• About Motown Junkies
  • Artists
    • A
      • Alan, Lee
      • Andantes
      • Anthony, Richard
    • B
      • Ben, LaBrenda
      • Blakely, Cornell
      • Bohanon, George
      • Breen, Bobby
      • Burnadettes
      • Burnette, Dorsey
    • C
      • Campbell, Choker
      • Channel, Bruce
      • Charters
      • Chuck-a-Lucks
      • Clark, Chris
      • Contours
      • Crawford, Carolyn
      • Creations
      • Crockett, Howard
    • D
      • Dalton Boys
      • Darnells
      • Day, Danny
      • Dean, Debbie
      • Diamond, Hank & Carol
      • Downbeats
      • Dozier, Lamont
    • E-F
      • Eckstine, Billy
      • Elgins
      • Equadors
      • Four Tops
      • Funk Brothers
    • G
      • Gaye, Marvin
      • Golden Harmoneers
      • Good, Tommy
      • Gorman, Freddie
      • Gospel Stars
      • Greer, Paula
      • Griffin, Herman
      • Griffith, Johnny
      • Griner, Linda
    • H
      • Hamilton, Dave
      • Haney & Armstrong
      • Hartfield, Pete
      • Headliners
      • Heard, Oma
      • Henslee, Gene
      • Hillsiders
      • Hit Pack
      • Holland, Eddie
      • Holland-Dozier
      • Holloway, Brenda
      • Holloway, Patrice
      • Hornets
    • I-J
      • Isley Brothers
      • Joanne & the Triangles
      • John, Mable
      • Johnson, Marv
      • Jones, Wade
    • K-L
      • Kayli, Bob
      • Lands, Liz
      • Lee & the Leopards
      • Leverett, Chico
      • Lewis Sisters
      • Little Iva
      • Little Lisa
      • Little Otis
      • Littles, Hattie
      • Long, Shorty
      • Lumpkin, Henry
    • M
      • Majestics
      • Mallett, Saundra
      • Mann, Columbus
      • Martha & the Vandellas
      • Martin, Tony
      • Marvelettes
      • McCullers, Mickey
      • McKenzie, Don
      • McNair, Barbara
      • Merced Blue Notes
      • Merritt, Billy
      • Mike & the Modifiers
      • Milburn, Amos
      • Miracles
      • Monitors
      • Morrocco Muzik Makers
      • Mullins, Dee
    • N-R
      • Nick & the Jaguars
      • Oddis, Ray
      • Parks, Gino
      • Paul, Bunny
      • Pirates
      • Remus, Eugene
      • Ron & Bill
      • Ruffin, Jimmy
    • S
      • Satintones
      • Sebastian, Joel
      • Serenaders
      • Spinners
      • Strong, Barrett
      • Stylers
      • Supremes
      • Swinging Tigers
    • T
      • Taylor, R. Dean
      • Taylor, Sherri
      • Temptations
      • Terrell, Tammi
      • Turner, Sammy
      • Twistin’ Kings
    • U-V
      • Valadiers
      • Valvano, Mike
      • Van Dyke, Connie
      • Van Dyke, Earl
      • Vells
      • Velvelettes
      • Vows
    • W-Z
      • Walker, Junior (& All-Stars)
      • Ward, (Singin’) Sammy
      • Washington, Earl
      • Wells, Mary
      • Weston, Kim
      • Williams, André
      • Wilson, Frank
      • Wonder, Stevie
      • Woods, Mickey
      • Wright Specials
      • Wylie, Richard “Popcorn”
  • Great Songwriters
  • Labels
    • Britain
    • Chisa
    • Divinity
    • Gordy
    • Inferno
    • Manticore
    • Mel-o-dy
    • Melodyland
    • Miracle
    • Miscellaneous
    • Motown
    • MoWest
    • Prodigal
    • Rare Earth
    • Soul
    • Tamla
    • VIP
    • Workshop Jazz
  • Marks Out Of Ten
    • I Disagree!
  • Master Index
  • Radio

Motown Junkies

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

Motown Junkies

Previous articles

267. Martha & the Vandellas: “Come And Get These Memories”

November 17, 2010

If 1962 had belonged to the Marvelettes, then 1963 would belong to Martha and the Vandellas; this single marked them out not only as worthy recipients of the Marvelettes’ baton as Motown’s number one group, but one of the best new pop groups in the world, full stop.

Continue reading →

266. The Marvelettes: “Forever”

November 16, 2010

Remarkable, and wholly excellent. (9)

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265. The Marvelettes: “Locking Up My Heart”

November 15, 2010

Neither a travesty nor a masterpiece, it’s a decent pop single with a somewhat irritating lead in the choruses; for a pop group who’d so recently specialised in the extraordinary, this just doesn’t hit the spot. (5)

Continue reading →

264. Kim Weston: “Love Me All The Way”

November 14, 2010

Nowhere near as interesting as the A-side, lyrically or musically, this is nonetheless much better suited to Kim’s raw, powerful vocal delivery. (6)

Continue reading →

263. Kim Weston: “It Should Have Been Me”

November 13, 2010

A deep and impassioned début, bearing all the hallmarks of her massive later performances, but still rather rough around the edges. (6)

Continue reading →

262. The Chuck-A-Lucks: “Dingbat Diller”

November 12, 2010

Not as objectionable as the A-side. Still, I can’t in all honesty ever see myself listening to it ever again. (2)

Continue reading →

261. The Chuck-A-Lucks: “Sugar Cane Curtain”

November 11, 2010

Garbage of such magnitude it almost deserves a category all of its own. (1)

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260. Mary Wells: “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right”

November 10, 2010

If this was hardly an avenue that Mary Wells’ future career could follow, it’s still a very fine record, and well deserving of its (very brief) time in the chart sun. (8)

Continue reading →

259. Mary Wells: “Laughing Boy”

November 9, 2010

Smokey Robinson tries to freshen things up by adding some newer elements – but the mix still isn’t quite right, and accordingly this turns out to be the weakest of his collaborations with Mary Wells to date. (5)

Continue reading →

258. Paula Greer: “So In Love”

November 8, 2010

I’m aware that complaining about a jazz vocalist’s caterwauling style being irritating probably marks me down as a “square”, but I’m no jazz aficionado and I just find it annoying. 3

Continue reading →

257. Paula Greer: “I Want To Talk About You”

November 7, 2010

My reaction to this is the same reaction I have to almost all vocal smooth jazz – it’s just not my cup of tea. Your mileage may vary. (5)

Continue reading →

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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

Lucky Dip (a random review)


Wales Blog Awards

Best Music & Entertainment Blog
Wales Blog Awards 2012


Recent Posts

  • 695. The Temptations: “Fading Away”
  • 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”

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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, 2009-25. All rights reserved.

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