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Where Did Our Love Go#Cover versions

{{Short description|1964 song by the Supremes}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Where Did Our Love Go

| cover = Supremes-where-did-our-love-go-45cover.png

| caption = US picture sleeve

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = the Supremes

| album = Where Did Our Love Go

| B-side = He Means the World to Me

| released = June 17, 1964

| recorded = April 8, 1964

| studio = Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit

| genre =

  • Pop-soul{{cite book |first=Stuart |last=Cosgrove |year=2015 |title=Detroit 67: The year that changed soul|page=72 |publisher=Polygon }}
  • pop{{cite book|last= Breihan|first= Tom|chapter= The Supremes - "Where Did Our Love Go|date= November 15, 2022|title= The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music|publisher=Hachette Book Group|location= New York|pages= 58–59, 61}}
  • R&B

| length = 2:33

| label = Motown

| writer = Holland–Dozier–Holland

| producer = {{hlist|Brian Holland|Lamont Dozier}}

| prev_title = Run Run Run

| prev_year = 1964

| next_title = Baby Love

| next_year = 1964

| misc = {{Extra track listing

| album = Where Did Our Love Go

| type = single

| tracks = {{Where Did Our Love Go track listing}}

}}{{Audio sample

| type = single

| description = "Where Did Our Love Go"{{ffdc|log=2023 March 8|date=November 2023}}

}}{{Extra album cover

| header = Alternative release

| type = single

| cover = Where did our love go the supremes Australian single side-A.png

| border =

| alt = side-A label

| caption = Side A of the Australian single

}}

}}

"Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label.

Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Where Did Our Love Go" was the first single by the Supremes to go to the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in the United States, a spot it held for two weeks, from August 16 to August 29, 1964.{{cite magazine |year=1964 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |volume=76 |issue=34 |page=20 |publisher=Nielsen Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20 |access-date=9 May 2011 }}{{cite magazine |year=1964 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |volume=76 |issue=35 |page=22 |publisher=Nielsen Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22 |access-date=9 May 2011 }} It was also the first of five Supremes songs in a row to reach number one (the others being "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love", and "Back in My Arms Again"). It also reached No. 1 on the Cash Box R&B singles chart.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=558}}

The Supremes' version is ranked number 472 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 475 in 2010 and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2016 due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance."{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596317/where_did_our_love_go/1|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|publisher=RollingStone.com|access-date=2008-06-19}} {{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2016/16-056.html |title=New Entries to National Recording Registry |website=Loc.gov |access-date=2016-09-27}} Billboard named the song number 4 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.{{cite web|title=100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7857816/100-greatest-girl-group-songs|publisher=Billboard|access-date=July 11, 2017}} The BBC ranked "Where Did Our Love Go" at number 59 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all time UK downloads and streams.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1rDB1VRXGlrDpnJW9CSKrCZ/the-top-100-digital-motown-chart |title=The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart |work=BBC |access-date=1 January 2020}}

History

=Overview=

According to Brian Holland, "Where Did Our Love Go" was written with the Supremes in mind.Unsung: The Marvelettes, TV One, 2012 Though Supremes member Mary Wilson later wrote that the song had been originally given to the Marvelettes, Holland denied that claim, as did the Marvelettes themselves. Marvelettes member Katherine Anderson-Schnaffer later said that the song did not fit her group's repertoire because it was produced with a slower beat, whereas their music was more uptempo. When the Supremes were eventually given the song, the group members were not pleased with the song. Supremes member Florence Ballard later stated that they had wanted a stronger single, similar to the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman".Benjaminson (2008), p. 65Unsung: Florence Ballard, TV One, 2010 Another objection from the group was that it sounded too "kiddie-ish." Although the group felt the song did not have the hook needed to make it successful, they decided that they had no choice and prepared to record it.{{cite web|last=Hoffer|first=Jason|title=Mary Wilson of the Supremes interview – Getting biographical with Mary Wilson (Part 2 of 2)|url=http://goingthruvinyl.com/wp/2012/08/mary-wilson-of-the-supremes-interview-getting-biographical-with-mary-wilson-part-2-of-2/|publisher=Going Thru Vinyl Ltd.|access-date=18 August 2012|author2=Mary Wilson|location=1:52|format=audio|archive-date=22 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822193159/http://goingthruvinyl.com/wp/2012/08/mary-wilson-of-the-supremes-interview-getting-biographical-with-mary-wilson-part-2-of-2/|url-status=dead}}

Initially, the producers argued over who should sing the song, because it had been cut in the same key as Mary Wilson's voice. The lead vocal was ultimately assigned to Diana Ross because, according to Allmusic's Ed Hogan, "she had a unique, sensuous sound."{{cite web|title=Where Did Our Love Go|author=Hogan, Ed|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/where-did-our-love-go-mt0044845735|access-date=2022-02-07|website=AllMusic}} She sang it in her usual high register in the recording studio on April 8. As a result, Ross was told to sing the song in a lower register and begrudgingly complied with Holland/Dozier/Holland's "to the letter" formula. Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard's vocal contribution was significant in bringing a fresh yet smooth tone to the overall sound of the song, while remaining true to the backup arrangements that Lamont Dozier had set down.

After hearing the song's playback, an excited Ross rushed to Gordy's office and told him to come to the studio to listen. At the end of the playback, a satisfied Gordy nodded, telling the producers and the group that the song had the potential to be a top ten hit.

=Release and reaction=

"Where Did Our Love Go" was released as a single on June 17, 1964, and entered the Hot 100 at number 77. Six weeks later, while the Supremes were on tour as part of Dick Clark's "American Bandstand Caravan of Stars", the song made it to number one{{cite journal|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19781/m1/|title=Show 26 - The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 5]|first=Gilliland|last=John|journal=Digital Library|access-date=8 April 2018}} for two weeks, spending a total of nine weeks in the Billboard Top Ten. The girls began the tour at the bottom of the bill; by the conclusion of the tour, they were at the top. They performed the song on the NBC variety program, Hullabaloo! on Tuesday, January 26, 1965.{{Cite episode|title= Show #3|url= http://www.tv.com/show-3--host-george-hamilton/episode/56898/summary.html|series= Hullabaloo|credits= Host: George Hamilton|network= NBC|station= KNBC|location= Burbank, California|airdate= January 26, 1965|season= 1|number= 3|access-date= May 3, 2009|archive-date= June 28, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110628230813/http://www.tv.com/show-3--host-george-hamilton/episode/56898/summary.html|url-status= dead}}

The song became the focal point and title track of the group's second album, Where Did Our Love Go, released later that year. A German language version of it titled "Baby, Baby, wo ist unsere Liebe" was recorded by the Supremes for German-speaking markets overseas and released as the b-side to their German recording of "Moonlight and Kisses" in April 1965.

The song struck a chord in the United States, with a group which would become the most successful chart-topping American popular music group of the 1960s. Billboard described the song as having an "unbeatable beat" and a "true rockin'-blues groove."{{cite news|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2021-05-01|date=July 4, 1964|page=18|title=Singles Reviews|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/60s/1964/Billboard%201964-07-04.pdf}} Cash Box described it as "an infectious handclapping stomp'er...that the femmes and their instrumental support put over with telling teen effect."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=July 4, 1964 |page=8 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohstory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1964/CB-1964-07-04.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

The first of their American chart toppers, the song peaked just weeks after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critically remarked as capturing the spirit of an America reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, racial tension, and a harbinger of the end of the early optimism of the 1960s.Taraborrelli, J. Randy. Call Her Miss Ross {{ISBN|1-55972-006-9}} pp 98

The song was transmitted to astronauts orbiting Earth in August 1965 during the Gemini 5 mission.{{cite web |url=http://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/MaryWilsonInterview.pdf |title=This interview with MARY WILSON was conducted by the Library of Congress on April 2, 2018 |last=Wilson |first=Mary |date=2018-04-02 |website=U.S. Library of Congress |access-date=2019-10-19 |quote=People were playing it all over the world. Even NASA beamed it up to astronauts, Gordon Cooper and Peter Conrad, on Gemini 5, as they orbited around the earth.}}

{{Clear}}

Personnel

Cover versions

  • In August 1964, British group Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers released their version (Piccadilly single A-side)
  • In 1971, this song was covered by Donnie Elbert on his album Where Did Our Love Go, and charted at number 15 with it. On the R&B chart, it peaked at number 6.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQJ1AQAAQBAJ&q=r&pg=PA220|title=Who Did It First?: Great Rhythm and Blues Cover Songs and Their Original Artists|first=Bob|last=Leszczak|date=10 October 2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|access-date=8 April 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9780810888678}}[https://www.allmusic.com/album/where-did-our-love-go-mw0000837181 Donnie Elbert- Where Did Our Love Go (1971) album review by Andrew Hamilton, credits & releases] at AllMusic In Canada, it reached number 55.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5298.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - January 8, 1972|website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca}}
  • In 1976, The J. Geils Band covered the song on their live 1976 album Blow Your Face Out, and also charted with a studio version as a standalone single at number 68.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
  • In 1978, it was included as the 11th track on the album Pastiche by The Manhattan Transfer, which reached number 10 in the UK Album charts {{cite book|first=David|last=Roberts

|year=2006|title=British Hit Singles & Albums|edition=19th|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London|isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=346}} and no 40 in the Singles chart.

  • In 1981, Soft Cell covered the song in a medley with "Tainted Love" on the 12 inch single, and as the AA side to the Tainted Love 7 inch single. It charted at number one in the UK Singles Chart.{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/tainted-love/|title=tainted love | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=10 May 2022}}
  • In 1993 Sinitta released The Supreme EP which featured the song along with two other Supremes hits and the 1970 Diana Ross single "Remember Me". It charted at number 49 in the UK.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Chart (1964)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

scope="row" | Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite web|url=https://www.top100singles.net/2013/02/every-amr-top-100-single-in-1964.html#show|title=Every Unique AMR Top 100 Single of the 1964|website=Top 100 Singles|access-date=31 December 2020}}

|align="center"| 14

scope="row" {{single chart|Flanders|7|artist=The Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Wallonia|21|artist=The Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Canadatopsingles|1|artist=The Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go|chartid=4713}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Germany|16|artist=The Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go|songid=7663}}
scope="row" |Holland (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSAEAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+Vol.+76&pg=PA28|title=Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD|magazine=Billboard|page=28|date=7 November 1964 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|6

scope="row" {{single chart|Ireland2|3|artist=The Supremes}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Dutch40|16|artist=Supremes The|song=Where Did Our Love Go}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Dutch100|4|artist=The Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go}}
scope="row" | New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade){{cite web |url=http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qartistid=476#n_view_location |title=flavour of new zealand - search lever|work=Flavour of New Zealand}}

|align="center"| 1

scope="row" {{single chart|Norway|6|artist=The Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go}}
scope="row" |Singapore (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSAEAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+Vol.+76&pg=PA29|title=Billboard HITS OF THE WORLD|magazine=Billboard|page=29|date=7 November 1964 }}

| style="text-align:center;"|4

scope="row" | Sweden (Kvällstoppen){{cite web|url=https://www.nostalgilistan.se/supremes-14129|title=Supremes - Se alla lȧtar och listplaceringer - NostalgiListan|work=Kvällstoppen|language=Swedish|access-date=January 30, 2022}}

| align="center"| 6

scope="row" {{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|artistid=11282|3|artist=Supremes|song=Where Did Our Love Go}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Billboardhot100|1|artist=The Supremes}}
scope="row" {{single chart|Billboardrandbhiphop|1|artist=The Supremes}}
scope="row" |US Cashbox Top 100{{cite web |url=https://www.cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19640829.html |title=CASH BOX Top 100 Singles|work=Cashbox|date=August 29, 1964|access-date=31 December 2020}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

scope="row" |US Cashbox R&B{{cite web |url=https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives-r/60s_files/19640905R.html |title=The CASH BOX Top 50 In R&B Locations|work=Cashbox|date=September 5, 1964|access-date=31 December 2020}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

scope="row" | US Record World 100 Top Pops{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/60s/64/RW-1964-08-22-OCR-Page-0003.pdf#search=%22where%20did%20our%20love%20go%22 |title=100 TOP POPS: Week of August 22, 1964|magazine=Record World|publisher=worldradiohistory.com|date=August 22, 1964|access-date=29 January 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

scope="row" | US Record World Top 40 R&B{{cite magazine |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/60s/64/RW-1964-08-15-OCR-Page-0021.pdf#search=%22where%20did%20our%20love%20go%22 |title=TOP 40 R&B: Week of August 15, 1964|page=21|magazine=Record World|publisher=worldradiohistory.com|date=August 15, 1964|access-date=29 January 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|1

scope="col"|Chart (2021)

!scope="col"|Peak
position

scope="row" | US R&B Digital Song Sales (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-supremes/chart-history/rdt/ |title=The Supremes Chart History (R&B Digital Song Sales)|magazine=Billboard|via=Billboard.com|access-date=23 February 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|15

scope="row" | US R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-supremes/chart-history/rbt/ |title=The Supremes Chart History (R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales)|magazine=Billboard|via=Billboard.com|access-date=23 February 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|23

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
Chart (1964)

! Rank

scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders){{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1964|title=Jaaroverzichten 1964|work=Ultratop|access-date=January 30, 2022}}

| style="text-align:center;"|47

scope="row"| Japan Foreign Hits (Billboard){{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSkEAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+supremes+japan&pg=RA1-PA16|title=FOREIGN HITS IN JAPAN 1960-1969|magazine=Billboard|page=J-32|date=December 19, 1970|access-date=2016-09-27}}

| style="text-align:center;"|15

scope="row"| UK Singles (OCC){{cite web|url=http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1964.shtml |title=Top 100 1964 - UK Music Charts |website=Uk-charts.top-source.info|access-date=8 January 2021}}

| style="text-align:center;"|30

scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEUEAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+Vol.+77&pg=PA6|title=TOP RECORDS OF 1964|magazine=Billboard|page=6|date=January 2, 1965|access-date=2 January 2020}}

| style="text-align:center;"|10

scope="row"| US Cashbox Top 100{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1964/CB-1964-12-26.pdf#page=12|title=TOP 100: CHART HITS OF 1964|magazine=Cashbox|page=12|date=December 26, 1964|access-date=February 4, 2022}}

| style="text-align:center;"|15

scope="row"| US Cashbox R&B{{cite web |url=https://cashboxmagazine.com/archives-r/60s_files/1964YESR.html |title=The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1964|work=Cashbox|access-date=31 December 2020}}

| style="text-align:center;"|29

=All-time charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
Chart (1958-2018)

! Position

scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100-60th-anniversary|title=Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart|magazine=Billboard|access-date=10 December 2018}}

| style="text-align:center;"|586

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Supremes|title=Where Did Our Love Go |award=Gold|relyear=1964|certyear=2024|refname=NZcert|source=radioscope|access-date=19 January 2025}}

{{certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Supremes|title=Where Did Our Love Go|award=Silver|note=sales since 2004|relyear=2004|certyear=2021|id=17622-4618-1|salesamount=|salesref=|access-date=November 5, 2021}}

{{certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Supremes|title=Where Did Our Love Go|nocert=true|salesamount=2,000,000|salesref={{cite magazine |title=MAKE IT BIG first girl vocal trio to make million-seller record list with three consecutive hits|issn=0012-9011 |magazine=Ebony |publisher= Johnson Publishing Company |date=June 1965 |access-date= January 23, 2020 |page=81 |volume=20 |issue= 8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nd4DAAAAMBAJ&q=supremes+million+seller&pg=PA81}}}}

{{certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

See also

Bibliography

  • Benjaminson, Peter (2008). "The Lost Supreme: The Life of Dreamgirl Florence Ballard". Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books. {{ISBN|1556527055}}.
  • Chin, Brian and Nathan, David (2000). Reflections Of...The Supremes [CD box set]. New York: Motown Record Co./Universal Music.
  • Posner, Gerald (2002). "Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power". New York: Random House. {{ISBN|0-375-50062-6}}.
  • Wilson, Mary and Romanowski, Patricia (1986, 1990, 2000). "Dreamgirl: My Life As a Supreme". New York: Cooper Square Publishers. {{ISBN|0-8154-1000-X}}.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [https://secondhandsongs.com/work/8427/versions List of cover versions of "Where Did Our Love Go"] at SecondHandSongs.com
  • {{YouTube|mNMmWQpyUvc|The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go}}

{{The Supremes}}

{{Holland–Dozier–Holland}}

{{The J. Geils Band}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1964 singles

Category:The Supremes songs

Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland

Category:Soft Cell songs

Category:The J. Geils Band songs

Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Motown singles

Category:1964 songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Holland

Category:Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier

Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings

Category:Music videos shot in France