Martha & The Vandellas “No More Tear Stained Make – Up” (From the LP Watchout! 1966)

Where would I exactly be in making a presentation on girl groups without thinking of Martha & The Vandellas? Pretty much nowhere, since, after the super obvious case of The Supremes, Martha Reeves and her singing partner’s catalog is the one I know better than myself, and there’s a great many tunes within that catalog that I’ve gotten to know myself better *through.*

So it shouldn’t be surprising that on a soupy foggy morning that has me in a weird state that one of their finest processing of emotions songs rang clearly in the mind side of my ear this morning. Considered pretty much a “lost single,” “No More Tear Stained Make-Up” has long been an album and crowd favorite. It even was a requested staple in the Vandellas live act for years.

In fact, there’s two versions: Both versions are rather pitch perfect proclamations of optimism and determination among the devastation and loss of face of a break up. In processing the depths one goes through in emotional trials and arising confident, long and forever an undercurrent of urgency in Martha & The Vandellas, is on display in full force on both performances, and a number of performances on the Watchout! LP as well. That LP, to me, ranks as their best studio LP, so if you get a chance this Saturday Morning as you fry your bacon, check it out.