There is no other way to say it – how the f*** did this happen, PopJustice?? How, WHY are
Martha & The Vandellas not in the top 3 or the winner here?? There is no reasoning or logical explanation for this! This song is EVERYTHING! How can it not have an average score over 8?? What exactly were you listening to when you scored this?? I am sitting here regretting not giving
Heatwave my 11 and although my attachment to my 11 is stronger, I cannot say it is better than
Heatwave, just that REDACTED means more to me! This cut is so wrong and unjust – it angers me more than
Overload being deemed only 9th best song of the
Sugababes’ discography!
Where do you even begin describing how amazing
Heatwave is? The voices are admittedly spectacular, sucking you in with
Martha’s longing intonation and desperation. The instrumental runs laps around most songs that have been released since with the doo wop call back and forth built on that ‘big band’ orchestration with the jazzy gospel flavours. They don’t make them like this anymore!
Heatwave is a moment where everyone involved in a record has hit the jackpot and brought forward their very best work, making the track a timeless classic! Unfortunately in PopJustice – this equals a #15 finish below far weaker numbers! I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since good ol’
Johnny Cash couldn’t even crack the top 30 of the Favourites Rates with
Hurt – sometimes my taste just doesn’t align with PopJustice. Eventually (hopefully) I will get over this injustice but for now, let’s look at this flawless record more closely!
Heatwave was written by the
Holland-Dozier-Holland group that we all would be familiar with by now since they brought us some other tracks we already eliminated (
The Supremes’ one for instance).
Heatwave was the second track they collaborated with
Martha & The Vandellas for and exemplifies the Motown sound to a fault with the aforementioned instrumentation. Originally called (
Love Is Like A)
Heatwave, the title was simplified closer to release. Depicting the narrator’s reactions and sentiments towards a love interest, it is such a beautiful and innocent example of how it feels when you first fall in love or have a crush! And the delivery – so heartfelt, true (and relatable)!
Heatwave peaked at #4 in the US charts and I cannot find charting information for it in either tasteless UK or Australia at this time.
Heatwave led
Martha & The Vandellas to receive their only (wtf??) Grammy Award nomination, making them the first Motown group to receive one and really putting
Motown Records on the map. BILLBOARD ranks it #12 of the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs Of All Time.
Martha & The Vandellas started out without
Martha surprisingly enough! The band that would come to be known as such started out as
The Del-Phis with friends
Annette Beard,
Rosalind Ashford and
Gloria Williams performing in local clubs til
Martha Reeves joined and eventually moved to lead vocalist duties when
Gloria Williams departed in 1962. The band then decided to rename themselves
The Vandellas, after a couple of stop-start moments until they were eventually signed to Motown (read up their
Wikipedia page for the amazing story!).
The name
Martha & The Vandellas came a bit later as
Martha was handling most of the lead vocals duties and at the time, the label could charge more for having 'two' acts perform instead of one as the name would imply (we saw this used earlier with
Labelle also). After
Heatwave’s success, the girls continued to score hit after hit for the label for a few years. Eventually though, infighting (sometimes on stage) and more replacements, with diminishing returns on the band’s sales by the time the 70s rolled in, and their sound becoming out of fashion led to the girls calling it quits in the early 70s, but we will explore more of that in part 2!
Let’s begrudgingly give PopJustice the floor after this horrible cut!
DJHazey (8)
mostly has the right idea and score so I won’t come for him yet! - Come on, who isn't getting hooked by the big "HEAT WAVE!" and general boppiness to this one?
Unnameable (8)
gives credit where it’s due – strong vocals from all of them.
DominoDancing (8)
also sees the genuine quality (but you three should really have upped your scores!) - Great energy, good groove, cute lyrics.
UntouchableAce (8.9)
calls it the right thing but makes me a little sad with not throwing this a 9 or more – Amazing! Speaking of Sister act, this is obviously the best song in this rate from that movie as it is amazing.
Empty Shoebox (8)
is not such a villain and is charmed just as much as all of us should be for this one - Having whined repeatedly about doo wop style songs, here I am giving one a high mark. Yes, I am a mess, but this song is okay. The lyrics are not terrible, there's a decent simile here. The arrangement's not bad, so yeah, I'll give it this eight. And I won't mention Phil Collins' version. Whoops.
Filippa (10)
is the villain of my heart!! <3 <3 <3 - Sisteract! But I like the version of Martha & the Vandellas better.
Spillett (8)
just has one thing to shout - (Sister Act!).
Saviodxl (4.3)
gives us a score and commentary that is a crime against humanity, quite frankly! (I will admit your what if situation is interesting)! - After a while, they all start looking and sounding the same. I wonder if people in 2038 will think the same of the girlgroups of the 90s.
ComeOnGloria (7)
is another to sing the praises of Queen Whoopi! - Another Sister Act Association - this time the first film.
Riiiiiiiii (8.5)
has met God!! And yet, not even a 9? Mess! - Last year we had Martha at our hotel and she was this amazing diva. The nice kind of diva though. And ever since Heat Wave is part of our playlist here during the breakfast.
Kermit_The_Frog (10)
should just be renamed TASTE! - One of the greatest recordings ever made on the Motown label (high praise indeed). Has anybody EVER listened to this song and not wanted to dance? Is that even possible? Just promise never to check out Martha’s Hootenanny rendition on Jools Holland - it will make you feel equal parts sad and awkward… Further Listening: Dancing In The Street.
Zar-Unity (6)
gives such a punk score for really lovely commentary - Well crafted and well written lyrics. Tech: 4 Taste: 2 = 6 points