321. The Marvelettes: “Tie A String Around Your Finger”
if the Marvelettes were about to give up their crown as Motown’s top girl group, they were doing so as gracefully as possible. (7)
Tag Archives: Motown
320. The Marvelettes: “My Daddy Knows Best”
The Marvelettes’ weakest single to date, this should really have been left on the album where it belonged. 4
319. The Temptations: “May I Have This Dance”
It’s not awful, but nor is it hugely impressive; this single marks a sort of watershed for the Temptations, who were about to leave this sort of stuff behind forever. 4
318. The Temptations: “Farewell My Love”
This record represents the end of the Temptations’ first phase, though they didn’t know it at the time. When America next heard from the Temptations, everything would have changed. (5)
317. Mable John: “Say You’ll Never Let Me Go”
The song itself is pretty thin, but it at least gives Mable an opportunity to be herself. (6)
316. Mable John: “Who Wouldn’t Love A Man Like That” (version 2)
Something of a sad note upon which for a legend to depart the scene, even if the record itself isn’t the train wreck it might have been. (4)
315. Holland-Dozier: “Come On Home”
So inconsequential that there’s almost nothing to it. Two minutes of instrumental blues piano tinkling, drums, horns and handclaps, a bit of organ, and that’s your lot. 3
314. Holland-Dozier: “What Goes Up, Must Come Down”
I know Berry Gordy was always keen to latch on to a possible trend, but surely the chances of a sudden surge in demand for records featuring “unknown producers doing improvised Vaudeville sketches in silly voices” were too implausible even for him? (3)
313. The Supremes: “(The Man With The) Rock And Roll Banjo Band”
This is a complete embarrassment, and were it not for the existence of the truly wretched (He’s) Seventeen, this would be the worst record the Supremes ever made. Listen to it once out of morbid curiosity, and then wipe it from your mind as best you can. (1)
312. The Supremes: “A Breath Taking Guy”
It isn’t half as catchy as it thinks it is, meaning it was probably never likely to trouble the upper echelons of the pop charts. In truth, this has “B-side” written all over it. (5)
311. Amos Milburn: “My Daily Prayer”
Several years too late to be a plausible hit single, it’s undeniably a quality piece of work. (6)
Motown Junkies 