• About Motown Junkies
  • Artists
    • A
      • Alan, Lee
      • Andantes
      • Anthony, Richard
    • B
      • Ben, LaBrenda
      • Blakely, Cornell
      • Bohanon, George
      • Breen, Bobby
      • Burnadettes
      • Burnette, Dorsey
    • C
      • Campbell, Choker
      • Channel, Bruce
      • Charters
      • Chuck-a-Lucks
      • Clark, Chris
      • Contours
      • Crawford, Carolyn
      • Creations
      • Crockett, Howard
    • D
      • Dalton Boys
      • Darnells
      • Day, Danny
      • Dean, Debbie
      • Diamond, Hank & Carol
      • Downbeats
      • Dozier, Lamont
    • E-F
      • Eckstine, Billy
      • Elgins
      • Equadors
      • Four Tops
      • Funk Brothers
    • G
      • Gaye, Marvin
      • Golden Harmoneers
      • Good, Tommy
      • Gorman, Freddie
      • Gospel Stars
      • Greer, Paula
      • Griffin, Herman
      • Griffith, Johnny
      • Griner, Linda
    • H
      • Hamilton, Dave
      • Haney & Armstrong
      • Hartfield, Pete
      • Headliners
      • Heard, Oma
      • Henslee, Gene
      • Hillsiders
      • Hit Pack
      • Holland, Eddie
      • Holland-Dozier
      • Holloway, Brenda
      • Holloway, Patrice
      • Hornets
    • I-J
      • Isley Brothers
      • Joanne & the Triangles
      • John, Mable
      • Johnson, Marv
      • Jones, Wade
    • K-L
      • Kayli, Bob
      • Lands, Liz
      • Lee & the Leopards
      • Leverett, Chico
      • Lewis Sisters
      • Little Iva
      • Little Lisa
      • Little Otis
      • Littles, Hattie
      • Long, Shorty
      • Lumpkin, Henry
    • M
      • Majestics
      • Mallett, Saundra
      • Mann, Columbus
      • Martha & the Vandellas
      • Martin, Tony
      • Marvelettes
      • McCullers, Mickey
      • McKenzie, Don
      • McNair, Barbara
      • Merced Blue Notes
      • Merritt, Billy
      • Mike & the Modifiers
      • Milburn, Amos
      • Miracles
      • Monitors
      • Morrocco Muzik Makers
      • Mullins, Dee
    • N-R
      • Nick & the Jaguars
      • Oddis, Ray
      • Parks, Gino
      • Paul, Bunny
      • Pirates
      • Remus, Eugene
      • Ron & Bill
      • Ruffin, Jimmy
    • S
      • Satintones
      • Sebastian, Joel
      • Serenaders
      • Spinners
      • Strong, Barrett
      • Stylers
      • Supremes
      • Swinging Tigers
    • T
      • Taylor, R. Dean
      • Taylor, Sherri
      • Temptations
      • Terrell, Tammi
      • Turner, Sammy
      • Twistin’ Kings
    • U-V
      • Valadiers
      • Valvano, Mike
      • Van Dyke, Connie
      • Van Dyke, Earl
      • Vells
      • Velvelettes
      • Vows
    • W-Z
      • Walker, Junior (& All-Stars)
      • Ward, (Singin’) Sammy
      • Washington, Earl
      • Wells, Mary
      • Weston, Kim
      • Williams, André
      • Wilson, Frank
      • Wonder, Stevie
      • Woods, Mickey
      • Wright Specials
      • Wylie, Richard “Popcorn”
  • Great Songwriters
  • Labels
    • Britain
    • Chisa
    • Divinity
    • Gordy
    • Inferno
    • Manticore
    • Mel-o-dy
    • Melodyland
    • Miracle
    • Miscellaneous
    • Motown
    • MoWest
    • Prodigal
    • Rare Earth
    • Soul
    • Tamla
    • VIP
    • Workshop Jazz
  • Marks Out Of Ten
    • I Disagree!
  • Master Index
  • Radio

Motown Junkies

~ because it's what's in the grooves that counts

Motown Junkies

Category Archives: Writing credit: Berry Gordy

672. Chris Clark: “Don’t Be Too Long”

July 26, 2014

Not only do I like this less and less each time I play it, in fact, the more I listen, the less it seems to have anything to do with the A-side at all. So much for bright new débuts. (3)

Continue reading →

671. Chris Clark: “Do Right Baby Do Right”

July 10, 2014

Whatever the behind-the-scenes shenanigans, there’s no doubt in my mind that Gordy also felt he had a real talent on his hands. And he was right. (9)

Continue reading →

630. The Lewis Sisters: “Moonlight On The Beach”

July 11, 2013

A strange, echoey Fifties barcarolle, somewhere between the Flamingos and Debussy. It sure is pretty; no masterpiece, to be sure, and nothing at all to do with Motown in the summer of 1965, but when we hit the middle eight, all faults are forgiven, and your heart could melt. (6)

Continue reading →

629. The Lewis Sisters: “You Need Me”

July 9, 2013

Weird charm can only take you so far, and this isn’t great – it’s a mess, really, and probably an unsalvageable one at that – but it’s not completely horrific, and I keep finding myself strangely drawn to play it again. (4)

Continue reading →

627. Brenda Holloway: “You Can Cry On My Shoulder”

July 1, 2013

Quite astonishing on every level, this is the standard by which every other all-or-nothing romantic epic should henceforth be judged. Magnificent. (10)

Continue reading →

625. Little Lisa: “Hang On Bill”

June 18, 2013

It’s a pity that there were no more singles, that we don’t get to track her development into a mature artist here on Motown Junkies; this isn’t great, it’s silly and annoying, but there’s enough here to suggest this might have been an interesting story to watch. (3)

Continue reading →

586. Marv Johnson: “Why Do You Want To Let Me Go”

February 24, 2013

Intriguing to have him back, and there are certainly better records to come from Marv’s Motown return, but this one is a chaotic, messy shambles which really isn’t Johnson’s song. (3)

Continue reading →

582. The Vows: “Buttered Popcorn”

February 16, 2013

It’s still both stupid and annoying, and without the Supremes connection, I’m not sure anyone would pay this any attention at all. (3)

Continue reading →

507. Carolyn Crawford: “When Someone’s Good To You”

July 26, 2012

This is pleasant enough, and it’s nicely done, but it isn’t really the farewell Carolyn’s Motown career deserved. (5)

Continue reading →

491. The Headliners: “Tonight’s The Night”

June 12, 2012

Not completely terrible, it has its redeeming features, but if I find I’m impatiently waiting for a record to finish, then it’s not done it for me, I’m afraid. (3)

Continue reading →

483. Earl Van Dyke: “Hot ‘n’ Tot”

May 19, 2012

It serves no real purpose other than to let three prominent Brothers do their thing for posterity, it doesn’t really go anywhere, and it’s great fun as opposed to just great – but there are moments that set the pulse racing, and you don’t really want it to end. Not as quickly as it does, anyway.(7)

Continue reading →

← Older posts

MOTOWN JUNKIES

This is Motown Junkies, an unofficial track by track history of Motown: in-depth analysis and discussion of both sides of every Motown single ever released between 1959 and 1988. Enjoy!

 

Index of all reviews to date

Lucky Dip (a random review)


Wales Blog Awards

Best Music & Entertainment Blog
Wales Blog Awards 2012


Recent Posts

  • 694. The Temptations: “Get Ready”
  • 693. The Four Tops: “Just As Long As You Need Me”
  • 692. The Four Tops: “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over)”
  • 691. Marvin Gaye: “When I Had Your Love”
  • 690. Marvin Gaye: “One More Heartache”

Recent Comments

"Baby Love… on 478. The Supremes: “Baby…
Bogart4017 on 442. The Four Tops: “Cal…
yellosoul on 442. The Four Tops: “Cal…
Rockin' Ed Pauli on 675. Tony Martin: “Ask A…
bogart 4017 on 318. The Temptations: “F…
Dewey Gill on 226. The Pirates: “I…
yellosoul on 318. The Temptations: “F…
144man on 330. The Morrocco Muzik Makers…
yellosoul on 337. Little Stevie Wonder:…
yellosoul on 330. The Morrocco Muzik Makers…

Popular Right Now

  • Master Index
  • Weston, Kim
  • Marvelettes
  • About Motown Junkies
  • Tamla

Links

  • Discovering Motown: our radio show Listen to old episodes here
  • Soulful Detroit Motown Forum Motown discussion forum
  • Seabear Studios LG Nilsson’s Motown discography and collection of label scans
  • Soul Source Forum Great discussion forum.
  • Don't Forget the Motor City Keith Hughes’ indispensable guide to Motown recording and songwriting information

Twitter

My Tweets

RADIO

Motown Junkies presents
"Discovering Motown"
a Motown radio show

Hand-picked hits, harmonies and hard-hitting soul from the world's greatest record label, specially chosen by Motown historian and writer Steve Devereux. Whether you're new to Motown or a seasoned veteran, you'll find something good here

LATEST EPISODES:


Episode 81


Episode 80


Episode 79


Episode 78


Episode 77


Episode 76


Episode 75

Made in Wales

* * *

Check out our radio show:
Discovering Motown

Motown Junkies

This is Motown Junkies, an unofficial guide to every Motown single ever released, or planned for release, on every US Motown label (or via Tamla Motown in the UK), featuring reviews of each A-side and B-side in chronological order. New reviews appear every couple of days.

Think of it as an unauthorised track-by-track companion to the magnificent The Complete Motown Singles CD box sets, and beyond, with marks out of ten.

I'm NOT Paul Nixon.

FURTHER INFORMATION

More info about the blog (and me) can be found here. If you want to leave a comment on any review, please feel free to do so - all feedback, corrections, disagreements and encouragements gratefully received. If you've something you'd rather not say in public, I can be contacted at fosse8 at gmail dot com.

(Oh, and if you arrived here looking for the Motown Junkies music group, they're nothing to do with me, I'm afraid - but they are very nice people, and they can be found at www.motownjunkies.com instead.)

HOW TO USE THIS BLOG

You can jump straight to the full list of reviews so far in the Master Index, or browse by label instead.

If you're looking for something a bit more specific, you can click an artist's name in the "Artist" menu at the top of the screen to see a little biography and all the reviews we've done for them so far. Only people whose records I've already discussed appear there at the moment - more names will be added to the lists all the time as I work my way through Motown's history, so do keep checking back!

Alternatively, the front page displays excerpts from the most recent reviews, and on the right hand side of the screen you'll see a list of the most recent entries and also a sampling of the most popular entries from the last 48 hours, as well as the latest comments left by visitors.

Dive in, explore and have fun!

LEGAL STUFF

This is an unofficial site, and is not affiliated in any way with Universal Motown, Hip-O Select or any of the artists referred to in the blog.

Where indicated, label scan images appear by kind permission of Lars "LG" Nilsson (as originally prepared for the Complete Motown Singles series).

Digital images courtesy of Gordon Frewin are supplied for use at motownjunkies.co.uk by arrangement. All applicable rights reserved. No unauthorised republication is permitted.

Many label images were kindly provided by Robb Klein, together with invaluable historical research.

All text © Motown Junkies, 2009-19. All rights reserved.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy