Martha & The Vandellas - "Dancing In The Street"

[TheFavoritechick]

Woo on those times the had volume in their hair!!!!

[march1836]

WHAT can be said about these women?

[smashingtimemod]

Martha and the Vandellas looks better in short dresses or pantsuits not these prom dresses.

[MisatoK29]

I also like Van Halen's version. Yeah, I know, Martha and the Vandellas wrote the song, notice I said 'version', so don't all of you Supremes fans go jumping down my throat here. I am not crediting Van Halen for creating the song.

[AAZ323]

@MisatoK29 The song was not written by Martha Reeves. It was written by Mickey Stevenson and Marvin Gaye. Produced by Mickey Stevenson.

[B4BoomersBlockBoy7]

And we were " Dancing in the streets' to this song ! ; - )

[oscarnine2]

Thank God for color television



[yedon68]

..good ....but don't have the charm of the Supremes..!

[MisatoK29]

@yedon68 Uh well, they didn't have Diana Ross, so they couldn't exactly call themselves Diana Ross and the Vandellas. After all, she was the queen of mowtown. I don't know why hardly anyone remembers that. Everybody still knows that Elvis was the king of rock n' toll and Michael Jackson was the king of pop, so don't as me why no one can remember that DIana Ross was the queen of mowtown.

[oldgeezer68]

@MisatoK29 Nobody wants to remember Diane Ross was queen, for that very reason. She and Mary fought for decades over her tude.

[terrafirma91]

I like the way they dance.

[weatherallc05]

a song with a proper message for once, just dance in the street people

[bioarcheology]

great song and it had nothing to do with revolution as it was thought by the Government.

[shajulbff]

this song is from the 1960s!

[myami2014]

i like this video

<3

[misterjonesin]

facebook dot com/OccupyWallSt

[jesseiamaya00]

Doesn't compare to Mama Cass and the Mamas and the Papas

[terrafirma91]

@jesseiamaya00 : Well, it's an entirely different genre than what Cass, and Phillips were doing.

[MisatoK29]

@terrafirma91 Who are Cass and the Phillips?

[terrafirma91]

@MisatoK29 : Mamas and Papas, from the sixties.

[ncsongstress]

@DamonesisLegend..... Rosalind is my favorite Vandella! Plus, she is one of the original Vandella's! I loved The Supremes, but loved the music of M.R. and The Vandellas just as much if not more so.

[ceffyl13]

My nephew saw these in the Secret Garden Festival last weekend. He's only 25 and he knew their music because his Gran used to play it. He was thrilled to be there.

[RUDEGUHGiA]

martha reeves is my moms cousin on god no joke.

[carolinaguy1973]

For a group with so much soul, this was so wrong.

[rikigraz]

viel zu schnell gesungen, mir gefällt die originale laszivere Version weitaus besser.

[AnneJensen001]

I have always thought they sang ' a brand new day' :)

[amirghodsss]

@pkrizo If you don't know anything about music ..... it's better don't open your mouth & say something jive, I really feel sorry for you

[mhertz25]

Nice dental work Martha.......really corny ending of the song.......tempo too fast.....where was Berry to tell Ray Bloch to slow it down?

[ballkirby]

love me older woman I will love to get them

[vishuflama]

Amazing lesson from the '60s: three young girls who do seem to be having genuine fun on tv. The attitude that's been missing in music for far too long. There's hope, still.

[jasanator12345]

our choir preformes this song

[MegaTurdnugget]

i love them cause all of them are my aunts and right now shes in italy

[behdoc]

They look very uncomfortable. The gown thing doesn't work for them, especially with this song.

[behdoc]

They look very uncomfortable. The gown thing doesn't work for them.

[dersimerdal]

love this song

[mmcckkgg]

No Lip syncing on the Sulllivan show. Always live and always great.

[mmcckkgg]

I loved all of the Motown Black Artists in the mid 60's.. from 64 to 67 was the greatest time. Every week a new top ten song was coming out on AM Radio.

[softballluver404]

i have to do this in my music and im singin it with brooke and jenny im the person who is the main singer.

[NthShout]

i got a smile while watching this.. but there are parts of the song where martha seems so emotionless.

[loveblind]

@NthShout Martha didn't like smiling much before she got her teeth fixed. At the last minute they were told not wear the pant suits they bought along. They were given the gowns you see by the Sullivan show. She may have been a little uncomfortable.

[coolsweetgroovy]

@coxmillelementary So that's Rosalind Ashford on the left? Thanks because growing I always thoguht that she was Oprah because Oprah looks so much like her ok thanks now I know Oprah was never a Vandella, but just lookslike one

[DamonesIsLegend]

How sexy is Rosalind Ashford!? O_O Yes! Not to say the other ladies aren't fly, however!

[terrybigteekemp]

@DamonesIsLegend YES!!! I have always loved Rosalind. She is extremely sexy, and thick, just the way I like it. Oh yeah, and the others are nice too. But DANG...Rosalind is hot!!!

[mhertz25]

The Vandellas are....on the left, Rosalind Ashford. On the right, Betty Kelly.

[blurgirl365]

Very thin

[MrPandemonius1]

Martha Reeves is a Detroit (Michigan) City Councilwoman. A singer and a councilwoman in the city I live in. Awesome.

[coolsweetgroovy]

Look there's Oprah Winfrey on the far left how come she never talks about her music career?

[MrFalconford]

Glad you saved them.

[sunshineclassic]

this goes to show true talent! We don't need the rubbish we have today with pop stars acting and dressing like porn stars! To cover up the fact that they haven't got great talent.

[skipper8257]

My favorite girl group. I loved the way Martha looked and loved the way all the girls moved. So many great hits.

[uzbekitan]

I remember my mother would not let me hear this music because he considered it wild like most whites at that time

[mocha82388]

Martha is my god mother! :')

[freetibet84]

i love their dress!

[Maginot]

This song would have been perfect for Elvis Presley.

[lalagiggle1]

@Maginot ummm no no one can sing it like them

[AishaBoothHorton]

I love the fact that they captivated their audiences with their clothes on!!!!!!!

[coolsweetgroovy]

@AishaBoothHorton I agree

[deshawn30]

Damn, what a time...I wasn't alive, but you can feel the honesty! There was no ipod or internet for these woman to model themselves after...Then you had to just create...looks didn't play a heavy part in selling records...only GOOD MUSIC SOLD! We can never go back there...were spoiled now...We can just youtube it! the magic is gone...SO GO SMOKE A JOINT!

[taf7060]

Once Martha found a good dentist. she became beautiful beyond imagination!

[HS22181]

@taf7060 That is nonsense. Maxillary medial central incisors diastemas are very sexy on women. So are rotated maxillary lateral incisors with that kicked out distal incisal edge. Lauren Hutton and Vannesa Paradis are two other beautiful women who have them (mmcid). Vanessa’s gapped teeth don’t seem to bother her husband Johnny Depp.

[80s4ever63]

@HS22181 Don't forget Madonna is another gapped tooth superstar. :) BTW the poster that mentioned Rosalind Ashford looking like Oprah....there is a resemblance. Anyways this live show was taped almost 50 years ago. Oprah is a tad bit younger than Rosalind. LOL!!

[coolsweetgroovy]

@80s4ever63 Hey I'm the poster who said that Rosalind lookslike Oprah

[taf7060]

Once Martha found a good dentist. she became beautiful beyond imagination!

[DoctorLevison]

those back-up vocals sound so tight to the point it's hard to believe its a live performance.

[LTJR7]

They just don't make music like this anymore. I love this!!!!

[waynebrasler]

Those gowns were gorgeoust thought, interestingly, the green looks different on every view I've seen of the number. Sullivan cut EVERYONE's appearance down; he always had every act rehearse an extra number. It happened to the Supremes their first time on and Diana was really upset about it. You can see how subdued the group is here compared to their usual performances.

[sickvokals]

Martha said with her own mouth that Ed Sullivan didn't want the group. He hated the outfits the came with and cut their set down. Ed sux!

[waynebrasler]

Note how gorgeous Martha's figure was. She was not a glamourpuss like Miss Ross, her fashion sense was more subtle, but she had great taste in fashion and wore clothes beautifully. The Vandellas always dressed more subtley than the Supremes, too.  All the girl Motown groups were gowned and groomed with the best taste and that was a Motown trademark.

[xunclexx]

@waynebrasler Martha Rose had gained some weight by 1964, waynebrasler. You should have seen her at Northeastern high. Skinny as a rail but man could she sing. We use to call her "the girl with the pipes". She dressed modest but impeccable back in the early 60s too.

[Jas8631]

@xunclexx Her name is Martha Reeves, not Martha Rose

[xunclexx]

@Jas8631 Back in the day, my sister and I called her Martha Rose, Jas8631. Her middle name is Rose if you didn't know. I guess you know of her younger sister as Lois Reeves. Well we knew her as Sandra.

[Jas8631]

@xunclexx Interesting, thanks

[waynebrasler]

The public never knew what went into the Motown Sound.  First, everything was recorded separately at separate times to get the sound perfect and because the studio was so tiny--percussion, strings, horns, vocals, background vocals were done different times different days, sometimes months apart. Second, recording went on around the clock so artists were accustomed to be awakened at 2 a.m. to come, hear a song, learn it and do, recording to tracks with few clues as to where to come in and so on.

[xunclexx]

@waynebrasler Scheduling studio time was fine before the 1962 Motortown review. During and after that tour, usage was staggered around the clock according to studio A log sheets.

I lived on Kipling Street back then and coming home late at night down Grand Blvd, I would see some of the Funk Brothers coming out or going in. A lot of the Motown guy group members use to hang out at the 20 grand either bowling or over in the lounge until it was time to go to Hitsville.

[Kapernakus07]

I f I could pick any era to live in this would be it, just to hear this amazing music

[highkarate]

Man, Martha Reeves is the bomb, but what is with this uptempo arrangement on Sullivan?

As someone who writes about politics, art and media, I am suspicious of this fast beat that doesn't allow for Martha to really sing this song. The lyrics are also hidden beneath all that noise.

I love Martha but I hate Sullivan.

[mschest]

@highkarate

I know what you are talking about. They did that to the Temptations one time, when Ollie Woodson was singing, ''Treat Her Like A Lady'.

[coolsweetgroovy]

@mschest P.S. I think you mean I Can't get Next To You Treat her Like a lady wasn't released untill the late 80's early 90's

[coolsweetgroovy]

@highkarate to me it soundslike the soundguy cranked up the volume that's why it soundslike noise

[waynebrasler]

Gorgeous gowns, I believe from Saks Fifth Avenue. The color is luscious. Berry wanted for the Sullivan show to have the Vandellas dressed up and elegant and not looking a teenage girl but a potential night club act. Martha was told to do the song much more mainstream than the recording and of course for Martha doing anything well in any way came naturally.

[dvlaries]

@waynebrasler That's why seeing the various Motown acts on television was a decided mixed blessing in the 60s. Of course, you were dying to see them but you also wanted them to sound like they did on the record and ...you were granted one out of two of your wishes. Berry would never let us see -or even film- the sweat-drenched reality of hard work in the studio that produced the perfect, 45rpm released versions.

[Mastergenius00]

RIHANNA!

[RoyFive]

Sad that they had to shorten a lot of these great songs just to make room for the acrobats and the circus animals.

[TheEntertainer1000]

I love this song!

The song is in "Recess: School's out" too!

[042442]

A++

[bridgeman11]

Man, Martha & the Vandellas had a bunch of great songs! I think this is my favorite. Or is it Heatwave.......or, Nowhere to Run to.......?

[crazie128]

i have to do this song for black history play

[GothicNerd007]

those dresses are to die for :( i want one in light purple

[xunclexx]

It was not the singing artist, camking88. It was the music of Holland-Dozier-Holland and the time of the mid-60s. Coming on the heels of Dancin' In The Street, No-where to run was caught up in the frustrating time of the Viet Nam War. My oldest brother was in the service and in Viet Nam. He once told me that this record was played excessively by other GIs depicting "you can run but you can't hide" from the bombing. (More)

[xunclexx]

This record was released just seven months after Dancin' In The Street and the feeling of that song carried over to Nowhere To Run. From my personal archives and newspaper articles of that time, Martha and her Vandellas were a hot item on issues concerning civil unrest during the mid 60s. But all they did was record what Motown brought to them.

[unto789]

summer of 67 iwas in viet nam ...a black guy who was my good friend recieved his newspaper fro detroit to see his house being burnt down on the front page........so your saying a song did this

[DetroitLives313]

My girls Rosalind, Betty and Martha.....just great! Thanks.

[DTDSmith]

so the ugly side of it was the civil rights movement cause thats at it souunds like from reading the comment

[NunoCartino]

I first heard this tune covered by Bowie & Jagger and always wanted to hear the original which I prefer

[xunclexx]

Can you imagine everyone jumping out of the cars at a red light and started dancing? Well, thats what a lot of us teenagers were doing during the summer of 1964 in Detroit when this record was played on the radio. This was a swinging tune that made everybody moved! But later, an ugly side was associated with this song which most of us teenagers resented deeply.

[stage7]

Wow! I never 'knew' that!!!!!  I ALWAYS LOVED THAT song! It is PERHAPS my FAVORITE Motown Song...... (PerHAPS.... heh heh). MOTOWN was soooo GOOD that it would be HARD! But THIS one is a 'HARD PRESS' to BEAT tho'. The 'song'....

Whatever could've been an 'ugly'?..... wow!!

[xunclexx]

Dancing In The Street was seen as a "BATTLE ATHEM" (for the Afro-Americans) to the powers that be in Detroit and other large cities of the U.S. from early 1965 up to the 1967 riot (in Detroit). To us teenagers, it WAS JUST A SONG (nothing more). But because of all the civil unrest around the U.S., the "ESTABLISHMENT" sought to associate it with a call to riot. During the middle 60s, places like Chicago, Detroit, and New York City were inundated with (More)

[camking88]

@xunclexx Didn't the same thing happen with their "Nowhere to Run" and the Vietnam War? I wonder what it was about the Vandellas that people thought their songs inspired such violence. BTW I'm 21but obsessed with the 1960s and I love when I come to videos and read the comments of people who actually lived this stuff.

[xunclexx]

organizations such as the Black Panthers, SNIC, NAACP, and a few other "BLACK" organizations that stood for change in civil rights. Local Politicians in Detroit were trying their best to make Martha Reeves the scapegoat and also degrade Motown as an instigator of the civil rights movement in Detroit and a vindicator to that movement in other cities around the U.S.

[Ylinets]

seriously? wow, amazing. i thought that only happens in the movies, lol

[xunclexx]

Seriously, Ylinets. I heard this was being done in Compton and also in Harlem. You just HAD TO MOVE on this record.

[SinclairisCool]

@xunclexx ugly side?

please do tell!

[xunclexx]

See my response down below, SinclairCool. If you want a little more details. Let me know and I'll explain fully through your personal YouTube messenger.

[SinclairisCool]

@xunclexx

OMG! i could do with a few more details, if that alright?

[Nostalgico80]

I love too much this song!

[IgorLueska]

who the hell delivers 4 stars on this:

this video, the song, all calls for 5 stars

[mca1218]

Wow. Never saw this glam version of the Vandellas. They look great in the yellow. Of course, everyone looked good on the Sullivan show!!

[iferraro]

disappointing lead on this one.

[roiderien]

Great voice, good delivery, and cute to boot.

[djbulldognyc]

Oh God...three gorgeous women singing and moving so amazingly. I think artists like these have become icons of the civil rights era. Fantastic. I hope history values their contribution to our culture.

[gulfgypsy]

I so agree!!! Martha & the Vandellas, Diana & the Supremes.... The best of the best!! None of the 'girl groups' of today can even come close to the musical talent OR the class these beautiful ladies had!!

[glsingle]

@gulfgypsy Not just the "girl groups".....just have a listen (if your stomach and ears can take it) to the Rap Crap and Hip Hop garbage today!! It's just not music anymore....it's a pantload!!!

[gulfgypsy]

True enough!! I suppose that what I find sad today, are the manufactured, market driven 'images' of hyper-sexed females posing as artists, who lack talent, can't sing (best they do is lip-sync) and are promoted as some sort of role model. I still hope that people will live up to their potential and not down to the lowest common denominator.

[camking88]

@glsingle Why do you only single out rap on all of these videos. I don't think Lady Gaga or Fall Out Boy have the class of these Motown artists either. Hell, even the rock stars back then didn't have the class of the Motown artists. I know you won't agree with this, but there is actually some really good rap artists out there who are not ignorant thugs. I know not all people like rap, but at least be open minded about it.

[glsingle]

@camking88 Ok, I'll agree that the two no-talents you mentioned don't have the class, but please, please don't tell me that there are "really good rap artists"!!!! There is no such thing!! Rap Crap IS NOT AN ART!!! IT'S 100% NO-TALENT BULLSHIT!!!!! I tried being open minded and tried to listen to Rap Crap, but it went through my head like a knife!!!!

[camking88]

@glsingle Thats your opinion and you are free to have it. I however am open minded. I love jazz, blues, R&B, country, rock as well as rap. You're right, most of the POPULAR rap artists today have no talent. Maybe its a generation thing with us. I'm interested in knowing how you feel about poets like Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets who are basically rap artists without having that label. Not trying to fight I just want to know.

[MrEasyLife]

gulfgypsy, you are so right. "class" is a concept that America seems to have rejected for some time. it is rare to even hear it mentioned (apparently, it is not chic). popular music in the US has sucked now for about 20 years (at a minimum) and, as for "class", it is not even on the radar screens of most entertainers. thank God for youtube.

[seffie371]

@gulfgypsy i disagree. they are good, but the musical difficulty of these songs is very, very low and they are by no means dancers.

[Juliaflo]

@gulfgypsy I GAZILLIONTH that.

Happy Hallowe'en.

[whoslovingmj]

@gulfgypsy I do agree

[quieterrps]

I love it. Not their best performance of the song I've seen but when Martha sticks her tongue out at the very end is awesommme!!

[krazy14kraz]

good stuff