This was written as a potential short entry in my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1), though it's currently more likely to land in the even-more-hypothetical Volume 2. For now.
An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
THE VELVELETTES: He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'
Written by Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stephenson, and Edward Holland, Jr.
Produced by Norman Whitfield
Single, V.I.P., 1964
Written by Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stephenson, and Edward Holland, Jr.
Produced by Norman Whitfield
Single, V.I.P., 1964
In 1982, the combined forces of Bananarama and Fun Boy Three introduced me to the song "Really Saying Something," a bubbly girl-group number that was immediately catchy and radio-ready. I don't remember when I found out it was a cover of an old Motown single (released at the close of business in 1964) nor when I finally heard that original version by the Velvelettes. Those British chicks and fellows did a fine job with their cover; the Velvelettes blow 'em away.
The Velvelettes were a third-tier Motown group. If that seems harsh, consider the label's first tier: the Temptations, the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and later the Jackson Five. The sheer magnitude of that star power is enough to push even Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Martha and the Vandellas to Motown's second tier, along with the fabulous Marvelettes. (The Isley Brothers, the Spinners, and Gladys Knight and the Pips built too much of their legacies with other labels before and after their Motown runs to be thought of as part of any Motown tier. I guess.)
That leaves the third tier, which could certainly include the Contours and the Velvelettes. That's not bad company to keep, and you'll note that both of those acts receive a spotlight in The Greatest Record Ever Made! Man, has there ever been a label with a top-to-bottom talent roster that could rival Motown? I think not.
Regardless of what tier artist made it, "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" is a top-tier record. And I can't hear the Supremes or Miracles improving on what the Velvelettes did.
And that's sayin' somethin'.
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