I can’t get away from the feeling that this is the work of an immature songwriter. I’ll Come Running has run out of ideas after half a minute, but keeps on ploughing the same determined furrow for another two regardless. (3)
Enough to suggest Carolyn could have been a major talent. Even if that’s a stretch, it’s certainly plausible she might have become another Brenda Holloway, Barbara McNair – or Tammi Terrell. In the absence of that alternate-universe career, this will have to do, and it’s not half bad. (7)
A cool enough note for Tommy to bow out on, even if in this particular instance most of the credit is due to other people. (6)
Very hard to dislike, and while I’m glad we have the Motown Collection CD to throw the vaults open and provide a glimpse of what might have been, I’m definitely a little sad we won’t meet Tommy Good again on this Motown journey. A highly creditable first step, and it’s a real shame there isn’t a second. (7)
I can’t escape the feeling that the vocal and the track still don’t properly agree with each other, even here at the second time of asking. Still pretty, though. (6)
Brilliant (if not in the way that’s generally accepted), but it isn’t the record Martha and the Vandellas deserve to be remembered for. That doesn’t stop it from being a classic, of course. (8)
Nice enough as far as it goes, but that turns out not to be far enough. A paper-thin Andantes showcase rather than a blaze of glory, and so probably not the best way to close out our coverage of Eddie Holland here on Motown Junkies, but those are the breaks. (4)
A good little pop song that never pulls up any trees; a strangely muted but still wholly enjoyable goodbye from a man who never wanted to be a star in the first place. (6)
It’s all rather nicely done, but the Motown landscape it was emerging into had changed beyond recognition, and competent sideline fare (such as these country numbers) were now a distraction rather than a potential cash cow. Still, there have been worse goodbyes, that’s for sure. (5)
Two things immediately strike the listener before You Make Me Happy has even finished playing. The first is that it’s an absolute direct clone of Hey! Baby; the second is that it’s not anything like as good. (5)
Motown had made such strides during this Golden Age that even the “filler” (for want of a better word) ends up as classy, highly listenable fare. That it could have obviously been even better is almost a churlish observation in these surroundings. (5)
Motown Junkies 