Why is Shorty Long usually slighted from standard Top-Ten Hits Motown collections?

[Ngroove]

Merely just a simple thing - upon research, Shorty Long's "Here Comes The Judge" has reached as high as number 8 on the BILLBOARD TOP 100 POP charts. It shoulda, if not be as used as "Baby Love" and "I Can't Help Myself", be at least as used in Motown hits compilations, as the sometimes-used Jimmy Ruffin standard "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" - BUT NOOOOO! "Judge" is not even placed in the Hitsville USA Motown Singles Collection Volume 1 [[although "Devil With The Blue Dress" and "Function in the Junction" is), and aside from the Complete Motown Singles 1968 volume, I can't think of a single U.S. CD with it either!

Soooo, kinda wonderin', obviously it was highly more popular back in the day, pop-charts-wise, than Tempts' "Get Ready" and Marvin and Tammi's "Ain't No Mountian High Enough", but still does not get the general Motown compilation recognition seemingly right after: how come?

[theboyfromxtown]

Tell me about it!

[psychedelic jacques]

two possible theories - compilers may think:-

i] HCTJ is inextricably bound up with that whole late 60s Rowan & Martins Laugh-In, Sammy Davis Jr thing which contemporary and casual audiences will have no reference point to - most of them would think it completely bizarre and wonder what on earth it was all about, or

ii] it has been dismissed as a 'novelty' song, albeit Motown's most [only] successful one of the 60s, and they've concluded that novelty songs don't stand the test of time.

Similarly, AFAIK, it hardly ever appears on UK Motown Best Of rehash compilations, even though it was his only UK chart hit [[#30).

just a thought...

[soulster]

two possible theories - compilers may think:-

i] HCTJ is inextricably bound up with that whole late 60s Rowan & Martins Laugh-In, Sammy Davis Jr thing which contemporary and casual audiences will have no reference point to - most of them would think it completely bizarre and wonder what on earth it was all about, or

ii] it has been dismissed as a 'novelty' song, albeit Motown's most [only] successful one of the 60s, and they've concluded that novelty songs don't stand the test of time.

Similarly, AFAIK, it hardly ever appears on UK Motown Best Of rehash compilations, even though it was his only UK chart hit [[#30).

just a thought...
I think that both are a little correct.

[thomas96]

I think because nobody remembers him or that song even as well as others. And he died young [[unfortunately) before he could really get his career kicked off.

[soulster]

Yeah, but even Baby Huey died young before he even finished his first album, and he has been reissued, even got the 180 gram pressing treatment.

[reese]

I think it was included on one of those 80s compilations, 20 or 25 Hard To Find Motown Classics.

[Ryon6]

"Similarly, AFAIK, it hardly ever appears on UK Motown Best Of rehash compilations, even though it was his only UK chart hit [[#30)."

What is AFAIK?

[carole cucumber]

As far as I know

[soulster]

I think it was included on one of those 80s compilations, 20 or 25 Hard To Find Motown Classics.
It was, but it was in the awful stereo mix.

[Ryon6]

As far as I know


Thanks Carole. I thought it was the name of some song Shorty recorded.

[midnightman]

Novelty or not, it would be nice for that song to make some Motown compilation. It makes it seem like Motown was all about love songs in the '60s smh