Tune Tag #83 with Marty Slagter of "Radio Amor": Supremes, Strokes, Divine Fits, Hollies, Radiohead, Cherry Glazerr, Alvarez Kings, 5 O'Clock People
One particular stunning, out-of-the-blue tag awaits within this Tune Tag, featuring many new and recent acts; but, we sprinkle in a couple of the "old guard" to keep the young'uns on their toes!
Marty….Something tells me Odie just might pick up a guitar and start strumming, himself!
We proudly welcome to Tune Tag, of Radio Amor & Odie!
Marty: “I stepped away from my career as a reporter and editor in print and digital journalism after 17 years, this past summer. I was burned out and needed to rediscover my love of writing and reporting! I still had the itch to write about music, as it has long been a passion of mine. I started publishing Radio Amor in August, with the intention of focusing my writing and reporting on music -- past and present -- that is made in Michigan.
“Seeing music and cultural publications receive drastic cuts to their staffing energized me to think about how I could be part of the solution to dwindling arts and culture reporting resources by focusing on music being made in the state I live in and love.
“So far, it’s been a lot of lists, artist profiles, concert and album reviews, and deep dives into the groundbreaking music this state has produced, including Motown, Detroit techno, rap, indie rock, jazz and bluegrass!
“Since I started publishing, I’ve discovered this type of writing is still very much alive on Substack! It has become a great tool for me to discover so many artists and albums, and is one of the primary ways I keep up on and talk about music with others. I can only hope my writing about music being made in the Great Lakes State has been similarly illuminating for my small but loyal audience so far.
Last week, of Linda Brady’s Revival, graced us with her well-informed🎵presence:
Next week, we’ll tag tunes with the popular , creator of PalCinema, Television & Music in his second Tune Tag tussle!
Marty’s song #1 sent to Brad: The Supremes, “Stop! In the Name of Love,” 1965
The Supremes perform live to recorded track in 1965 on UK’s Ready Steady Go! music program, with the fabulous Dusty Springfield introducing! The trio is dressed down a bit more than they will be on nighttime-aired The Hollywood Palace episode you’ll see just below this one.
Their simpler wigs here will be replaced by bee-hive hairpieces on nighttime’s The Palace. This, to effect a far more glamorous look as well as donning long, white gloves, to go with their floor-length gowns. But first, a more casual take (with live mics!):
Marty’s rationale: While I fully acknowledge I am not bringing any new music to the table by kicking things off with a chart-topping hit, it is a bit timely and central to what I try to highlight on my Radio Amor. Released 60 years ago (February 8, 1965), The Supremes continued the momentum they established in the previous year with the most successful commercial year of their careers, starting with “Stop! In The Name of Love,” produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.
I’ve been diving into singles released by Motown during 1965, a magical year that would see the label produce five Billboard #1 hits. The Supremes claimed three of those chart-toppers in 1965, and at one point, had released five consecutive #1 Billboard singles between 1964 and ‘65. The Beatles, The Bee Gees, and Whitney Houston, are the only artists to have hotter streaks of chart success in America. In fact, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE has chronicled the Whitney Houston timeframe of seven consecutive #1s (spanning 1985-’88), here, with
’ The Vinyl Room:
Enjoy this video to ride The Supremes’ wave of success (including Diana’s solo career):
Revisiting Motown’s singles has given me the gift of fresh ears to re-listen to all of these culturally-embedded hits and underrated gems that might have lost some of their shock value after hundreds of listens. Lamont Dozier of the label’s legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting trio famously supplied the lyrics for the song via his own infidelity, pleading for his partner not to leave by uttering its famous refrain after being caught.
Writing the song from the perspective of a woman twists the message around, then, when you consider she’s trying to get someone who has cheated on her to stop and consider their actions before she bolts. It’s one of my favorite backstories behind a hit song, contributing to the complexity of the song’s plea when it’s delivered from the perspective of a 20-year-old Diana Ross with lines like:
I’ve known of your
Your secluded nights
I’ve even seen her
Maybe once or twice
But is her sweet expression
Worth more than my love and affection?
As the brilliant UK-based Motown Junkies site notes in its exhaustive rundown of the label’s singles, this Jolene-esque plot was not typically the stuff hits were made of in 1965. It’s an earworm of a tune that has real depth from one of the greatest groups in American history.
Brad’s response: This song was probably the first Motown song that got my attention, and it quickly joined the Beatles’ first few albums as early favorites of my young life (at the time of “Stop! In the Name of Love”s February 1965 release, I was 9 years old, but had, only a year before, discovered The Beatles with their February 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show)!
To me, at 9, The Supremes had the same (to my young ears) happy, bouncy melodies and sound that drew me to The Beatles! The fact that those similar sounds were coming, now, from beautiful ladies in ball gowns (instead of cheekily handsome young men in matching suits), crisp choreography that matched the song (“Stop!” with their hands out!), was all but irresistible to me! I mean, I could do that move!
Fil, of YouTube’s Wings of Pegasus channel, recently put together this marvelous breakdown of The Supremes’ “Stop!” Hollywood Palace (ABC-TV) performance in ‘65:
Brad’s song #1 sent to Marty: The Hollies, “Bus Stop,” 1967
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