Nothing but Heartaches vs Love is Like an Itching

[sup_fan]

the girls were finishing up the recordings for Itching in July of 65, right around the time Nothing was being released.

What if they left Nothing as an album track and released Itching instead? Some people have said Nothing was too similar to Back in my Arms Again and hence the lower performance. Some of said that they were supposed to promote on Sullivan but their 2 songs were cut to 1 and Gordy wanted to do You're Nobody.

IMO Itchin' is a more unique and exciting record. with the 5 #1's you had something exciting and new with each one. I don't know the Nothing really had much "new." And to be honest, when Itchin was finally released it wasn't as new or exciting. remember - Sugar Pie Honey Bunch followed BIMAA to #1 and Itchin' has that classic Motown 1965 sound.

When you get to 66 and the next run of #1s, you had sounds and songs that were really new and different. YCHL, YKMHO, LIHANYG.

[reese]

I like ITCHING better than HEARTACHES but I think it was released at the right time. ITCHING might have been a bit too hard-sounding following the sweet sound of the girls' previous hits. HEARTACHES was more in line with those.

Re the 1965 Sullivan appearance, it was in October. Given that I HEAR A SYMPHONY had just been released, it makes more sense that it was the song that was dropped.

[TheMotownManiac]

I think they handled it correctly. Heartaches sounded good on the radio and was hardly an embarrassment. Most groups would love to have a number 11 hit. And it made sense because the new album had just come out. I do wish they had done it on television more to help it along. Also, the single just come out when the album dropped, so by the time people were hearing the single on the radio, the fans were buying the album and not the single and that certainly affected single sales.

Itching would have rocked that summer, but with the same result as it was slightly too frenetic too easily follow the lyric. Additionally, we had to wait for song hits magazine to come out with the lyrics to realize she was singing, “I’ve been bitten by the love bug” it sounds very plain now, but back when it was released, no one ever talked about the love bug and she does not enunciate well enough to make it clear. We were hearing these songs on transistor radios, clock radios and car radios which had vastly inferior sound to what we are used to today. I believe that contributed to keeping it from the top five. I don’t think it was the number one record regardless and I adore her vocal.

[sup_fan]

very interesting point about the lyrics for Itching. yeah it might be Berry's tried and true rule of meaningful lyrics hurt this song a bit. of course the killer beat and track help make up for that and got people on the dance floor. but it is a bit harder to relate to than something more straightforward like You Can't Hurry Love or Back In My Arms Again

[daviddh]

Love both but ,imo, both suffered from lack of pr because BG wanted the girls to sing standards. They were a pop group and the latest single should have always been a priority