It’s oft the story that Mary Wells is the forgotten Queen of Motown. She is that, for sure, but there’s a lot to be said about her career that spanned nearly 30 years past her exit from the label as well. She’s sort of the mythological Lilith of Motown in that way. She made the…
Category: Motown Records
Taurus Talent at its finest: The Too Short Times of Tammi Terrell
I think of Tammi Terrell’s short 24 years on this planet, nearly 34 years old, and think I’m really wasting time. It didn’t exactly take that much time for her to establish herself as a legend. I don’t know whether her early death elicits moments of sadness, because she fought up until she went into…
The Magic of Marvin: Sovereign Soul and Sweetness, The Crown’d Prince of Motown
If you don’t have a special connection to Marvin Gaye, immediately I question your humanity. Chances are I’ll never like you. He left this earthly plane with a gunshot shortly before I turned 2 years old 32 years ago today, right before he turned 45. In just over 25 years, he evolved from being one…
The Supremes “Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye” (1965, Unreleased. From Never-Released-Before Masters, 1987)
The Supremes “Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye” (1965, Unreleased. From Never-Released-Before Masters, 1987) I’m like a number of people. When we look back on Diana Ross’s success as a performer for the past 57 years, I’m prone to put the metric of that squarely on her charisma and unstoppable…
Barbara McNair “Forget You Ever Met Me, Baby” (From the LP The Real Barbara McNair, 1969)
Barbara McNair “Forget You Ever Met Me, Baby” (From the LP The Real Barbara McNair, 1969) It’s not like Barbara McNair needed her tenure at Motown from 1965 through 1969. Nevertheless, some of her finest output came from her brief stints in Studio A on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit between her nightclub appearances, Film…
Stephanie Mills “Living On Plastic”(From the LP For The First Time, 1975)
Stephanie Mills “Living On Plastic”(From the LP For The First Time, 1975) There’s a lot to be said about the megawattage pairing of Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Among 1960’s female pop phenoms, other than The Shirelles to Supremes continuum, and Aretha’s 1967 ascension,. Dionne’s sophisticated Soft Soul was perhaps the most influential….
The Supremes “It’s Time To Break Down” (From the LP “New Ways But Love Stays,” 1970)
The Supremes “It’s Time To Break Down” (From the LP “New Ways But Love Stays,” 1970) It’s double the legend today. First up, the woman brave enough to step into the Spotlight slot in The Supremes in Diana Ross’s departure, Jean Terrell, turns 71 years old today. Although it may have been Berry Gordy’s plan…
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas “Bless You” (Gordy 7110, R&B#29, Pop#53, 1971)
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas “Bless You” (Gordy 7110, R&B#29, Pop#53, 1971) It’s been a remarkably dark past 72 hours if you’ve opened your eyes to anything going on in the world. Not only Paris, but Beirut, Baghdad, bitterness and yet another unjustified Black Death that makes one question whether Black Lives Matter or not….
Eddie Holland “Leaving Here” (Motown 1052, R&B#27 Pop#76, 1963)
Eddie Holland “Leaving Here” (Motown 1052, R&B#27 Pop#76, 1963) Record-A-Day week comes to its penultimate day with my penultimate day of my 5 years of working the same job. It also functions as a early birthday tribute to the legendary Eddie Holland, one third of the Motown Mansion building team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. The trinkets that make…
In An Alternate Universe: Potential Hit Singles From Hitsville U.S.A. from 1965 (Ladies Edition)
If you know your Motown as I know The Sound Of Young America, You’ll know, beyond the bevy of hit records, at the peak of the label the studios cranked out potential hits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some records have release dates on Holidays: The Supremes “My World Is Empty Without You” and…
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