"Lovelight" Turns 60!

[marybrewster]

From Wiki:

"When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" is a song written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and recorded in 1963 by Motown singing group The Supremes. It is notable as the Supremes' first Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 recording, following seven previous singles between January 1961 and September 1963 which failed to enter the Top 40. The single is also notable as the first Supremes single written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland, who had previously created hits for Martha and the Vandellas and Mary Wells.

Recorded October 1st, released October 31st, 1963

[marybrewster]

Here's a link to a live performance from 1964:

https://youtu.be/p7tvVhrdHlE?si=HYzDDWFiz9msH2dB

I LOVE watching Mary, especially when she does the "rrrrruuuhhh"; watch her shimmy!

[gman]

My first own money LP purchase was the big blue 2 LP Hits set...I only knew The Happening...it was in a group of former jukebox singles I was given, Stop!, Baby Love and You Keep Me Hangin' On....when I dropped the needle on LOVELIGHT I thought my kiddie record player was going to start bouncing up and down!!!...I loved every song on both LPS...even Crossroads which was a stretch for my 8 year old taste....that LP was mixed perfectly....it had the big, fat sound on every cut...when I started collecting singles, I was disappointed in mixes for both Nothing But Heataches and You Can't Hurry Love...by the time I was 14 I collected every single bet LOVELIGHT and Bad Weather with the exception of Back In My Arms Again....it just never appeared in the deleted cut out bins at Woolworths or my local shops "10 featured oldies" in stock list.

[reese]

Here's a link to a live performance from 1964:

https://youtu.be/p7tvVhrdHlE?si=HYzDDWFiz9msH2dB

I LOVE watching Mary, especially when she does the "rrrrruuuhhh"; watch her shimmy!

I've always liked this clip, especially the moment that you mentioned. Mary was always a joy to watch.

[jobucats]

Lyrically, this song is one of the few Supremes' songs that actually tells a strong story. Girl plays 'hard to get' with a boy she's really interested in until it dawns on her that he has a 'lovelight' in his eyes. She quickly stops playing game, gets her act together, and apologizes. Debbie Boone did, in my opinion, a wonderful interpretation of this song.

[RanRan79]

Here's a link to a live performance from 1964:

https://youtu.be/p7tvVhrdHlE?si=HYzDDWFiz9msH2dB

I LOVE watching Mary, especially when she does the "rrrrruuuhhh"; watch her shimmy!

She was so smooth with it all! The lady could move. I don't know what the hell Florence was doing.

They sound as good here live as they all do on the recording.

[RanRan79]

I remember I was never crazy about this song for a long time. Like Gman, I first heard it on the GH package. It just didn't do anything for me. Now I really like it, but I don't think I would put it on my list of favorites. The track always sounded kind of marching band to me, and I think that's what originally turned me off. But vocally the ladies were on point.

[sup_fan]

i had the WDOLG album so was very familiar with it. it's a very strong song but frankly it's a bit of a MRATV knockoff of Heatwave and that sound. and so i wonder if Run Run Run could ever have been a hit, even if it was a better song. this was the sound of MRATV, not the Supremes. usually if you do a knockoff, you might get a modest hit out of it but lightening won't strike twice. so i would have guessed that the follow up [[assuming they were going to repeat the formula) was never going to be huge. of course Run frankly does sort of suck lol so no wonder it failed. Penny Pincher might have at least charted somewhat better but it too would never have been massive.

so what else could have been the Lovelight follow up?

not much lol.

maybe Every Day I'll Love You More or Your Kiss of Fire. the rest are mostly ballad types, which i don't think would have clicked. I'm not a fan of Standing at the Crossroads but that might have worked.

In May 64 they recorded Don't Take It Away, Just Call Me and That's a Funny Way. they're ok and might have worked [[although Run was released in Feb)

[marybrewster]

Who did Diana lift that uninspired "Alright now" from? Sounds like something Smokey or Martha would do. I'm glad she dropped it.

[marybrewster]

i had the WDOLG album so was very familiar with it. it's a very strong song but frankly it's a bit of a MRATV knockoff of Heatwave and that sound. and so i wonder if Run Run Run could ever have been a hit, even if it was a better song. this was the sound of MRATV, not the Supremes. usually if you do a knockoff, you might get a modest hit out of it but lightening won't strike twice. so i would have guessed that the follow up [[assuming they were going to repeat the formula) was never going to be huge. of course Run frankly does sort of suck lol so no wonder it failed. Penny Pincher might have at least charted somewhat better but it too would never have been massive.

so what else could have been the Lovelight follow up?

not much lol.

maybe Every Day I'll Love You More or Your Kiss of Fire. the rest are mostly ballad types, which i don't think would have clicked. I'm not a fan of Standing at the Crossroads but that might have worked.

In May 64 they recorded Don't Take It Away, Just Call Me and That's a Funny Way. they're ok and might have worked [[although Run was released in Feb)

Maybe "Long Gone Lover"? Since the Supremes hadn't quite hit yet, each "solo" might have been a good introduction of the group, especially when Flo cuts loose at the end. 'Cause she was the original lead singer you know, lol.

[RanRan79]

i had the WDOLG album so was very familiar with it. it's a very strong song but frankly it's a bit of a MRATV knockoff of Heatwave and that sound. and so i wonder if Run Run Run could ever have been a hit, even if it was a better song. this was the sound of MRATV, not the Supremes. usually if you do a knockoff, you might get a modest hit out of it but lightening won't strike twice. so i would have guessed that the follow up [[assuming they were going to repeat the formula) was never going to be huge. of course Run frankly does sort of suck lol so no wonder it failed. Penny Pincher might have at least charted somewhat better but it too would never have been massive.

so what else could have been the Lovelight follow up?

not much lol.

maybe Every Day I'll Love You More or Your Kiss of Fire. the rest are mostly ballad types, which i don't think would have clicked. I'm not a fan of Standing at the Crossroads but that might have worked.

In May 64 they recorded Don't Take It Away, Just Call Me and That's a Funny Way. they're ok and might have worked [[although Run was released in Feb)

I've seen that said in the forum before, that "Lovelight" is more Martha and the Vandellas than Supremes but I disagree. Everybody at Motown at this point was doing these kinds of roaring through the new Motown Sound recordings. I don't think Martha and the girls had the lock on the sound.

"Run" should have been released shortly after it was recorded. By the time of its actual release, it sounded dated. And frankly I always thought there was something a bit muffled about the sound. It's not crisp and clear like the others, IMO. Pop radio passed on it, but R&B radio did push it near the top 20. The fact that it even did that well is a bit of a surprise.

IMO the only cut that could have followed "Lovelight" prior to "Where" is "Don't Take It Away". It's current Motown, all the ladies bring their A game. It's a very good song. I imagine the best it could hope for would be top 40 pop, top 30 R&B, but still a better follow up than the nearly year old "Run, Run, Run".

"Penny Pincher" needed more work. It's a good song for what it is, but as a single it needed a ton more work, including the chorus, which is kind of clunky. But there's something there, and it does sound like a "Lovelight" knock off, which Motown loved to release as singles, songs that sound an awful lot like its predecessor.

[RanRan79]

Maybe "Long Gone Lover"? Since the Supremes hadn't quite hit yet, each "solo" might have been a good introduction of the group, especially when Flo cuts loose at the end. 'Cause she was the original lead singer you know, lol.

Interesting idea, but maybe even that sounds a bit behind the times at this point. However, I think it would have done better than "Run". So my vote would be "Don't Take It Away" first, followed by a re-worked "Penny Pincher", then "Long Gone Lover" for single consideration.

[sup_fan]

I've seen that said in the forum before, that "Lovelight" is more Martha and the Vandellas than Supremes but I disagree. Everybody at Motown at this point was doing these kinds of roaring through the new Motown Sound recordings. I don't think Martha and the girls had the lock on the sound.

"Run" should have been released shortly after it was recorded. By the time of its actual release, it sounded dated. And frankly I always thought there was something a bit muffled about the sound. It's not crisp and clear like the others, IMO. Pop radio passed on it, but R&B radio did push it near the top 20. The fact that it even did that well is a bit of a surprise.

IMO the only cut that could have followed "Lovelight" prior to "Where" is "Don't Take It Away". It's current Motown, all the ladies bring their A game. It's a very good song. I imagine the best it could hope for would be top 40 pop, top 30 R&B, but still a better follow up than the nearly year old "Run, Run, Run".

"Penny Pincher" needed more work. It's a good song for what it is, but as a single it needed a ton more work, including the chorus, which is kind of clunky. But there's something there, and it does sound like a "Lovelight" knock off, which Motown loved to release as singles, songs that sound an awful lot like its predecessor.

oh i disagree. Heatwave was a totally new and different sound from anyone at motown or any other girl group. the girls quickly added Quicksand and they also recorded Earthquake [[which didn't release until the L&F set). Livewire and In My Lonely Room were also descendants of Heatwave, all with that roaring sound.

Lovelight isn't a 100% knockoff but very similar. Run is maybe more Specter sounding than Heatwave but still it's similar.

[reese]

oh i disagree. Heatwave was a totally new and different sound from anyone at motown or any other girl group. the girls quickly added Quicksand and they also recorded Earthquake [[which didn't release until the L&F set). Livewire and In My Lonely Room were also descendants of Heatwave, all with that roaring sound.

Lovelight isn't a 100% knockoff but very similar. Run is maybe more Specter sounding than Heatwave but still it's similar.

Instead of EARTHQUAKE, I think you're referring to SPELLBOUND, which had a similar sound to HEAT WAVE and QUICKSAND.

EARTHQUAKE was recorded much later.

[RanRan79]

oh i disagree. Heatwave was a totally new and different sound from anyone at motown or any other girl group. the girls quickly added Quicksand and they also recorded Earthquake [[which didn't release until the L&F set). Livewire and In My Lonely Room were also descendants of Heatwave, all with that roaring sound.

Lovelight isn't a 100% knockoff but very similar. Run is maybe more Specter sounding than Heatwave but still it's similar.

Yes, "Heatwave" is probably the beginning of that Motown Sound. I wasn't arguing that. My issue is the statement that this kind of sound somehow belonged to Martha and the Vandellas. All the artists were cutting these kinds of records in the wake of "Heatwave" and its success. Why should the Supremes have been any different? I think "Lovelight" fit them as much as it fit Martha and the Vandellas.

[sup_fan]

Instead of EARTHQUAKE, I think you're referring to SPELLBOUND, which had a similar sound to HEAT WAVE and QUICKSAND.

EARTHQUAKE was recorded much later.

oh yes! good catch. i happened to glance at the song list when typing this and got mixed up

[sup_fan]

Yes, "Heatwave" is probably the beginning of that Motown Sound. I wasn't arguing that. My issue is the statement that this kind of sound somehow belonged to Martha and the Vandellas. All the artists were cutting these kinds of records in the wake of "Heatwave" and its success. Why should the Supremes have been any different? I think "Lovelight" fit them as much as it fit Martha and the Vandellas.

i might be getting too nuanced in my analysis of the songs. while yes Heatwave and the others are sort of Motown Sound, i don't think of them as THE motown sound. Not like Nowhere To Run To, Sugar pie Honey Bunch, roadrunner, Tracks of my tears, don't mess with bill, Stop in the name of love.

I'd even split Come And Get These Memories from heatwave and the kids of Heatwave. IMO Memories fits in well in the genre of "early motown" along with Playboy, Do you Love Me, Shop Around, Fingertips, etc. They're all great songs but i don't know how truly unique and special they are to Motown. I could hear other labels and other artists potentially doing the songs and having hits with them. Heatwave and it's variants are a "motown sound" in that really no other label or artist IMO could have done that. The ShangiLas, Ronettes, Leslie Gore, etc - none of them could have made Heatwave work.

But Heatwave is very different from the motown sound to come. Lovelight was an attempt to branch the sound out from MRATV by giving a version to the Sups. and it worked well. but my thought is that given that it's a copy cat of the sound rather than a reinvention or advancement of the sound, you could really only expect it to work once.

again, i'm probably getting WAY too into the weeds on this lol

[gman]

I like Bonnie Pointers very breathy version of LOVELIGHT on the purple LP...and that banjo break??? Whew!