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    • A
      • Alan, Lee
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    • C
      • Campbell, Choker
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    • D
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    • H
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    • M
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    • N-R
      • Nick & the Jaguars
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    • S
      • Satintones
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      • Taylor, R. Dean
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    • U-V
      • Valadiers
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Motown Junkies

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

Motown Junkies

Category Archives: Writing credit: Clarence Paul

667. The Marvelettes: “Anything You Wanna Do”

April 13, 2014

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)

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663. Stevie Wonder: “Purple Rain Drops”

March 2, 2014

Pleasant enough, but I wanted to hear more from the new Stevie Wonder, the Stevie as introduced on the A-side, the Stevie as we now know him. Whatever the reasons for exhuming Purple Rain Drops, this just isn’t him any more. (4)

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620. Stevie Wonder: “Music Talk”

June 8, 2013

Yet again when writing about a Stevie 45 from this weird between-the-wars period, this feels like something of a pointless exercise. (4)

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616. Martha & the Vandellas: “You’ve Been In Love Too Long”

May 22, 2013

They were never going to be the Supremes, but instead, here they take possession of something new, something more dangerous and exciting and grown-up: from here on in, this is the Vandellas’ home turf, and they occupy it with panache. And with a super-catchy chorus to boot. (8)

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612. The Marvelettes: “Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead”

May 7, 2013

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)

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601. The Contours: “Searching For A Girl”

March 26, 2013

Not bad or offensive, it’s just sort of there. A fun but forgettable bit of filler. (4)

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598. Marvin Gaye: “Pretty Little Baby”

March 20, 2013

While this isn’t Marvin’s best Motown side so far – it’s bizarre, and it’s miserable, it’s probably my favourite. It’s raw, it’s honest, it’s painful, it’s beautiful, it’s everything I want when I go to Marvin’s later albums. Quite some going. (9)

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597. Dorsey Burnette: “They’re Only Words”

March 18, 2013

Undeniably well-made as a genre piece, and it holds its own well enough against some of Motown’s other MOR-style crooner cuts from more established names; but it’s not to my taste, and as we won’t be hearing from Dorsey again here on Motown Junkies until we get to 1975, it’s a bit of a strange note upon which to be parting. (4)

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577. Stevie Wonder: “The Square”

February 8, 2013

Although it sounds a bit rusty compared to the older and wiser ’65-model Stevie we’ve started to get used to, this turns out to be a more mature and considered piece than Wonder’s actual new records have been of late. (4)

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558. Stevie Wonder: “Kiss Me Baby”

December 7, 2012

Far from Stevie’s worst A-side, but yet another disappointing entry in what was fast becoming a disappointing canon; Motown must have wondered if he’d ever land another big hit again. (3)

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536. Hattie Littles: “You Got Me Worried”

October 8, 2012

A breath of fresh air which sounds like the début from some new talent, the jumping-off point for a new and exciting career. Certainly it doesn’t sound like what it really was: a final, half-hearted throw of the dice from a disinterested label, one of America’s great unsung singers shackled to a record company who didn’t bother to release her records. (7)

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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!

 

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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.

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