"Quicksand" vs "Live Wire"!!

[TomatoTom123]

I've been listening to these two Martha & The Vandellas songs back-to-back, and was wondering, which is best!? And which should have been the follow-up to "Heat Wave"!!?

Both are fantastic, but I LOVE the spectacular energy and vibrancy of "Live Wire", although I can see why "Quicksand" was the follow-up.

[daviddesper]

A toss up for sure but I think Quicksand was a slightly better song.

[Motown Eddie]

IMHO, "Quicksand" is better than "Live Wire".

[PeaceNHarmony]

I buck the trend and go for 'Live Wire'. 'Quicksand' is a great cut all around but gets docked a notch for being so transparently a sequel!

[motony]

Quicksand by far is a better record. I purchased them when they were originally released. LIVE WIRE was too fast to dance to at the time. I LOVE IT but its airplay quickly faded. Quicksand is such a baadass track, the drum break is killer. Quicksand was almost as big a hit & seller as Heatwave.

[mowest]

“Live Wire” killed the momentum for Martha & The Vandellas. It was too much in the mold of “Heat Wave” but not nearly as good as it or “Quicksand.” It also jinxed “In My Lonely Room” which was much a better recording and deserved to make the Top 20, at least.

[tjl]

“Live Wire” killed the momentum for Martha & The Vandellas. It was too much in the mold of “Heat Wave” but not nearly as good as it or “Quicksand.” It also jinxed “In My Lonely Room” which was much a better recording and deserved to make the Top 20, at least.

I'm with Mowest here completely - - then there were Candy & The Kisses with their carbon copy of "In My Lonely Room".

Quicksand as Heatwave back-to-back in a club mix are awesome, especially the hand clap drum break - Live wire is too frenetic imo.

[Sharpmoves]

Quicksand every time for me - Motown's very own wall of sound! It's a killer track, a classic stomper, and pure Martha and the Vandellas. I can see them dancing round their handbags right now!

[motony]

In the early 80's when Martha Reeves came over my house & I put a CD on with "Quicksand"[[Martha first time hearing a CD) she said it sounded just like they heard it in the control booth & she proceeded to show us the dance routine they had to it.She said it was a much more difficult song to get "pick-up" bands to play it thats why she rarely ever did it LIVE.

[SatansBlues]

Has anyone picked up any differences between the mono vs stereo versions of Quicksand?

[mowest]

Has anyone picked up any differences between the mono vs stereo versions of Quicksand?

There are different mixes of the song, especially with regard to the drum solo near the end. On the original single the drums are very prominent and noisy [[in a good way)! On other versions they are more subdued with less of an echo. One mix has the sax more prominent during the iinstrumental intro. On one there’s a short drum solo at the very beginning which is not present on the single. To these ears, the best version is the original 45 mix.

[SatansBlues]

There are different mixes of the song, especially with regard to the drum solo near the end. On the original single the drums are very prominent and noisy [[in a good way)! On other versions they are more subdued with less of an echo. One mix has the sax more prominent during the iinstrumental intro. On one there’s a short drum solo at the very beginning which is not present on the single. To these ears, the best version is the original 45 mix.

Oh, wow. That's good to know. I will have to hunt for those different mixes.

[Roger Polhill]

"Quicksand" different mixes can be found on: "Complete Motown Singles Vol.3" 1st and 2nd pressings. "The Motown Box" extended stereo mix and "Memories/Heatwave" 2 on 1 stereo single mix.

[mysterysinger]

Quicksand wins for me.

[144man]

I love the tempo change in "Live Wire". It's a more complex song than "Quicksand", and that just about tips the balance for me. It's got a better tune as well, demonstrated by the fact that part of it was cannibalised for "In My Lonely Room". However I can't get away from the fact that at the time I thought that "Heat Wave" was the best record ever made, so its direct followup "Quicksand" was always going to be a bit of a disappointment for me.

[SatansBlues]

I love the tempo change in "Live Wire". It's a more complex song than "Quicksand", and that just about tips the balance for me. It's got a better tune as well, demonstrated by the fact that part of it was cannibalised for "In My Lonely Room". However I can't get away from the fact that at the time I thought that "Heat Wave" was the best record ever made, so its direct followup "Live Wire" was always going to be a bit of a disappointment for me.

Come and Get These Memories released 2/22/63
Heatwave released 7/10/63
Quicksand released 11/3/63
Live Wire released 1/17/64
In My Lonely Room released 3/23/64
Dancing In the Street released 7/31/64
Wild One released 11/13/64

[144man]

Come and Get These Memories released 2/22/63
Heatwave released 7/10/63
Quicksand released 11/3/63
Live Wire released 1/17/64
In My Lonely Room released 3/23/64
Dancing In the Street released 7/31/64
Wild One released 11/13/64

I inadvertantly wrote "Live Wire" instead of "Quicksand". I have now amended my entry to what I intended to say.

[SatansBlues]

I inadvertantly wrote "Live Wire" instead of "Quicksand". I have now amended my entry to what I intended to say.

It's all good man. I'm happy to see a thread about Martha & The Vandellas!

[motony]

I love Martha & the Vandellas LIVE performance on Motortown Revue Volume ll recorded at the Fox in Detroit. So exciting.

[Boogiedown]

[arr&bee]

Quicksand is by far the better song, i've never cared much for livewire, a b-side as far as i'm concerned.

[TomatoTom123]

A B-SIDE, surely not R&B!! Each to their own I guess

[Philles/Motown Gary]

From my experience over the years, the easiest way to remember it is that the Mono version of "Quicksand" has the hot drum solo in which the drums are echoed. In the Stereo version, the drum solo is stripped of the echo effect and suffers as a result.