Martha & The Vandellas

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Jumpin' John, and in this installment of our Girl Groups Series on Rock and Roll Flashback, I will discuss one of the premier groups who emerged in the 1960's.  That group was Martha and the Vandellas.  Lead by Martha Reeves, they were a prominent Detroit singing group who challenged the Supremes as Motown Records’ premier female group in the 1960's! 

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Thank you for that introduction and welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  Yes, I'm Jumpin' John, and in this installment of our Girl Groups Series on Rock and Roll Flashback, I will discuss one of the premier groups who emerged in the 1960's.  That group was Martha and the Vandellas.  Lead by Martha Reeves, they were a prominent Detroit singing group who challenged the Supremes as Motown Records’ premier female group in the 1960's! 

In 1957, the 16-year-old Martha Reeves joined 15-year-old Gloria Williams, 15-year-old Rosalind Ashford, and 14-year-old Annette Beard to form the Del-Phis [spelled D E L - P H I S].  The group performed at various Detroit area talent shows, dances, and clubs.  Signed by the Chess subsidiary, Checkmate Records, in 1961 they released their first record, entitles "I'll Let You Know".  The group gained some attention from Motown after the label bought Checkmate.  Now calling themselves The Vels [spelled V E L S], they released two more unsuccessful singles.  In early 1962, figuring that being in show business was too rigorous, Williams left the group, and they became a trio with Martha Reeves as lead vocalist.

Martha Reeves then took a job as a secretary at Motown.  Through that contact, Reeves, Ashford, and Beard were recruited to perform background singing for Marvin Gaye.  Gaye's first hit records "Stubborn Kind of Fellow," "Hitch Hike," and "Pride and Joy," prominently featured the girls.  Later in 1962, after singer Mary Wells missed a recording session, Reeves was recruited to sing a song as a demo.  Bringing along Ashford and Beard, the trio recorded their first single:  William "Mickey" Stevenson's "I'll Have to Let Him Go."  Their performance convinced Motown founder Berry Gordy to sign the Vels to another Motown subsidiary, Gordy Records, in September 1962.  After failing to come up with a name on their own, Gordy gave the group the name 'The Vandellas'.  Ashford has since been interviewed stating that, contrary to popular belief, The Vandellas were not named after Detroit's Van Dyke Avenue and Della Reese.  

On February 22nd, 1963, their second single, "Come and Get These Memories", was released.  The song rose to #6 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues chart and #29 on the Billboard Hot 100.  On July 10th, 1963 the follow-up, "Heat Wave", was released.  It became their first top ten pop hit, as "Heat Wave" peaked #4 on the Hot 100.  It reached #1 on the R&B chart, where it stayed for five weeks, resulting in their only Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance.  A November 4th, 1963 single release, "Quicksand", also reached the top ten, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1963.  Two successive follow-ups, "Live Wire" and "In My Lonely Room", however, failed to reach the Billboard top 40.  Gordy and Motown began focusing their efforts on the group's rivals, The Supremes.  Just as this was happening, Annette Beard left the group in 1964, and she was replaced by former Velvelette Betty Kelly.

On July 31st, 1964, the group released "Dancing in the Street", co-written by Marvin Gaye, Mickey Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter.  In addition to featuring instrumentation by the Funk Brothers session musicians, the great Marvin Gaye played the banging drum track on this recording.  The dance song became their signature single, peaking in September at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  "Dancing in the Street" became their first hit in the UK, initially peaking at #21 on the UK Singles Chart.  Five years later, a re-issue of the song helped to send it to #4 in the UK.  The song became a million-selling hit and has since become one of the most played singles in music history.  Since its release, "Dancing in the Street" has gone on to become one of Gordy and Motown and pop music’s most definitive works and a powerful anthem.  Stevenson was said to have come up with the idea for the song from watching kids jump and play in the street in the opened fire hydrants of the city on a hot summer day.  Musically and instrumentally, from its horn-heavy opening onward, this is a song designed to get you to dance.  As the song was released in the summer of 1964, amid a rash of national race riots, the phrase “Dancing in the Streets,” has come to be construed as being about civil rights, race riots, and perhaps even a calling to take to the streets.  Martha and the Vandellas' version of "Dancing in the Street" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.  In 2006, this version was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

“Dancing in the Street” would go on to be covered by many other artists.  In 1982, Van Halen took their cover of "Dancing in the Street" to #38 on the Hot 100 chart and #15 in Canada.  A 1985 duet cover of "Dancing in the Street" by David Bowie and Mick Jagger charted at #1 in the UK and #7 in the US.  

Martha and the Vandellas follow up single, "Wild One", only managed to peak at #34.  Then on February 10th, 1965 they released a single that returned them to the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.  That song, "Nowhere to Run", was their fourth top ten single, reaching #8 on the chart and #26 in the UK.  

With Martha Reeves' soulful vocals and the Vandellas' brassy harmonies, they were often considered the "soulful" alternative to the more pop-oriented Supremes.  The Supremes and other Motown groups such as The Temptations and the Four Tops were enjoying bigger crossover success than Martha and the Vandellas.  Nevertheless, appearances on television shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, American Bandstand, and Shindig! helped to keep the group high-profile during this period.  On June 28th, 1965, the Reeves/Ashford/Kelly lineup of the Vandellas performed "Nowhere to Run" on the CBS special, Murray The K - It's What's Happening, Baby.

After successive singles such as the group's first ballad single, "Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)" and "You've Been in Love Too Long" only performed modestly on the charts, they reached the US top 30 with another ballad, "My Baby Loves Me" in 1966. The group returned to the US top ten that same year with the song "I'm Ready for Love", which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.  "I'm Ready for Love" became their fifth top ten US hit, while peaking at #2 on the R&B chart and #29 in the UK.  By this period, the Andantes female session group began to sing on these tracks with Reeves, with Ashford and Kelly sometimes not being featured on the songs.  On February 3rd, 1967, more than two years after it was recorded, the single "Jimmy Mack" was released.  It reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached #1 on the R&B chart, their first #1 single there in four years.  "Jimmy Mack" was the last top ten single on the pop chart for the group.

Following the success of "Jimmy Mack", Motown Records began experiencing a commercial drought as the label's former staff writers and producers Mickey Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland all left in 1967.  After those songwriters left, Motown struggled to find good material for many of its acts.  At the time, the music industry itself was going through rapid changes.  The crossover Motown pop sound was falling out of favor with audiences, mainly in the black community.  Artists such as Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight & the Pips brought in grittier soul music.  Also the Temptations and Marvin Gaye were starting to record psychedelic soul, forcing many other Motown acts to adapt.  Martha and the Vandellas next two singles, "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" and "Honey Chile", were departures from the group's earlier pop-soul recordings that had made them famous.  Both songs reached the US top 40, with "Honey Chile" peaking at #11.  "Honey Chile" also became the first song to be released under the moniker, 'Martha Reeves & The Vandellas', as the group would be known from 1967 to 1972.  In the summer of the 1967, the group joined The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye in performing at the famed Copacabana.  However, with the notable exception of the Diana Ross and the Supremes, the success of most Motown acts, including Martha and Vandellas, declined in the late 1960's.  

Despite the early promise of continued success after "Honey Chile", their next release, "I Promise to Wait My Love" only managed to reach #62 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It was their lowest position since "What Am I Going to Do Without Your Love" peaked at #71 two years earlier.  Their next single, "I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playing", barely missed the US top 40 in 1968.  From that point on Martha Reeves & The Vandellas would undergo a variety of personnel changes before officially disbanding in 1972.  In 1974 Martha Reeves embarked on a solo career.  Eventually she would publish an autobiography, titled “Dancing in the Street”, and occasionally perform with a revamped Vandellas.  In 2005, she was elected to the Detroit City Council, working to further assist the city she once celebrated in song. 

Martha and the Vandellas were among the most successful Motown recording groups in the 1960's.  In contrast to other Motown girl groups such as The Supremes and The Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas were known for a harder R&B sound.  During their nine-year run on the charts from 1963 to 1972, Martha and the Vandellas charted over 26 hits and recorded in the styles of doo-wop, R&B, pop, blues, rock, and soul.  Ten of their songs reached the top ten of the Billboard R&B singles chart, including two R&B number ones.  Six of the group's songs reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and thirteen of their songs reached the top twenty on the US Billboard R&B singles chart.  Martha and the Vandellas  were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2013.

Thank you for traveling back in time with me to the 1960's, as I reviewed the influential career of one of Motown's greatest girl groups, Martha and the Vandellas!   So, fellow travelers, may your path be smooth and your music always be rockin'!  And until next time...Rock On!