685. Martha & the Vandellas: “My Baby Loves Me”
I find it hard to put into words just what it is she does, but she does it here better than ever before. (9)
I find it hard to put into words just what it is she does, but she does it here better than ever before. (9)
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)
Strangely, considering this isn’t brilliant – and that it could easily have been recorded a year before by someone else without anyone batting an eyelid – Your Cheating Ways perhaps offered unwitting fans more of a clue to the Marvelettes’ future sound than first realised. (6)
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)
It’s the very definition of a Golden Age, when even the supposed second-string acts can turn in a record as amazing as this at any time, without warning. Motown must have wondered where all these guys were coming from. (9)
It feels effortless, like so many of the very best Motown records do; the Marvelettes were growing up alongside Motown itself, and it’s reassuring to find they were still able to mix it right at the forefront, to match whatever their peers were doing. (8)
A bitter, lonely stalk of a song, all the better for Levi Stubbs to climb right to the top. (7)
Not only a bewildering record, it’s momentarily bewitching too, and I’ve always got plenty of time for forays off the beaten track which bring unexpected results. (6)
The production is a surprise (are we sure this isn’t from 1975?), and Kim’s voice is capable of breaking bottles at fifty paces – but those are just some of the ingredients for a great record, and nobody’s brought the recipe. (5)
Having just scaled the highest heights, Martha and the Vandellas will hopefully forgive me if a good rhythm and two-fifths of a dirty joke doesn’t send me into raptures any more. (5)
If it wasn’t quite Kim’s ticket to Motown’s top table, it also made sure her claims to stardom could never be ignored again. (7)