Where Did Our Love Go Explained

Where Did Our Love Go
Cover:Supremes-where-did-our-love-go-45cover.png
Caption:US variant of standard artwork
Type:single
Artist:the Supremes
Album:Where Did Our Love Go
B-Side:He Means the World to Me
Released:June 17, 1964
Recorded:April 8, 1964
Studio:Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit
Genre:
Length:2:33
Label:Motown
M 1060
Prev Title:Run Run Run
Prev Year:1964
Next Title:Baby Love
Next Year:1964

"Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label.

Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Where Did Our Love Go" was the first single by the Supremes to go to the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in the United States, a spot it held for two weeks, from August 16 to August 29, 1964.[3] [4] It was also the first of five Supremes songs in a row to reach number one (the others being "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", and "Back in My Arms Again"). It also reached No. 1 on the Cash Box R&B singles chart.[5]

The Supremes' version is ranked number 472 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 475 in 2010 and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2016 due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance."[6] [7] Billboard named the song number 4 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[8] The BBC ranked "Where Did Our Love Go" at number 59 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all time UK downloads and streams.[9]

History

Overview

According to Brian Holland, "Where Did Our Love Go" was written with the Supremes in mind.[10] Though Supremes member Mary Wilson later wrote that the song had been originally given to the Marvelettes, Holland denied that claim, as did the Marvelettes themselves. Marvelettes member Katherine Anderson-Schnaffer later said that the song did not fit her group's repertoire because it was produced with a slower beat, whereas their music was more uptempo. When the Supremes were eventually given the song, the group members were not pleased with the song. Supremes member Florence Ballard later stated that they had wanted a stronger single, similar to the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman".[11] [12] Another objection from the group was that it sounded too "kiddie-ish." Although the group felt the song did not have the hook needed to make it successful, they decided that they had no choice and prepared to record it.[13]

Initially, the producers argued over who should sing the song, because it had been cut in the same key as Mary Wilson's voice. The lead vocal was ultimately assigned to Diana Ross because, according to Allmusic's Ed Hogan, "she had a unique, sensuous sound."[14] She sang it in her usual high register in the recording studio on April 8. As a result, Ross was told to sing the song in a lower register and begrudgingly complied with Holland/Dozier/Holland's "to the letter" formula. Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard's vocal contribution was significant in bringing a fresh yet smooth tone to the overall sound of the song, while remaining true to the backup arrangements that Lamont Dozier had set down.

After hearing the song's playback, an excited Ross rushed to Gordy's office and told him to come to the studio to listen. At the end of the playback, a satisfied Gordy nodded, telling the producers and the group that the song had the potential to be a top ten hit.

Release and reaction

"Where Did Our Love Go" was released as a single on June 17, 1964, and entered the Hot 100 at number 77. Six weeks later, while the Supremes were on tour as part of Dick Clark's "American Bandstand Caravan of Stars", the song made it to number one[15] for two weeks, spending a total of nine weeks in the Billboard Top Ten. The girls began the tour at the bottom of the bill; by the conclusion of the tour, they were at the top. They performed the song on the NBC variety program, Hullabaloo! on Tuesday, January 26, 1965.[16]

The song became the focal point and title track of the group's second album, Where Did Our Love Go, released later that year. A German language version of it titled "Baby, Baby, wo ist unsere Liebe" was recorded by the Supremes for German-speaking markets overseas and released as the b-side to their German recording of "Moonlight and Kisses" in April 1965.

The song struck a chord in the United States, with a group which would become the most successful chart-topping American popular music group of the 1960s. Billboard described the song as having an "unbeatable beat" and a "true rockin'-blues groove."[17] Cash Box described it as "an infectious handclapping stomp'er...that the femmes and their instrumental support put over with telling teen effect."[18]

The first of their American chart toppers, the song peaked just weeks after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critically remarked as capturing the spirit of an America reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, racial tension, and a harbinger of the end of the early optimism of the 1960s.[19]

The song was transmitted to astronauts orbiting Earth in August 1965 during the Gemini 5 mission.[20]

Personnel

Cover versions

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1964)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[28] 14
scope="row"
scope="row"
scope="row"
scope="row"
Holland (Billboard)[29] 6
scope="row"
scope="row"
scope="row"
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[30] 1
scope="row"
Singapore (Billboard)[31] 4
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[32] 6
scope="row"
scope="row"
scope="row"
US Cashbox Top 100[33] 1
US Cashbox R&B[34] 1
US Record World 100 Top Pops[35] 1
US Record World Top 40 R&B[36] 1
Chart (2021)Peak
position
US R&B Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[37] 15
US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[38] 23

Year-end charts

Chart (1964)Rank
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[39] 47
Japan Foreign Hits (Billboard)[40] 15
UK Singles (OCC)[41] 30
US Billboard Hot 100[42] 10
US Cashbox Top 100[43] 15
US Cashbox R&B<ref>Web site: The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1964. Cashbox. 31 December 2020. 29

All-time charts

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Cosgrove, Stuart . 2015 . Detroit 67: The year that changed soul. 72 . Polygon .
  2. Book: Breihan, Tom. The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go. November 15, 2022. The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. Hachette Book Group. New York. 58–59, 61.
  3. 1964 . Billboard Hot 100 . . 76 . 34 . 20 . . 9 May 2011 .
  4. 1964 . Billboard Hot 100 . . 76 . 35 . 22 . . 9 May 2011 .
  5. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 558.
  6. Web site: The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. RollingStone.com. 2008-06-19.
  7. Web site: New Entries to National Recording Registry . . 2016-09-27.
  8. Web site: 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks. Billboard. July 11, 2017.
  9. Web site: The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart . . 1 January 2020.
  10. Unsung: The Marvelettes, TV One, 2012
  11. Benjaminson (2008), p. 65
  12. Unsung: Florence Ballard, TV One, 2010
  13. Web site: Hoffer. Jason. Mary Wilson of the Supremes interview – Getting biographical with Mary Wilson (Part 2 of 2). Going Thru Vinyl Ltd.. 18 August 2012. Mary Wilson . 1:52. audio.
  14. Web site: Where Did Our Love Go. Hogan, Ed. 2022-02-07. AllMusic.
  15. Show 26 - The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 5]]. Gilliland. John. Digital Library. 8 April 2018.
  16. Show #3. Hullabaloo. Host: George Hamilton. NBC. KNBC. Burbank, California. January 26, 1965. 1. 3.
  17. News: Billboard. 2021-05-01. July 4, 1964. 18. Singles Reviews.
  18. CashBox Record Reviews . July 4, 1964 . 8 . 2022-01-12 . Cash Box.
  19. Taraborrelli, J. Randy. Call Her Miss Ross pp 98
  20. Web site: This interview with MARY WILSON was conducted by the Library of Congress on April 2, 2018 . Wilson . Mary . 2018-04-02 . U.S. Library of Congress . 2019-10-19 . People were playing it all over the world. Even NASA beamed it up to astronauts, Gordon Cooper and Peter Conrad, on Gemini 5, as they orbited around the earth..
  21. Liner notes. The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 4: 1964, Hip-O Select – B0005946-02, USA, 24 Feb 2006
  22. Flory, Andrew. ‘I Hear a Symphony: Motown and crossover R&B’, University of Michigan Press, 2017, USA, p222
  23. Book: Leszczak, Bob. Who Did It First?: Great Rhythm and Blues Cover Songs and Their Original Artists. 10 October 2013. Scarecrow Press. 8 April 2018. Google Books. 9780810888678.
  24. https://www.allmusic.com/album/where-did-our-love-go-mw0000837181 Donnie Elbert- Where Did Our Love Go (1971) album review by Andrew Hamilton, credits & releases
  25. Web site: RPM Top 100 Singles - January 8, 1972. Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  26. Book: Roberts , David. 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited. London. 1-904994-10-5. 346.
  27. Web site: tainted love | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company. Officialcharts.com. 10 May 2022.
  28. Web site: Every Unique AMR Top 100 Single of the 1964. Top 100 Singles. 31 December 2020.
  29. Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD. Billboard. 28. 7 November 1964 .
  30. Web site: flavour of new zealand - search lever. Flavour of New Zealand.
  31. Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD. Billboard. 29. 7 November 1964 .
  32. Web site: Supremes - Se alla lȧtar och listplaceringer - NostalgiListan. Kvällstoppen. Swedish. January 30, 2022.
  33. Web site: CASH BOX Top 100 Singles. Cashbox. August 29, 1964. 31 December 2020.
  34. Web site: The CASH BOX Top 50 In R&B Locations. Cashbox. September 5, 1964. 31 December 2020.
  35. 100 TOP POPS: Week of August 22, 1964. Record World. worldradiohistory.com. August 22, 1964. 29 January 2021.
  36. TOP 40 R&B: Week of August 15, 1964. 21. Record World. worldradiohistory.com. August 15, 1964. 29 January 2021.
  37. The Supremes Chart History (R&B Digital Song Sales). Billboard. Billboard.com. 23 February 2021.
  38. The Supremes Chart History (R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales). Billboard. Billboard.com. 23 February 2021.
  39. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 1964. Ultratop. January 30, 2022.
  40. FOREIGN HITS IN JAPAN 1960-1969. Billboard. J-32. December 19, 1970. 2016-09-27.
  41. Web site: Top 100 1964 - UK Music Charts . Uk-charts.top-source.info. 8 January 2021.
  42. TOP RECORDS OF 1964. Billboard. 6. January 2, 1965. 2 January 2020.
  43. TOP 100: CHART HITS OF 1964. Cashbox. 12. December 26, 1964. February 4, 2022.
  44. Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart. Billboard. 10 December 2018.