(Love is Like a) Heat Wave
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| "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" | ||
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| Single by Martha and the Vandellas | ||
| from the album Heat Wave | ||
| Released | July 9, 1963 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | Hitsville USA (Studio A); 1963 | |
| Genre | Soul | |
| Length | 2:47 | |
| Label | Gordy G 7022 |
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| Writer(s) | Holland-Dozier-Holland | |
| Producer(s) | Brian Holland Lamont Dozier |
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| Chart positions | ||
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| Martha and the Vandellas singles chronology | ||
| "Come and Get These Memories" 1963 |
"(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" 1963 |
"Quicksand" 1963 |
"(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" is a 1963 soul single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas on the Gordy (Motown) label.
The song was one of several tunes written and produced by the fabled Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting and producing team. "Heat Wave" was the second hit collaboration between the Vandellas and H-D-H, the first being "Come and Get These Memories". The lyrics feature the narrator singing about a guy that has her heart "burning with desire" and "going insane" over the feeling of his love.
Produced and composed with a gospel backbeat, jazz overtones and, doo-wop call and responsive vocals, "Heat Wave" was one of the first songs to exemplify the style of music later termed as being the "Motown Sound". The single was a breakthrough hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart, and at number-one on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. It also garnered the group's only Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for 1964.
"Heat Wave's" success helped popularize lead singer both Martha and the Vandellas and Holland-Dozier-Holland, and re-introduced Motown as a musical force. The song has since been covered by several acts, including The Jam (on their 1977 album Setting Sons), The Who in their early concerts and on their second album, A Quick One, Joan Osbourne (her version done for the Funk Brothers documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown), country rock singer Linda Ronstadt, and rocker Bruce Springsteen. The song was also covered by Whoopi Goldberg in the film Sister Act.
[edit] Credits
- Lead vocals: Martha Reeves
- Background vocals: Rosalind Ashford and Annette Sterling
- Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier
- Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers:
