Eddie Holland, "Candy To Me" c/w "If You Don't Want My Love," Motown M-1063 (rel. 7/1964)

By the time today’s single was released, the sound of Motown had changed—due, in no small part, to the efforts of Eddie Holland. With Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland, he fed songs to the label’s many artists that unified Motown’s vibe and gave it a commercial leg up into the mainstream. It was great for the company—and for Black culture—but something was lost. It wouldn’t hit Motown with force until 1965; by that time, there was no turning back.

Motown lost any desire to experiment or to welcome the unknown. Those vital elements make the first six years (1958-64) of Berry Gordy’s labels so fascinating to me. Pick a random Motown/Tamla/Gordy 45 from 1961 and it’s bound to have something different about it. That something may or may not work, but one must credit it for its attempt to innovate. At its best, early Motown is thrilling, beautiful, moody and surprising. Its failures aren’t without appeal; that said, there are a few outright stinkers—most often novelty songs that were weak concepts and didn’t hold up to much scrutiny.

In 1964, the elements that made Motown go global fell into place. Holland-Dozier-Holland’s songs had pop appeal, though they tend to sound samey. The title of a hit by The Four Tops reveals their hand: “The Same Old Song.” H-D-H relied on a series of musical tics that shuffled into song after song after song…heard in isolation, they’re appealing. Heard on an album, the sameness begins to pall.

For his final solo single on Motown, Eddie Holland, who was one of Gordy’s first hitmakers, showed where the company was at in the year of Beatlemania. There’s nothing wrong with it at all; that spark of innovation—the sense that, at any moment, a surprise element might turn a so-so record into a mini-masterpiece—is gone. In its place is efficiency, formula and rigor. Motown depended on its performers to infuse these songs with personality and style. They did, and that got the company’s recordings into the pop world.

“Candy to Me” is appealing confectionary. Holland’s voice exudes soul and character and backup group The Andantes have a fresh, bright sound. The Motown rhythm section was at its peak. You can groove to the drums and bass and ignore the song for its duration. Its words are colorful and clever—the telegrammatic lyrics of 1965 were yet to come.

It's likable and well-wrought, but on first listen one gets a déjà vu: I have heard a song much like this—several of them—in my years of hearing Motown music. I think of earlier Motown records (e.g. The Temptations’ “Dream Come True” from 1962) that thrill me to my core. This is a musical cheeseburger; edible, perhaps tasty, but nothing stands out. All cheeseburgers are in essence the same experience: saturated fats, carbohydrates, condiments and a sense of gastric unease within the hour of consumption.

This record doesn’t offer the last bit—thank goodness!—but it illustrates where Motown went away from creativity. Again: not bad in any way; appealing and well-wrought…but not a lot to remember. Its content evaporates once the record’s over. I have a general haze of its sound in my memory, but no lyrics or musical phrases stayed with me. Something was lost in the modernization of Motown.

The Cash Box verdict: more sober than usual.

On the B, “If You Don’t Want My Love” is more old-school; it could’ve been recorded five years earlier with little change. The gospel flavor adds appeal, and Holland’s confessional vocal is more convincing and gripping. Subdued strings and the background coo of The Andantes mesh well with Motown’s house band on an atmospheric ballad that outshines the A to these ears.

This was Eddie Holland’s final single as a performer; his 17 singles tell the story of how Berry Gordy’s musical empire rose from poverty and ambition in six short years. 

Eddie Holland's Motown sides are collected on a superb two-CD set, It Moves Me - The Complete Recordings 1958-1964 (Ace CDTOP2 1331, released in 2012). Soul Jam Records issued a single-disc collection in 2015; less comprehensive, it does deliver all the Motown singles in good sound quality.

Tomorrow: tuff New York girls The Carolines deliver a pair of big-sounding items for the mobbiest label in Recordville, Roulette. Two classy tracks from 1965.