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Motown Junkies

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

Motown Junkies

Category Archives: Writing credit: Freddie Gorman

502. Marvin Gaye: “Forever”

July 10, 2012

The song itself hasn’t got worse, it’s still superb, and this is still a fine record. But yet again, I’m left wondering what I might have made of a Motown recording if I’d heard this version first, because as things stand, as lovely as Marvin sounds here, I’d go for the Marvelettes’ version every single time. (7)

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450. Martha & the Vandellas: “There He Is (At My Door)”

January 18, 2012

I can’t escape the feeling that the vocal and the track still don’t properly agree with each other, even here at the second time of asking. Still pretty, though. (6)

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372. Martha & the Vandellas: “Old Love (Let’s Try It Again)”

June 9, 2011

Still not a great song by any means, but this is just about the best version of it that exists, and that counts for something. (6)

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309. The Contours: “Pa (I Need A Car)”

January 23, 2011

I’d be a massive hypocrite if, having berated the Contours for doing the same thing over and over again, I didn’t at least give them credit for trying something new. I just wish it had turned out a bit… better, that’s all. (5)

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266. The Marvelettes: “Forever”

November 16, 2010

Remarkable, and wholly excellent. (9)

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232. The Vells: “There He Is (At My Door)

September 30, 2010

This is easily as good a record as the A-side. (6)

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230. The Marvelettes: “Too Strong To Be Strung Along”

September 28, 2010

A totally average-sounding early-Sixties girl group record with poorly-conceived, unsympathetic lyrics. Compared to the A-side, this can’t help but be a major disappointment. (5)

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229. The Marvelettes: “Strange I Know”

September 27, 2010

The best record the Marvelettes ever made; magnificent, and beautiful, and forever. (10)

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205. Mary Wells: “Old Love (Let’s Try It Again)”

August 22, 2010

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)

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203. The Marvelettes: “Someday, Someway”

August 8, 2010

This is one of the best records the Marvelettes ever made, and it simply couldn’t have been left hidden away on the album. (9)

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189. Lamont Dozier: “Fortune Teller (Tell Me)”

July 4, 2010

A run-of-the-mill early-Sixties R&B workout with some bluesy piano, sung well enough by Lamont but with little else to commend it. Lyrically it goes nowhere, and musically, it’s unimpressive, unimaginative and ultimately boring. 3

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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, 2009-25. All rights reserved.

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