667. The Marvelettes: “Anything You Wanna Do”
Coming up in the middle of a run of greatness, given the heights we’ve just crested, well, to call a record pretty stupid but quite good anyway somehow feels even harsher than usual. But here we are. (4)
Category Archives: The Marvelettes
666. The Marvelettes: “Don’t Mess With Bill”
We’ve never had cause to doubt the Marvelettes’ quality before, but now they’re paired with the right producer, they’ve got a part to play in the Motown story too, a part that finally makes sense; Don’t Mess With Bill is almost something like a rebirth, the start of the Marvelettes’ magnificent second act, and its brilliance is cause for much celebration.
613. The Marvelettes: “Your Cheating Ways”
Strangely, considering this isn’t brilliant – and that it could easily have been recorded a year before by someone else without anyone batting an eyelid – Your Cheating Ways perhaps offered unwitting fans more of a clue to the Marvelettes’ future sound than first realised. (6)
612. The Marvelettes: “Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead”
I can’t necessarily imagine anyone picking it out as one of their all-time favourites (though no doubt there’ll be some in the comments section!), but there’s really very little wrong with it; for me it just doesn’t go quite far enough, doesn’t scrape the sky in the way it keeps threatening. Still, on a good day, there’s little to touch it. (7)
574. The Marvelettes: “No Time For Tears”
Whatever their style, the Marvelettes have very, very few duff records in their future, something underlined by this supposedly throwaway B-side, an unexpected little treat. (7)
573. The Marvelettes: “I’ll Keep Holding On”
It feels effortless, like so many of the very best Motown records do; the Marvelettes were growing up alongside Motown itself, and it’s reassuring to find they were still able to mix it right at the forefront, to match whatever their peers were doing. (8)
494. The Marvelettes: “A Need For Love”
It’ll never be mistaken for a prime bit of classic Marvelettes, and it’s not in the same league as the A-side, but with these girls it’s always good to hear more – and in the absence of an album, well, it’s nice to catch up on what they’d been up to. (5)
493. The Marvelettes: “Too Many Fish In The Sea”
Probably the best-sounding Marvelettes single to date, certainly the most “grown up”, and – again – excellent. (8)
432. The Marvelettes: “A Little Bit Of Sympathy, A Little Bit Of Love”
Artless and joyless, this is one of the weakest records the Marvelettes ever released, especially on a 45, and the song should never have left the drawing board. (2)
431. The Marvelettes: “You’re My Remedy”
Probably the Marvelettes’ best single in two years, even if I’m not sure quite how it managed to be so (and I’m not convinced they did either). Still, it’s hard to argue with results like these. (8)
380. The Marvelettes: “Goddess Of Love”
A really good little record, small in scale but beautifully formed. (7)
