Martha Reeves.........Wild Night!

[marv2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdEMQBFUdZ0

[marv2]

One of my favorite Martha Reeves solo recordings.

[marv2]

Another great one and cover of Gladys Knight and the Pips " I've Got Use My Imagination"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6Ir3Z7TlYE

[copley]

My two fav Martha solo recordings. 'Wild Night' was a big turn-table hit in the UK but sadly it never charted.

[midnightman]

Her covers of Wild Night and Power of Love are my favorite MR solo songs.

[marv2]

My two fav Martha solo recordings. 'Wild Night' was a big turn-table hit in the UK but sadly it never charted.

It was big in Metro Detroit and Windsor too. I can't remember where it charted here, but it got regular airplay on CKLW radio in 1974 and beyond.

[marv2]

Her covers of Wild Night and Power of Love are my favorite MR solo songs.

They remind me of just how great Martha Reeves is. Those songs were nothing at all like what she recorded for Motown.

[daviddesper]

I thought this was a great album and was surprised that it did not lead to a bigger solo career. Don't I remember reading back then that this was a very expensive album to produce?

[marv2]

I thought this was a great album and was surprised that it did not lead to a bigger solo career. Don't I remember reading back then that this was a very expensive album to produce?


Yes it was with reported costs of $ 250,000 to produce!

[motony]

plus Richard Perry or MCA had to pay Motown for the rest of her contract. Made no sense that it was then not promoted. I didn't understand why they released "Power of Love" as the first single because it had recently been a hit for Joe Simon. If "Wild Night" had been first then things might have been different. Who knows?

[marv2]

plus Richard Perry or MCA had to pay Motown for the rest of her contract. Made no sense that it was then not promoted. I didn't understand why they released "Power of Love" as the first single because it had recently been a hit for Joe Simon. If "Wild Night" had been first then things might have been different. Who knows?

They definitely should have released "Wild Night" first. It was the most radio friendly.

[copley]

Wild Night was the 1st single in the UK.

[marv2]

Wild Night was the 1st single in the UK.

It should have been that way here too. Canadian powerhouse radio station, CKLW played "Wild Night" almost as often as Elton John's "Benny & the Jets" in 1974.

[midnightman]

plus Richard Perry or MCA had to pay Motown for the rest of her contract. Made no sense that it was then not promoted. I didn't understand why they released "Power of Love" as the first single because it had recently been a hit for Joe Simon. If "Wild Night" had been first then things might have been different. Who knows?

You think an album that took 20 G's to produce would get the label to get behind it and make sure it was a success. Labels really didn't get behind ex Motown acts that much with only a few exceptions.

[marv2]

You think an album that took 20 G's to produce would get the label to get behind it and make sure it was a success. Labels really didn't get behind ex Motown acts that much with only a few exceptions.

It cost a lot more than 20 Gs to produce. It cost $250,000!

[TomatoTom123]

I love "Power Of Love" from this album, not familiar with any of the other tracks. I shall give them a listen. :)

[daviddesper]

Wasn't Wild Night also featured on a soundtrack album?

[midnightman]

It cost a lot more than 20 Gs to produce. It cost $250,000!

Whatever. You know what the heck I meant.

[midnightman]

Wasn't Wild Night also featured on a soundtrack album?

Yeah, Thelma & Louise, if I recall... I also think Martha's was the first one to cover the song too if I'm not mistaken.

[sup_fan]

it's a phenomenal album. makes you really wonder what the f the Motown producers were doing to and with her. Black Magic is about as close as she ever got at Motown to anything even remotely close to this, in terms of a full lp concept and quality. Whatever Perry did here, he's a magician. he somehow either got rid of or else masterfully hid her annoying vibrato that could often get out of hand on her later Motown stuff.

This lp sounds like the power and force that we heard on No Where To Run, Ready For Love and some of her other classics.

a crime that this lp was lost. Agree that Wild would have been a stronger first single.

[midnightman]

it's a phenomenal album. makes you really wonder what the f the Motown producers were doing to and with her. Black Magic is about as close as she ever got at Motown to anything even remotely close to this, in terms of a full lp concept and quality. Whatever Perry did here, he's a magician. he somehow either got rid of or else masterfully hid her annoying vibrato that could often get out of hand on her later Motown stuff.

This lp sounds like the power and force that we heard on No Where To Run, Ready For Love and some of her other classics.

a crime that this lp was lost. Agree that Wild would have been a stronger first single.

Motown had people who didn't know what they were doing. They were in a post-What's Going On/Music of My Mind era. And while they had started to put more focus on singular artists, other artists like Martha fell by the wayside. Makes me wish more and more that MCA had gotten on the ball with the album. You're gonna waste a quarter of a million dollars only to let that album wither away? WTF?!

[reese]

In her book, Martha wrote that Motown did try to move her forward in her solo career. There was a plan to pair her with the New York Street Band, or something like that. She said some of their material had strange melodies and lyrics but she was willing to try something new. Unfortunately, she snorted some bad coke offered to her by one of the musicians and ended up being hospitalized. After that, her Motown career was over.

[midnightman]

^ Jesus...

Fame is a mug...

[marv2]

Whatever. You know what the heck I meant.

I did? Are you sure? Did you see where I had shared the cost of production before you ever posted that about $20,000? It was just such a wide gap that I wanted to be sure you did understand that it cost more than 10 times that.

[sup_fan]

Motown had people who didn't know what they were doing. They were in a post-What's Going On/Music of My Mind era. And while they had started to put more focus on singular artists, other artists like Martha fell by the wayside. Makes me wish more and more that MCA had gotten on the ball with the album. You're gonna waste a quarter of a million dollars only to let that album wither away? WTF?!

I think there was some thought at Motown to move Martha [[maybe with or without the Vandellas) to the MoWest label. I think the goal of opening that new label was to focus on a more LA/California sound. why Martha fits that, I don't know. And why Motown felt that was a genre they should or could get into, I don't know either.

here's an interesting what-if

what if Martha left Motown and then went to Invictus with HDH? they seemed to understand her voice and how to record her. imagine what that might have done

I think Perry found a great niche for Martha in the soul/rock category. this solo lp definitely has a stronger rock and roll feel. and when you add in Martha's soul and r&b voice, the combo is powerful. in the early to mid 70s, that should have been a great angle to push her.

[midnightman]

Interesting but I always felt Martha would've been a stronger rock singer than R&B singer. The way she carried herself onstage had the energy of rock and roll than R&B to me. Especially on Nowhere to Run and Dancing in the Street. I always felt she had a strong rock vibe so that's why songs like Wild Night were more up her alley than, say, Neither One of Us. Chris Clark tried for a rock career when she was moved to MoWest too so that would've been interesting for a solo Martha to try her hand at a full-fledged rock career.

[marv2]

it's a phenomenal album. makes you really wonder what the f the Motown producers were doing to and with her. Black Magic is about as close as she ever got at Motown to anything even remotely close to this, in terms of a full lp concept and quality. Whatever Perry did here, he's a magician. he somehow either got rid of or else masterfully hid her annoying vibrato that could often get out of hand on her later Motown stuff.

This lp sounds like the power and force that we heard on No Where To Run, Ready For Love and some of her other classics.

a crime that this lp was lost. Agree that Wild would have been a stronger first single.

Martha's voice was very controlled here. I can listen this all day. I have find the album. Mine is in storage somewhere.

[daviddesper]

I remember buying this album in a college town record store the very day it came out. I took it up to the counter and I remember being pretty sure that one of the clerks made a snide comment to another one about my buying it, as if he was criticizing my musical taste. I did not respond because I was not 100% sure, but it sounded as if he was expressing surprise that anyone was buying it in their particular store. I was so surprised because I would think that no one who worked in a record store would be tacky enough to question anyone's taste in music.