single in line, as the leaves fell, would show up “Nothing But Heartaches” as the holding-pattern entry it really was.
Since I also remember that I rushed, still a dutiful Supremes fan, and on first listen, to buy flaccid exercises like “The Composer,” “Some Things You Never Get Used To,” and “No Matter What Sign You Are,” I can’t, even retroactively vivisect “Nothing But Heartaches” too harshly. In the drought between “Love Child” and “Someday We’ll Be Together,” any Supremes/HDH workout this good would have been a godsend.
Your accurate and scholarly criticisms notwithstanding, I still behold this record as an old friend.
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You won’t believe this! I actually love “The Composer”! I know it isn’t a great record but for some reason it appeals to me. It might have actually sounded better if it had been done by the Jean Terrell lineup. Of course, this is from the guy who likes “In & Out of Love”. Always thought someone should have re-made “Composer” as a disco song! It has kind of a pre-disco feel.
Oh yeah, we’re talking about “Nothing But Heartaches”. Nice tune, but I understand why it wasn’t a hit – though #11 is NOT SHABBY!. As I have stated elsewhere, John Q Public was very exact about what Motown records he liked & this one didn’t quite fit the “Motown Crossover Hit” mold.
For some reason, I can picture Kim Weston singing “Heartaches”.
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Here are the records that kept it at number 11 (week of September 4, 1965)
10) Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me – Mel Carter (a bit of soul/MOR schlock that was played incessantly on radio at the time)
9) Eve Of Destruction – Barry McGuire (on its steamroll to the top; played incessantly)
8) Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag – James Brown (what can I say?)
7) You Were On My Mind – We Five (folk-rock, pleasant)
6) I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher (on its way down from #1)
5) It’s The Same Old Song – Four Tops (hooray!)
4) Unchained Melody – Righteous Bros (first time around for this one)
3) California Girls – Beach Boys (one of the greatest intros of all time and every freakin’ DJ talked over it, played incessantly that summer)
2) Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan (every station seemed to play the 6 minute version which was cool)
1) Help – Beatles (the movie was out, they were touring the US around this time and it was a great track)
That’s a pretty strong line up. There was only one song on here I didn’t care for at the time. I bought Nothing But Heartaches, really liked it and was surprised it didn’t make the top 10. But there was so much other great stuff out that summer.
Today, it seems an obviously lesser Supremes hit but I don’t mind hearing it. I’d give it a 7.
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I remember getting rung-out tired of “I Got You Babe,” but then and now, “Baby Don’t Go,” hurriedly reissued by Reprise, was addictive for me. One of the best car-radio songs ever, and likely the better record because Sonny had no solo verses on it. Those were the days -do you remember them?- when Cher declared she’d never wear dresses and the hippie look about her was going to remain stubborn. The CBS TV show in 1971, and finding out what Bob Mackie could do for her changed all that, thank God.
And, oh boy, do I heartily agree about DJs that trashed so many playings of “California Girls.” (Motown didn’t escape either; unmolested listens of the intros to “Heat Wave” and “Back In My Arms Again,” just to name two. were rare as could be on AM radio.
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Dave – Agree about Baby Don’t Go vs. IGYB. I actually like that record. In hindsight it has almost a ska beat, not a bad harmonica and very little Sonny. Do you remember Sonny’s solo record, Laugh At Me? (top 10 a few weeks later) Thinking about it hurts.
Just a sidebar, on 9/3/65 got to go to my first ever concert when my Dad drove me and my best friend to the big city to see The Beach Boys with Sonny & Cher opening for them. Yeah, Sonny in his fur vest phase and Cher in her hip chick mode. Have fond memories of that day and still have the Beach Boys program. But to bring it back to Motown, I remember as we drove up, the radio playing Same Old Song and Heartaches on the way there with us in the back seat singing along.
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Have to agree. I love “Baby Don’t Go”. IGYB has not aged well to my ears. Re Sonny’s voice, I’m not saying he was Caruso or anything, but I don’t think he was that bad. He was basically trying to do his version of a Dylan voice. I had one of S&C’s early albums & Sonny actually does a half-decent job on “Misty Roses”. He was also a great producer/arranger/songwriter. Kind of a mini-Phil Spector. Bono spent many years in the music business learning his craft prior to the S&C days. The only reason he sang on the records was that Cher was afraid to sing alone. I’m not sure Cher would have become who she was without Sonny.
Funny story, in 3rd Grade, a female classmate & I dressed up as Sonny & Cher (hippie days- yes I wore a fur vest & a wig of my mother’s) & mimed to “The Beat Goes On” in the talent show at school (Back in 1967!) My teacher wrote on my final report card that I was a wonderful student & made a great “Sonny”!
In 1968 I saw S&C in concert. This was during their “down period” where they weren’t very popular. I barely remember the concert. The place they played was half-empty.
On their debut album “Look At Us”, S&C did a pretty interesting re-working of “You Really Got A Hold On Me”. Imagine if Phil Spector had produced it.
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Allow me to defend the DJ that molests the intro (seeing as I’m one of them) – it takes us many years to learn to hit the post and sound amazing at it..and Motown made some of the best records to talk over in the 60’s and 70’s. Not to mention the formatics of most Top 40 stations wanted everything tight and flowing – “stopping down” the music and talking between songs was a big no-no unless going into commercials or news.
Even songs with a cold (or cold ish intro in the case of “Nothing But Heartaches”) are loved by us – makes it a challenge to squeeze something in…or like “Do You Love Me”, talk back and forth with the record.
Back to the song at hand – a 6 seems a bit harsh. It is a bit rough around the edges, but still one of my favorite songs (growing up, CBS-FM used to play it a lot – maybe it just was better received in certain areas than others?). I’d give it a 7.5.
Love the reviews and the site – thanks for the great forum Nixon!
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Tom, you are right!! It’s an art!! I did professional radio for years! I’m retired now however, my last GREAT GIG was KFRC San Francisco owned by CBS..I was doing afternoons there and completely enjoyed talking up the ramps for 60s and 70s Top 40!A FUN format!! The Best!
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“nothing but heartaches” is a ten, just as “it’s the same old song” is a ten. h/d/h were on a rhythmic roll … finally away from the sugar of “baby love” and “i can’t help myself”. this run of songs that continues with “something about you” for the tops (and never quits for the them while h/d/h are at hitsville). h/d/h will put it another pound of sugar for the supremes with “symphony” but get back on track with “love is like an itchin’ in me heart” and “my world is empty without you”. had h/d/h been as bold with the supremes as they were with the tops i believe the supremes would have been better served by stronger and more mature songs. h/d/h are writing at the level of jagger/richards or lennon/mccartney, not for one group, but for an entire company. that’s a whole lotta pressure. “nothing but heartaches” a six? jeez, yer slipping, nixon!
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I actually agree that Nothing But Heartaches seemed like a dropping of the ball when I was actually listening to Supremes songs on the radio in Chicago. The main thing I disagree with, as far as Mr. Nixon is concerned, is that I don’t think there is any comparison between “Heartache” and Needle in a Haystack! “Needle” kicks ass! I’d give Nothing But Heartaches a 7 and Needle in a Haystack at least a 9.
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Quite a diversity of opinion in the comments here. As for me, I’m declaring my allegiance to the pro “Nothing But Heartaches” team. If I’d been in charge of picking the next Supremes single in July ’65, it would’ve been a dead heat between “Mother Dear” and “Nothing But Heartaches.” Forget “(I’m So Glad ) Heartaches Don’t Last Always”. It’s wonderful but doesn’t sound anything like a potential single. Ditto “Who Could Ever Doubt My Love” and “The Only Time I’m Happy”. “Whisper You Love Me Boy’s” just an okay version of the great original. “He Holds His Own” wouldn’t even be in the running. No, as far as I’m concerned it all comes down to “Mother Dear” and “Nothing But Heartaches”. I like “Mother Dear” better – but it’s kind of stripped down. “Nothing But Heartaches” is much more elaborate and sounds more like “Back in My Arms Again.” And since that had just hit #1, my practical side, slight though it is, would have probably nudged me toward giving the public more of the same and releasing “Nothing But Heartaches.” I’ve always liked it; I’d probably rank it among my favourite Supremes singles (behind “You Can’t Hurry Love”, “Back in My Arms Again” and “Where Did Our Love Go” but probably ahead of the rest). To me, Motown’s decision makes perfect sense.So why it didn’t net them another chart-topper remains a mystery to me.
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I’m not so sure that “Who Could Ever Doubt My Love” isn’t a strong enough song to be a single.
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I’m on the perhaps “Who Could Ever Doubt My Love” single team. I think it could have cracked the Top 12.
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It’ll be review number 643, so stay tuned, boys and girls.
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One of my favorite B sides..B side of “I Hear A Symphony” “Who ” was also done by Brenda Holloway and The Isley Brothers..There all the same back music track. Alot of Motowns songs was almost like Karkoke is today…They just sang to a music track
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Oh wow!
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I’ve just listened to “Nothing But Heartaches” (6/10) and “I Want A Guy” (10/10) back to back. While I agree with many of your ratings, these stick out like sore thumbs. I wasn’t around in 1965 so I can’t speak to what about this song would have prevented it from doing better (though the top ten list reproduced above show how much quality music was out). But this is a Supremes song I play frequently (much more frequently than some of their other higher charting singles). It’s just an assault to the senses that causes you to get lost in the music for a little over two and half minutes. Bliss! Keeping in mind that the Supremes were a lot less polished when they recorded “I Want A Guy,” it’s still difficult to get through without wincing a few times. To each his own, but if stranded on a desert island with the choice of only one Supremes song to ever listen to again, I’d choose this one every time.
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I’ve been waiting for this review for months, fearing the worst.
The competition Nothing But Heartaches faced on the Billboard chart the week it peaked at 11 is well documented. I don’t think the chart position, its reception by fans in 1965, should matter a great deal to today’s ears. The list of songs and albums received coolly in their time and only appreciated in hindsight numbers long – think The Velvet Underground and Nico and Love Forever Changes, both of which barely scraped the US Top 200 yet now live immortally as all-time classics.
This, along with My World Is Empty Without You and You Keep Me Hangin’ On, is my favourite Supremes track. It has a grind and attitude that subverts the Supremes’ “pretty” image and, as mentioned, is very much the tails side of the coin headed by Ask Any Girl. It sounds like it could have been a Vandellas track, were it not for Diana’s creamy vocal (who can fail to be seduced by her descending wooh-ooh-ooh partway through the chorus?). It’s a fantastic track, light on song, true, and it doesn’t really go anywhere once the structure of verse and chorus has been laid down, but it’s big on sound and drive, the backing vocals are sexy, and that backbeat is the toughest and most satisfying until Standing in the Shadows of Love.
Whether it should have been released as a single or not, whether it failed in the Billboard and UK charts or not, it’s a brilliant track that is eligible for review here on Motown Junkies, and for me, it’s a nailed-on ten.
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I gave it a second chance today. It’s not as bad as I remembered. You’re right about it being a good dancing song and being a bit iffy lyrically. Still, I have a newfound respect for “Nothing But Heartaches”.
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My problem with this likeable but not essential song is that there’s a bit of a disconnect between the anguish of the lyrics and the utter cheerfulness of the music. She’s GRINNING through the heartaches. I can’t break away from his arms, and I’m very pleased with myself and the whole situation. Unfocused energy, like some early Verdi. Always a pleasure to encounter this primal and powerful energy, but .. well, what’s Santayana’s definition of a fanatic – someone who redoubles his effort when he’s forgotten his aim? – Just compare this with the utter commitment of ‘Nowhere to Run’ – or, to stick with the Supremes, of ‘Stop!’ or ‘You Keep Me Hanging On.’ This is certainly fun – but there’s a fatal emotional complacency behind the bounce. The comparison with ‘I Want a Guy’ is interesting – the earlier song is certainly crude, but (although it’s not really a ten for me) I salute Nixon for rating it higher than this one – because there’s an integrity about ‘I Want a Guy’ which is lacking here.
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I wish I had said that; you hit a nail right on the head here, John.
It goes too to why it was a mixed experience seeing them on TV in 1960s. The clear and vigorous intent to ingratiate themselves in their five minutes camera time resulted in such ear-to-ear Chiclet smiles, eye-popping and eye-rolling (especially by Ross) you wondered if they ever heard the same despair in the record they then had in radio rotation. How miserable is he really making you when you look so openly ecstatic?
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I love doing this site so much. Not just the brilliant spread of opinions and good points that have come out, but the fact that, in the space of a week, we’ve bounced from talking about ELO to George Santayana… you guys are responsible for the best comments section on the Internet.
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Don’t forget that reference to Bobby’s Girl recently – I haven’t been able to get that blessed song out of my head since I read it!
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Hi Mary Funny story about “Bobby’s Girl”. Back in the early 70s, an oldies radio station did a mashup of about 10 songs & had a contest for people to try to guess them all. The only one I could figure out was “Bobby’s Girl”. All they played was Marcie Blane going “hoping…” I taped the mashup & listened & listened trying to figure out the songs but to no avail. Someone did finally guess them all. Hope you are well!
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“Nothing But Heartaches” is still love it however, I think this sound was waning for Motown, what with “Stop” and ” Back in My Arms Again”…HDH had to come up with “Symphony” and “My World is Empty” to change it up some..”My World Is Empty” is still about my favorite Supremes record!! The single version that is.
How about “Nothing But A Heartache” by the Flirtations in 1969. I realize it’s NOT Motown but it’s from the UK I believe. Great record!!
Keep it up Nixon but for me “Nothing But Heartaches” in stereo is awesome..That driving rythym and production!!! it’s an 8 for me!
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Funny you mentioned “Nothing But A Heartache” by the Flirtations. Great, great record! Was just listening to it. It is one of those great “sounds like it came right off the Motown assembly line” records. I read somewhere that Stevie Wonder may have dated one of the gals from this group so – hey! a Motown connection. Also, the Flirtations did a great remake of Marvin Gaye’s “Little Darling I Need You”. So there you have it!
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Aw a 6! Come on Steve D. you’re killing me lol. This song is BRILLIANT in my opinion. The first thing I fell in love with was the background – the bass, the horns, Mary & Flo. They are constantly moving and grooving.
Secondly, Miss Ross – she is Supreme (no pun intended lol) here. She sings as such a rapid pace (similar to how “You Can’t Hurry Love” will be later) yet is able to convey a message of a girl yearning for her lover to be true while being crystal clear the whole time is amazing. When I used to sing the song when I was little I would pause and take breaths when she didn’t – the lady is amazing here.
Third, I have to argue against your claim that this song is full of hooks and basically not complete. It’s the opposite to me, the song has a great pre-hook & hook and the verses are classic HDH. They were always able to capture romanticism in their lyrics (most of all golden age Motown writer had this ability IMO) which gives the music it’s needed depths.
Great song that deserves at least an 8/10.
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You go, Damecia 🙂
My own pushed-up grade is entirely sentimental. “Nothing But Heartaches” represents the summer oasis for me and my all-male Catholic school classmates between Sister Joseph Gertrude and Sister Maria Sancta. We were so happy to be done with “Dirty Gertie,” little did we know rougher waters awaited in September.
I was out of Catholic school after 6th grade, and I don’t remember the 8th grade boys’ nun’s real name -the one who would have saw me through “In And Out of Love” through “Some Things You Never Get Used To”- but her nickname among the students was Tank.
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Thanx Dave! = )
Love the behind the scenes story lol.
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I knew you were going to say something like that 🙂 I really like this as a scene – setting overture, but I’ve never warmed to it in isolation, hence the last paragraph attempt to put my feelings succinctly. It’s good, and it’s interesting to hear the Supremes doing a Marvandellavelettes style slamming tune like this, but it’s no single. Not for me, anyway.
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Lol I figured you’d like my commentary.
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Steve,
Listening to this again tonight, it struck me that the sax on this almost shadows Diana’s lead vocals. Knowing that the saxophone is not your favourite instrument, I was wondering whether its dominance could be part of the reason that you’re not so keen on this record.
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Mmmmm….good observation 144man. I wonder this now too Steve? lol
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Interesting! If it did affect my thinking, it was on a decidedly subconscious level. In general I don’t normally swoon over any instrumentation that follows the main vocal line too closely (or more commonly vice versa, I suppose), but the sax on here has always been fine with me!
As I keep saying, I like this very much in the context of the LP, it just feels completely lost at sea when prised out of that setting and heard in isolation, never mind being slotted in as a putative sixth straight Supremes number one single. It’s not a bad record by any means, it’s just (for me) a bad choice.
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Wow, I’ve bee waiting for this for months. HDH , Berry Gordy, Quality control, you name it, dropped the ball here. The only ones who should go blameless are The Supremes. They did a good job on an average Supremes song. I don’t think any of the other album cuts deserve single status either. What Interests me more than anything is that management always gave this “hit” status even though it was such a dog. I don’t think any heads rolled because of the complicity here, but the message was received : The next song is a masterpiece.
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Yep, that’s exactly how I feel about it – although I do actually like the record a lot, it’s just that it’s never a single in a million years. But its (relative) commercial failure as a 45 was airbrushed out of Motown history rather quickly.
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Honestly, although I say I “grew up” on Supremes records, I was never very familiar with this single until I got the Anhthology lp in ’75. Immediately, though, I loved it. In the years since then, I’ve often said that it was the last Supremes single where they actually sounded like a group.
The instrumental backing is pure Motown ’65. In fact, although the Supremes came to embody everything that Motown was at that time, none of their singles sounded typically Motown except this one. It’s a song that would have sounded just as good done by the Four Tops. And in a way, the song draws a line in the sand, musically, that the Supremes cross and never look back. It’s almost as if they, HDH, and Motown are bidding a fond farewell to the past year (!) of hits and then moving on to new adventures.
Also, I see it as a logical, if unimaginative, follow-up to the previous two singles. And a result of poor planning on Gordy’s and HDH’s parts. It pleasantly treads the path already laid out by the previous two singles without straying into any new territory. It’s a nice path, but one that everyone involved was ready to branch off from.
In the U.S. recently, Senator John Kerry was appointed Secretary of State. He had to resign as senator in order to take that job. The governor of his state, Massachussetts, was then obligated to appoint a successor to serve out the rest of Kerry’s term until an election is held to replace Kerry. Depending on the political situation, the governor can either appoint someone s/he thinks will be a good ‘permanent’ replacement, meaning the person will run for the office in the election, or appoint a ‘placeholder,’ someone who will not be interested in running for the office when the election is held but will simply serve out the time until then. That’s exactly what the governor did in this case. He appointed someone who is not interested in running for the office, but will do a good job holding the office until a successor is elected.
That little civics lesson (if you’re still awake, LOL) is just there to illiustrate my feelings toward this song. It was a placeholder, hastily released so that there would be something out there by the Supremes and the public wouldn’t forget about them, but nothing that anyone had any high hopes for.
P.S. If you want a good laugh, take a listen to the girls’ version on the “live” CD in the 2000 box set. It starts out at one tempo, and then the drummer suddenly speeds it up, as if he had just had an IV jolt of caffeine. Priceless.
Robert
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“Nothing But Heartaches” is easily one of my top 5 from the original lineup, and possibly overall. But… not the original release version, where the bulk of the backing vocals are reduced to little more than whispers, resulting in more of a solo record than a Supremes record, and a an emptier finished product. I also remember in one of the biographies that Diana did not like performing this one.
Later mixes, with Mary & Flo’s backing vocals pumped, showing off Flo’s piercing upper register on “I can’t break away…” are every bit as awesome for me as “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”
I can’t help thinking that using of those mixes for the initial release would have landed this one in the top 10, despite some stiff competition.
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NBH is one heck of a great song—–I’d pick it over some of their no. 1s. But it was up
against some incredible competition. 1965 was probably the greatest year in the history of pop music, with the SUMMER of ’65 best of all. Today’s music scene is
pretty depressing to anybody who remembers what used to be.
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Kenneth, I agree with every single thing you said. I was six years old that summer but I remember it so very vividly, just as I remember the spring and summer of ’64. I was fortunate to have older siblings (teens and pre-teens) at the time, and pop music, both on the transistor radio and on TV was a huge part of my childhood. Those were such exciting times.
Robert
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I loved and still love NBH and think it is a great track. I do like the deluxe version with the extended bridge. the Funks were really working it. I think it may have fit the I Hear A Symphony lp a bit better. I don’t know why so many call this a flop, since when is #11 a flop??
so many wish they could get that high on the charts. I think it’s a classic.love it
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Thanks David.
Re: flop… it’s really a case of fuzzy logic, isn’t it? #11 for the 1965 Supremes is different to #11 for Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts. For a band who’s never had a hit, #11 would have you leaping around spraying champagne. But for a group who’d just had five – FIVE – number ones in a row, with never-richer Motown’s practically undivided attention (and marketing muscle) behind them, there’s a case to be made that anything short of a chart-topper would be a disappointment; for them to miss the top ten altogether is still shocking almost 50 years later.
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I see your point about it missing top ten, I was disappointed for them when it happened. but I do want to point out it made top ten cashbox and r@b. it still a favorite for me. did u hear the alternate version of it??
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I’ve been waiting for someone to mention this but it hasnt come up so i’ll give it a shot. There is an old saying in the business that “with all things being equal, timing beats talent everytime.” Did anyone stop to think that it may not have been the material keeping them just outside of dthe top ten but the date of release. Perhaps a few months earlier or later would have made a difference. Couple that with the fact that there are only ten slots available and no one is guaranteed a slot everytime, you may have the diffence between a top 15 record and a number one.
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Don’t know if you caught the top 10 reproduced above but that was a pretty strong period for music on the radio. So, the timing may have indeed have been off. Maybe if it had come a month or two earlier, it would have been bigger. But they did bounce back two months later, didn’t they?
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Maybe it’s relative failure is due to the fact that it was released at the same time as the first two Coca Cola ads. Quite frequently, the disc jockey would play one of the Coke ads and segue right into Nothing But Heartaches.
So, (a) people might have been confused, thinking the whole extended listening experience was all one long Coke ad or (b) they might have been critical that The Supremes had sold out by doing a commercial.
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Interesting…
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To me, this is one of the crankout HDH Supremes’ songs. It’s no terrific gem. But HDH had a high standard of writing, and The Supremes rarely sang poorly. I’d give this an “8”, despite it’s being very much like several others of their songs.
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“What can one say about the Supremes – they are almost becoming a legend in the Society now, and they never miss! Nothing But Heartaches is fast moving, atmospheric and contains just that essential amount of blue tonality to ensure its well deserved success. 5/5
“Flip changes pace and is a little like a previous number they’ve done, but it is pleasant and intimate-sounding. 3/5”
[Dave Godin, Hitsville USA 8, 1965]
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Not just a stomper that successfully filled 100,000 dance floors for decades, but an easy 10. And 10 times better than “Mother Dear,” which would have stiffed had it been released as a single.
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was looking up on the internet how many songs the supremes performed on tv. I think this song was performed twice and then , Motown decided to have the ladies sing Mother Dear on 2 shows in place of NBH. strange. now in my mind,make a decision and stick with it but I get the impression Motown was second guessing itself here and those two performances could have helped NBH reach top ten. I like MD as a album track but I still don’t think of it a single potential like I do ,perhaps ASK ANY GIRL or GOING DOWN FOR THE THIRD TIME.
to me Motown second guess itself out of the top ten and would repeat this several more times. case in point I;m Still Waiting which flopped in use because mtown held it back a whole year.
anyway, NBH still a favorite of mine.
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The more I listen to this song, the more convinced I am that it is an absolute 10. Who cares about the failure to hit #1, the phony smiling while singing lyrics about heartbreak, how good the singles shelved for this are, and all the other irrelevant factors. This is probably my second favorite Supremes song after “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Those “I Can’t Break Away” backing vocals and the persistent beat really elevate an already perfect melody to the next level. Diana’s singing is on point too, something I can’t say about inexplicably bigger hits like “I Hear a Symphony” where she’s pretty far out of key to the point of killing my enjoyment of the song.
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Bought it when released in the uk, without even hearing it, you could do that in those days, it was a Motown record, enough said! & it rates as being one of Motown’s best chuggers!
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I love NBH. For me it IS classic Supremes. It has a harder edge than Back In My Arms Again and I cannot get enough of that driving beat. It was a complete flop in the UK despite the Supremes performing it live on Top of the Pops (one of their few appearances on the UKs premier pop music show). This amazes me, with such exposure I would’ve expected the record to at least chart top 50 but to completely bomb? Their next 2 releases would also sink without trace in the UK. This would complete a terrible run of 5 flops in a row between late 65 until late 66 in the UK. Why?
They were Motown’s premier act. The Tamla Motown label was established in the UK. The “pirates” played them. the girls had appeared on UK TV and were well known. Just what went wrong during that time which resulted in a year long drought?
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Two facts I believe are relevant: the first four Supremes number ones held that position for at least two weeks. Back in My Arms only held the spot for one week. To me, in many ways, Nothing Heartaches is a similar-sounding record, stylistically. Also, More Hits sold almost like a greatest hits album. Why buy the single if you already bought the album? I say Motown should have kept the eager public waiting until I Hear A Symphony. That would have been the sixth number one. Granted, there is at least a possibility that a record as great as Symphony might not have materialized were it not for the consternation that surely ensued after the relative disappointment of Heartaches. Any of the other choices discussed here for possible release would never have made it to number one—-or even the top ten, in my opinion.
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You make an excellent point regarding the saturation sales of the album and therefore a massive section of the target audience for sales already had Heartaches on there. It’s easy to look back with 20/20 hindsight and cool detachment and with the knowledge of how facts eventually unfolded. Try imagining being in the moment back in Detroit in that period of mid 1965- the company was now caught up in a Supremes tsunami and everyone was riding that wave and trying to hold on. In many ways the company was well out of its depth and in an enviable but equally precarious position. These geese were laying a string of golden eggs and the company were playing catch up trying to stay at least one step ahead. Common. sense would suggest you don’t release Heartaches but then the fear of the success disappearing as quickly as it had arrived must’ve been in the air. In the end HDH Diana Flo & Mary did alter course slightly and steadied the ship. Interestingly the Supremes fared less well in the UK during the period between Stop! In the Name of Love and You Can’t Hurry Love. of the 5 singles released in that period only 2 charted, just scarping into the lower reaches of the UK Top 50. That was despite a rare live promotional tour on UKTV shows for Heartaches which was one of the flops. Over time the Supremes would be surpassed by the Four Tops as Motown most consistent hit makers during the 60s and into the early 70s.
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I think the lack of or did the song in.twice they sang Mother Dear instead of Heartaches and once BG changed it to, your nobody till Somebody loves You….
Someone at the wheel was confused at what direction they were going. In the end it hurt singles sales.
Love it ,remains a favorite of mine.
And hitting #11 is not all that bad.
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I meant lack of PR.
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