LP Review: Dance Party
Released: 1965
LP Charts: #139 pop
How quickly the world changes. The Vandellas hit their commercial apex with this album and woulda been considered the girl group queens of Motown… except the Supremes had charged up the charts in 1964 leaving the Vandellas’ success looking minor in comparison.
But Dance Party featured two top 10 singles and was loaded with plenty of other decent songs from H-D-H and Mickey Stevenson. The real shame is that the Vandellas also had a few other great songs that were released in this era, but were never put on a proper album. Single releases only.
“Quicksand” (#7 R&B, #8 pop) — 8/10
“Live Wire” (#11 R&B, #42 pop) — 7.5/10
“In My Lonely Room” (#6 R&B, #44 pop) — 9/10
“You’ve Been In Love Too Long” (#25 R&B, #36 pop) — 9/10
“Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)” 7.5/10
Why NONE of those songs were included on this album is a damn mystery since they all came out in between the release of mid-1963’s Heat Wave and Dance Party which came out in early 1965.
Okay, “Too Long” and “Foolish Things” are excused. They were released in July 1965. But “Quicksand” is from November 1963, “Live Wire” from January 1964, and “In My Lonely Room” from March 1964.
The hell was Motown thinking?! Add those three tracks to Dance Party and we got one of the best albums of the 1960s. Alas.
The Barn Burners
Okay, so the obvious burner is “Dancing In The Street” (#8 R&B, #2 pop). So obvious it was the inspiration for the album title. This classic jammer has survived horrific covers to remain a seminal song of its era since it was mistaken as a pro-rebellion song. Sure, the song was truly about dancing, but it was 1964 and the Civil Rights Movement was its height. Folks could read whatever they wanted into the lyrics written by Mickey Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter, and Marvin Gaye.
And when the lyrics included “an invitation across the nation, a chance for folks to meet”; numerous major urban areas getting explicit shout outs; “across the ocean blue, me and you we’re dancing in the streets”; and perhaps most socialistic and race-mixing of all, “every guy grab a girl, everywhere around the world”… you can see how folks would interpret this is a call to the streets for more than perhaps just dancing.
I love that song, but IMO the real standout track is “Nowhere to Run” (#5 R&B, #8 pop) from our friends H-D-H. They pulled out perhaps their greatest production trick by having a god damn snowchain slammed against the ground for percussion on this song. That’s a proper indication that this baby is menacing, heavy, and funky. And I don’t think Martha Reeves ever sang a song better.
Also, awesome baritone sax alert!
“Wild One” (#11 R&B, #34 pop) lyrically at least, is a throwback tune. In that lyrical regard, it belongs back in 1955 when teenage rebels were all the rage. Musically however this song is a sequel to “Nowhere to Run” and “Dancing in the Street” as it continues an unbelievably heavy sound rooted in smashing percussion and rumbling bass. I think we know the origins of the Minneapolis Sound some 15 years later that was heavily industrial.
The Middle Ground
“Motoring” and “Dance Party” are each okay songs. The former is a lighter stab at the heavy R&B we just mentioned in the barn burner section. Meanwhile, the title track is a pleasant midtempo invitation to dance. Honestly, I think this should have been the first song on the album. It serves as a nice intro “Dancing In the Street”.
“Mobile Lil the Dancing Witch”, “Nobody’ll Care”, “The Jerk”, “Mickey’s Monkey”, and “Hitch Hike” are all dance filler. No harm, no foul.
The album also tacks on “There He Is (At My Door)”, which first appeared on Come and Get These Memories. It’s a really good song, but I hate when record companies recycle tracks.
The Bad
“Dancing Slow” is kinda bad, but even worse considering it sits right in between the twin dynamite of “Dancing in the Street” and “Wild One”. Terrible album sequencing.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
Imagine how good this album woulda been had Motown rightfully added “Live Wire” and “In My Lonely Room” to this? Would catapulted to a B grade album, which is pretty damn good for a girl group album in the 1960s.
Too bad Motown was content with this release, which is still on the better side of things. Even considering all my griping, this is the best Vandellas album yet and it had TWO epochal classics.
Song Scores
Dancing In The Street: 10/10
Dancing Slow: 3/10
Wild One: 8/10
Nowhere to Run: 10/10
Nobody’ll Care: 6/10
There He Is (At My Door): 7.5/10
Mobile Lil the Dancing Witch: 6/10
Dance Party: 6/10
Motoring: 7/10
The Jerk: 6/10
Mickey’s Monkey: 6.5/10
Hitch Hike: 6/10