695. The Temptations: “Fading Away”
Right at the end of that fabled partnership, more than any other Smokey/Temptations joint, is a song that sounds more like the Miracles than the Miracles themselves. (9)
Category Archives: Writing credit: Bobby Rogers
691. Marvin Gaye: “When I Had Your Love”
Marvin Gaye’s time with Smokey Robinson is drawing to a close here on Motown Junkies, but this absolutely has to go down as one of their best team-ups. It’s weird and it’s thought-provoking and it’s utterly beautiful, and it will stay on your mind for months on end (trust me on that last one). I love it. (9)
690. Marvin Gaye: “One More Heartache”
Marvin’s life story was a fascinating patchwork of weird, unbelievable things; here, his musical story treads the same odd pathways, and the results are a strange, groovy trip, but a trip which still compels you to get up and dance. I love it. (9)
673. The Miracles: “Going To A Go-Go”
Genuinely excellent, the sort of thing that helps give Motown its good name. And it’s better than anything the Miracles have ever done in this mode until now, there’s no doubt about it. Excellent. Just not quite as excellent as some of the Miracles’ 1965 highlights. (8)
638. The Temptations: “My Baby”
Is it a worthy follow-up to either My Girl or My Guy? You’d have to say no. Is it a worthy continuation of the recent glorious string of Temptations singles? Again, surely the answer would be no. But for all of that, is it a bad record? Of course it isn’t. (5)
634. Marvin Gaye: “Ain’t That Peculiar”
Not for the first time, Marvin Gaye sounds every inch the pop superstar, and once again here he’s made an excellent pop record. The difference, now, is that he’s making excellent records that sound like Marvin Gaye records, and everyone else is hereby put on notice. (8)
600. The Contours: “First I Look At The Purse”
Unexpectedly, it turns out Smokey, and Motown, needed the Contours to exist: not as a link to the past, but as an outlet for silly ideas, as an expression of physical energy, as a pressure valve. And this, daft as it is, is just buckets of fun. (7)
555. The Temptations: “What Love Has Joined Together”
Pretty much the very definition of Temptations album filler, a pleasant but largely pointless retouching of a song that didn’t have anything wrong with it in the first place. (5)
511. The Miracles: “Come On Do The Jerk”
A waste of the talents of everyone involved, wafer-thin and surprisingly ill-suited to its lead singer; even Smokey isn’t taking this seriously, so there’s really no reason we should bother. (3)
467. The Miracles: “That’s What Love Is Made Of”
This is a water-treading, wheel-spinning entry in the Miracles catalogue, pleasant enough but lacking everything that made me love I Like It Like That, and if anyone were to tell me this was their favourite Miracles record, I’d be deeply suspicious. (5)
430. The Miracles: “You’re So Fine And Sweet”
Plenty of fun as far as it goes, but that only really lasts for as long as it’s playing – you wouldn’t dig it out on purpose for repeated listening, and it fades from the memory literally ten seconds after it’s done. (4)
Motown Junkies 