The Temptations: My Top Ten Singles

My favourite Motown group here and another for whom a top ten is a mighty difficult one to choose songs for, and in what order.

Anyway, wait a minute......hold it, wait a minute....

⑩ JUST MY IMAGINATION (RUNNING AWAY WITH ME) (1970)

Just Your Imagination (Running Away With Me) is a sublime, perfect creation and is regularly included in those "all time Motown best of" lists. Rightly so. From the bass intro, via the strings and the backing vocals through to Eddie Kendricks' beautiful lead vocal (his final one for The Temptations) the song is peerless. Oh, and how could I forget Paul Williams "every night on my knees I pray" solo vocal on the bridge? The song was also covered by The Rolling Stones on their 1978 Some Girls album and, on their performance of it on their 2007 Shine A Light live album, Mick Jagger memorably embellishes the song's killer line into "she doesn't fucking know me!" in a classic Jagger voice. Check it out. 

⑨ CLOUD NINE (1969)

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. However, Whitfield was originally sceptical about the whole thing - "at first, I did not want to produce anything with such a radically different sound. I don't want to get into all that crazy shit. That ain't nothing but a little passing fancy." Within a few weeks, however, he had created the backing tracks for Cloud Nine. The rest is psychedelic soul history.

⑧ MY GIRL (1964)

Ok - here we go - "da-da-daah, da-da-daah..." - James Jamerson's bass, Robert White's twangy riff, those big drums, then it's David Ruffin time. Oh, and the brass and the strings are great too. In fact the whole song is just so damn perfect. It has been covered by many, many other artists, the most notable probably being Otis Redding. Songwriter Smokey Robinson envisaged it with David Ruffin directly in mind. He was right. Boy, does he nail it. It was actually his first lead vocal for The Temptations. His voice was said to be both mellow and gruff. That is exactly it. Top ten Motown, without question. Only number eight in my Temptations list, though. Maybe, The Temptations' standard was so high - here's the proof. Incidentally, the song was written by Smokey Robinson about his wife and fellow Miracle, Claudette. 

⑦ BALL OF CONFUSION (THAT'S WHAT THE WORLD IS TODAY) (1970)

The barnstorming , ground-breaking Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today) is a milestone Motown single, catching the concerned zeitgeist of 1970 - and particularly within black America - perfectly. There was a lot to be concerned about and this punchy, confrontational song lists the problems one by one. It is a masterpiece of rhythmic cynicism. Building on the psychedelic soul sound from the previous eighteen months, Norman Whitfield and the Temptations truly let it all out here. Wonderful. A true Motown protest classic. There really hadn't been anything like this before. The Undisputed Truth and Edwin Starr both recorded it as well but neither match this definitive version. Solid, top quality fare.

⑥ I CAN'T GET NEXT TO YOU (1969)

I Can't Get Next To You has a super intro in the opening door and "wait a minute" vocal bit before it kicks into a magnificent piece of lively, funky, punchy Motown pop. It is pretty much perfect in every way. I love the jazzy vocal/percussion interplay in the song's middle too. That Dennis Edwards spoken intro, by the way, was used again in 1970's Psychedelic Shack. This single, while not particularly "psychedelic soul" in its sound - i. e. no blatant wah-wah or funky bits - was right in at the beginning of that spectacular and memorable phase of the group's career. The song is brimful of energy, vitality, vibrancy, vigour and any other superlative beginning with "v" you can think of. Vivacious? Yeah, that too. 

⑤ PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE (1972)

At number five is an absolute classic. A track that proved The Temptations were anything but finished - as had been suggested by some - not for a while at least. Here you get the full twelve minute version. Papa Was A Rolling Stone has that intoxicating bass and slow burning funky orchestration of an intro before Dennis Edwards comes in with his legendary "it was the third of September..." opening line. Great stuff. Funnily enough, Whitfield first used the song with his other main group, The Undisputed Truth. Good as they were, this is the definitive version, no doubt about that. I really love the funky instrumental version that appeared as the (edited) single's 'b' side too. Every time I hear the song I am instantly transported back to 1972 when I first got into it - it got a lot of radio play (in its abridged version).

④ AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG (1966)

One of my favourite Motown songs of all time here. David Ruffin's lead vocal on it is simply stunning. He was the ideal choice to lead the song, because it seems to me to be a bit of a difficult one to master, something about its slightly offbeat quirky melody. There's changes of pace and emphasis all over the place. Considering the song dates back to 1966 it exemplifies just how far the composition of three minute pop songs had developed over such a short period of time. It has been covered, competently enough, by The Rolling Stones on their 1974 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll album and I once memorably found myself a couple of yards away from Mick Jagger as he sang it on a raised podium at London's O2 centre. Did you need to know that? Not really, but I've told it anyway. I outsang him. (Yeah right....)

③ I WISH IT WOULD RAIN (1967)

The simply magnificent, scintillatingly soulful I Wish It Would Rain is a great way in which to remember David Ruffin's incredible contribution to The Temptations. His voice on it is just wonderful. It is maybe his finest moment, with The Temptations and as a solo artist. Yes, he may have been an egoist and a disruptive influence on the group's dynamic, but by God the guy could sing. It is one of the great Motown songs, for me, simply dripping with intrinsic soul. The song has been covered by many artists, of course, the best ones arguably being those by Rod Stewart, Gladys Knight and Bobby Womack. Some songs are just so damn good that I find it difficult to write much about them other than to say how good they are. I could sort of do this top ten by just writing "it's great" for each one and leaving it at that. 

② THE LAW OF THE LAND (1973)

The Law Of The Land is, along with Masterpiece, the last truly great Temptations classic. It is a superb, uplifting, upbeat, pounding slab of soul magnificence. I love it and never tire of its infectious, pulsating rhythms. From its first few seconds, it kicks serious ass. When the drums kick in - wow. One of my favourite tracks of all time, from anyone. Just perfect. It was also recorded by producer Norman Whitfield's protégées The Undisputed Truth in a slightly more gospelly style. It is good but there was something about the infectious, pounding beat of The Temptations' glorious, stomping version that makes it the superior version, and gets it all the way up to number two in my chart. 

① DON'T LOOK BACK (1965)

Don't Look Back earns the ultimate number one accolade here. It is one of my favourite Temptations tracks of all time. Paul Williams - not Ruffin or Kendricks - delivers a supremely soulful lead vocal. It is lush, smooth, warm and romantic. It is just a fantastic song, nothing more, nothing less and it has been covered by Elvis Costello (as a superb live extra on 1983's Punch The Clock album), Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger (on 1978's Bush Doctor album) and Southside Johnny (on 1984's In The Heat album), all of whom did a great job on it. You know when you fantasise about singing a song live (well, sometimes I do), this is one I often choose, along with Chairmen Of The Board's Working On A Building Of Love. That's a ludicrous idea actually, because my singing is bloody awful. 

Bubbling under - Psychedelic Shack, (I Know) I'm Losing You, Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, Get Ready, The Way You Do The Things You Do....