Customer Reviews

Dance Party & Watchout

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finally,motowns'paying tribute putting two albums a piece of martha & the girls together on one glorious cd, finally.especially the timeless,jimmy mack,&offering it's fabulous bang flipside hit,third finger left hand,originally on gordy motown.this is a true gem of a find.plus the classics,i'm ready for love & no more tear stained makeup.while the supremes were pretty,we got down!!!!alright martha!!!!joey hoffman 52757

Martha's calling out allll around the world again for us to Party with her and The Vandellas. This Dance oriented Double cd aptly entitled "DANCE PARTY/WATCHOUT " showcases the groups output from 1964 to 1966. Despite being upstaged by the meteoric rise of The Supremes,this group still managed to hold thier own with timeless classics like DANCING IN THE STREET, JIMMY MACK , IM READY FOR LOVE and NOWHERE TO RUN.

In my opinion, its the lesser known ablum trax that make this compilation worth the effort. THIRD FINGER/LEFT HAND was the flip side of READY FOR LOVE yet it's somewhat of a cult classic today .Two Smokey Robinson penned tunes are noteworthy as well : The cleverly worded NO MORE TEARSTAINED MAKE UP (the original and a bonus alternate version are included) and KEEP IT UP are just a few of the understated treasures here.

Well, I dont know about you , but I'm Ready for a Boxset on The Vandellas (similar to the one done on The Supremes)! Even better would be a Boxset of previously unreleasded Vandellas (lord knows they have a TON of material in the can)
One day ...for now , this compilation will suffice :)

DANCE PARTY is a fun album, bolstered by the hits DANCING IN THE STREET and the awesome NOWHERE TO RUN. MOBILE LIL THE DANCING WITCH is pretty neat, but the lyrics aren't always easy to understand. The title track is also catchy.

WATCHOUT! is my favorite Vandellas' album. It includes I'M READY FOR LOVE and my favorite Vandellas' single, JIMMY MACK. Outstanding is Smokey's NO MORE TEARSTAINED MAKE UP...wow, superior Motown! Also noteworthy are ONE WAY OUT and HAPPINESS IS GUARANTEED. Martha and the girls had a nice cover with this album too!

This 2-for-1 is a must for all Motown and/or Martha fans.

Dance Party kicks off with the timeless classic hit Dancing In The Street (turned down by Kim Weston) and also has Nowhere To Run and Wild One, along with their B-sides, both having already been big hit singles when the album came out in April 1965. One of these, There He Is (At My Door), dated from 1963, and was originally on the album Come And Get These Memories, but has a new vocal on this version. By 1965 Martha's Vandellas were Betty Kelly and Rosalind Ashford, both from Detroit. 
Most of the album was co-produced by Mickey Stevenson, but three were Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier productions, including Nowhere To Run and their version of the Motown dance standard Mickey's Monkey, written for the Miracles. They had sung on Marvin Gaye's original version of Hitch Hike in September 1962, and their own version was held over from the same period. It completes the album in fine style, to make up a first rate dance party record in the true Motown idiom, full of finger-clicking rhythms, generous percussion and punchy horns and brass.
Watchout! was the follow-up album in 1966 and contains the hit songs Jimmy Mack (held over from 1964, it was to be remixed for single release in 1967) and I'm Ready For Love, which features the archetypal 1966 Motown sound with those great bass runs. What Am I Going To Do Without Your Love was also a single but had left the charts largely untroubled. On the other hand, Third Finger Left Hand, the B-side of Jimmy Mack and also rescued from a 1964 recording session, is a great Holland-Dozier-Holland song which went on to became a hit in its own right. It wasn't on the original album but is included on this double-length CD as a bonus track, along with two other previously unreleased stereo mixes. One Way Out is a true floor-filler and was to come out as a B-side the following year. There are more ballads than dance floor numbers on this record, including two songs written by Smokey Robinson. One is a total scorcher called No More Tearstained Make Up. This may have been considered as a single at one time as a longer alternative version appears as an extra track.
Missing from this (and the other albums in the series) are the non-album singles from this period, In My Lonely Room/A Tear For The Girl (1964); You've Been In Love Too Long/Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)(1965); and My Baby Loves Me/Never Leave Your Baby's Side (1966).
Two essential Martha and the Vandellas albums on one good value all-stereo CD (note though that the mono mixes of some of these tracks were slightly longer).

And leave it to the E.M.I. Studios to do the honors. Not only every righteous track from Dance Party and Watchout! are included, but also three bonus tracks. We have first time ever stereo mixes of Third Finger, Left Hand (B-side of Jimmy Mack), and the unreleased Can't Break the Habit, which appeared in the early 80's on a compilation L.P. entitled "Motown Superstars: The Unreleased Masters" or something. "No More Tearstained Makeup" from Watchout! is one my favorites. The lyrics (Smokey Robinson, of course) are so captivating the listener hangs on every word. Dance Party contains the three singles from their heady days of late 1964 to early 1965; Dancing in the Street, Wild One and Nowhere to Run. Obviously, the latter was the final run of "Can't Break The Habit", which sounds as if Martha becomes disinterested half way through. "Run" is far more consistant and soulful making its way into the national top ten. There He Is (At My Door) is a throwback to the track on Come And Get These Memories. The vocal was re-done and is stronger. (Collector's Note: The original version was recorded by the first incarnation of the Vandellas, The Vells with Gloria Williams singing lead. This group didn't last and Martha became the lead singer and the rest, as they say...) Watchout! contains two singles, proper: the less popular, but certainly ambitious What am I Going to do Without Your Love (Sylvia Moy, Mickey Stevenson)and Holland-Dozier-Holland tour de force, I'm Ready For Love, again a national top ten hit. Jimmy Mack, an album track of high degree, was re-mixed in an uptempo beat and released as a single the following year (1967). Perhaps the underdog on the album is the re-make of an earlier Kim Weston single, Go Ahead and Laugh. A true jazz ballad in the tradition of Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things, this is torch balladry at its best. These two albums have stood the test of time just as much as (dare I say it?) Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds. I don't mean they are as daring and innovative, but for these ladies, they are not to be missed. If you missed thier re-issue in the States in the 80's, don't miss them this time around.

These were the two best studio albums Martha & the Vandellas ever released. It's as simple as that.

`Dance Party' came first, as Gordy LP 915 on April 12, 1965 and fueled by the hits `Dancing In The Street,' `Wild One,' & `Nowhere To Run.' Their respective B-sides were no slouches, either: (respectively) `There He Is At My Door,' `Dancing Slow' & `Motoring.' The `cover' cuts here are fine, but the true fascination was the then-unknown material, `Dance Party,'`Nobody'll Care,' and particularly, `Mobile Lil The Dancing Witch' (some kind of `line' dance, I think, had to be suited to this one). With the exception of `Nowhere To Run' which is a Holland-Dozier-Holland production, the album was primarily produced by the boss Martha was originally a secretary to, William `Mickey' Stevenson. He knew his protégée well, and guided her through a project here each can take lasting pride in.

A `Greatest Hits' (a near-perfect one, at that) was next in May of 1966, and on November 16 came Gordy LP 920, `Watch Out.' Its only hit at that moment was `I'm Ready For Love.' Hard as it is to believe now, `Jimmy Mack' quietly waited its turn for over 10 weeks(!) to be unleashed as a 45 until February '67. Both songs are immortal now for the group and the other two H-D-H cuts included are winners too. `One Way Out' echoes back in its way to `Nowhere To Run,' but the fourth number was really different. `He Doesn't Love Her Anymore' rode the B-side of `I'm Ready For Love,' and has blues & jazz elements that are much more like `My Baby Loves Me' and `You've Been In Love Too Long' than the typical dance numbers H-D-H did on Martha. Her delivery on this heartbreak number is so sincere I'd bet she hasn't forgotten a single one of its lyrics today.

It's quite possible, what with producing the Temptations, the Marvelettes and his own group, the Miracles, Smokey Robinson was stretched very thin and busy in these mid-60s years. But two tracks on `Watch Out' certainly suggest there were great professional possibilities for he and Martha. `Keep It Up' is just what you'd might guess - Martha warning an abusive lover that her patience is running out, and she ain't playin'. But, `No More Tear-Stained Makeup' is truly the single that should have been. One of those pick-myself-up, start-over-again determination songs imbued with some of Smokey's cleverest rhymes, and Martha giving it the excellent reading it deserved. You GOTTA hear this one if you don't know it.

`Can't forget the Motor City,' Martha once sang. Don't worry, my dear Miss Reeves, with performances like these, you've seen to it that we never possibly could. Thank you.

While Diana and the Supremes got the full-out Motown royalty treatment and album releases involving every kind of material imaginable from country to the score of "Funny Girl" for no evident reason except Diana as the Black Barbra was always heavily on Motown's mind, Martha and the Vandellas were slow-dripping great albums with barely any fanfare. The Vandellas never got to do anything but regulation collections of tracks they'd recorded randomly (one of their best albums, "At the Copa," never even made it out), with a generic title and cover idea slapped on, but that didn't stop Martha from being absolutely brilliant. "Watchout" was such a collection, with tracks from a three-year period gathered to make an album ("Jimmy Mack" being three years old, dubbed over for a smoother sound for the album, then returned to its grittier state for the single--boy, is that Motown). It's widely considered one of the great Motown albums because the material is infectious and Martha absolutely tears apart each song and puts it back together again so dynamically. This woman was and is a genius at taking undistinguished material and making it unforgettable. Besides having the chops to sock any song over, she was and is a keen interpreter of lyrics and conveyer of mood, extremely intelligent and without a false note in any of her emotions. "Watchout" is a lesson in how to sing! "Dance Party" developed out of an album which was to have been titled "Wild One" and actually had an actual theme, but the tracks are partly a real album and partly the same old song--random tracks. Again, Martha and the girls (who vary track to track, boy is THAT Motown) sizzle. One thing Motown didn't stint on was big accompaniments for, and the best orchestrators, for Martha's recordings. Everything here is very rich and layered. Beautifully packaged, this is a great catch.

Well The Andantes may have been helping out numerous times by this point in The Vandellas Career , The Vandellas had their peak LP's with these two. What strikes me as odd is why Motown neglected to release "Can't Break the Habit" as the follow up to "Nowhere to Run"(although it isn't as lyrically interesting as it's proposed forebearer , and it does show Martha leading a softer side Vocally than Normal , but it's still an Irrisitable H-D-H Creation , "Where Did Our Love Go" wasn't all that Lyrically stimulating) It's somewhat odd that they didn't go with it as Motown normally gave the next single to the writers with the last big hit on the artist (Mickey Stevenson Ivy Joe Hunter and Clarence Paul came up with "You've Been In Love too Long"). "Dance Party is probably Motown's best Dance Album of the 60's (even if There He is (at My Door) is really out of step with the rest of the album) "Watchout!" is a real gem and it's mainly the Album Tracks that stand out. "Keep It Up" is delivered with such eerie sophistication...it's almost a Hitchocokian Thriller set to a James Jamerson bassline. Martha proves she was at ease with any rapidly changing arrangement as Dionne Warwick on "Happiness is Guaranteed" It's a wonder than "No More Tearstained Makeup" hasn't been snapped up and covered by someone within the last 35 years, it's the perfect pick yourself up tommorrows a better day song...I listen to it when I need that little lift of confidence . " Go Ahead and Laugh" is nearly identical to Kim Weston's 1964 b-side version execpt with strings added and Martha's fiery (verses Kim's Brooding) performance. Then comes " What am I gonna Do Without your Love" a mysterious exotic single that somehow stalled at #71 pop during the summer of 1966. and My favorite "He Doesn't Love Her anymore" possibly the best (and most overlooked) Triangle song , and it's presented here with a slighty folky guitar line...something of a suprise from the Motown act know for it's fire breating Soul Anthems. I recoomend both of these LP's on CD....Both more for "Watchout!" it's possibly the most Underrated Soul album of the 60's

Both of these albums were originally released in 1965, although two singles had been released in America in 1964. Dancing in the street was the first and it will forever be the song that Martha and the Vandellas are remembered for. It was a number two hit in America but missed the charts in Britain. Ayear later, it was re-released and reached number four.
The first album (Dance party) also includes the minor American hit Wild one (not released as a British single), and the mich bigger hit Nowhere to run (a minor British hit, but well known because it often appears on Motown compilations).

The second album (Watchout!) contains the hits Jimmy Mack and I'm ready for love. Both went top ten in America and top thirty in Britain. What am I gonna do without your love was a minor American hit.

The other songs are all interesting, entertaining and mostly upbeat. The three bonus tracks include Third finger left hand which was the B-side of Jimmy Mack but wasn't included on the original album.

If Martha can't make you get up and dance, who can?

Martha Reeves & The Vandellas always had a loyal cult following in Britain, so it's not surprising that Motown UK has finally reissued all their original albums as twofers in CD format. The good news is that they're all given the royal treatment (similar to the Supremes reissue), with annotated track listings, bonus tracks including alternative takes, glorious colour pictures on the covers and booklets and above all, great audio quality from digital remastering. The not-so-good news is that the albums are of variable quality and not always essential to all but hardcore fans. The best of the 3 later releases is, to my ears, "Natural Resources/Black Magic", the weakest and least essential being "Riding High/Sugar & Spice". "Dance Party/Watchout" is worth buying if only for the dance set.

"Dance Party", with so many dance titled tracks on it, was obviously themed to capitalise on the rip roaring success of "Dancing In the Street", arguably the most magical record Martha & the Vandellas ever made. Including the smashing "Nowhere To Run" and the exciting but criminally underated "Wild One", "Dance Party" must have been a compelling buy in 1965. While most Motown albums from the 60s were lumbered with fillers, there are fewer than average unworthy distractions here. "Motoring" (also a B-side) is a hidden gem, featuring some of the most gritty and raunchy singing Martha ever did. "There He Is (At My Door)" is another highlight and Martha and the girls sound like they had a terrific time doing their funky cover of Marvin Gaye's "Hitch Hike". There is an eveness to the content and production values of the set that is missing from some of their other 60s releases. I suspect William Stevenson's & Jo Hunter's involvement as writers for most of the material on the album had something to do with it.

"Watchout" is a major disappointment. Apart from the two big hits, "I'm Ready For Love" & "Jimmy Mack", and possibly "No More Tear Stained Makeup" and the brooding "He Doesn't Love Her Anymore", the other songs are unmemorable and undistinguished. But then, Martha always sang above the quality of her material. That's her genius as a singer. Her passionate tear-your-guts-out vocals still gives me the shivers and compensate for the lacklustre, dirge-like quality of the tuneless fillers. "Watchout" may have been a bestseller in its day but most of its content doesn't stand up today.

Buy the twofer for "Dance Party".