The Complete Motown Singles Collection Vol. 8: 1968

The turbulent year of 1968 saw the first signs of Motown dealing with controversial social issues and also musical diversification in the initial strains of psychedelic soul making themselves heard. The changes that would be much-vaunted over the next few years began here.

The year was notable at Motown for the last appearance of The Isley Brothers on the label. They would be much missed. As indeed would legendary songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland, for whom this would be the last year that Motown releases featured songs composed by them (other than re-releases or covers), incredibly. What a run they had. Geniuses.

⭐ Star hits

💠 Hidden gems

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Disc One

Rita Wright - I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You/Something On Your Mind 

Syreeta (known here as simply Rita) took the Martha Reeves/Chris Clark route into Motown via working as a secretary. I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You was later covered by Kiki Dee and Suzee Ikeda. Rita's version is acceptable enough, but it suffers from a tinny production, particularly when listened to in comparison to recordings from subsequent years. I forgot to say that Diana Ross also covered the song on her 1971 Surrender album.

Also covered by Diana Ross was Something On My Mind (on her 1970 debut album). Rita's version is a sonic improvement on the 'a' side. Neither song is anything special, however. Rita (Syreeta) had much better recordings in her.

Shorty Long - Night Fo' Last/Night Fo' Last (Instrumental)

Shorty Long liked an upbeat, party record and Night Fo' Last was certainly one of those. The instrumental 'b' side version of the song is beautifully bassy and groovy all round. It has a bit of organ-powered funk about it. I love those little guitar bits too. I have to say that I like all the Shorty Long numbers that I have heard. Both sides of this 45 kick ass.

Four Tops - Walk Away Renee/Your Love Is Wonderful ⭐

I have long loved The Four Tops' cover of The Left Banke's Walk Away Renee but at the same time have also felt that it suffered from a somewhat tinny, poorly-produced sound. Time has not changed my opinion, but Levi Stubbs' peerless lead vocal and the song's singalong chorus always override any negatives. Actually, The Left Banke's version is quite feeble in comparison, so there you go. More kudos for this one. It is Southside Johnny's version that out-does them all, though. After all that, the first few notes of The Four Tops' version still send shivers up my spine. The remastered version on this collection is probably the best you will hear of it.

Your Love Is Wonderful is a solid, bassy rumbler of a typical Four Tops number. It was not included on any album. It remains a bit of a hidden gem.

Gladys Knight & The Pips - The End Of Our Road/Don't Let Her Take Your Love From Me ⭐

The End Of Our Road is a bass-driven, funky slice of Franklin-esque blues with a great, soaring vocal from Gladys and the boys on back up. It was a Norman Whitfield song and very much in the mould of many of his muscular soul numbers from this period. It's a great track, this one. 

Don't Let Her Take Your Love From Me has another big, rumbling bass line and, my God, Gladys’s vocal does it. A point I am regularly making is that Gladys's was one of the great soul voices of all time. As I have said elsewhere - Diana who? Such a shame Gladys was so far down in the Motown pecking order. Jimmy Ruffin also recorded it in the same year with the necessary gender change in the lyrics (see disc three).

Chuck Jackson - (You Can't Let The Boy Overpower) The Man In You/Girls, Girls, Girls 💠

Chuck Jackson delivers a funkily soulful take of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' 1964 song (You Can't Let The Boy Overpower) The Man In You, a song with a typically wry Robinson lyric. Everything Jackson did for Motown was impressive, but he never had a big hit. Life isn't fair.

Girls, Girls, Girls is a rhythmic, early-sixties-sounding number enhanced by the work of regular Motown session man Eddie "Bongo" Brown.

Debbie Dean - Why Am I Lovin' You/Stay My Love 💠

White singer Debbie Dean had been the first such singer to sign for Motown in 1961 (I had always thought the honour went to Kiki Dee - maybe that was from the UK?). Both sides here are joyfully upbeat and cookin' numbers that were Northern Soul hits. Why Am I Lovin' You is particularly irrepressible. I really like it.

Stay My Love is a bit more early sixties-ish but it still has a Northern Soul vibe to it. By the way, if you don't know what I mean by Northern Soul, look it up!

Billy Eckstine - Thank You Love/Is Anyone Here Goin' My Way

Crooner Billy Eckstine tries to handle a Stevie Wonder song (it had featured on Wonder's 1966 Down To Earth album) and while it doesn't really suit him, it's ok. More suited to his deep crooning voice is Anyone Here Goin' My Way.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - If You Can Want/When The Words From Your Heart Get Caught Up In Your Throat

If You Can Want is one of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' best "not quite so well-known" songs, along with 1971's I Don't Blame You At All. It is a bongo-backed little groover of a number. 

The very Robinson-titled When The Words From Your Heart Get Caught Up In Your Throat is also a fine song - a solid mid-pace soul number.

Chris Clark - Whisper You Love Me Boy 💠

Tall, blonde Chris Clark always seemed to strike unlucky at Motown. She put out some great singles but never had a big hit. This was her final Motown single and a great one it is too, with a killer bassline and a fine vocal from Chris.

Jimmy Ruffin - I'll Say Forever My Love/Everybody Needs Love ⭐

I'll Say Forever My Love has a hooky, catchy and highly singable refrain but it probably the lesser of Ruffin's great run of singles from this period. Only just, though. It's still a seriously good song. I love everything Jimmy Ruffin did, so I'm bound to say that.

Everybody Needs Love is just classic Motown - a pounding beat, vibrant female backing vocals and a towering lead vocal. Jimmy makes it sound so goddamn easy. It has the status of a minor single when compared to the "big three" - What Becomes Of the Brokenhearted, I've Passed This Way Before and Farewell Is A Lonely Sound - which is to do it a disservice. It's a goodie. It was also recorded by The Temptations, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Velvelettes and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

Bobby Taylor And The Vancouvers - Does Your Mama Know About Me?/Fading Away

Does Your Mama Know About Me? was one of Motown's first controversial songs, concerning an inter-racial relationship, in this case between a Chinese American and an African American. Diana Ross & The Supremes also covered the song on the Love Child album from the same year. While its intentions are fine, I have always found it a bit of a boring ballad. Sorry!

More to my taste is the soulful Temptations-esque 'b' side, Fading Away. Actually, it was a Temptations 'b' side from 1966. It was also done by The Marvelettes on their 1971 Return Of The Marvelettes album. So many Motown songs were shared around, weren't they? You almost lose track of who did what in a lot of cases, and certainly who did it first. 

Diana Ross & The Supremes - Forever Came Today ⭐

Another big hit single* is up next in one of my all-time favourites, Forever Came Today, a track also covered by The Jackson 5. It is a brooding, yearning love song with a strong build up and a great chorus. It features one of Diana Ross's finest vocals for the group. She did it alone, however, none of Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard or Cindy Birdsong appeared on the track, something that would unfortunately become more common in the last few years of the group's existence.

* or so I thought. Actually, it was the first Diana Ross & Supremes single since Run Run Run in 1964 not to make the US Top Twenty! That statistic is quite an amazing run of success, isn't it? Anyway, this definitely should have been a top twenty hit, for sure. 

The Isley Brothers - Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)/Why When Love Is Gone ⭐

Just how much does Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me In A Little While) rock? It is a full-on Motown classic - full of irrepressible energy. Kim Weston also had a big hit with it and The Doobie Brothers covered it on their 1975 album Stampede.

Another great one from The Isleys is the stonking Why When Love Is Gone. It should have been a huge hit, and not just on the Northern Soul scene. It is a corker from the brothers' 1967 Soul On the Rocks album.

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Disc Two

Stevie Wonder - Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day/Why Don't You Lead Me To Love 💠

The extremely silly-titled Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day was one of Stevie Wonder's lesser-known singles. It didn't do well in the UK. I am labelling it a hidden gem for that reason, probably the only Steve Wonder track I will do that for! A clavinet-driven funky groove, it came from 1968's For Once In My Life album. Michael Jackson covered the song in 1971. I like it a lot. Like many Stevie songs, it is built around one riff. As always, though - what a riff. Stevie interpreted the beat and the riff in a booth with his headphones on, letting the music get right inside his very soul. His instinct was unbelievable. 

Why Don't You Lead Me To Love is a gospelly slow burner of a ballad. It didn't appear on any album and has a lot of Ray Charles influence.

Edwin Starr - I Am The Man For You Baby/My Weakness Is You

A star (sorry!), for me, over the next few years at Motown, this muscular ballad was Edwin's second single for the label. He dominated the next few volumes of this collection, but he started his Motown journey here. 

My Weakness Is You is a wonderful, drum-powered danceable stomper that became a huge Northern Soul cult hit in the mid-seventies. Both sides here appeared on Edwin's excellent 1968 Soul Master album.

Barbara McNair - Where Would I Be Without You

Barbara McNair had a bit of a MOR thing to her, but she definitely had soul and proved it on this appealing, attractively-orchestrated number. Like with Brenda Holloway, I have never been a huge fan of Barbara McNair, but this is definitely one of her best. 

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing/Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl ⭐

Just how good a duet is Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing? One of Motown's best, surely? Marvin and Tammi just do it. No further comment needed. Perfection.

Little Ole Boy, Little Ole Girl is a solid 'b' side, with Tammi's vocal particularly and unusually powerful, gruffer than usual. It was an Etta James song and Tammi seems to channeling her inner Etta.

The Monitors - Bring Back The Love 💠

The Monitors were a three man one woman foursome. Bring Back The Love is a chunky and punchy deep cut packed full of soul. One of those great Motown non-hits that these collections are full of.

Martha And The Vandellas - I Promise To Wait My Love/Forget Me Not ⭐

I Promise To Wait My Love had a Stax-like groove to it - more Stax than Motown, particularly in its Steve Cropper-ish guitar sound. Martha's vocal, and the backing, are both really down 'n' dirty, gritty and soulful. Martha almost sounds like Aretha Franklin at some points, praise indeed. It is one of the group's most intrinsically soul recordings. Check out a great stereo version of it on Martha Reeves & The Vandellas: Gold. I reckon Southside Johnny would love this. 

The "star hit" is awarded here for Forget Me Not, a song about a loved one leaving for Vietnam that I have known and loved for years now, since I first heard it on one of the Motown Chartbusters compilations in the seventies. Martha's heartbreakingly-emotive vocal makes it such a wonderful song.

R. Dean Taylor - Gotta See Jane ⭐

Surfacing again in Vol. 11a - 1971 was this R. Dean Taylor classic. It was a superbly atmospheric number - loaded with all sorts - car noises, rain noises and big orchestration deep bass, Motown beats. It tells the story of a guy driving through a wet night desperate to find his lover Jane. It's a great song from the very underrated Taylor.

Four Tops - If I Were A Carpenter/Wonderful Baby ⭐

A sublime Tim Hardin cover, If I Were A Carpenter was a classic, with its melodic keyboard intro and ubiquitous, wonderful Levi Stubbs vocal. It features another magnificent James Jamerson bass line. Great stuff. Holland-Dozier-Holland did what they often did, and re-worked and ballad with a beat. It is one of my favourite Four Tops singles. No, make that one of my favourite Motown singles, full stop. I love that insistent and melodious keyboard line that underpins the song. There's just something so appealing about it. Robert Plant did a fine cover of it on his 1993 album, Fate Of Nations.

Wonderful Baby was a robust Smokey Robinson song that didn't appear on an album. both these track appeared on the Four Tops' 1966 Reach Out album.

The Temptations - I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)/Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got ⭐

I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You) was the great David Ruffin's last single with The Temptations. It is a great one too, with his wonderful, expressive voice soaring above the subtle guitar, bongos and smooth strings backing. Motown Heaven. 

Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got was a hit for Jimmy Ruffin, David's brother. Both versions are good ones, but it is the Jimmy Ruffin one that I have always been familiar. Amazingly, it is the presence of The Temptations' backing vocals that find me preferring the solo vocal on Jimmy's version - sacrilege I know, but relevant in the case only!

The Detroit Wheels - Linda Sue Dixon/Tally Ho 💠

Now without Mitch Ryder, white rock-funk group recorded this muscular single for Motown. Linda Sue Dixon is a powerful serving of organ-driven funky rock and Tally Ho has the group doing a sort of James Brown thing on a fast-paced funker. Two quality and slightly different rarities here. Both tracks cook on high heat.

The Marvelettes - Here I Am Baby/Keep Off, No Trespassing 💠

Here I Am Baby was as sensually funky a song as Motown released. Wanda Young delivers a fine vocal over a gently sexy organ-powered backing. 

Keep Off, No Trespassing was an old Gladys Horton vocal number that had a great typically Motown/Northern Soul thump and stomp to it. Add a killer saxophone solo mid-song and you have a great deep cut. I love it. So much treasure to be found in these vaults. 

Shorty Long - Here Comes The Judge/Sing What You Wanna

Proper cookin' funk here as Shorty Long apes the Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In character (played by "Pigmeat" Markham on the show) delivering a funked-up vocal over a copper-bottomed frenetic funky beat. It became Shorty Long's biggest chart hit. I remember as a ten year-old back in 1968 that even in the UK "here come the judge" was a catchphrase. 

The 'b' side, Sing What You Wanna is a little gem of a rarity, full of catchy, lively soul. I have found that I have liked all of Shorty Long's material. He was a solid, muscular and funky little guy with a great, gritty voice that tended to get overshadowed by the slightly lighthearted vibe of some of his songs. Don't ever lose sight of the fact that Shorty had soul. 

The Volumes - Ain't That Lovin' You/I Love You Baby 💠

More deep cut nirvana here. The Volumes had been around since the early sixties and they returned here with a rock solid, pounding soulful number in Ain't That Lovin' You. Only its slightly too slow beat stop it from being a Northern Soul classic. 

I Love You Baby has an absolutely glorious, deep bassline and a superb falsetto vocal. Two really impressive tracks here. Velvet from the vaults.

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Disc Three

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Yester Love/Much Better Off

Smokey is back with more effortlessly delivered quality. It is similar to Stevie Wonder's Yester-Me etc but only really in the title and its lively pace. Otherwise it's just a really good song as so many of these Smokey songs are - not necessarily mega-hits, but overflowing with class, both melodically and lyrically.

Much Better Off is a smooth late-night ballad. It's killer bassline time as well. 

Gladys Knight & The Pips - It Should Have Been Me/You Don't Love Me No More 

This was a version of the song that became a surprise 1976 big hit for Yvonne Fair. As so often with Gladys, her version, however clearly strong it is, becomes the lesser-known one. Kim Weston had originally done the song in 1963. For many in the UK, we all thought Yvonne Fair's version was the original, and we compare the others unfavourably to hers. I have to admit that, as much as I love Gladys, Yvonne's version is just so dramatic. Gladys's version appeared on her 1967 Feelin' Bluesy album. 

Another song I know better from another's version was You Don't Love Me No More, which I knew from The Temptations' version of it. It came from Gladys' 1967 Everybody Needs Love album.

Diana Ross & The Supremes - What The World Needs Now Is Love/Your Kiss Of Fire/Some Things You Never Get Used To/You've Been So Wonderful To Me ⭐

The star is awarded here for the Northern Soul beat of Some Things You Never Get Used To, a song I have loved since the seventies. It also gave its title to Elvis Costello & The Attractions' single High Fidelity, where it introduced the song as its first line, just as it did on Diana Ross & The Supremes' version here. The song was a comparative failure as a single, but I think it is one of the group's great underrated singles. 

The group were treading water somewhat in recording Bacharach/David's ubiquitous What The World Needs Now Is Love, however pleasant their version is. Your Kiss Of Fire is a song that dated back to the 1964 Where Did I Love Go album.

I love You've Been So Wonderful To Me. It had that mid-sixties Supremes sound and yes, it probably sounded somewhat dated by 1968 but forget that, it's a good one. 

Jimmy Ruffin - Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me/Lonely Lonely Man Am I 

The energetic, melodic Don't Let Him Take Your Love From Me (recorded on Disc One by Gladys Knight & The Pips) has a thumping beat and a killer vocal from Ruffin. I love it. How many times am I saying that? Sorry, just nothing else to say sometimes other than how I feel in as simple terms as possible.

Lonely Lonely Man Am I shows how Jimmy could handle a classic slow ballad too. It has always reminded me quite a lot of The Drifters' On Broadway in its melody and dramatic, atmospheric brass/strings orchestration. It was also covered by The Velvelettes, The Temptations and Chuck Jackson.

Stevie Wonder - You Met Your Match/My Girl 💠

You Met Your Match is a precursor to Stevie's seventies work with the electronic funky keyboard sound to the fore on what is an upbeat, grinding workout. The instrument was the Hohner clavinet, and it would come to dominate Wonder's music for years to come. It made its first appearance here. It funks it up from the first note. Top notch Wonder funky pop. I said earlier for Shoo-Be-Doo that it was rare for me to label a Stevie Wonder song as a hidden gem, but there you go - I've done it again!

Stevie's cover of The Temptations' My Girl was taken from his 1967 I Was Made To Love Her album. Stevie does it well, of course, but I'm just so familiar with The Temptations and Otis Redding's versions.

Bobby Taylor And The Vancouvers - I Am Your Man/If You Love Her

Some quality soul balladry from Bobby Taylor here on I Am Your Man. If You Love Her is a faster-paced, very Motown-sounding number.

Four Tops - Yesterday's Dreams/For Once In My Life ⭐

Yesterday's Dreams was an Ivy Jo Hunter song that signalled the start of life after HDH. It is powerful, deeply bassy and soulful. It is far more "soul" than it is "Motown". You can clearly hear the difference in approach.

Stevie Wonder's For Once In My life is delivered in a supper club, relaxed easy listening fashion. It's ok but give me Stevie's rhythms any day. This is Motown, not Sinatra. It came from their 1967 album The Four Tops On Broadway.

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - You're All I Need To Get By ⭐

Now, let's get ourselves sanctified with a true classic. That's all I need to say, really. I could shut up here and that would be fine. See earlier reviews as regards how well these two sang together. It's a thing of beauty. I love the way the strings just subtly fade in to the song, shimmering side-by-side with one of those gorgeous deep, melodic basslines. Then the two voices arrive and we are taken to Motown ballad Heaven. When Tammi sings "just to do what's good for you and inspire you a little higher" my soul soars with her. God bless her. The climactic bit where the drums get more frantic and the voices trade off against each other is magnificent, it almost sounds as if it is a one-off ad lib performance. Who knows, it may have been done in one take. Somehow I'd like to think so. 

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - I Care About Detroit

An unusual one-off single from Smokey and the boys. It was a tribute to their recently riot-torn home town. Fine sentiments but in 1968 it still seemed as if they were pissing against the wind at times.

The Temptations - Please Return Your Love To Me/How Can I Forget

David Ruffin was now officially gone. The Temptations dipped into their 1968 I Wish It Would Rain album for Please Return Your Love To Me. Eddie Kendricks now reminds us just how marvellous that falsetto vocal was but the song, however good (and it is), screams loudly "album track" as opposed to killer single.

How Can I Forget has the expressive and soulful voice of Paul Williams on lead. He was definitely one of Motown's most underrated vocalists. I love any song he led on.

Jr. Walker & The All Stars - Hip City (Part2)/Jr. Walker & The All Stars - Hip City (Part 1) ⭐

Strangely, the 'b' side appears first in this collection's running order. Either way, the track is a an appropriately cookin' romp from the group's Home Cookin' album. Jr. Walker kicked ass just by stepping into a studio. The track has a James Brown-ish loose funky ad hoc vocal.

Martha And The Vandellas - I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playin'/I Tried ⭐

I Can't Dance To That Music You're Playin' was a great bit of Motown - wonderful James Jamerson bass, an upbeat Motown sound and a great saxophone solo too. One of Martha & the girls' best. That said, apparently, Rita Wright sang Martha's parts on the chorus because Martha's vocals were lost for some reason and she then sulked off in a huff after Wright was brought in to sing the chorus. Martha later said "it really pissed me off that she sounded just like Dian(e) Ross!". Listen to the chorus - you will hear what she meant. The vocals are higher than on any other Martha Reeves & The Vandellas songs.

I Tried is pure unadulterated Martha and you can tell that too. It's a goodie.

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Disc Four

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Special Occasion/Give Her Up

Another single release from the prolific group and their special songwriter and leader. They were releasing so much stuff at this time. Special Occasion is a mightily hooky number that gave its title to their equally impressive 1968 album. It is another of the group's excellent but comparatively little-known singles. Check out that groovy brass solo in the middle too. 

Give Her Up was another of those lush, sumptuous Smokey ballads. Man, that voice gets me very time. You could alway rely on Smokey and the lads to serve up quality. Both these songs came from the Special Occasion album. I urge you to check it out - it is in superb stereo. The sound quality is top notch - listen to that wonderful drum, guitar, bass, brass and string sound on Special Occasion (the track) - it is mind-blowingly good. Stereo fans form an orderly line behind me.

Paul Petersen - A Little Bit For Sandy/Your Love's Got Me Burning Alive

A genuine deep cut here. Paul Peterson had appeared on Vol. 7. Here he contributes the irresistibly poppy A Little Bit For Sandy, a song which is very much in the late sixties upbeat, bubblegum-ish pop style.

Love's Got Me Burning Alive is also lively but is more soulful than poppy.

Gladys Knight & The Pips - I Wish It Would Rain/It's Summer

Another song from Gladys that was better-known by someone else. This time it's The Temptations' I Wish It Would Rain. Think she's had enough of songs done by them? No Sir. She covers It's Summer too, for good measure. The 'a' side came from Gladys' Silk 'n' Soul album from 1968, the 'b' side from 1969's Nitty Gritty. Both of the versions are strong ones. What did you expect? It's Gladys. It was a good job that she eventually had some hit singles that were hers and hers alone, though.

Billy Eckstine - For Love Of Ivy/Woman

Middle-of-the-road classy balladry. Very sixties. Not really my thing but I can't object to either song.

Barbara Randolph - Can I Get A Witness 💠

Barbara Randolph had released one of my favourite Motown deep cuts of all time in the previous year's I Got A Feeling. Her cover of Marvin Gaye's Can I Get A Witness found here is excellent too - powerful, punchy and pounding, just as I like it. I can't speak highly enough about it. Its sound is very much in the funky '68 soul fashion. I have to say that it positively drips and rips with kick-ass brassy funk. In that respect i. e. its funky power, it is a bit ahead of its time. It appears on the excellent, highly recommended double CD compilation, Motown Funk. It is amazing that Barbara hardly released much at all for Motown, yet the stuff she did lay down was superb. A real rarity I have of hers is a great piece of smoochy, late-night soul with a subtly funky edge entitled Soul Searching that appears on the compilation Backbeats: Unexploited & Underrated on the Backbeats label. Check it out. Incidentally, the 'a' side of this single, You Got Me Hurtin' All Over, is covered in the 1967 Volume as the 'b' side to I Got A Feeling.

Marvin Gaye - Chained

Chained had been recorded by Paul Peterson the previous year, but here the peerless Marvin Gaye makes it his own. It is full of rhythm and that afore-mentioned '68-style funky soul. It is one of Gaye's best slightly lesser-known hits.

The Ones - Don't Let Me Lose This Dream/I've Been Good To You

The Ones would credit Dany Hernandez as their vocalist on Vol. 10. Don't Let Me Lose This Dream is a freakout, psychedelic groove. Very 1968. Not Motown '68, but 1968 in the wider musical world. It has an infectious funky rhythm to it in places.

I've Been Good To You is less on the psychedelia and a bit more on the soul. It is very organ-powered. This would be the last single on Motown as The Ones.

The Monitors - Step By Step (Hand In Hand)/Time Is Passin' By

Talking of final singles, this was the last offering from The Monitors. It was an enjoyable, hope for the world's future, gospel number. It has a Staple Singers vibe to it.

Time Is Passin' By was also recorded by Edwin Starr for his Soul Master album. I can see why he chose it too, it is full of soulful energy.

Eivets Rednow - Alfie/More Than A Dream

This was Stevie Wonder spelt backwards. Why? Who knows? Maybe as a way of marketing his instrumental recordings. Alfie is a harmonica-led cover of the Cilla Black movie soundtrack hit.

More Than A Dream is also a harmonica instrumental, this time far more upbeat and very sixties with odd hints of Gerry & The Pacemakers' Ferry Cross The Mersey in its melody at times. 

The Marvelettes - Destination: Anywhere/What's Easy For Two Is Hard For One 💠

I love The Marvelettes (and the almost indistinguishable Velvelettes too, of course!). Both these excellent tracks came from the equally impressive 1968 album Sophisticated Soul. They are both quality, upbeat and very Motown numbers, the 'b' side had been a hit for Mary Wells back in 1963. Connie Haynes also recorded it in 1966. There is a glorious stereo version of Destination: Anywhere available on Forever More: The Complete Motown Albums Volume 2. It is beautifully rich, warm, deep and bassy and as you probably know by now, I love that. It gives the song new life, a beautiful stereo renaissance. 

What's Easy For Two Is Hard For One is also available in stereo. Its jaunty, breezy sound is a total joy from beginning to end. Both of these songs definitely earn their "hidden gems" diamonds. I love that bassline so much and Wanda Young Rogers' vocal is both sweet and seductive simultaneously. I have said before that was one of the great Motown underrated voices. 

The Detroit Wheels - Think (About The Good Things)/For The Love Of A Stranger 💠

Think (About The Good Things) dated from The 5 Royales in 1957 and it is rhythmic as hell, featuring some totally infectious drum breaks, similar to those found on Sam Cooke's Shake. James Brown also recorded the song.

For The Love Of A Stranger was a slower (but no less punchy) ballad.

Marvin Gaye - His Eye On The Sparrow

Both this and the Gladys Knight track below were from a tribute album. They were released as a double 'a' side. Both are gospel hymns. Marvin, of course, does a great job......

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Just A Closer Walk With Thee

.....as does Gladys. This was the longest track - over four minutes - to be released on a Motown single thus far. Neither are particularly commercial, however.

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Disc Five

Four Tops - I'm In A Different World/Remember When ⭐

As I said on my review of Yesterday's Dreams, songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had contributed so much to the Four Tops' success throughout the sixties, had now left Motown after a financial dispute. They left only one song on the group's Yesterday's Dreams album, ironically I'm In A Different World, which Eddie Holland apparently considered his finest ever song. It would not be my first choice, although it is a great song, with a delicious bass line and catchy refrain. It was to be the last HDH single contemporaneously released by Motown. It was a fine one to leave on. Thanks to three of the greatest songwriters the world has ever known.

The chunky Remember When was a genuine Motown song, an Ivy Jo Hunter one which actually sounded as if it were an H-D-H one, as so many of them did. The transition was actually pretty seamless, and actually, as odd as it sounds, perhaps a necessary one.

Fantastic Four - I Love You Madly/I Love You Madly (Instrumental) 💠

A fine soulful deep cut here, with an equally attractive trumpet-driven instrumental. The vocal cut is a really good, powerful ballad, chock full of soul. 

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Keep On Lovin' Me Honey/You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'

The sweet-voiced pair declare their love for each other most soulfully and convincingly on Keep On Lovin' Me Honey. Sadly, two days after recording it, Tammi collapsed with the illness that would claim her life.

Similarly appealing and committed is You Ain't Livin' Till You're Lovin'. Drop those 'g's now!

Diana Ross & The Supremes - Love Child/Will This Be The Day ⭐

This was the single which saw it all change for Diana Ross & The Supremes, they no longer used the songwriting team of Holland/Dozier/Holland and released a song written by Deke Richards and Pam Swayer that covered a comparatively mature, hard-hitting, maybe controversial theme as opposed to simply pop singles about boy/girl love. It was about a young girl's reticence about possibly getting pregnant and facing the many hardships of being a single mother. For 1968 this was certainly not the norm, particularly on the often somewhat prudish Motown label.

Will This Be The Day is a sensually rhythmic Smokey Robinson number about a girl desperate for a man to take her as a lover. Motown were getting more daring each day.

Barbara McNair - You Could Never Love Him (Like I Love Him)Fancy Passes

Speaking of daring, this was seemingly straight-laced Barbara McNair's last single Motown, after which she appeared in Playboy magazine! Heaven help us! She also starred opposite Sidney Poitier in They Call Me MISTER Tibbs. Regarding these songs, the first is a regulation ballad, the second a frivolous, skittish and jaunty fun-filled number. Neither of them really do it for me, though.

Marv Johnson - I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose/You Got The Love I Love ⭐

Motown now went full circle on this, another final single. Marv Johnson had the first single release on this series in Come To Me, back in 1959. I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose actually dated from 1968, but it had the feel and sound of a mid-sixties Motown song. It was a surprise top ten hit in the UK. I have known it and loved it for ages now, way back since first hearing it on Motown Chartbusters Vol. 3 in the mid-seventies.

You Got The Love I Love is another one that was popular in the UK, having a bit of a Northern Soul feel about it.

Bobby Taylor And The Vancouvers - Malinda/It's Growing

Malinda is a solid, smoochy ballad and It's Growing was a lively Temptations cover. As I have said before in these reviews, Bobby Taylor did not cut bad records and these two are no different. 

Martha And The Vandellas - Sweet Darlin'/Without You 💠

Similar to Bobby Taylor, Martha Reeves didn't do bad ones either. Sweet Darlin' has a superb deep bass sound to it, hooks-a-plenty and, of course, a killer lead vocal from our Martha. I love everything she did. She could totally own a song. Without You is another track that would get some Northern Soul popularity in the UK.

Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life/Angie Girl ⭐

For Once In My Life is an eternal classic. Songs like this need no introduction, do they? There have been so many covers of the song, but none match that guitar intro, the shuffling rhythm and Stevie's breezy, whistling-accompanied vocal. It has remained a timeless favourite and rightly so. Oh, and I've forgotten the harmonica solo. How could I? Everything about the song is perfect. It has been covered so many times for a reason.

Angie Girl was a gentle loved-up ballad, one with a nice string backing that combined well with some quite powerful drums. Many Motown ballads had this sturdy drum sound and it is something I like about them. It gives them that authentic soul vibe. There's some fetching brass on this too. 

Abdullah - I Comma Zimba Zio (Here I Stand The Mighty One)/Why Them, Why Me 

A genuine rarity here. Abdullah was a black musician who converted to Islam and had a total belief in black supremacy. He ended up being thrown out of the Hitsville USA Studios, never to return. His two sides here are actually soulful and pleasant - the first faster and more rhythmic in its world music-influenced way, the second blissfully late-night and relaxing. The guy had a sweet voice that belied such inner rage. He didn't want women near him in the studio either, concerned about the evil effects of their menstruation. Charming.

The Spinners - Bad, Bad Weather (Till You Come Home)/I Just Can't Help But Feel The Pain 

Let's get back to some nicer guys shall we? Bad, Bad Weather was a superb, Temptations-sounding number from the excellent Spinners. Indeed, David Ruffin recorded the song in his solo career. G. C. Cameron is on lead vocals for the first time. 

I Just Can't Help But Feel The Pain dated from way back in 1965 and featured Bobbie Smith on lead duties. It is ok, but not as good as Bad, Bad Weather, however, sounding its age to an extent.

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Disc Six

The Temptations - Cloud Nine/Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go) ⭐

Cloud Nine is a superb, muscular number with an outstanding deep, bassy stereo sound that just blasts out of your speakers. Its theme was somewhat controversial in its drug references and its sound is very much one of the first in the "psychedelic soul" sub-genre brought to us by Norman Whitfield. Just get a load of those cymbals, and the bongoes too. It's simply a goddamn superb record.

I have to say that Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go) with Dennis Edwards supplying a sublime, slightly emotionally-cracked lead vocal is The Temptations at their most beautifully soulful. Get a load of that beautiful bassline and those fatback drums on the stereo version of the Cloud Nine album. It is a lovely little hidden gem.

Edwin Starr - Way Over There/If My Heart Could Tell The Story

Way Over There is a big stomper in the style that Edwin Starr would soon make his own. It is yet another quality cut from his excellent Soul Master album, which contains twelve of them. Check out that big, throbbing bass. 

If My Heart Could Tell the Story is an equally bassy and beautifully powerful ballad in the Jimmy Ruffin style. It would appear on Starr's 25 Miles album. The punchy, deep mono sound is truly wonderful on these two cuts.

The Isley Brothers - All Because I Love You/Behind A Painted Smile ⭐

All Because I Love You, a Frank Wilson song, absolutely paled in comparison to its 'b' side, despite not being a bad song at all. The 45 was duly flipped. It would be the group's final single on Motown.

Behind A Painted Smile, of course, uses the Isley Brothers' trademark buzzy guitar sound at its most well known with a superb, gritty riff. This song is one of the best Motown singles of all time, no question. An absolute killer. What a song the group left us with.

Blinky - I Wouldn't Change The Man He Is/I'll Always Love You

A solid, slow gospelly ballad from strong-voiced Blinky on the 'a' side, and on the flip too. She was one of the best female singers on the label not to make it.

Jimmy Ruffin - Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love/Sad And Lonesome Feeling ⭐

Another great Norman Whitfield-Barrett Strong song in Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love and it completes three killer songs given to Ruffin from these two mighty songwriters. This material is up there with the stuff they gave to The Temptations. The Tempts, at the time, were doing Whitfield's "psychedelic" material, so the romantic stuff went to Jimmy Ruffin. The songs are seriously good. 

I can give similar praise to the solid, muscular vibe of the Four Tops-ish Sad And Lonesome Feeling, a song which is driven along by some great rumbling bass and rhythmic drums. This was a great twofer 45.

Diana Ross And The Supremes & The Temptations - The Impossible Dream/I'm Gonna Make You Love Me/A Place In The Sun ⭐

Diana Ross suits the diva-esque show song glamour of The Impossible Dream down to the ground. This sort of song was often put on to albums like this to lure "adult" record buyers as well as pop-loving teenagers. It is delivered perfectly, but it does seem a bit incongruous amongst all the Motown majesty of much of this supergroup's other material.

A huge hit, the timeless I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, keeps the quality coming. It is possibly the best of all the Motown collaborations. 

Stevie Wonder's A Place In The Sun has a big, bassy backing and Diana Ross's lead vocal handles the song beautifully.

The Temptations - Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer/Silent Night

Merry Christmas from The Temptations. One song fun, one song emotive and moving.

Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine/You're What's Happening (In The World Today) ⭐

What more can be said about I Heard It Through The Grapevine? It is sort of unique, isn't it? Many say it has a mysterious melody and backbeat to it and, listening to it again, I guess that is true, although I've never quite picked up on that. It's just a damn good tune to me, but I know what they mean. That keyboard and tambourine intro. Motown "quality control" executives initially rejected the song as a potential single, by the way. The song was originally recorded by good old Gladys Knight, of course. She struck unlucky - again!

You're What's Happening (In The World Today) is a strong flip side too, containing a bit of its partner's oomph. Obviously it doesn't quite get there but it isn't a bad 'b' side at all. Check out the wonderful stereo version on the In The Groove album if you can. As usual, it gives the track new life. 

Tammi Terrell - This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)/Just Too Much To Hope For 💠

Two absolute gens from the much-missed Tammi here. Her take on The Isley Brothers' This Old Heart Of Mine is gloriously vibrant and funky. Just Too Much To Hope For is lovely - her voice has a heartbreaking tinge to it, made all the more sad considering the circumstances. I love both of these.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Baby Baby Don't Cry/Your Mother's Only Daughter

Baby Baby Don't Cry is classic lush, honeydew Smokey. Not really hit single material but classy all that same, as was so often the case with Smokey.

Your Mother's Only Daughter from the Special Occasion album, was one of those clever Robinson songs, lyrically. I much prefer it to the 'a' side. It is one of my favourites of his. 

Jr. Walker & The All Stars - Home Cookin'/Mutiny 💠

Home Cookin' is another solid, vocal funk-pop number in a James Brown style and once again treating us to a magnificent, rubber band bass. Mutiny has a great, rhythmic sound to it that you simply can't keep still to. Check out James Jamerson's bass solo. 

The Marvelettes - I'm Gonna Hold On Long As I Can/Don't Make Hurting Me A Habit 💠

The much-underrated Marvelettes gave us some muscular, upbeat soul in I'm Gonna Hold On For As Long As I Can. It was the only time Ann Bogan featured on a Marvelettes single 'a' side. Don't Make Hurting A Habit is more soulful, with Wanda Young Rogers back on lead duties. As with the previous 45, both tracks are from the excellent Sophisticated Soul album.

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