Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)

"Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" is a 1964 hit single by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. It was the group’s first a-side release to be produced by Norman Whitfield, who co-wrote the song with Edward Holland, Jr. of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team. With Eddie Kendricks singing lead for the third single in the row, it peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop charts in the Top 30 at number 26. ^[1]

As the narrator of the up-tempo song, Kendricks tells his girl "I love you, girl, with all my heart & soul/ I can't understand why you treat me cold", and now his "heart feels the pain" cause by her mistreatment of him. This single would be Kendricks last as lead on a a-side until "Get Ready" in 1966, and the last for Whitfield as producer until "Ain't Too Proud to Beg".

The next Temptations single, "My Girl", would be the first to feature David Ruffin as lead and would be produced by Smokey Robinson. Ruffin, up to this point, had only sung lead on stage and on a few unreleased tracks, otherwise singing backgrounds behind Kendricks and then main lead singer Paul Williams. When "My Girl" hit #1 on the R&B and Pop charts in 1965, it signaled the continuing of Robinson as the group’s main producer, and the start of Ruffin run as The Temptations' main lead singer.