It’s not bad, and I’ll never turn down the chance to hear the golden-era Miracles doing what they do best. It’s just that after all the riches they’ve given us recently, and with all the riches they’re going to be giving us just around the corner, this feels like a stopgap, and therefore something of a let-down. (5)
It’s not great – it’s weird and it’s been poorly thought out, and what’s more it’s badly dated, as well as musically derivative of a much better song Marvin had already recorded. Still, even if it says very little about the Marvin Gaye we’ve come to know here in 1965, you can’t really accuse it of being dull, and that’s worth a couple of marks in itself. (5)
Not for the first time, Marvin Gaye sounds every inch the pop superstar, and once again here he’s made an excellent pop record. The difference, now, is that he’s making excellent records that sound like Marvin Gaye records, and everyone else is hereby put on notice. (8)
It’s hard to argue that it doesn’t sound nice, but given the pedigree of everyone involved – given this is Motown we’re talking about here, and in the summer of 1965 to boot – well, I’m just looking for more than pleasant and meaningless wallpaper. (4)
It’s the sort of thing where you could imagine Mary Wells having an absolute field day, but Brenda treats it as nothing more than a vocal showcase and, I have to say, I don’t really like it all that much. (4)
Sumptuous in its beauty, quietly devastating in its lyrics… I don’t know how he’s doing this. (8)
For the second time in a row, the Miracles are shafted out of a (10) simply because I’ve only got fifty to award, and I’d run out of them. But, again, if you were to say this one was your favourite Miracles single, favourite Motown single, even… I’d get it. (9)
Unexpectedly, it turns out Smokey, and Motown, needed the Contours to exist: not as a link to the past, but as an outlet for silly ideas, as an expression of physical energy, as a pressure valve. And this, daft as it is, is just buckets of fun. (7)
The overall effect is to remind me of the Supremes’ similarly beautiful, similarly half-realised Standing At The Crossroads Of Love: when it’s lovely, it’s lovely enough to matter. (6)
Absolutely fine as far as pleasingly diverting B-sides go. It’s just the widespread admiration that baffles me. Would I jump up to turn it off? Of course not. Would I pick it out as some sort of highlight? Not in a million years. (5)
The Temptations cover themselves in glory here. This is the sound of a group absolutely on top of their game; the true follow-up to My Girl, and – unexpectedly – very nearly as good. (9)
Motown Junkies 