The Velvelettes - He Was Really Sayin' Somthin'

Happy Monday! We're back this week with The Velvelettes. We spun The Velvelettes wonderful 2nd single a few months back. You can hear that number here. Today we spin their third single, the delightful He Was Really Sayin' Somthin'. The single was released on the Motown subsidiary, V.I.P. Records on December 28, 1964. I'm not going to rehash the back story on the band. You can read that in the previous post on the band. Just enjoy.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of the Week: The Velvelettes - Needle In A Haystack and Should I Tell Him

Needle In A Haystack

 

Should I Tell Him

Yesterday we gave you Welsh blue-eyed soul singer, Tawny Reed, performing Needle In A Haystack from '65. We return today with the original version of Needle In A Haystack. 

Needle In A Haystack was first recorded by a lightly known Michigan girl group called The Velvelettes on the Motown Records subsidiary, V.I.P. Records, in September of 1964. It was their second single. The Velvelettes had a rotating cast of members, but the heart of the band was Bertha Barbee McNeal, Mildred Gill, Betty Kelly and Carolyn Gill. Carolyn took the reigns as the lead singer. 

We're also including the Flip-Side, the more than solid Should I Tell Him which really allows Carolyn Gill to show off her singing chops. It's a fine double sided gem. 

The band went on to record another local hit the next year, He Was Really Saying Something, which was covered by the Terry Hall controlled band, Bananarama, in the mid-80s.

Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!

Song of The Week: Chris Clark - Love's Gone Bad

Believe it or not, I'm actually featuring the A-Side of a record today! 

From August of 1966, we have blue eyed soul singer, Chris Clark on the Motown down-label, V.I.P., doing Love's Gone Bad. This Holland-Dozier-Holland composition has a real garage beat to it that just pounds away at the ears. In fact, Detroit garage band, The Underdogs, would record the same song for the same label in January of 1967. Largely the same sound. But Chris Clark's version is superior in our opinion. That's why she gets a feature at On The Flip-Side, and The Underdogs just get a toss away mention. Rumor has it that Chris was a personal favorite of Barry Gordy (wink, wink). 

Enjoy. Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side.