THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,309) Mary Wells — “Operator”
Mary had a huge hit with “Two Lovers”, written by Smokey Robinson, reaching #7 (#1 R&B) in December ’62, the month I was born. I wonder if my mother heard it. Here is the wonderful B-side, also written by Smokey.
Of “Operator”, Andrew Hamilton writes:
A song with absolutely too much potential to be a B-side, but it was; fans who flipped Mary Wells’ 1962 chart climber “Two Lovers” discovered another Smokey Robinson song and production that was just as good. Accompanied by the Lovetones, whose euphoric harmonies brighten the choruses, Wells delivers the clever lyrics with an aching sweet innocence. Brenda Holloway cut a clone-ish remake about three years later that came out as a single on Tamla Records minus the Lovetones but was still solid [and reached #78 (#36 R&B)].
Motown Junkies muses that:
[“Operator” has] simply ceased to make sense, because technology [has] made the terminology obsolete. . . . What’s an “operator”? . . . I can work out what’s happening by the context: Mary first expresses gratitude to the telephone operator who’s trying to place a call between her and her absent boyfriend, and then complains to the operator because the call isn’t going smoothly (she can’t make out what he’s saying – Did he say that his love was true? Did he say that his love was mine? Did he say he was coming home? Did he say where he has been? – and doesn’t like to be interrupted; she then gets cut off, and asks to be reconnected). But it’s no longer an experience I can relate to, or at least not in the same way as Mary’s listeners may have done in 1962. Now, there’s potential there – the song lets us learn about Mary’s relationship purely from her anxious one-sided conversation with the unheard operator, and we never hear a single word exchanged between Mary and the boy himself, which is quite a clever trick. Instead, Smokey’s monologue leaves it to Mary to reveal what’s happening by having her express her insecurities as the call gets beset with technical problems: It shouldn’t take this much time… It’s unfair to make me wait any longer… What is the hold-up, please? Doesn’t he have change?.
But ultimately, MJ does not like the song:
[T]ry as I might, I just can’t get into the sort of headspace where it would be acceptable for someone at a telephone company to be listening in on, and interjecting during, my own private romantic conversation, and so the whole thing feels somewhat artificial. . . . Smokey seems to have been having an off day crafting believably-flowing conversational dialogue [and] the tune doesn’t serve the lyrics well . . . . The band don’t help matters, either, seemingly bored by yet another Smokey Robinson midtempo calypso number . . . .
I wasn’t bored, I was bowled over by yet another Smokey Robinson midtempo calypso number. It could’ve even been about smoke signals!
For something about Mary, Richie Unterberger writes:
[F]or a brief moment, Mary Wells was Motown’s biggest star. She came to the attention of Berry Gordy as a 17-year-old, hawking a song she’d written for Jackie Wilson; that song, “Bye Bye Baby,” became her first Motown hit in 1961. The full-throated approach of that single was quickly toned down in favor of a pop-soul sound. . . . [T]he soft-voiced singer found a perfect match with the emerging Motown production team, especially Smokey Robinson[, who] wrote and produced her biggest Motown hits; “Two Lovers,” “You Beat Me to the Punch,” and “The One Who Really Loves You” all made the Top Ten in the early ’60s, and “My Guy” hit the number one spot in mid-1964, at the very height of Beatlemania. Mary . . . left Motown almost immediately afterward for a reported advance of several hundred thousand dollars from 20th Century Fox. . . . Wells and her husband-manager felt Motown wasn’t coming through with enough money for their new superstar . . . . It’s been rumored that Wells was being groomed for the sort of plans that were subsequently lavished upon Diana Ross; more nefariously, it’s also been rumored that Motown quietly discouraged radio stations from playing Wells’ subsequent releases. . . . [She] enter[ed] the pop Top 40 only once (although she had some R&B hits). . . . [H]er ’60s singles for 20th Century Fox (whom she ended up leaving after only a year), Atco, and Jubilee were solid pop-soul on which her vocal talents remained undiminished.
Live ’63:
Brenda Holloway:
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I was probably a little bit harsh on this one in retrospect, but if it makes you feel any better, judging by the agree/disagree ratio on my post I was clearly in a minority in retrospect! Thanks for the pingback. (Motown Junkies)
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I loved reading your piece, even though I disagree!
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