486. Mickey McCullers: “Who You Gonna Run To”
Fine work, and as second chances go, at least this time Mickey couldn’t complain that he wasn’t given a great song. (7)
Tag Archives: Motown
485. Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston: “I Want You Round”
One of Motown’s biggest personalities and one of Motown’s biggest voices, and they’re utterly wasted on this thin little sketch, a failed proof of concept intended for two entirely different people; it’s like giving Cézanne a paint by numbers and some chunky crayons. (3)
484. Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston: “What Good Am I Without You”
If it’s lacking a little as a song, there’s very little wrong with it as a record, and as an introduction to a hot new partnership, it’s right on the money. There’d be better songs for these two yet, but this is a fine way to start. (7)
483. Earl Van Dyke: “Hot ‘n’ Tot”
It serves no real purpose other than to let three prominent Brothers do their thing for posterity, it doesn’t really go anywhere, and it’s great fun as opposed to just great – but there are moments that set the pulse racing, and you don’t really want it to end. Not as quickly as it does, anyway.(7)
482. Earl Van Dyke: “Soul Stomp”
Probably not what Van Dyke or the other Funk Brothers had in mind when Motown said they were greenlighting a house band instrumental single, and it’s not really anything all that special – but it’s plenty of fun, it’s energetic, it’s good to dance to, and it sounds considerably better when you’re drunk, so it does everything it’s meant to. Still, if there’s an argument that there should be more of these, and less of (say) the Marvelettes, it’s not an argument anyone should really be making. (6)
481. Mary Wells: “I’ll Be Available”
There isn’t any more after this, I’m afraid, and so it’s up to us to squeeze as much entertainment as possible from these last dregs. Which, it turns out, is actually quite a bit of entertainment, all things considered. (4)
480. Mary Wells: “Whisper You Love Me, Boy”
Another super Motown record, in a year not exactly short of them, and it shows that Mary was still at the peak of her powers right up until she walked out of Hitsville for the last time. We’ll never know what might have been had she clocked back in again the next day. (8)
479. The Supremes: “Ask Any Girl”
We’ll never hear the Supremes do anything like this again, but it’s a gas alright, alternately charming and thrilling even as its faltering structure trips over its own feet. (6)
478. The Supremes: “Baby Love”
This is one of Motown’s most famous singles simply because it’s one of Motown’s best singles. I don’t care how many times it gets played, it’s as much of a thrill the first time as the 350th, and that’s pretty much the definition of magical. (10)
477. Stevie Wonder: “Sad Boy”
A morose little song about heartbreak, self-doubt and suicide, backed with all sorts of movie trappings (flurries of horns and Debussy strings and twanging bass and stately drums) even though it’s not actually from a movie. (4)
476. Stevie Wonder: “Happy Street”
Even though it’s both stupid and tacky, a pointless step in the wrong direction, I can’t bring myself to hate it, not even a little bit. (3)
Motown Junkies 