293. Mary Wells: “Your Old Stand By”
Unusually for a big-ticket Motown single, it’s a song that rewards repeated listens, rather than grabbing you by the lapels and proclaiming its greatness. (8)
Category Archives: Mary Wells
260. Mary Wells: “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right”
If this was hardly an avenue that Mary Wells’ future career could follow, it’s still a very fine record, and well deserving of its (very brief) time in the chart sun. (8)
259. Mary Wells: “Laughing Boy”
Smokey Robinson tries to freshen things up by adding some newer elements – but the mix still isn’t quite right, and accordingly this turns out to be the weakest of his collaborations with Mary Wells to date. (5)
236. Mary Wells: “Operator”
Probably the weakest record Mary Wells had yet made for Motown, and not one to dwell upon. Of course, she’d already made enough truly spectacular records that fans could overlook this unsatisfying blip. (3)
235. Mary Wells: “Two Lovers”
A perfectly good Mary Wells single, perhaps even a “typical” Mary Wells single; me, I think it’s extremely disappointing without ever being noticeably bad.
205. Mary Wells: “Old Love (Let’s Try It Again)”
It’s not terrible or anything; it’s just not up to the standards set either by Mary, by the A-side, or by the Holland-Dozier-Gorman trio themselves, and has to go down as a bit of a disappointment. From small acorns, and all that. (5)
204. Mary Wells: “You Beat Me To The Punch”
Mary Wells scored her first number one record with her best single to date, the Motown quality threshold going up and up with each passing month; perfectly judged, enticing and mesmerising, this is one of the best records of 1962. (9)
153. Mary Wells: “I’m Gonna Stay”
A sweet little song, but it’s really very slight, and by the time of its release Mary Wells had definitely already moved on to bigger things and better material. (6)
152. Mary Wells: “The One Who Really Loves You”
Paired for the first time with writer/producer Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells turned in her best single so far. Not coincidentally, The One Who Really Loves You landed Mary her biggest hit to date (Top Ten pop, and just missing out on scoring Motown’s third R&B Number One). (9)
117. Mary Wells: “Come To Me”
The biggest problem, really, is that Come To Me was never that great a song to start with. It’s immediately obvious it wasn’t written with Mary Wells in mind, providing a distinctly unsatisfying experience. (5)
116. Mary Wells: “Strange Love”
A brilliant record, played with passion and sung superbly, one of the very best of all Mary Wells’ many great records.
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