Why You Can't Hurry Love Pt.1

Damn, what a great song. It's so great that thinking about the song has spawned ideas for three separate blog posts. I'm not sure why this song is so good. I mean, I know it's good, I know it's really really good. Perhaps it's because it's a example of when music was simpler, still in transition as the influences of The Beatles had not quite taken over the music industry yet. Perhaps it's because what Diana sings is so true. True and simple is best. For me personally it could be all these things, but it could also be that it takes me back to a simpler time in my own life.

Some of you may know this, but I didn't venture out into the modern day music scene until I was 16. I got my first CDs for Christmas in 2003 when I received Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne and Fallen by Evanescence. Needless to say I learned quickly therein after. Fountains of Wayne has consistently been one of my favorite bands since and I have no idea where that Evanescence CD is now. Before Christmas of 2003 most of my exposure to modern day music was minimal KROQ time in the car (before I started driving) and the constant Weezer and Cake my sister would play at home. I love Weezer and Cake by the way. But the majority of music in general I listened to came from KRTH, known affectionately by many as K-Earth 101. If you know the station then you've just heard the jingle in your head.

K-Earth was the oldies station, and as such was a large reason why most of the music I listened to in my formative years was much much older than me. It was the music my parents were listening to in their formative years. But that didn't matter to me. It was the music I listened to as a kid. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Beach Boys were my rock music (that and some 70's and 80's rock. Arrow 93.1, where have you gone?) But the 60's featured another type of music, the type Miss Diana Ross and her Supremes fell into: Motown. I may be a skinny white boy who has lived in Southern California his whole life, but Motown is one of my favorite types of music. Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves, The Four Tops, The Contours (Do you love me now that I can dance?)

It's my assertion that Motown is continually overshadowed due to the fact that the height of its popularity was shared by The Beatles and other rock bands, when music really started to shift and shape, and that Motown is arguably be one of the greatest music movements of the 20th century. This is a pretty good lead into Pt. 2, which may turn out to be pretty meaty, so while you think about my bold statement and form your own stubborn opinion take a look at the live video up top of Diana Ross and The Supremes performing* the namesake of the post. An absolutely great performance. Enjoy!

*My apologies for the audio not quite syncing up, but YouTube had no other live performances of this song by them.