Martha and the Vandellas were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown.
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
"Nowhere to Run" is a 1965 pop single by Martha and the Vandellas for the Gordy (Motown) label and is one of the group's signature songs. The song, written and produced by Motown's main production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, depicts the story of a woman trapped in a bad relationship with a man she cannot help but love.
"Heat Wave" is a 1963 song written by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting team. It was first made popular by the Motown vocal group Martha and the Vandellas. Released as a 45 rpm single on July 9, 1963, on the Motown subsidiary Gordy label, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot R&B chart—where it stayed for four weeks—and peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Quicksand" is a 1963 soul-dance single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas.
"Come and Get These Memories" is an R&B song by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Their second single released under Motown's Gordy Records subsidiary, "Memories" became the group's first hit single, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, and number-six on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. The song speaks of heartbreak, as the narrator goes through her things and gives back everything her now ex-boyfriend had given her, including teddy bears, records, and "lingering love".
"Wild One" is a dance single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Written and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. The song was another Top 40 triumph for the group as it reached #34 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and #11 on the Hot R&B singles chart. The backing track for 'Wild one' was an alternative version of the backing track to 'Dancing in the Street'.
"You've Been in Love Too Long" is a song produced and written by William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter and Clarence Paul. It was released dance single when recorded by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas.
"My Baby Loves Me" is a 1966 soul standard by Martha Reeves but released under Martha and The Vandellas. None of the Vandellas are featured in this song. Instead, the background is sung by Motown's session group, The Andantes, and another legendary Motown group, The Four Tops. Co-written and co-produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson & Ivy Jo Hunter, the song rose to #22 on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #3 on Billboard's Hot R&B singles chart.
"I'm Ready for Love" is a 1966 single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. The song, produced and written by Holland–Dozier–Holland, and was written in a similar style to The Supremes' smash hit, "You Can't Hurry Love".
"Jimmy Mack" is a pop/soul song that in 1967 became a hit single by Martha and the Vandellas for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 pop hit for the Vandellas in the United States, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967 and at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. Billboard named the song #82 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
"Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" is a 1967 single released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. The song's production was a departure from the Vandellas' repertoire as their label, Motown, was having a harder time staying with the times in the music industry and having a much harder time finding a hit for its acts after several departures including Vandellas collaborators William "Mickey" Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland, who produced the b-side to this single, "One Way Out", one of the trio's final recordings with the Vandellas. Produced by Richard Morris, the song displayed of the narrator wanting "the love bug" to leave her alone so she won't "fall in love". The narrator, lead singer Martha Reeves, was left heart-broken the last time she allowed the man to come back to her but after suffering heartbreak, she expresses her disgust at the man's attempts, with her fellow members Rosalind Ashford and Betty Kelley chanting "get outta there, love bug, leave my heart alone". The song was their second consecutive Top 40 single of 1967 peaking at number twenty-five on the Billboard pop singles chart and number fourteen on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart. The record was the first track ever played on UK Radio One by DJ John Peel.
"Honey Chile" is a 1967 single by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas on the Gordy label. Produced by Richard Morris and written by Morris and Sylvia Moy, This was the first single to bill Martha Reeves by her full name, as opposed to simply "Martha" and the Vandellas.
"Forget Me Not" is a 1968 single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Though the song failed to ignite charts in America, barely hitting the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 93, and failing to chart on the US R&B charts, it became a hit on the UK Singles Chart singles chart peaking at No. 11 netting them their biggest UK hit in several years.
"I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playin'" is a 1968 funk-soul single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas.
"(We've Got) Honey Love" is a 1967 song by Motown girl group The Velvelettes that later became a 1969 single released by another Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas from their album Ridin' High released in 1968. The song returned the Vandellas to the top forty of Billboard's R&B singles chart where it peaked at number twenty-seven while it hit the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number fifty-seven. It was the group's sixth record where they were listed as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas following the successful "Honey Chile" single two years earlier. The song talked of how one woman's lover's charm was like "sugar and spice" adding names of candy and soda adding "a little bit of me, a little bit of you and we've got honey love." The Velvelettes, meanwhile, had recorded two versions of the song, both of which would go unreleased for almost 40 years. All three versions were written by Richard Morris and Sylvia Moy, and produced by Morris. Every version also used the same track with The Andantes as background vocals.
"I Should Be Proud" is a 1970 protest song written by Henry Cosby, Pam Sawyer and Joe Hinton and recorded by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas.
"Love " is a 1965 pop ballad by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. A rare ballad for the group, whose forte was reportedly uptempo soul dance numbers including "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run", the b-side to the group's single, "You've Been in Love Too Long", although the song only peaked at #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #22 on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart, it was number one on many American urban radio playlists.The song, written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland, has the narrator explain why love makes her do things she later regrets. Cash Box described it as a "plaintive, slow-shufflin’ heart-throbber with a nostalgic years-back sound."
"Special Occasion" is a 1968 hit single recorded by Motown Records R&B group Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, issued by its Tamla Records subsidiary and taken from the album of the same name. It was written and composed by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown staff songwriter Al Cleveland, the authors of the group's Top 10 million-selling smash, "I Second That Emotion", the previous year.
"I'll Have to Let Him Go" is a 1962 song and single written, composed and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson and issued on the Gordy (Motown) label. it is notable for being one of two singles that marked the Motown debut of Martha and the Vandellas. The song is about ending a romantic relationship, as its narrator, after seeing her lover kissing and holding another, realizing its over and decides she going “to set him free” even though "it's gonna hurt (her) so".
