Parks can’t be accused of holding anything back, giving a full-on hellfire gospel-rock-blues-whatever performance with echoes of James Brown, but it’s wasted on a standard-issue doo-wop backline that seemingly can’t quite decide on what it wants to be, and an underpowered groove that never gets properly into it.
It’s not a fantastic song (it’s pretty simplistic and it doesn’t do anything unexpected), but it will get you dancing; this is probably the jauntiest, most alive dancefloor single the label had released since Barrett Strong’s Money (That’s What I Want) almost two years previously, a neater and more commercial song than the Contours’ similarly torrid Whole Lotta Woman a few months before. (6)
A bad match of vocalist and material leads to a record that, while fun, ends up being less than the sum of its parts. (5)
A defiant, earthy, bluesy doo-wop number, done at a pace so slow it’s almost stationary, this follows in the footsteps of Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That in being enjoyable but not especially memorable. The song doesn’t really go anywhere, and instead acts solely as a vehicle for Mable to show off her formidable pipes. (6)
A fine record. It’s not a Miracles classic, not by Smokey’s rarified standards, and it’s not without its problems – it’s a trifle repetitive, and (most uncharacteristically for its writer and lead singer) it doesn’t really go anywhere having made such an explosive start – but it’s plenty of fun nonetheless.
Motown’s first double-sided hit. The public was right – Mighty Good Lovin’ is the better song – but this one is good stuff too. A lavish, expensive-sounding production, and the song underneath it is a strong one, a noticeable step forward from the group’s earlier work.
A final teaming of Strong with the then-Motown songwriting “A” squad of Smokey Robinson and company boss Berry Gordy, this is a good song, but Strong’s performance, while fun as far as it goes, doesn’t go far enough. Competent, but ultimately disappointing. (4)
The final throw of the dice for Barrett Strong, who had spent almost two years trying in vain to score a follow-up hit. (6)
Silly, entertaining and much, much better than the charmless, rockabilly-lite Rosa Lee (Stay Off The Bell), mainly because this one actually sounds like an Andre Williams record.
This sounds straight and flat, and not in the least bit scandalous or salacious. It could have been sung by pretty much anybody, which makes you wonder just what the point of getting Andre Williams in to record it was. A real waste. (2)
Yet again, listening to another assured, sassy, sexy performance, it’s startling to remember Mary Wells was just a few days past her eighteenth birthday. Just two singles in, and her position atop the hierarchy of female Motown vocalists was already secure. (6)
Motown Junkies 