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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZREEVES, Martha, and the VandellasUS female soul/R&B vocal group formed '61 in Detroit by lead singer Martha Reeves (b 18 July '41) with Rosalind Ashford (b 2 Sep. '43) and Annette Sterling, all from Detroit. A more aggressive, more soulful alternative to labelmates the Supremes, with 23 Hot 100 entries '63--71, though they passed their peak '67. Martha was secretary to Motown's A&R chief William 'Mickey' Stevenson; with Ashford, Sterling and lead singer Gloria Williams she'd recorded as the Del-Phis on a subsidiary of Chess; at Motown she made demos to test comprehensibility of lyrics and sang backup on early hits, especially with Marvin Gaye, whose 'Stubborn Kind Of Fellow' '62 credited the Vandellas, named after Detroit's Van Dyke Street and Martha's favourite singer Della Reese. Mary Wells's unused studio time gave them their chance: after a flop as the Vels on Mel-O-Dy label Williams retired; second release as Vandellas on Gordy was first hit 'Come And Get These Memories' (top 30 pop, no. 6 R&B), then 'Heat Wave' 4/1 and 'Quicksand' (top ten pop) same year; by then Sterling had been replaced by Betty Kelly (b 16 Sep. '44). 'Live Wire' '64 (42 pop), 'Nowhere To Run' '65 8/4, 'I'm Ready For Love' and 'Jimmy Mack' '66--7 (both top ten pop, top two R&B) made seven hits written for them by Holland/Dozier/Holland, but the biggest was 'Dancing In The Street' (no. 2 pop '64), one of the era's anthems, written by Gaye and Stevenson: as it was climbing the chart the riots of the 'long hot summer' of '64 were taking place; on a UK tour someone accused Martha of being a militant: 'My Lord, it was a party song,' she recalled on Dinah Shore talk show late '70s. In fact the great party song/dance classic hit precisely when there was no R&B chart in Billboard because white and black kids were buying the same records. 'Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone' and 'Honey Chile' (both by Richard Morris/Sylvia Moy) were their last top 40 hits '67; the personnel was changing and their name was changed from Martha and the Vandellas to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (echoing change to Diana Ross and the Supremes); Martha's previous experience had made her valuable as Stevenson's secretary, but also made her independent: she queried label boss Berry Gordy about this and that, but he liked pliable artists and lost interest in her and the group. They broke up '71; she left Motown '72 for solo work: Martha Reeves '74 on MCA ('Power Of Love' made Hot 100), The Rest Of My Life '77 on Arista, We Meet Again '78 on Fantasy. She is still a much-loved attraction; Motown anthologies compile the hits. Profile in Gerri Hirshey's Nowhere To Run: The Story Of Soul Music '84. |