LP Review: Heat Wave
Released: 1963
LP Charts: #125 pop
Yes… YES… YES!
That title track is the jam! A whole new Motown bag. But what about the rest of the album? Uh… not so good, sadly. Let’s linger on the title track a bit more, though!
“Come and Get These Memories” earlier in 1963 was the first hit for both Martha & the Vandellas and the Holland-Dozier-Holland production team. Well, with “Heat Wave” (#1 R&B, #4 pop) they turned everything good about “Memories” up to an 11.
Even though the song is just 2:44, H-D-H had the Funk Brothers spend the opening 30 seconds setting the musical landscape with handclaps, a jangling rhythm guitar, and that beautiful baritone sax, so when Reeves belts “Whenever I’m with him…” you’re already hooked into this song.
Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard sing their asses off with “Heat wave!”, “go ahead girl!”, “ain’t nothing but love girl”, and “burnin’ burnin’ burnin’, burnin’ burnin’ burnin’”. And Reeves chomping all into “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”
Yes, ma’am or sir, this is R&B pop music deeply infused with gospel. Especially the original 3:45 version that in the vaults for decades.
Amazing how this song ushered in the Golden Age Motown Sound and also presaged disco while being steeped in soul and gospel. One of the greatest pieces of American music and the best song the Vandellas ever recorded, IMO.
Okay, now for the rest of the album… *sigh*
The obvious problem is that H-D-H didn’t write another song on this LP. And William “Mickey” Stevenson, the Vandellas’ other main collaborator, didn’t write anything either.
So we have a bunch of covers. And they are passable at best.
Unsurprisingly, the best of these other songs were previously done by girl groups, like the Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me”, but these pale in the face of the originals, let alone the titanic “Heat Wave”. Anyways, some of these songs can be fun in the moment, but they don’t leave any lasting impression.
ALBUM GRADE: D+
Clearly just seek out the timeless title track cuz the rest of this stuff is filler… with a few exceptions that are outright bad.
Song Scores
Heat Wave: 10/10
Then He Kissed Me: 6/10
Hey There Lonely Boy: 6/10
More: 3/10
Danke Schoen: 4/10
If I Had A Hammer: 6/10
Hello Stranger: 5/10
Just One Look: 5/10
Wait ‘Til My Bobby Gets Home: 6/10
My Boyfriend’s Back: 5.5/10
Mockingbird: 3/10