The Motown Top 250 Countdown (#190-186) & This Week's Statistics

Hello, my friends, old and new! I will begin the weekend's story with an important scene from a movie or two, or sometimes from an important TV show. This is today's scene:

Charlie Chaplin (photo) is one of the greatest screen icons, ever. In 1938, the world's most famous movie star began to prepare a film about the monster of the 20th century. Charlie Chaplin looked a little like Adolf Hitler, in part because Hitler had chosen the same toothbrush moustache as the Little Tramp. Exploiting that resemblance, Chaplin devised a satire in which the dictator and a Jewish barber from the ghetto would be mistaken for each other. The result, released in 1940, was The Great Dictator, Chaplin's first talking picture and the highest-grossing of his career, although it would cause him great difficulties and indirectly lead to his long exile from the United States.

The Great Dictator ended with a long speech denouncing dictatorships and extolling democracy and individual freedoms. This sounded to the left like bedrock American values, but to some on the right, it sounded pinko. This speech, in which Chaplin breaks the fourth wall, surprisingly (or perhaps not surprisingly) fits perfectly with the ugly political climate of today. It may not elicit laughter, but it's Chaplin at his most passionate moment on screen:

The weekend is here, which means it's time for our countdown and our statistics: At #190 of our Motown countdown, we find The Marvelettes and their first US top 40 pop hit, Too Many Fish in the Sea. It peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song, as well as being The Marvelettes', was also Norman Whitfield's first produced single, a rare songwriting partnership between Whitfield and Eddie Holland, and the only one where group members Georgeanna Tillman and Katherine Anderson had a lead on the A-side. This is also the final A-side appearance for Tillman, who would leave the group in very early 1965 before they recorded their next single, I'll Keep Holding On, due to her illnesses. From that moment on, Wanda Young Rogers (who also led on this and the two previous singles) would be the group's sole lead on the A-side of their singles.

Short ones, tall ones, fine ones, kind ones... The Marvelettes deliver this marvelously snappy advice to girls hung up on the wrong guys. This song's history also suggests there were too many potential hit songs swimming around Motown Records. At the time, the Marvelettes picked this song over another track called Where Did Our Love Go, which was eventually assigned to another girl group that hadn't had a single hit record yet - the Supremes.

Here it is:

Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels also charted Too Many Fish as a medley with Three Little Fishes. It reached #24 in 1967:

A good cover version of the song appeared on the soundtrack of Alan Parker's 1991 film, The Commitments:

At #189 there is Kim Weston with Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While), recorded in 1965 and peaked at #4 on the US R&B chart and at #50 on the Hot 100. The song was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and produced by Ted Templeman.

Her husband was Motown A&R chief Mickey Stevenson, but that still couldn't guarantee Kim Weston fame and backing from the Motown brass. One blog calls her "another artist Berry Gordy just left on the shelf." No matter who was ultimately responsible for not showcasing her talents, this is clear: Kim Weston matched the commanding force and personality of her one-time duet partner, Marvin Gaye. Her sensational vocals are best showcased on Take Me In Your Arms, an upbeat Holland-Dozier-Holland romp that allows Kim to vacillate from intimate pleadings to a full-throated snarl. Check out 2:18 to hear her unleash, "I said I wouldn't beg him / I said I wouldn't plead."

This is the original hit version by Kim Weston:

This is the original recording (1964) by one of the song's songwriters, Eddie Holland:

In 1967, Holland-Dozier-Holland had the Isley Brothers remake the song. Their version released in March 1968 and reached #22 on the R&B chart:

Jermaine Jackson covered Take Me in Your Arms for his first solo album, Jermaine, released in 1972. The track, produced by Hal Davis, was the B-side for Jackson's record Daddy's Home:

The Doobie Brothers remade Take Me in Your Arms for their 1975 Stampede album. Tom Johnston who was then the Doobies' frontman, later recalled, "I had been a fan of that song since it came out somewhere in the '60s. I just loved that song. So somewhere around '72 I started lobbying to get the band to do a cover of that. And I didn't get anywhere until '75. Then finally in 1975 we actually did it."

Doobies member Jeff Baxter said of their recording, "That song was like a dream come true for us. Every musician I've ever known has at some point wanted to achieve Motown's technically slick soul sound - it's so dynamic. We sat down to try to duplicate it, and to see if our version could emerge as a successful single." According to Doobies member Patrick Simmons, "At first the band sounded like the Grateful Dead doing the Four Tops, but gradually it came together quite accurately." Motown veteran Paul Riser was enlisted to arrange the track.

Released as the lead single of Stampede on April 23, 1975, Take Me in Your Arms reached a United States Hot 100 peak of #11 that June. Take Me in Your Arms gave the Doobie Brothers their only chart hit in France, where it reached #37. The track also charted in the UK at #29, matching the chart peak of the Doobie Brothers' only other original release Top 30 hit, Listen to the Music. Here it is:

Take Me in Your Arms was also remade in 1975 by the Canadian singer Charity Brown whose version, produced by Harry Hinde, was arranged by the Motown veteran Tom Baird. The Charity Brown version reached #5 in Canada in May 1975. This is it:

At #188 we find The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Written by Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Marv Tarplin and produced by Robinson, it is noted for being the first single to bill the group as "Smokey Robinson" & the Miracles, instead of just "the Miracles", a billing already present on the group's albums by this time.

The single, released on January 27, 1967, was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and a Top 10 hit on Billboard's R&B singles chart. As with several of the Miracles' hits, "Mirage" begins with Tarplin's guitar and he plays the riff on a 12-string acoustic guitar. The song's lyrics feature Robinson's character as a man deceived by the beauty of a woman who showed "the promise of love", but then sadly discovered that her love was "just a mirage".

The song was also used in a film, the soundtrack of the 1980 crime drama, American Gigolo starring Richard Gere. Gere actually sang along to The Miracles' original recording in the film. This is the scene:

This cover version is by the Jackson 5:

This cover version is by Slim Smith & The Uniques:

Sitting pretty at #187 is Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) by Marvin Gaye duetting with Diana Ross. The song was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed and was originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul group the Stylistics. An R&B ballad, it was the first track from their 1971 debut self-titled album and was released as a single in 1971 and reached #39 on the US Hot 100 chart. In addition, it also climbed to #6 in the R&B chart. Here:

Around the same time, Motown wanted their most successful label mates, Gaye and Ross, to record a duet album. Among the songs they released, their version of Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) was recorded in separate studios, and was released as a UK only single from their duet album, Diana & Marvin, in 1974. The song became a hit in the UK reaching #25 on the UK Singles Chart. This is the version in our countdown, which was also used as part of the movie soundtrack for Bridget Jones's Diary. Here:

This cover version is by Michael McDonald:

Finally for today, at #186, is the other great girl group from Motown: Martha and the Vandellas with the song Come and Get These Memories. Their second single released under Motown's Gordy Records subsidiary, "Memories" became the group's first hit single, reaching #29 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #6 on the R&B Singles Chart. The song speaks of heartbreak, as the narrator (lead singer Martha Reeves) goes through her things and gives back everything her now ex-boyfriend had given her, including teddy bears, records, and "lingering love".

Come and Get These Memories is also notable as the first hit recording written and produced by the songwriting/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, who would become the top creative team at Motown by the end of 1965. The single was the first of several hits the Vandellas scored with the team before Holland-Dozier-Holland began to focus more heavily on hits for The Supremes and the Four Tops. However, Holland–Dozier–Holland would continue to collaborate with the Vandellas until the songwriting team's departure from Motown in 1967. This is Come and Get These Memories:

For comparison's sake, this is the version by the Supremes (Mary Wilson is on lead vocals):

Fellow Motown singer Kim Weston recorded the song, but it remained unreleased until her Motown Anthology (and the Motown Sings Motown Treasures album) was released in 2005:

Bette Midler covered the song for her 2014 album It's the Girls!. Unfortunately, her version does not exist on Youtube.

Now, let's continue with last week's statistics; last week the weekly number of visits almost tripled, so I shouldn't really expect another rise. Yet, there was a 13% rise. All the stories were successful, the most popular by far being the one that carried Madonna's photo. Make of that what you will...

As far as countries are concerned, the United States, Greece, and Cyprus are riding the wave of success, while France, Russia, and Turkey suffered losses. The other major players kept their percentages more or less stable. This activity has caused a change in the all-time Top 10: Cyprus has climbed to #9, leaving Turkey in the danger zone, threatened by Australia and Spain, which are constantly gaining strength.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. Greece

3. the United Kingdom

4. Cyprus

5. Canada

6. France

7. Australia

8. Germany

9. Italy

10. Spain

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Algeria, Argentina, Austria, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, FYR Of Macedonia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 30.6%

2. France = 20.3%

3. the United Kingdom = 12.3%

4. Greece = 7.7%

5. Russia = 2.5%

6. Germany = 1.8%

7. Canada = 1.7%

8. Italy = 1.1%

9. Cyprus = 0.87%

10. Turkey = 0.84%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!