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View Full Version : Brenda Holloway-Just look what you've done


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marv2
02-01-2015, 12:25 AM
Was this ever a hit?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYVZx5bBWx4

daviddesper
02-01-2015, 01:43 AM
I am not sure how much of one, but it was a great song! I remember her being on American Bandstand doing it one day.

mowest
02-01-2015, 02:24 AM
This song hit #69 on Billboard's Pop chart, #21 on its R&B chart and #93 on Cashbox's Pop chart. It deserved much better.

no_place_like_motown
02-01-2015, 08:20 AM
This song hit #69 on Billboard's Pop chart, #21 on its R&B chart and #93 on Cashbox's Pop chart. It deserved much better.

I agree; it was one of Brenda's best "released" songs...

westgrandboulevard
02-01-2015, 09:28 AM
I enjoy all of Brenda's songs, but the Detroit recordings - like this one - will always be my favourites.

Just my personal preference, but I wish her band tracks, at least, had been recorded in Detroit so that Brenda's vocals, for most of her recordings, could then be added at a later date...:)

mr soul
02-01-2015, 03:29 PM
I agree; it was one of Brenda's best "released" songs...



I agree; however I would go even further & say it was one of Motown's best releases

mowest
02-01-2015, 09:33 PM
"Just my personal preference, but I wish her band tracks, at least, had been recorded in Detroit so that Brenda's vocals, for most of her recordings, could then be added at a later date...:)"

I wholeheartedly agree, westgrandboulevard. It's somewhat off-putting to hear a Motown song, recorded during its "classic period," with a non-Funk Brothers track!

westgrandboulevard
02-02-2015, 05:02 AM
Yes, Mowest, I agree it was off-putting to my own ears.

I don't agree with Smokey Robinson when he says they recorded everywhere, 'and still got the same sound'. I could say 'yes' to that, but only if it was just the vocals which were recorded outside Detroit.

For example: the instrumentation on Smokey's 'More Love' does have a very similar feel to those tracks recorded in Detroit, but is also 'light' when compared to how it would have sounded had it been recorded in the Snakepit, or at Golden World.

Likewise, many if not all of the Barbara Randolph tracks, although 'I Got A Feeling' does come close!

Even Martha's 'I'm Ready For Love' band track has a feel of being recorded elsewhere, then returned to Hitsville for vocals and maybe more instrumental overdubs.

In almost all cases [[there may be notable exceptions, which I can't immediately recall just at the moment), those 'other' tracks have a certain something missing in both the 'top' and 'bottom' registers, despite Motown having probably the best mixers in the business. Less clarity in sound and particularly echo at the 'top', and a lack of crispness with the bass and drums at the 'bottom', which is where the resonant, dynamic sound of the classic Motown records really scored, especially on the radio.

Of Brenda's songs which were totally recorded on the West Coast, the quality was good, but they could also be the product of 'any other record label', including smaller, less well-known ones from Detroit, attempting to emulate Motown's commercial success as 'The Sound Of Young America'.

I always felt that, in this setting, Brenda was not promoted as effectively as she could have been. Her often very impassioned vocals were placed at a disadvantage against the Detroit-based acts, who were also recorded there.

Brenda's vocal style not only scored particularly well with the sultry ballads she was given [[she was far more gifted on those than most of her fellow female singers on the Motown roster) , but also with the more rocking tracks, as shown here with 'Just Look What You've Done'.

[[BTW, and just being nit-picky I know, but I've always thought "shouldn't that title really be 'Just Look What You Have Done'??"....) :)

mowest
02-02-2015, 01:00 PM
Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You [[Indeed I Do)" is another example of a West Coast Motown recording with a track that just doesn't cut it for me. Imagine if the Funk Brothers had recorded the track! The sound created in the "snake pit" or at other studiios in the Motor City was, evidently, not easy to duplicate elsewhere.

midnight johnny
02-02-2015, 01:35 PM
[[BTW, and just being nit-picky I know, but I've always thought "shouldn't that title really be 'Just Look What You Have Done'??"....) :) I wouldn't think so....not only is the title used very comfortably and grammatically correct in the lyrics, it would be a bit awkard to have "have" in the lyrics. Just my opinion....

westgrandboulevard
02-02-2015, 03:31 PM
Quite agree with you MJ. The title is indeed grammatically correct, being just a contraction of 'you have'. No problem with that at all; just a light-hearted comment.

It's just the way I seem to read the words of the title and feel, in my head, that they don't quite fit that beat...but, in reality, the way Brenda sings it, it is fine.

It must be to do with the way I've 'received' it over all these years. I always seem to have heard it as 'just look what you have done'. Have now carefully studied the clip [[wasn't familiar with it until recently, after decades of just hearing the record), and Brenda does indeed say 'you've' , but without over-extending it too much into 'yoooou've'....so that it fits the beat just fine.

And speaking of extending, then ...ahem....let's hear it for your own extended version, 'available now on You-Tube and other good listening facilities', which I used as my reference copy....

Too much of a good thing is still not enough....:)

midnight johnny
02-02-2015, 04:34 PM
WGB....and you are a peach for mentioning it....thanks so much! Let's bring it on up!
http://youtu.be/0wSuKUJMfxU

westgrandboulevard
02-02-2015, 04:38 PM
'Just Listen To What You've Done'......;)

[[and thanks also to Marv2, for starting this thread...)

144man
02-03-2015, 07:02 PM
This is probably my favourite Brenda Holloway single as well.

marv2
02-03-2015, 07:04 PM
'Just Listen To What You've Done'......;)

[[and thanks also to Marv2, for starting this thread...)

Oh you are most welcome. Brenda is a major talent that hardly ever gets discussed here.

motown4ever
02-07-2015, 05:09 PM
I first encountered this song about 85, almost 20 years after the fact, during the First Motown Retrospective Era, early 90' s being the second, after having read that it was the quintessential Motown Song. I have heard two versions and think I prefer the one with less brass which was the version first heard.

As a musician I am happy that the West Coast Cats had a chance to shine, since they recorded good performances. As a Motown Fan, give me the Snake Pit. If she had recorded all of her output in the Motor City...............

Philles/Motown Gary
02-08-2015, 12:39 AM
WOW!!! Midnight Johnny, I love your Extended mix of "Just Look What You've Done"! It could have been the long album version, had Motown released a Brenda Holloway album at the time. I also loved the B-side, "Starting The Hurt All Over Again", produced by Ashford & Simpson. A Brenda Holloway album full of Nick & Val productions would have been hot! I would love a chance to hear your other Extended Motown mixes -- especially if they're as impressive as this, which I'm sure they are. - Gary

jobeterob
02-08-2015, 01:32 AM
Brenda was definitely a great voice and I think it is true ~ her voice was just as good and just as strong as some of the singers that had hits.

As someone mentioned with respect to Do I Love You, I'm just not sure this track, this song really has catchy enough melody, don't know if it really had the hooks to take it to the upper reaches of the charts and make it a hit.

I know there is a similar debate over why Do I Love You was not a hit ~ some think it should have been, some think it was not a hit.

Philles/Motown Gary
02-08-2015, 03:26 AM
Brenda was definitely a great voice and I think it is true ~ her voice was just as good and just as strong as some of the singers that had hits.

As someone mentioned with respect to Do I Love You, I'm just not sure this track, this song really has catchy enough melody, don't know if it really had the hooks to take it to the upper reaches of the charts and make it a hit.

I know there is a similar debate over why Do I Love You was not a hit ~ some think it should have been, some think it was not a hit.

I agree, jobeterob. Although I like both Frank Wilson’s AND Chris Clark’s version of "Do I Love You", I don’t love those tracks. I think the reason might be because of the backing track’s frantic tempo. If it were slowed down a bit, the record would sound a lot more soulful, at least for my personal taste.

westgrandboulevard
02-08-2015, 05:41 AM
Northern Soul people revere that track [[particularly the Frank Wilson version) simply because it doesn't sound like the Funk Brothers.

I don't care for either version for the same reason - they simply don't cry "Hitsville!!" to me :)

Jimi LaLumia
02-08-2015, 09:09 AM
this got a few weeks airplay on NY's Top 40 AM WMCA, I struggled to get the signal in Suffolk County, Long Island.. the 50,000 watt powerful AM Top 40, 77 WABC, never played this record.. I loved and love this record since it's release