Quicksaaand! Heatwaaave! Quicksaaand! Heatwaaave!

Great Motown soul.

Love the legacy gordy label. One of the best female
groups of all time. It's unfortunate that the group
as well as other motown acts success tapered off
after Holland Dozier Holland left motown.

phunkdaddy said:

Yeah that is a shame.

This is not my favorite. I have all their albums til 1968, and there are album songs I like more.

graecophilos said:

Inquiring minds like to know what's your favorite Vandellas joint then.

I remember when one of my classes finished for the semester, that students from the class went to a bar to sort of unwind. We ended up talking about music and one guy started getting into how Martha and the Vandellas were the best and "Quicksand" was their best song because it had a different beat (he was in a band) than "Heatwave". I wasn't that familiar with it but said I loved "Heatwave" and he started saying "No way"....but I think their pretty damn close to each other!

VinnyM27 said:

I don't know how he can say they were different. "Quicksand" was "Heatwave's" distant cousin in terms of its sound. Let's not forget Motown was notorious for having hits with the same sound until the formula started backfiring.

After "Live Wire" and "In My Lonely Room" didn't do so hot, they had Marvin and Mickey Stevenson write a dance song for them ("Dancing in the Street") and they started recording songs in the similar fashion (with Mickey, Ivy Jo Hunter and Holland-Dozier-Holland) until the Supremes' sound eclipsed theirs. That's why the remainder of their hits ("Ready for Love", "My Baby Loves Me" and "Jimmy Mack") sounded like Supremes rejects though they were all big hits in their own right for Martha and the girls. They got the ball running again with "Love Bug" and "Honey Chile" but that's when they really started to struggle until they broke up, lol.

Now this song could also be a distant cousin of "Heatwave" in a way:



Ironically the writer and producer of this song wasn't one of the Hollands or Mr. Dozier but Smokey Robinson. Of course Motown shelved this from release after 1964.

Well everyone has their favorite and quicksand was mine.
I always dug the classic motown snare on it and i always
dug the lyrics. Of course most motown fans would favor
heatwave and dancing in the streets but i'll take this
one. Timmy i take it that spellbound may have come from
the lost and found set right.

I was considering buying the Dance Party/Watchout! 2fer.
Those are probably the best two albums the group has
back to back. Even if all their Lp's aren't classics,
their album covers sure are.

Timmy84 said:

Also having 3 or 4 different motown acts sing the same song.

phunkdaddy said:

phunkdaddy said:

RIGHT!

I'll give you some examples of that:

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Temptations and the Undisputed Truth...in that order, lol)
"Stop! In the Name of Love" (The Supremes, Kim Weston and the Isley Brothers)
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Diana Ross and the Supremes w/the Temptations, Diana Ross)
"Who's Loving You" is probably the most notorious one (The Miracles, The Supremes, The Temptations, Brenda Holloway, the Jackson 5)
"What Love Has Joined Together" (Mary Wells, The Miracles - twice!, the Temptations, Barbara McNair)
"The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (The Marvelettes, Barbara McNair, Blinky)
"Chained" (Paul Petersen, Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5)
"I Can't Give Back the Love I Feel for You" (Syreeta Wright, The Supremes, Diana Ross)
"Reach Out, I'll Be There" (The Four Tops, The Jackson 5, Diana Ross)

----
I know there's more.

phunkdaddy said:

Vanity Fair: "It Happened in Hitsville"
http://www.vanityfair.com...rentPage=1

These may be an interesting read for you all.

Timmy84 said:

Timmy, how could I such a charming boy's curiosity resist?

I prefer Dancing In The Streets
Come And Get These Memories (not sure if it was a cover from the Elgins?)
Give Him Up
Old Love

there are many more, but I can't remember their names.

graecophilos said:

"Come and Get These Memories" is a Martha and Vandellas original.

Timmy84 said:

Blinky's the schitt but I don't know that version.

Cinnie said:

c'mon y'all

Cinnie said:

I saw a version posted on YouTube. Someone played the Marvelettes', Barbara's and Blinky's versions back to back. I'll see if I can find it.

Timmy84 said:

I'll just add one.
I want you back by J5 also recorded by Martha Reeves
& the Vandellas. It was the b side to Tear it on down.

phunkdaddy said:

Ah yes, David Ruffin also did "I Want You Back".

Marvin Gaye did the original (albeit very different) version of "Tear It On Down" in '68.

TD3 said:

Thanks. Very good article. Berry and Smokey are quite the cussers
aren't they. A lot of history there and what the motown acts
had to withstand during the 60's to accomplish success.

phunkdaddy said:

If Marvin was alive today he'd be one of those cussers, I reckon. And at 70, he'll be alright to cuss now and then because he went through the same shit the other Motowners went through.

Timmy84 said:

even more....