Question to Harry Weinger: Marvelettes Tonight Was Made For Love

**BayouMotownMan** · 12-12-2011, 03:09 PM

I have always cherished this song and never knew why it was buried on the b-side of an album. It should have been a hit single. Gladys is great, Andantes magnificent. Great string arrangement too.

Harry, is there no stereo mix of this great track?

**Jimi LaLumia** · 12-12-2011, 03:13 PM

Isn't it "This Night Was Made For love"?

**motony** · 12-12-2011, 03:58 PM

I have seen the song listed with both of those titles. I hear Wanda & Kat on there too, bayyouman

**tomato tom** · 12-12-2011, 04:21 PM

One of my all time favourite Marvelettes tracks..Paulo xxx

**BayouMotownMan** · 12-12-2011, 04:28 PM

It has been listed both ways, and yes I hear the Marvelettes, including Gladys on backing vocals. The Andantes are augmenting them

**bradsupremes** · 12-12-2011, 05:09 PM

I've felt this was the most beautiful song the Marvelettes ever recorded as well as one of Motown's best. Gladys' vocal delivery is top-notch. Truly superb! The Detroit Symphony strings only make it better. I've been fascinated by the songwriting and producing team of Robert Staunton and Robert Walker. They wrote and produced a lot of amazing songs for the label during this time and this song is one of them. I'm surprised they weren't given much of a chance to shine while at the label. A lot of their songs were single potential. Another awesome song they did for the Marvelettes' was "Little Girls Grow Up." That's another tune that I scratch my head wondering why they left that in the can and released such duds as "You're The One."

**kenneth** · 12-13-2011, 12:24 AM

"You're the One" seems to me a straight copy of "Don't Mess With Bill," musically and structure-wise. It has a great music track and Wanda is at her best vocally, but the lyrics are trite and the whole thing comes off as trying to hard to sound as much like "Bill" as possible. Maybe with a different lyric it would have worked better.

huntergettingcaptured · 12-15-2011, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by kenneth

"You're the One" seems to me a straight copy of "Don't Mess With Bill," musically and structure-wise. It has a great music track and Wanda is at her best vocally, but the lyrics are trite and the whole thing comes off as trying to hard to sound as much like "Bill" as possible. Maybe with a different lyric it would have worked better.

The release of "You're The One" is pretty much the economics of a sound-alike being a fairly sure bet on making a return. I can't recall where I read it, but I believe the thought was that even with the law of diminishing returns, even a weak sound-alike of a hit would make for a much more assured profit than trying to radically change the tides and go into a new direction. That's the reason also why Martha And The Vandellas released all of those "Heatwave" sound-alikes- mine the formula until there are no more returns.

"Don't Mess With Bill" was a big enough hit that I guess Motown felt "You're The One" would still capture a fair rate of sales.

As for "Tonight Was Made For Love", that was an absolute masterpiece. That song demonstrates just how versatile and talented the Marvelettes were. I've always felt it was a huge irony that the group Motown wanted to keep pegged to a "teen scene" sound/box was actually the group that was the most astonishing as far as being able to effectively sing teen-sound songs, soul songs, pop songs and adult-sophisticated songs. I love that Robert Staunton and Robert Walker made sure to use The Marvelettes on the backing vocals and then the Andantes to add a running counter-line backing vocal. The song also shows the staggering heights of innovation Motown's songwriters, producers and singers were capable of.

**kenneth** · 12-15-2011, 12:09 PM

I agree about "Tonight Was Made for Love," though I'm having trouble thinking of it by that title; after all, they never sing that lyric in the song, do they? Anyway, my point is it's a great song, and I think closer to a show tune than anything else the Marvelettes did. I can really hear it as the 11:00 number in a Broadway musical.

**randy_russi** · 12-15-2011, 01:13 PM

I liked "You're The One", although I don't think it had the hit potential of "Bill". I think the lyrics are very good; as always
Smokey is so clever with his story and rhymes.
"This Night Was Made For Love", however, is GORGEOUS! I think it was even shown on the cover of the lp in pink
lettering like the single releases.

**762rob** · 12-22-2011, 02:20 AM

Staunton & Walker also produced The Temptations on "Say You" which was also in mono, it kind of has the same recorded sound quality of the Marvelettes tune "Tonight Was Made For Love". Possibly the tracks were recorded elsewhere than Hitsville. Both have the string sections.

**Motown Eddie** · 12-22-2011, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by BayouMotownMan

I have always cherished this song and never knew why it was buried on the b-side of an album. It should have been a hit single. Gladys is great, Andantes magnificent. Great string arrangement too.

Harry, is there no stereo mix of this great track?

I've just received the new Marvelettes collection, Forever More: The Complete Motown Albums, Vol. 2, and "Tonight Was Made For Love" appears in mono only on disc one [[where all of the other tracks from The Marvelettes album are in stereo) so it looks like they never made a stereo mix of this song. I agree with you that it's a great song and had hit-single potential.