Thursday, August 26, 2010

Torch Songs: Motown

motown


The Four Tops: Standing in the Shadows of Love

[purchase]

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles: The Tracks of my Tears

[purchase]

The Temptations: Since I Lost My Baby

[purchase]

I wonder what was going on in the love lives of Motown's hit makers circa 1965-66? These three songs from that seemingly woeful year were huge successes for their biggest names, and they're all torch songs by men (yeah, Darius, I agree: guys sing this genre quite well!) Standing in the Shadows of Love was written by the noteworthy and prolific trio of Holland-Dozier-Holland (they wrote nearly everything Motown produced), and the last two songs were penned by Smokey Robinson (who, along with Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, wrote most of the rest).

Looks like the Motown bunch were crying all the way to the bank.

blog comments powered by Disqus