They push their luck with each clambering step up the ladder, and still it doesn’t break, so they decide to push it again and stretch for the next one. And they carry it off each and every time, the song climbing forever to heaven. (10)
Who is this for? Who is it meant to satisfy? It’s neither pop nor jazz; it’s not edgy enough to please either the musicians or their intended audience of hardened hep cats, it’s not fluffy enough to please pop-loving tweens or their parents, and it’s not got Marvin Gaye on it, which was the only thing that kept the corny song afloat the first time round. It’s not a disaster, but – as appealing as that guitar is – I can’t really imagine myself ever going back to play this again. (4)
A harmless curio, something to play once for its novelty value and then go back to the original. Completely pointless, and almost defiantly inessential. (5)
Honestly, if you’d handed this to me back when I first started to discover Motown, and told me that this lady was Motown’s biggest star of the mid-Sixties, I’d have had no trouble believing it. It’s sensational. (9)
With these two sides, the group were reaching in the dark for something they couldn’t quite grasp, something entirely new, defying total understanding (theirs and ours). This one, strangely-punctuated title and all, is probably my favourite of the two, not least because – just like Martha – I feel its power is still only shakily understood, and not to be taken lightly. (8)
A genuinely thrilling album track, and that’s where it should have stayed. (6)
A brief oasis of calm and contemplation amid a sustained barrage of banging high-gloss pop tunes. Really rather lovely, and not at all unwelcome. (7)
The magic of Motown runs in the veins of Mother Dear, and it’s only a pity it didn’t seduce the decision-makers deeply enough; while it might not have topped the charts, it would have made a fine, fine single. (9)
Messy but still full-on excellent, shambling towards greatness; it’s a rush, a buzz, a gas, utterly irresistible in its demented glee. (8)
Based solely on its reputation, this seemed like it might be a chance to ease up on the flow of constant praise we’ve had recently – but no, this one’s absolutely fine by me. (8)
Kind of fun, in a pleasant enough polite early-Sixties jazz rock-out sort of way – but it’s preposterously short, and (maybe as a result) it feels almost completely ephemeral, a highly unusual choice for a first UK-only Motown single. (4)
Motown Junkies 