This was the first big hit for Motown founder Berry Gordy (I think), and the first big hit for songwriting trio Holland-Dozier-Holland (I think) and the first big hit for Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (for sure).
Here is a classic sixties song that I had never heard until a version by Misty Miller popped up in Lena Dunham’s excellent medieval comedy Catherine Called Birdy and sent me delving for the original.
When I first heard Nina Simone sing this, and for a long time afterwards, I thought she was singing about a “Sea Lion Woman.” Some time later I found out that the song title, which appeared as the B-side of Mississippi Goddam, is actually See-Line Woman.
Not only is this one of the catchiest songs of all time but the story behind the song is remarkable… and lives up to the title.
It’s hard not to shudder when you hear the words ‘girl group’ and ‘Phil Spector’ in the same sentence these days but The Paris Sisters seemed to survive the experience.
RIP Christine Perfect / McVie (1943-2022)
2nd December 2022 · 1960s, 1969, 2020s, 2022, Blues, Music
I can’t pretend i was ever a big Fleetwood Mac fan.
So the death of Christine McVie didn’t resonate with me as strongly as with those millions who bought Rumours. But the outpouring of love and sadness for her death is a poignant reminder of the unifying power of music.
The rarest of rare grooves, T’Ain’t No Big Thing was the only single by The Jovialetts. Who were they? A vocal girl group of the mid-1960s. Beyond that… who knows.
Here’s another sweet slice of Northern Soul from the vaults – a smooth ballad that introduced The Montclairs in 1969.
If anyone were to tell me this is the greatest single song of all time, I would not dare to disagree. It’s flawless – perfect tune, perfect lyric, perfect voice, perfect arrangement – and filled with such emotion that it makes me cry almost every time I hear it.
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I don’t know much about Dee Edwards, who sang this Northern Soul gem. It’s a B-side but I prefer it to the A-side, Tired Of Staying Home.