640. Earl Van Dyke & the Soul Brothers: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)”
A harmless curio, something to play once for its novelty value and then go back to the original. Completely pointless, and almost defiantly inessential. (5)
Tag Archives: Motown
639. The Temptations: “Don’t Look Back”
This should have been the A-side; this should have been the way the Miracles approached My Girl Has Gone. Should, should, should. What it is, though, is another excellent Temptations single. We won’t be meeting them again for six months; Don’t Look Back is good enough to make that temporary parting hurt. (8)
638. The Temptations: “My Baby”
Is it a worthy follow-up to either My Girl or My Guy? You’d have to say no. Is it a worthy continuation of the recent glorious string of Temptations singles? Again, surely the answer would be no. But for all of that, is it a bad record? Of course it isn’t. (5)
637. The Miracles: “Since You Won My Heart”
It’s hard to see this as anything other than filler, both on the album and on this single – once again, I doubt many fans have this at the top of their lists of Miracles favourites – but at least it’s very pretty filler. (5)
636. The Miracles: “My Girl Has Gone”
It’s not bad, and I’ll never turn down the chance to hear the golden-era Miracles doing what they do best. It’s just that after all the riches they’ve given us recently, and with all the riches they’re going to be giving us just around the corner, this feels like a stopgap, and therefore something of a let-down. (5)
635. Marvin Gaye: “She’s Got To Be Real”
It’s not great – it’s weird and it’s been poorly thought out, and what’s more it’s badly dated, as well as musically derivative of a much better song Marvin had already recorded. Still, even if it says very little about the Marvin Gaye we’ve come to know here in 1965, you can’t really accuse it of being dull, and that’s worth a couple of marks in itself. (5)
634. Marvin Gaye: “Ain’t That Peculiar”
Not for the first time, Marvin Gaye sounds every inch the pop superstar, and once again here he’s made an excellent pop record. The difference, now, is that he’s making excellent records that sound like Marvin Gaye records, and everyone else is hereby put on notice. (8)
633. The Supremes: “Things Are Changing”
It may not be vintage Supremes (or vintage Spector, for that matter), and it’s certainly not the stuff of legend that might have been expected of the only official Motown/Spector collaboration, but, well, it’s the Supremes pretending to be the Crystals, and don’t pretend you weren’t curious to hear how that turned out. (6)
632. Kim Weston: “Don’t Compare Me With Her”
It’s a mess – but it’s a likeable mess, and thanks to Kim’s vocal, rolling with the punches so adroitly you can’t help but applaud, it’s probably better than it has any right to be. (6)
631. Kim Weston: “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)”
Honestly, if you’d handed this to me back when I first started to discover Motown, and told me that this lady was Motown’s biggest star of the mid-Sixties, I’d have had no trouble believing it. It’s sensational. (9)
630. The Lewis Sisters: “Moonlight On The Beach”
A strange, echoey Fifties barcarolle, somewhere between the Flamingos and Debussy. It sure is pretty; no masterpiece, to be sure, and nothing at all to do with Motown in the summer of 1965, but when we hit the middle eight, all faults are forgiven, and your heart could melt. (6)
Motown Junkies 