A music-obsessed, retired San Francisco lawyer, and author of the rock & roll memoir Jittery White Guy Music (available on Amazon)... picking a random album or song in his collection every day or so and sharing a few thoughts.
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles arrive to mark the rare appearance of a Motown single on the list. Which isn't to suggest I don't love a million of those songs to death, because I'm only human and they're part of our cultural fabric. But by the time I started hearing the Motown classics on the radio, it already felt like oldies music from before my time. And while I spent a big chunk of my young life discovery music that preceded my musical awakening, much of which (particularly the British Invasion and the psychedelic era) I truly loved and made my own, Motown was more like, say, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry and Elvis--great classic music I could appreciate on the radio but never threw on the turntable.
Still, the 1967 LP track and 1970 single "The Tears Of A Clown" always felt a little different to me. Maybe because it was more baroque in its colorful pop sound? I mean, of course you've got Smokey's inimitable vocals which sweeten everything, but ultimately something about that circus-like riff fell much more into my sweet spot than most 60s pop hits.
Smokey Robinson with Daryl Hall:English Beat (sorry, I'm American, they've always been the English Beat) version:Petula Clark:Phil Collins:
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