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    • A
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    • C
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Motown Junkies

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

Motown Junkies

Category Archives: Writing credit: Ronald Miller

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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661. The Supremes: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Me”

February 13, 2014

If it’s not exactly one I’m going to be rushing to play again, an uninspiring record built on a flawed and hokey premise, it’s still got its moments, and Diana Ross is responsible for them all. (4)

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659. Barbara McNair: “The Touch Of Time”

February 4, 2014

Once again, it’s a record that has almost nothing to do with Motown in 1965, but it’s done with no little skill and ends up getting under my skin more than I’d anticipated or wanted. Good show, in every sense. (6)

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658. Barbara McNair: “You’re Gonna Love My Baby”

January 26, 2014

It doesn’t entirely “fit” the musical narrative of Motown ’65 (though it fits the commercial behemoth narrative very well indeed), but there are some strikingly modern touches mixed in with the stagey setting, and I’m surprised it didn’t find more favour with buyers; it’s absolutely fine by me. (7)

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621. Tony Martin: “The Bigger Your Heart Is (The Harder You’ll Fall)”

June 10, 2013

Ridiculous, but there’s the tiniest kernel of understanding buried in here along with the finger-snapping tune; not enough for Tony to really embrace his inner ham in the style of Bobby Breen, and he’s not a good enough singer to tease out the dignity in schlock a la Billy Eckstine, but enough to make me steer away from giving it the lowest score possible. (2)

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581. Billy Eckstine: “Had You Been Around”

February 14, 2013

Once more, this is nowhere near as horrific as it might have been, Mr. B bringing a level of class to proceedings which makes it all go down smooth. Truth be told, I’ve ended up becoming rather fond of it. (6)

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580. Billy Eckstine: “Down To Earth”

February 12, 2013

This may be many things, but it’s certainly not another half-assed attempt at a late-career revival for a washed-up has-been; Mr B. can still bring it. (4)

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520. Marvin Gaye: “My Way”

August 21, 2012

The painful truth is that while Marvin Gaye may have been Motown’s greatest and most fascinating solo star, his MOR output is that of a keen hobbyist indulging himself at the listener’s expense, and on this evidence, I’m not sad we won’t be covering any more of it. (2)

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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!

 

Index of all reviews to date

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Recent Posts

  • 694. The Temptations: “Get Ready”
  • 693. The Four Tops: “Just As Long As You Need Me”
  • 692. The Four Tops: “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over)”
  • 691. Marvin Gaye: “When I Had Your Love”
  • 690. Marvin Gaye: “One More Heartache”

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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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