Martha Reeves, the iconic voice behind Motown hits like Heat Wave and Jimmy Mack, is releasing a new album at age 84. In a reader Q&A, she discusses her career, the civil rights movement, and her disdain for cover versions of her songs.
Early Days at Motown
Reeves was discovered after winning an amateur contest by producer William Stevenson. She recalls, “It was like a dream come true that a producer would come and approach me and say, ‘You have talent, come to Hitsville, USA.’” She showed up the next day and was hired as a secretary at Motown Records. “It felt real good that I was at the right place at the right time. It was magical to me and it’s all been just a glorious ride.”
Motown and the Assembly Line
Drawing parallels between Motown and Detroit’s auto industry, Reeves notes that Motown founder Berry Gordy had worked at Ford. “My dad worked for Ford and Berry Gordy worked there as an employee. It taught Berry Gordy the way to represent and how to manage and how to give people assignments. He called it Motown or Motortown. So, it’s all combined: Motor City, Detroit, manufacturing, making music as an assembly line.”
Favorite Motown Artists
When asked who the best Motown artist was, Reeves deflected: “When you have a house full of talented children, you don’t do that! To me, everybody had a super talent. I first met Stevie Wonder when he was nine years old, conducting an adult choir in a Pentecostal church: that takes genius.”
The Story Behind Dancing in the Street
Reeves clarifies the origin of her signature song. “I was standing outside the studio window in awe of Marvin Gaye because he was so fine. He saw me peering at him in the window and said, ‘I want you to sing this song.’” She sang it in the same key as Gaye, who played multiple instruments on the track. “He played keyboard, drums. He had a melodica that he played like a horn. He was so talented – he could play anything he put his hands on. You can tell that on Dancing in the Street: that piano solo is Marvin’s.”
Reeves recalls Gaye’s constant creativity: “Marvin would walk around half the time with his eyes closed, humming and writing. I remember having breakfast with him, and he would be sitting at that counter at about eight o’clock in the morning, reading a Bible and looking for words to rhyme in the songs that he was writing. He was always writing. He was not here, if I can say that: he always seemed like he was in a trance writing songs.”
The song became an anthem during the civil rights movement. “It quenched the excitement and the opportunity to riot. People stopped thinking that way; they started rejoicing and dancing as opposed to breaking windows and burning down buildings.”
Working with Holland-Dozier-Holland
Reeves praises the legendary songwriting trio. “Holland-Dozier-Holland were such thoughtful writers. They had the goods. They made the Four Tops happy, they delighted the Supremes, and they were my pride and joy. They always had a spiritual intent. Heat Wave has meant so much to me – it was about more than the weather or the temperature. When I sang it for Eddie Holland I mimicked him completely. I thrilled him more than anyone else that I’ve ever recorded with. So from then, on any song that they gave us, I could nail it.”
Channeling Emotion in Performances
Reeves explains her approach to singing, guided by her mother. “Mama said when I first started singing at the age of four in my grandfather’s church, she said, ‘Baby, don’t sing a song unless you know what you’re singing, and that you feel something.’ Every time someone gave me a song: can I relate to these lyrics? Have I been there before? I’ve been in my lonely room. I’ve asked people to come and get these memories. I have danced in the street – so, yes, I have put myself in the songs, only because Mama told me.”
Friendship with Dusty Springfield
Reeves recounts meeting Dusty Springfield at the Brooklyn Fox in New York in the early 1960s. “She was alone because her manager had left her, and she was having fits. She had gone to the local store and bought some pottery, some saucers and plates and cups, and came back to the dressing room at the Apollo theatre and was throwing them against the wall. She explained to me that in England, when you were confused or disappointed or you just didn’t get what you expected, you could release your anxiety and anger by throwing pottery. I picked up something and started throwing things with her. I said, hey, this looks like fun! And from then on, we were friends. We travelled to Brazil together. We spent a lot of time in London. We had a very good, close relationship and I miss her dearly.”
Touring the Jim Crow South
Reflecting on the Motown Revue of 1962, Reeves recalls the challenges of segregation. “I remember that we learned how to pee-pee without getting it on our shoes because there were signs saying ‘white only’ or ‘no blacks allowed’ or whatever. We’d go somewhere in some bushes or some cornstalks. But we saw the signs come down. We saw the people change their mind about being segregated and we helped with our music.”
On Cover Versions
Reeves is not a fan of covers of her songs. “No. I don’t really want nobody else to sing my songs. I’m selfish. They might not treat Heat Wave nicely. I was jealous [when she heard Bowie and Jagger’s version of Dancing in the Street]. I had a tropical dress I could have put on and done the video with them. I can out-dance both of them, and to see Mick Jagger and David Bowie dancing, honey, I wanted to be in that video. I told Mick Jagger when he came to Detroit – he smiled and gave me a big kiss.”
Local Politics and the Roundabout
Reeves served as a Detroit city councillor from 2005 to 2009. “I have properties in the city of Detroit and I wanted to know what to do with them: why the property tax is so high, and how I could benefit from the purchasing of the properties I bought. I did wonderful. I didn’t go to jail! I had a few of my little laws that I introduced. I even introduced America to the roundabout. We’ve got several roundabouts here in Michigan now.”
Favorite Performance
Her most cherished performance dates back to childhood. “In my grandfather’s church – I was about 11 years old when I was given the privilege of teaching the Sunday school. Singing the songs and teaching people to sing. That’s my song.”
Martha Reeves’ new album, Searching, is released 14 August via Fun Day Records. The single To Know You Is to Love You is out now.
