11/20/2005 - Jimmy Mack
Song: Jimmy Mack
Artist: Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
Why this song is the current jam: The claps. The rhythm. The build on the chorus. This is my favorite Martha Reeves song to dance to, and yes, that even includes (Love is Like a) Heat Wave - which is also a completely amazing song and a guaranteed party-starter. Although in overall enjoyment of the song, I am tied on those two, this one though takes the Motown claps to their greatest height. They start out right from the beginning, with that incredible rolling swing rhythm, the claps just pounding out every beat. Then the drums come in with that heavy ass two and four, and the song is just swingin so hard. And the vocals, just keep it rolling along, so easy and powerful. And the rising chord changes on the chorus just push this thing forward. Where as Heatwave has that killer Charleston rhythm, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da that makes it so easy to dance to, this song has a rhythm that is pushing so hard and heavy and yet with no effort at all, the whole band swingin just as light and easy as the vocals, that it is not just easy to dance to, it is inevitable. You must dance to this. And Martha Reeves was one of the great voices from the Motown era. Listen to the way she and the girls just breeze through these lyrics, telling an all-to-true story about a love that she doesnt want to fade. She pleads for her man to come back, because even though she loves him, she needs love at home. This sentiment seems to me a bit counterintuitive and anachronistic, that her true love can be somehow mitigated by some random suitor and that she, as a woman, needs love more than she is in love with this man. But at the same time, I am finding more and more often that that kind of anachronistic, counterintuitive shit is the way things really are. Like she really does need someone close and she wants it to be him, but like she says she's "not getting any stronger." This song rings true to me and for me that completes the whole package. This is one my favorite songs to dance to and one of my favorite songs period.
Artist: Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
Why this song is the current jam: The claps. The rhythm. The build on the chorus. This is my favorite Martha Reeves song to dance to, and yes, that even includes (Love is Like a) Heat Wave - which is also a completely amazing song and a guaranteed party-starter. Although in overall enjoyment of the song, I am tied on those two, this one though takes the Motown claps to their greatest height. They start out right from the beginning, with that incredible rolling swing rhythm, the claps just pounding out every beat. Then the drums come in with that heavy ass two and four, and the song is just swingin so hard. And the vocals, just keep it rolling along, so easy and powerful. And the rising chord changes on the chorus just push this thing forward. Where as Heatwave has that killer Charleston rhythm, da-da, da-da, da-da, da-da that makes it so easy to dance to, this song has a rhythm that is pushing so hard and heavy and yet with no effort at all, the whole band swingin just as light and easy as the vocals, that it is not just easy to dance to, it is inevitable. You must dance to this. And Martha Reeves was one of the great voices from the Motown era. Listen to the way she and the girls just breeze through these lyrics, telling an all-to-true story about a love that she doesnt want to fade. She pleads for her man to come back, because even though she loves him, she needs love at home. This sentiment seems to me a bit counterintuitive and anachronistic, that her true love can be somehow mitigated by some random suitor and that she, as a woman, needs love more than she is in love with this man. But at the same time, I am finding more and more often that that kind of anachronistic, counterintuitive shit is the way things really are. Like she really does need someone close and she wants it to be him, but like she says she's "not getting any stronger." This song rings true to me and for me that completes the whole package. This is one my favorite songs to dance to and one of my favorite songs period.
posted by Peetski at 2:22 PM
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