The Motels - Take The L

[clarko95]

Anyone know the specific year? Wiki isn't helping, and the CD i ripped it off says 1991, but it sounds more 80s.

Anyone?

[TheDareall]

Definitely one of the best voices of the 80's. I would say I miss music like this but I still listen to my cassettes of the motels on a regular basis :) good times indeed

[LittleRaggie]

@TheDareall 1982 Off the album All Four One

[madonnarules]

she was only 26

[blackwelderadam]

@madonnarules Try 32! She just turned 61 today! (Happy Birthday, Martha!)

[madonnarules]

the best!!!!

[RazorFriendly]

@apictureofengland

I see no resemblance style or personality-wise between Madonna and Martha. Madonna was the 80's party girl, the one who would be out on the floor dancing with all the guys. Martha was the angst-ridden opposite. She would be the one all the guys would want but maybe afraid to approach. Beautiful, mysterious, and maybe even a bit dangerous. You never know.

[robwheelut]

Martha is beautiful, a real woman not some desicated skeleton who is 22 and looks 82..

[ckelley63]

Sounds earily like Adele, Wow!!!

[BertieBullfrog]

@ckelley63 Adele will be a flash in the pan my friend, Martha on the other hand is a living music legend if there ever was one, such a shame she has not got the world wide attention she did in the 80's.

[ckelley63]

@BertieBullfrog I totally disagree with you I feel that Adele is a total origional and will be around for a long time. It s refreshing to see such talent now a days, when every thing is so manufactured.

[whitbyjet65]

@ckelley63 I couldn't disagree more. Adele is very mediocre in my opinion & every song I hear by her is a tuneless durge.

[ckelley63]

@whitbyjet65 That's why they call them opinions.

[bvg83]

don't know why people said she was kinda old.. she was 32 by that time :s

[lilynick1]

Methiks the guy who threw the bottle at the telly shouldn't wear that shirt at a rifle range .....

Good job Martha! :)

[pgalan9239]

Nice mouth! ;0)...

[bhkidd]

Martha Davis in......Black Swan.

[tabbygail7]

All women should look like Martha Davis.



[TheFernBrook]

@tabbygail7 she's lovely but a little filled out now.

[proudhawkeye]

This timeless classic takes back to the summer of 1982 when I had just graduated from high school and was getting ready to continue my education at one of the local community colleges in San Antonio. I partied my butt off that summer like there was no tomorrow and I did not have a care in the world. I will also associate this song with the summer of 1982, thank you Martha Davis for thos wonderful memories!! Keep on Rocking in the Free World!!

[nejazzguy]

One of the best "smashing exploding" television clips in all of music video. Martha's white faced look pre-dated the Robert Palmer girls by many years.

[loosemarbles1]

the big decade, miss it so much....

[covenstead]

One of the most cleaver, yet simple lyrical hooks EVER...

[devsam9]

THIS WOMAN IS CLASS

[edsfountain]

before jenny on theL, there was martha

[onecharmingbastard]

there was that girlish almost-hiccup of vulnerability to her voice - so many tried in vain, and to her it was as natural as breathing. a stunningly beautiful woman then, a classic rock diva today - she's the real deal kids.

[TheKoba49]

anothr fantastic song I love the big decade

[amapunker76]

Yo a real SEXY Martha

[Pattipu]

OMG this takes me back to the "best of times" Thankyou for posting:)

[90brissy]

i remeber my dad playing this song....LOVE iT!!!!

[stuvo1977]

No doubt, Martha was a charismatic front woman, with a killer voice to boot. It is too bad they didn`t see more hits.

[xenakis9]

Martha is divine!

[ffjsb]

Adele kinda reminds me of Martha's voice.  Two great singers.

[megaphisto]

Take the "B" out of beat me, and it's eat me. Always been my favorite Motels tune, the instruments are really tight, love the guitar.

[UKnowIh8U]

@megaphisto This made me laugh out loud.

[megaphisto]

@UKnowIh8U Like every song on Bush's Sixteen Stone, I've no idea what it means. Rock on!

[JimNKnoxville]

That bridge is wicked!

[rutabagasteu]

great music and a great video !

[EddieAlda]

A special lady with a great voice ... why don't we have songs like this anymore?

[EddieAlda]

A special lady with a great voice ...

[MikeSpaceVenice]

I can believe this video doesn't have more hits! I "L"OVE YOU MARTHA

[954cudaman]

OMG! I forgot how gorgeous lead singer Martha Davis was! Classic 80`s female look. And she had the pipes to back up that great beauty. I think this was the Motels best song even though "Only The Lonely" & "Suddenly Last Summer" charted higher. Those pouty lips belting out such a meaningful song with words that hit so true to home!

[wendymichaelea]

Smoooth.....mmmmmm.

[101Restoration]

what year was this video made?

[yellowbird39tc]

@101Restoration - It was made in the fall of 1982, when I was an 8th grader and I sure miss the 80's!!!

[funjayc]

@yellowbird39tc I was in the 8th grade then too man!...Was one of my fav. videos of the 80s...Martha got my young lust a poppin'..LOL

[RetroJenny]

It's nice to see a grown up woman on a video. That 's something you won't see these days due to the youth obsession.

[niktemadur]

@RetroJenny Yeah, but even then she went overboard with the sexual clichés, singing about screwing "men of the cloth" and such on the next album. For my money, the best Motels album is "Careful", starting with the song "Danger", their best song.

[BertieBullfrog]

@RetroJenny So true, music & most other things suck these days..anways what a freakin awesome catchy tune hey?

[CartoonsAndGameShows]

I've listened to about 3 different songs by The Motels in the last 10 min and I've got to say, they were yet another band from the 80s that was overlooked. And I can name a lot of them.

[WestbeatMusic]

take the l and the r and the v and the o and the e out of lover and its, . . . . wait . . . theres no more letters. Mama was right I AM stupid.

[MountainQueen]

Take the t out of lover and... wait nvm.

[munster322]

Their best album by far great memories.

[MrLouis2865]

take the doo out of duty and then it doesnt smell anymore. JK great song. ....and it smell so good.

[Doobie1975]

Great song, definitely deserving of a higher chart position than in the 50s (if my memory serves correctly)

[spike701488]

put me in bed with Martha Davis and I'll LOVE THE HELL OUTTA HER !

[sprintbass]

@spike701488 i think she is gonna want more than just a one night stand...knowing how she writes her songs anyway lol

[GVike]

Take the love out of lover and it's an R.

[LovedbyKenubus]

love this song....♥

[123OBrown]

Take the 'L' out of Lloyd and it's...

[OrigKato4Ever]

@123OBrown Too funny...good one. :)

[123OBrown]

@OrigKato4Ever Yeah, but I have to fess up, I heard a comedienne do that one. I was looking for the joke sketch when I ended up here at the source. Kitty Flannagan perhaps? Can anyone set me straight?

[jblaylockm]

I used to love the motels, this song makes me love them all over again.

[jazz930]

saw this group in Fresno in 81' good stuff

[jeff99az]

swap the o out of lover with i and its 'liver'

[1bcmachine]

@jeff99az Funny !!

[miamigroove]

Replace the L with a R and its Rover

[Fryitonapanandstuff]

change the L to H and it's hover.

[www41WorldUSAcom]

THE MOTEL---"TAKE THE L"

[trevLV]

Take the E out of Lover,and its grammatically incorrect

[casketkey]

1940's look? Black Daliha,,, Like it.. Still looking foe a song from a cassette I once had .

[casketkey]

Kinda Black Daliha look... 1940's look.. I like it.

[SuperMiller500]

THIS SONG IS GOOD STUFF

[mikied2]

Classic 80's song. Had the cassette tape. Talk about memories!

[micmac09]

Chouette hit pop de Martha & The Motels. Retour vers le futur !

;)

[devilfan1965]

The eighties had a variety of ladies in rock too.Pat Benatar,Blondie,Quarterflash and joan jett.Martha Davis had a solo album out which could of easily been a motels record.Not all of the eighties were painfull....

[MrDrummerboy1962]

"Take the L Out Of Lover And It's Over". Whoever came up with that song title was a genius!

I love Martha Davis and The Motels. I have every one of their albums on vinyl and four on CD, "The Motels"; "All Four One"; "Little Robbers"; and "The Best Of".

[57highland]

@MrDrummerboy1962 I think it was Motel Marty Jourard (sax and keyboards) who came up with this song and its title. I read or heard that somewhere; don't recall where.

[geoffdoor]

THIS SONG IS SHIT

[CommentorX]

@geoffdoor Take the C out of CLOSER and it's geoffdoor.

[bucky468]

These damn ads have gots to go.

[startover942]

Simply classic 80s!

[hitlerbraun]

take the L, if in chicago means take the train...referring to the elevated trains above the road......fucking awesome song though.....takes me way way back...

[bucky468]

Get rid of these sucky annoying ads!

[blottoable]

i saw martha on the countdown show that was traveling oz in 05-6 she still hot 30 yrs later

[bucky468]

@blottoable I know & she's nearing 60 if I'm not mistaken. Looking pretty damn good. I saw her on TV a couple yrs ago. She & the Motels must still perform occasionally at state fairs & festivals across America. She's a cancer survivor you know. In an interview on VH1's "Where Are They Now?" circa 10 yrs ago she said she was dying (her doc said she had only a yr to live) & she beat those odds as she's apparently now cancer free. The broad is a fighter for sure & an inspiration to many w/cancer.

[bucky468]

@blottoable I hear Martha's also a very classy lady who's really appreciative of her fans. She has a lot more class than say today's artists like Lady CaCa, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Fergie, St!nk & of course Britney who say they appreciate their fans when they're all feeding us a line of bullshit. No artist from today could ever match the appreciation level for their fans like most if not all of the artists from the 80's. Martha & the Motels are happy they still have the same fans from back then.

[XfuckyouX24]

@bucky468 Hey P!nk doesnt suck.

[bucky468]

@XfuckyouX24 We classic rockers couldn't disagree more. P!nk stinks!

[bucky468]

@XfuckyouX24 BTW did you ever see Martha or the Motels making some shittyass vid w/some assholes pissing in a beer bottle & then serving to some innocent dude she didn't like (like your girl P!nk did for her stupidass song "So What")? HELL NO!!!

[bucky468]

Martha needs to come back & teach today's female artists how to make good music. The Motels were REAL music back in the 80's & Martha was so HOT!

[xtal6872]

love this song. love this band, still. love the 80's!! it was still somewhat innocent.

[xtal6872]

love this song. love this band, still.

[cadirector]

I was fortunate to see The Motels twice at their peak and they reproduced their sound live very well. I miss the 80's!

[4yules]

martha davis ..extremely ....talented

[dj29464]

Priceless video from early 80s, remember watching this and others when MTV was new and actually played music videos (and no commercials!) - how times changed fast. Also, watched some live Motels footage on other posts, don't know who the band members are on those, but they pretty much suck. Kudos for Martha tho, although i agree she could have done without the white makeup - such a pretty gal.

[jwmellott]

@dj29464 no commercials?

I don't remember that.

But i don't remember any commercials on mtv either.

I never saw it until 1983.

[LinerNotesVideos]

Take the L out of Lever and its ever.

[beerbellygdog]

take the L out of Lover and replace it with R than its rover. Ruh Roh!

[just2comment2]

Fun to make up your own lines that make no sense also, like Take the R out o Rubbish and its ubbish, were we the only ones that did that? lol

[7Island7]

Martha Davis...  Very Talented.

[Teskue]

Old video's were so cheesy. But man do I miss them.

[thelorax64]

take the L out of Later and it's ater.

[bat115]

WOW, I did not know they made a video for this song!!! I've only ever seen Only The Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer.

[mtlbear69]

Today's artists do not have 1/10th the talent that bands like this possess and none of the female vocalists out there now can hold a candle to Martha Davis, beauty and talent in one.

[preciousbash]

HOLY SH*T!! HAVE NOT HEARD THIS IN IONS!!! THANKS SO MUCH!!! AWESOME!!

[RazorFriendly]

I always loved the clothes, her makeup, and hair in this vid. It's so rare you have someone who can pull off that sort of 40's in-the- 80's look. The colors in this video are great too. Too bad what passes for looks and talent now are barely-legal Mickey Mouse Club alumni who have to pole-dance and use auto tune to even make their voice sound halfway decent.

[mjfbush]

add an h to over and you've got hovercraft yall.

[badintentions2]

what a shame martha couldn't live up to her look and her voice..she could have been the marilyn of the 80's if only she had some self-confidence.

[gfrancisbrown]

@badintentions2 Actually, she was waylaid by cervical cancer a couple of years after this video was made, she recovered but the band did not and neither did her career. Sorry about giving your post a dislike, I didn't mean to, but I got confused and clicked the wrong button.

[badintentions2]

@gfrancisbrown no problem

[LesSmith45]

Man I loved this song when it came out in 82. I was a huge video fan but i never remember seeing this one. Probably burnt those brain cells out. It was the early 80's and I had just turned 21.

[Munchie68]

add danny g. to lover and youve got Danny Glover!!! im gettin too old for this sh.....

[TheLinerNotes]

Take the L out of lever and its ever.

[usmc7242]

OMG! This was the fist concert I ever guarded the stage for at the Agora Ballroom in West Hartford. Marth Davis got on her knees and started running her fingers through my hair and singing to me! I was trying to act bad so people would not mess with her, and all I could do after that was grin from ear to ear! LOL!

[fannycraddock99]

Love this, hate what Martha's done to it now!

[torpf]

whats she done to it now?

[pocodfe]

@fannycraddock99 what has she done to it now?

[KOSMICKEN09]

what a great line, take the l out of lover and it's over...brilliant

[nailstradamus]

Has got to be one of my favorite lyrics of all time.Why they never play this song on the radio is beyond me.

[Doobie1975]

@nailstradamus That's because this song never made the Top 40 although it was definitely deserving of one

[MrPHIL1204]

@KOSMICKEN09 So simplistic, yet brilliant, love the crying strat solo

[furakkueroru]

She is sexy!

[hando88c]

She was till she got fat and old on Bands Reunited!

[CommentorX]

@hando88c Yes, it's a shame that people get old. Time does tend to do that.

[motorsport007]

wonder what happened in her life to make her write that song, and yes, oh so clever, the Motels are a great band

[georgehr3]

The sax player wrote it about his break up with his girlfriend at the time.

[tallpaul559]

My cousin was in this band. he enjoyed his time with the Motels. Martha was a bit of a recluse though.

[MrPHIL1204]

Take the L out of Lover and its Over; that is clever and the strat solo is cryin in a love that is lost

[SARATT69]

This video was in heavy rotation on MTV back in 1981-2. I love the Motels. They were one of the best innovative, imaginative, and straight-forward band of the 80's.

[kelleighjaye1]

DAM take the "L" out of lover and it's "OVER" how true saw these guys live omg

[The80skid77]

classic

[Doobie1975]

Great song, did this song ever make the Top 40?

[deltalady72]

i love the drummers leopard print cap, where can i get one for winter so chic

[bullheadcopyshop]

Great song, but the beginning and end of the video's a little creepy...Martha looks like Steve Strange's sister.

[Chanelm007]

So True. A song like this can mean something at a time and place in your life.

[thomqkat]

Martha Davis was sure sultry! Great song!

[BabyJaneHudson]

Martha Davis was so Hot! That voice is superb,

[frambrianna]

wat a memory song!! havent seen this in 27yrs!! the dude at 0:24 kinda looks like billy squire, I always thought.

[southswin]

Put a C onto Lover and it's Clover

[CommentorX]

@southswin Change the V to an S and it's Loser.

[insightfin]

@southswin ... or its loverc

[TkrB]

@southswin lmao bro you cracked me up

[laiosto]

I still have the original tape I made fron the radio of this song in 1982. A very under appreciated piece of 80's genius.The spooky guitar in1;01 is real David Bowie like.I have been watching the sequel to "life on mars",called "Ashes To Ashes" and Martha Davis looks exactly like the sexy female lead.All I know is that she is called Keeley "Something" and wore the shortest leather skirt I have ever seen.

[lanahunter]

If only they'd left the whole middle out of the video...it would've been great!

[MsRayan01]

memories good ones

[druss01]

LOVE THIS SONG!

[19angelman61]

This is a really cool song and video.

[madamecarroll]

I always liked this song and loved this video. She was so pretty. Hard to believe she was a mom with a couple of kids (I think) back then. I like the end of this video. It looks creepy.

[AEMoreira81]

Lovely song...at the time of this song, Martha Davis was 31.

[stali28]

Like this song