Classic Soul – Marvelettes

By Vinton

I love the Marvelettes. They are a musical delight! The first Motown female group with 3 lead singers: Gladys, Wanda and later Anne.

As a child, I vividly remember "Don’t Mess With Bill" and "My Baby Must Be a Magician." But when it came to buying their records, by 1969, Motown surely wasn’t releasing too much by them. In the summer of 1970, while visiting my family in Virginia, I went to Murphy’s (a store similar to Woolworth’s). I got at 3 for $1, "My Baby Must Be A Magician," Martha’s "Honey Chile" and the Supremes "Forever Came Today." They were all cut outs (remainders). On a later visit to Virginia, in 1970 and ’71, I do remember seeing "Marionette" and "Breath Taking Guy" listed on the NYC WWRL song list. Never heard either of them on the radio. But I did get a cut out copy of "Marionette" in 1971.

It wasn’t until 1974 that I was able finally get Marvelettes albums. I started with "The Marvelettes", quickly followed by "In Full Bloom," "Sophisticated Soul" and "Return of The Marvelettes" and "The Marvelettes Anthology."

In 1977, I had an opportunity to see a Fake troupe of marvelettes. I knew they were Fake, because those women had to be in their early twenties. Any real Marvelette would’ve been in her early thirties at that time.

But I’ve only seen the Real Marvelettes on old tv clips, usually singing

"Please Mr. Postman," or "Two Many Fish In The Sea." But recently I saw a lip synch show with the Marvelettes doing, "Don’t Mess With Bill." Then the host asked them to do "Postman." To my shock, who was sitting in the audience nobody but The Supremes! It looked very eerie. The Marvelettes (Gladys, Wanda and Katherine) looked a bit uncomfortable, while Ross was bobbing her head, Mary looked glamorous as always, but Florence looked as uncomfortable as the Marvelettes. The entire scene just appeared like the Supremes were spying on the Marvelettes.

But getting back to important matters: favorite Marvelettes records:

· Maybe I Cried My Tears For The Last Time

· The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

· Everybody Knows (but you)

· I’m Gonna Hold On Long As I Can

· I’ll Keep Holding On

· Anything You Wanna Do

· Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers

· Too Strong To Be Strung Along

· My Daddy Knows Best

· Too Many Fish In The Sea

· Knock On My Door

· You’re The One

· My Baby Must Be A Magician

· Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead

· You’re The One For Me Bobby

· A Breath Taking Guy

· I Need Someone

· Boy From Crosstown

· Caught You Puttin’ The Game On Love

· Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye (as by the Darnels)

· Please Mr. Postman

· Playboy

· Beechwood 4-5789

· What’s Easy For Two Is Hard For One

· Here I Am Baby

· I Just Can’t Let Him Down

· On The Other Side of Town

· Because I Love Him

· Rainy Mourning

· Way Over There

· Keep Off, No Trespassing

· I Know Better

· Someday, Someway

and that scratches the surface of my musical love affair with the Marvelettes. I know there’s several tracks I’m leaving out.

Vinton

Gladys Horton: ‘GENERIC TERRORISM’

Motown Legend Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes delivers a powerful message about one of the effects of ‘Culture Banditry’. She calls it ‘GENERIC TERRORISM’.

Plus a LIVE concert of the Marvelettes given to Soul-Patrol by Gladys Horton featuring: Playboy, Twistin Postman, Tossin and Turnin, Beachwood4-5789, Strange I Know, Someday Someway.

Don’t EVER go and see a FAKE group, if you love this music

Click Here to listen

Some Random Thoughts about the Marvelettes

By Algy

When the Supremes came to Motown, the big stars were the Marvelettes, Mary Wells and Smokey Robinson. I enjoyed Motown’s 40th Anniversary TV show. I silently chuckled when Lamont Dozier said that "Where Did Our Love Go" was written for the Marvelettes, but they turned it down, feeling that it was "beneath them". It was passed down to The Supremes. Mary Wilson said in her book that she hated the song so much that she cried and thought it sounded "dumb". I just wonder if the Marvelettes had recorded it, would it have been as big as it became with The Supremes. Who knows? Florence Ballard even sang with the Marvelettes when one of them was sick on a couple of occasions. The girl groups got along, mostly, but there was always trouble with Ross. Seems she was always at odds with some other woman.

I thought that Anne Bogan was very soulful ("Gonna Hold Out Long As I Can").

Didn’t she replace Gladys Horton? With the "Marvelettes" name being lost in a crap game, I suppose Gladys can’t even bill herself as "Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes" anymore. Such disrespect.

If I had any power at BET, I’d do a special on the former Motown stars…the REAL ones, the originals. I’d include latter day stars like SP’s first lady, Bettye LaVette, who was asked to sign after Diana Ross left the label. Bettye recorded a good album there, but it was not "true Bettye", in my

opinion, mainly because they wanted her to sound "Motownish" (which meant "cool it on the heavy soul"). She DID manage to bring some much needed soul to the label with the album, TELL ME A LIE and put a hurting on Gladys Knight’s "If I Were Your Woman".

Most critics and music historians agree that Martha Reeves, during the 60s heyday of Motown was their best female singer. Nobody could touch her valiant singing on "Heat Wave" or "My Baby Loves Me". Berry said in an interview when he was promoting his book, "I can understand how Martha felt. She was a better singer than Diana, but I was personally involved with Diana…" Well, in my book, business is business. He should never have sacrificed his great talents like Martha, the Marvelettes and Gladys Knight to promote another artist just because he was "intimate" with her. Why not keep your promise and promote ALL of them?

Lastly, as Syreeta said on Geraldo, "there were many casualties" (in the Motown war), and like in any war, some people don’t make it.

Algy