A listener at the end of 1964 might well have wondered, with good reason, whether the Miracles really had a place in Motown’s brave new world of corporate greed and thundering cash registers. This pair of sides not only put such doubts to rest, but showed the Miracles to be at the vanguard of the company’s very best acts. Quite exceptional stuff. (8)
At a Q&A event in a high school classroom later in the year, Berry Gordy was asked by one of the students: “How do you find guys like Smokey Robinson?” His reply was curt: “You don’t find guys like Smokey Robinson.” (9)
Never in a million years is this a single, and a greater contrast to the A-side you’d be hard-pushed to find, but it’s effortlessly beautiful all the same. (7)
I love Marvin Gaye. Love him. As you’ll see later, he’s probably my favourite Motown artist. But this – this beautifully-formed little pop record – is wrong, and I’d be lying to myself – and undoing the entire purpose of this blog – if I didn’t call him and Smokey out for it. (5)
I can appreciate how skilfully it’s been made, but I get no emotional connection from it, it doesn’t move me, and ultimately that’s what I want from a pop record, no matter how astonishing the lead vocals are. (5)
Plenty of respected judges, including commenters on this very site, have said they prefer Brenda’s version to Mary’s; I can’t help but wonder how I’d feel if I’d heard the two versions the “right” way round too, because – for me – this one just isn’t a patch on that one. (6)
The group’s best B-side since Never Again all those years ago, this is excellent, and it’s no surprise Motown made sure it found a place in history closing out a splendid album. (8)
Heartbreaking for us, listening to it all unfold, as uncomfortably as hearing the neighbours having a shouting match and turning up the TV to drown them out. Except you’d never turn up the TV to drown this out, because it sounds absolutely sensational. (10)
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)
The feeling of hearing a Vandellas record and realising that once again, they’re the best group in the world. I’ve missed that feeling. Damn, this is a good record. (10)
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)
Motown Junkies 