519. Marvin Gaye: “This Is The Life”
A lifeless, rote rendition of a song that wasn’t all that great in the first place, and its very existence underlines the fact Marvin Gaye still wasn’t quite the finished article. (2)
Tag Archives: Motown
518. Dorsey Burnette: “Long Long Time Ago”
A rather nice little record on its own merits, neat and tidy, skilfully avoiding the dangers of sentimental treacle through sensitive handling, I think I’d probably have been kinder to this if I didn’t know the backstory. But there are some things you can’t un-learn. (4)
517. Dorsey Burnette: “Ever Since The World Began”
Not awful, but certainly not one to savour; if, given the circumstances, it’s understandably forgettable, it’s also advisedly forgettable. (3)
516. Tony Martin: “Our Rhapsody”
Under the weight of Tony’s side-splittingly misjudged vocal, it ends up being about as special and moving as Westlife singing about drywall. Potentially quite a pretty little song, but ruined beyond all hope like this, it’s just terrible. (1)
515. Tony Martin: “Talkin’ To Your Picture”
Whatever the motivation, it’s a dud from start to finish. One of my least favourite Motown A-sides so far, this is an embarrassing mis-step for both singer and label. (1)
514. Ray Oddis: “Happy Ghoul Tide”
So very, very bad, a bad idea turned into a bad song done badly, that I can’t find anything really nice to say about it. (1)
513. Ray Oddis: “Randy, the Newspaper Boy”
It’s awful, and artistically indefensible – let’s be clear on that point, this is a terrible record – and yet I can’t quite bring myself to hate it enough to mark it down as the very worst record of all time. High praise indeed. (1)
512. The Miracles: “Baby Don’t You Go”
After the bland rock-out blind alley of the A-side, it’s just good to hear the Miracles back on something like their usual form. (7)
511. The Miracles: “Come On Do The Jerk”
A waste of the talents of everyone involved, wafer-thin and surprisingly ill-suited to its lead singer; even Smokey isn’t taking this seriously, so there’s really no reason we should bother. (3)
510. The Contours: “That Day When She Needed Me”
Completely out of character for the group – if you were asked to identify these guys on sound alone, “the Contours” would be the absolute last answer you’d give – but no worse for it. Nice surprises are the best kind of surprises, after all. (7)
509. The Contours: “Can You Jerk Like Me”
I’ve given it many, many listens and I still don’t know what to make of it, or where it fits into the Contours’ story. Your mileage may vary. Mine certainly does. (5)
Motown Junkies 