Forward into the Past
MOTOWN’S REMAKES OF ITS OWN HITS (AND MISSES)
Sending a hit song to market for the second time is no guarantee of success, even for the promotional powerhouse that was Motown Records.
Sure, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in the respective hands of Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross out-charted and outsold the previously-released versions by Gladys Knight & the Pips and Gaye & Tammi Terrell. And, of course, the Temptations’ “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” outranked the Undisputed Truth’s original, which had been issued only a few months earlier.
But for the most part, those were exceptions.
‘Heaven’ sent Bonnie Pointer high on the Hot 100
By my count, Motown fired more than 60 second rounds between 1965 and 1987. That is, chart-aimed remakes of songs which had already done their duty as the A-sides of singles by other Motown acts. Many in the latter group were major hits, including nine Number Ones, so the effort must have seemed worthwhile.
The complete countdown of second-timers (and I hope you’ll tell me if it’s not complete) is published below. They are listed chronologically by month and year of release, and with chart peak – if there was one – on the Billboard Hot 100. Also shown for each entry is the artist who previously had the song out as a 45 topside, and its Hot 100 (or “Bubbling Under”) peak where applicable. The tabulation does not include non-Motown songs released as singles by its artists.
Nineteen of the first-timers reached the Top 10 in Billboard, while only six of the second-timers did so. Almost 40 of the second-timers (39, to be precise) could not gain a Hot 100 slot at all, although four of them did “bubble under.”
Among those 39 were Diana Ross (“What You Gave Me”), Barbara Randolph (“Can I Get A Witness”), the Marvelettes (“A Breath Taking Guy”), Thelma Houston (“I Want To Go Back There Again”) and Tata Vega (“You Keep Me Hangin’ On”).
NOT ‘READY’ FOR ROBINSON
Of course, some of the second-timers were long bets or schedule-fillers, such as Joe Harnell’s “My Cherie Amour” and the Impact of Brass’ “Never Can Say Goodbye.” Still, you might have thought that Smokey Robinson’s return to his hit for the Temptations, “Get Ready,” could have held a Hot 100 perch in 1979, but no.
Besides the three Number Ones cited at the start, only 11 second rounds did better on the Billboard pop charts than the earlier versions. These were by the Marvelettes (“Here I Am Baby”), Gladys Knight & the Pips (“It Should Have Been Me”), Marvin Gaye (“Chained,” “That’s The Way Love Is”), Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations (“I’ll Try Something New”), Bonnie Pointer (“Heaven Must Have Sent You”) and two by Rare Earth. The Michigan rockers reached No. 4 with their remake of “Get Ready,” seriously outpacing the Top 30 peak of the Temps’ original. Then they repeated the ruse with “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” placing one slot higher – that is, No. 7 – than the Temptations’ take, four years earlier.
Jr. Walker: the sweet first of three hit remakes
“What made it so interesting,” Rare Earth’s Pete Rivera subsequently said of their second Top 10 remake, “was that [Norman Whitfield] actually got on our case for trying to sound like the Temps the first time we did the song the way we thought it should be.” He added, “When we did it his way, it came out with a harder edge.” Unsurprisingly, Whitfield produced many – perhaps even most – of the remakes highlighted here; he drew upon his substantial inventory of songs, including those recorded by Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and Gladys Knight & the Pips.
“Heaven Must Have Sent You” was the last of Motown’s second shots to outgun the original. The Elgins cut the Holland/Dozier/Holland song in 1966 and hustled it into the Top 50 – just. When remade by Bonnie Pointer in ’79 (with husband/producer Jeffrey Bowen) as a digitally-mastered disco delight, the tune topped out one notch ’neath the Top 10. “I’m digging into the history of Motown and getting some things that I’ve always liked and always wanted to do,” Pointer remarked at the time.
Other artists signed to the company may have shared that sentiment, whether or not they scaled the charts. There certainly were some unlikely excavations, such as the Pat Boone Family’s “Please Mr. Postman,” E.D. Wofford’s “Baby I Need Your Loving” and José Feliciano’s “I Second That Emotion.” So now, for the full accounting of second-timers, read on. After each artist/title/release date is its Hot 100 peak in parentheses, followed by the Motown act which previously released the song as a 45 topside, and its Hot 100 peak:
RICHARD WYLIE & HIS BAND “Money (That’s What I Want)” May 1961 (–) Barrett Strong (23)
CHOKER CAMPBELL’S BIG BAND “Come See About Me” December 1964 (–) The Supremes (1)
THE VOWS “Buttered Popcorn” May 1965 (–) The Supremes (–)
EARL VAN DYKE & THE SOUL BROTHERS “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” September 1965 (–) The Four Tops (1)
THE MONITORS “Greetings (This Is Uncle Sam)” February 1966 (100) The Valadiers (89)
CONNIE HAINES “What’s Easy For Two Is So Hard For One” March 1966 (–) Mary Wells (29)
JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” July 1966 (18) Marvin Gaye (6)
JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS “Money (That’s What I Want)” October 1966 (52) Barrett Strong (23) Richard Wylie (–)
THE UNDERDOGS “Love’s Gone Bad” January 1967 (122) Chris Clark (105)
JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS “Come See About Me” November 1967 (24) The Supremes (1)
CHUCK JACKSON “(You Can’t Let The Boy Overpower) The Man In You” February 1968 (94) The Miracles (59)
THE ISLEY BROTHERS “Take Me In Your Arms” March 1968 (121) Kim Weston (50)
THE MARVELETTES “Here I Am Baby” May 1968 (44) Barbara McNair (125)
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS “It Should Have Been Me” May 1968 (40) Kim Weston (–)
BARBARA RANDOLPH “Can I Get A Witness” August 1968 (–) Marvin Gaye (22)
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS “I Wish It Would Rain” August 1968 (41) The Temptations (4)
MARVIN GAYE “Chained” August 1968 (32) Paul Petersen (–)
EDWIN STARR “Way Over There” October 1968 (119) The Miracles (94)
MARVIN GAYE “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” November 1968 (1) Gladys Knight & The Pips (2)
TAMMI TERRELL “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)” December 1968 (67) The Isley Brothers (12)
DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES AND THE TEMPTATIONS “I’ll Try Something New” February 1969 (25) The Miracles (39)
EARL VAN DYKE & THE SOUL BROTHERS “Runaway Child, Running Wild” March 1969 (114) The Temptations (6)
MARVIN GAYE “That’s The Way Love Is” April 1969 (7) The Isley Brothers (125)
THE ISLEY BROTHERS “Just Ain’t Enough Love” May 1969 (–) Eddie Holland (54)
BOBBY TAYLOR “My Girl Has Gone” July 1969 (–) The Miracles (14)
JOE HARNELL “My Cherie Amour” January 1970 (–) Stevie Wonder (4)
RARE EARTH “Get Ready” February 1970 (4) The Temptations (29)
RARE EARTH “(I Know) I’m Losing You” July 1970 (7) The Temptations (8)
DIANA ROSS “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” July 1970 (1) Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (19)
THE IMPACT OF BRASS “Never Can Say Goodbye” April 1971 (–) The Jackson 5 (2)
DIANA ROSS “Reach Out I’ll Be There” April 1971 (29) The Four Tops (1)
THELMA HOUSTON “I Want To Go Back There Again” November 1971 (–) Chris Clark (114)
THE MARVELETTES “A Breath Taking Guy” January 1972 (–) The Supremes (75)
SUZEE IKEDA “I Can’t Give Back The Love I Feel For You” June 1972 (–) Syreeta Wright (–)
BLINKY “Money (That’s What I Want)” June 1972 (–) Barrett Strong (23) Richard Wylie (–)
THE TEMPTATIONS “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” September 1972 (1) The Undisputed Truth (63)
YVONNE FAIR “Funky Music Sho’ Nuff Turns Me On” May 1974 (–) Edwin Starr (64)
RARE EARTH “Chained” May 1974 (–) Paul Petersen (–) Marvin Gaye (32)
THE PAT BOONE FAMILY “Please Mr. Postman” September 1974 (–) The Marvelettes (1)
YVONNE FAIR “It Should Have Been Me” September 1974 (–) Kim Weston (–) Gladys Knight & the Pips (40)
DAVID RUFFIN “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” January 1975 (–) The Temptations (18)
THE BOONES “When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” February 1975 (–) The Supremes (23)
THE ALLENS “A Bird In The Hand (Is Worth Two In The Bush)” March 1975 (–) The Velvelettes (–)
THE JACKSON 5 “Forever Came Today” June 1975 (60) Diana Ross & The Supremes (28)
YVONNE FAIR “It Should Have Been Me” January 1976 (85) Kim Weston (–) Gladys Knight & the Pips (40)
THE BOONES “My Guy” February 1976 (–) Mary Wells (1)
THE ORIGINALS “Touch” April 1976 (–) The Supremes (71)
THE DYNAMIC SUPERIORS “Nowhere To Run” June 1977 (–) Martha & The Vandellas (8)
CARL BEAN “I Was Born This Way” December 1977 (–) Valentino (–)
MARTY MITCHELL “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” January 1978 (–) Stevie Wonder (1)
E.D. WOFFORD “Baby I Need Your Loving” May 1978 (–) The Four Tops (11)
DIANA ROSS “What You Gave Me” December 1978 (–) Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (49)
BONNIE POINTER “Heaven Must Have Sent You” April 1979 (11) The Elgins (50)
SMOKEY ROBINSON “Get Ready” May 1979 (–) The Temptations (29)
BONNIE POINTER “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” November 1979 (40) The Four Tops (1)
TATA VEGA “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” November 1980 (–) The Supremes (1)
JERMAINE JACKSON “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” November 1981 (–) Stevie Wonder (3)
JOSÉ FELICIANO “I Wanna Be Where You Are” December 1981 (–) Michael Jackson (16)
JOSÉ FELICIANO “I Second That Emotion” April 1982 (–) Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (4)
CHARLENE “I Want To Go Back There Again” January 1983 (–) Chris Clark (114) Thelma Houston (–)
MONALISA YOUNG “Dancing Machine” February 1983 (–) The Jackson 5 (2)
HIGH INERGY “Back In My Arms Again” July 1983 (105) The Supremes (1)
MICHAEL JACKSON “25 Miles” October 1987 (–) Edwin Starr (6)
Music notes: Thanks to good friends/former Radio & Records colleagues Ken Barnes and Sean Ross for noting the first-draft omissions above of, respectively, the Underdogs’ “Love’s Gone Bad” and Carl Bean’s “I Was Born This Way,” now added. Meanwhile, by way of other notes: Marvin Gaye recorded his version of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” before Gladys & the Pips, of course, but it stayed unissued until after theirs was a Hot 100 hit. And Jermaine Jackson’s take of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” doesn’t appear in some Motown 45 discographies, but it did exist as a single, albeit with the same number as his “I’m Just Too Shy” release in 1981. Meanwhile, to hear much of the music listed above, check out Fred Bronson’s excellent Motown Sings Motown playlist on Spotify, which can be found here.