Marvelettes-Message to Michael

[jobucats]

"The Pink Album"
All this say a lot to me that somebody was really going the distance to make this the best possible Marvelettes album anyone would ever buy and to make sure the girls themselves could really shine.

Waiting, even before reading your excellent assessment/review, I was thinking the same thing earlier today about this album and the care that Motown put into making this an outstanding production both sound wise and song selection. Thanks for sharing.

[kenneth]

Waiting, even before reading your excellent assessment/review, I was thinking the same thing earlier today about this album and the care that Motown put into making this an outstanding production both sound wise and song selection. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, @Waiting, what a beautiful critique.

It is amazing how much alike Gladys and Wanda could sound. Their voices kind of "met in the middle." Wanda could go much higher, even falsetto, and Gladys' voice had a rougher quality in the lower range. But when they sang those leading lines in their natural registers, they really could be hard to tell apart.

Here's how I've always broken down the pink album's leads:

Barefootin - W
Message to Michael - G
Hunter - W
When You're Young... - W
I Know Better - G but sounding a lot like W
I Can't Turn Around - W
Sayin' Something - G
Day You Take One - W [[a standout performance!)
When I Need You - W but sounding a lot like G
Keep Off - G
This Night Was Made for Love - G
I Need Someone - G

A great piece of wax and one which is clearly a classic example of "The Motown Sound," or as it was first called "The Detroit Sound."

Hey there's a good topic for a thread. When did the tag line change from 'Detroit' to 'Motown' Sound, and why?

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Yes, @Waiting, what a beautiful critique.

It is amazing how much alike Gladys and Wanda could sound. Their voices kind of "met in the middle." Wanda could go much higher, even falsetto, and Gladys' voice had a rougher quality in the lower range. But when they sang those leading lines in their natural registers, they really could be hard to tell apart.

Here's how I've always broken down the pink album's leads:

Barefootin - W
Message to Michael - G
Hunter - W
When You're Young... - W
I Know Better - G but sounding a lot like W
I Can't Turn Around - W
Sayin' Something - G
Day You Take One - W [[a standout performance!)
When I Need You - W but sounding a lot like G
Keep Off - G
This Night Was Made for Love - G
I Need Someone - G

A great piece of wax and one which is clearly a classic example of "The Motown Sound," or as it was first called "The Detroit Sound."

Hey there's a good topic for a thread. When did the tag line change from 'Detroit' to 'Motown' Sound, and why?

Excellent breakdown! Have you noticed, though, on "Keep Off", Gladys is doing the verses and Wanda is doing the choruses? A throwback to that little trick they did on "Locking Up My Heart" and "As Long As I Know He's Mine."

As for the change from "The Detroit Sound" to "The Motown Sound," I think it's easy to forget from our vantage point in time that there was a period where "Motown," still hadn't really become the household name it is now. Maybe I read it here or on Adam White's blog, but I believe Tony Martin was on the Tonight Show and he was talking about being signed to Motown. The reaction from Johnny Carson was along the lines of "what's a Motown?" This was sometime around '64 or '65.

By 1965, there WAS an awareness of a "Detroit Sound," though. An article in the May 21, 1965 edition of "Time" magazine on Rock 'N' Roll music astutely referred to Motown as part of this growing trend in the new youth culture. The article acknowledged there was definitely a new sound coming from Detroit and referred to it specifically as "THE DETROIT SOUND." Also, when watching a lot of the TV dance shows from around '65 like "Where The Action Is" or "Shindig", when a Motown artist was on, sometimes you'd hear a reference to "THE DETROIT SOUND."

My feeling is, as Motown really started taking off, someone who was really brilliant about marketing, like Barney Ales or Shelly Berger was shrewd enough to realize the genius in calling it specifically "THE MOTOWN SOUND" to further build that brand recognition.

[kenneth]

Excellent breakdown! Have you noticed, though, on "Keep Off", Gladys is doing the verses and Wanda is doing the choruses? A throwback to that little trick they did on "Locking Up My Heart" and "As Long As I Know He's Mine."

I never noticed that Wanda did the chorus on "Keep Off." I'm going to listen to it again. Thanks for pointing that out.

Your analysis of the origins [["oranges" in our beloved president's way of speaking) of "The Motown Sound" is very insightful and interesting. And I'm sure Motown realized that "The Motown Sound" had a much bigger potential impact internationally than if they kept it as "The Detroit Sound," though being a native, I loved that it was called that early on.

[jobucats]

Yes, @Waiting, what a beautiful critique.

It is amazing how much alike Gladys and Wanda could sound. Their voices kind of "met in the middle." Wanda could go much higher, even falsetto, and Gladys' voice had a rougher quality in the lower range. But when they sang those leading lines in their natural registers, they really could be hard to tell apart.

Here's how I've always broken down the pink album's leads:

Barefootin - W
Message to Michael - G
Hunter - W
When You're Young... - W
I Know Better - G but sounding a lot like W
I Can't Turn Around - W
Sayin' Something - G
Day You Take One - W [[a standout performance!)
When I Need You - W but sounding a lot like G
Keep Off - G
This Night Was Made for Love - G
I Need Someone - G

A great piece of wax and one which is clearly a classic example of "The Motown Sound," or as it was first called "The Detroit Sound."

Hey there's a good topic for a thread. When did the tag line change from 'Detroit' to 'Motown' Sound, and why?

Thank you, Kenneth, for this insight. Wanda and Gladys sure do have similar voices! A distinguishing trait of Wanda's voice [[and it has been discussed here before) is that she tends to drop the pitch, ever so slightly, on the ending notes of phrases. It really works for her. It's very noticeable at the ends of phrases on "When You're Young and in Love." There's a musical subtle musical growl she does. Love it!

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Waiting, even before reading your excellent assessment/review, I was thinking the same thing earlier today about this album and the care that Motown put into making this an outstanding production both sound wise and song selection. Thanks for sharing.

Hi jobucats, we're riding the same wave, my friend!

[jobucats]

Hi jobucats, we're riding the same wave, my friend!

Yep, it's usually difficult to find a 'riding the wave' buddy!