Today’s classic Motown song of the day is “Heat Wave,” which was a hit twice—for Martha and the Vandellas in 1963 and a little over a decade later for Linda Ronstadt. We’ll focus on the original version first, since this is Motown week at the Classic Song of the Day blog.
Martha and the Vandellas recorded “Heat Wave” on June 20, 1963, and Motown released the single (on subsidiary label Gordy, named after label founder Berry Gordy) just three weeks later, on July 9. The single rose to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart, where it stayed for four weeks. It was written by the legendary team of Holland-Dozier-Holland and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. It was the second H-D-H hit for Martha and the Vandellas, the first being “Come and Get These Memories,” which peaked at #29 earlier that year.
Here’s how Lamont Dozier remembered the song:
“It was summertime and hot and sticky in Detroit. I often sat at the piano and played a warm-up riff to get my day started. This one particular day the heat was over the top and I was watching TV and the weatherman said we had a record-breaking five-day heat wave that was not going to let up. So all this funky riff needed was for me to throw a girl into the mix and this song was born.”
The backing musicians on “Heat Wave” consisted of some of Motown’s finest Funk Brothers. They included Joe Hunter on piano, Robert White and Eddie Willis on guitars, Andrew “Mike” Terry on bari sax, James Jamerson on acoustic bass (!), and Richard “Pistol” Allen on drums. They knew how to cook; the song is a real soul stomper.
Martha and the Vandellas were lead singer Martha Reeves along with Rosaline Ashford and Annette Beard. The group was born as a trio with friends Ashford and Beard and original lead singer Gloria Williams. Ms. Williams left in 1960 and was replaced by Ms. Reeves, and that was the winning combination. The trio (with Ms. Beard replaced by Betty Kelly in 1964) went on to have six top ten Billboard hits: “Heat Wave” (1963), “Quicksand” (1963), “Dancing in the Street” (1964), “Nowhere to Run” (1965), “I’m Ready for Love” (1966), and “Jimmy Mack” (1967). While that pales next to the number of hits from labelmates the Supremes, it’s still a pretty good run.
The group disbanded in 1972, although Martha Reeves still occasionally toured as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas with a couple of hired gun backup singers. She released a few solo albums but never did recover the Motown magic. She became a born-again Christian in 1977 and, from 2005-2009, was a member of the Detroit city council. She’s still alive today, aged 82.
Linda Ronstadt recorded a cover of “Heat Wave” for her 1975 album, Prisoner of Disguise. Released as a single, her version hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box Top 100. Linda’s version, produced by Peter Asher (of Peter and Gordon fame) was faithful to the original and a pretty hard rocker; Linda really knocked this one out of the park.
