With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

On This Day The Temptations Were On Cloud Nine! March 12, 2025

Filed under: On This Day — justwilliam1959 @ 9:12 pm
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On March 11th 1969 the Temptations became the first Motown act to win a Grammy Award for “Cloud Nine” for the Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance. The single reached Number 2 on the US R&B chart, number 6 on the US Billboard chart, number 9 in Canada and number 15 in the UK. All in 1968. The song was the first of their singles to feature Dennis Edwards instead of David Ruffin in the lineup, and was the first of producer Norman Whitfield’s glorious psychedelic soul tracks. The track was written by Whitfield and Barrett Strong.

In 1968, Sly and the Family Stone had a hit with their single “Dance to the Music”, and Temptations member Otis Williams introduced Norman Whitfield to the band’s music. At first, Whitfield did not want to produce anything with such a radically different sound. “I don’t want to get into all that crazy shit,” he said. “That ain’t nothing but a little passing fancy.” Within a few weeks, however, he had created the backing tracks for “Cloud Nine”.

The song featured a vocal part from all five Temptations; Paul Williams, Dennis Edwards, Eddie Kendricks,
Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria played conga drums on the song alongside the iconic Motown house band the Funk Brothers. The song has some excellent bass from James Jamerson.

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“Ah! böwakawa poussé, poussé” – Advent day 9 December 9, 2013

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 6:11 am
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3d-9-number-like-christmas-toy-7227322It’s day 9 of the With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Christmas Advent calendar which means it is now December 9th. We haven’t put our decorations up yet and probably won’t put them up until much nearer the big day. Have you put your baubles on your tree yet?

johnsfaceFollowing on from yesterdays post which referenced the anniversary of John Lennon’s murder with a Beatles song today I offer you a song from Lennon’s solo career. In keeping with the numbers theme of this years advent posts it has a number in the title; can you guess which song it is? Well I’ll put you out of your misery, it’s “#9 Dream”. Taken from Lennon’s 1974 album ‘Walls And Bridges’ it only made number 23 in the UK chart but was a top ten hit in the USA. In fact it reached a rather appropriate number 9. May Pang who was Lennon’s partner for much of his ‘lost weekend’ recorded the backing vocals for the song. She has also said that the vocal refrain ‘Ah! böwakawa poussé, poussé’ in the lyrics came to John in a dream. In fact the whole song was an interpretation of that dream. It is one of my favourite Lennon songs and has been covered by REM, Andrea Corr and A-Ha.

220px-1969-tempts-cloud9The second song in todays line-up comes from the Temptations. It is their 1968 single “Cloud Nine”. It was the first release to feature Dennis Edwards in place of David Ruffin. The song was written by multi-talented producer Norman Whitfield and former Motown artist Barrett Strong. It stemmed from Whitfield being exposed to a new style of music via Sly and the Family Stone‘s hit “Dance To The Music”. At first he was reluctant to move too far from the hit making formula employed up to now. It was Temptation Otis Williams that convinced him to do it. I for one am glad that he did because it led to some amazing psychedelic funk workouts right into the 70s.

 

“They say give yourself a chance,son, don’t let life pass you by” December 3, 2011

Filed under: Christmas,Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 1:25 pm
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Are you ready for the third instalment of the ABC of Motown advent calendar? I hope so, because todays song is from the incredibly talented vocal group, the Temptations. The song is “Cloud Nine” a US no 6 hit for the band in 1968. It reached number 15 in the UK. It was included on their 1969 album of the same name. The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Once again it was the Funk Brothers that were the band on the session.

It is a great showcase for the whole group trading vocals. In a sense you could argue that there isn’t really a lead vocalist on this song. It was also the first Temptations single featuring Dennis Edwards who had replaced David Ruffin. It has been suggested that the song is drug related and Berry Gordy is alleged to have had this view. The lyric about ‘riding high on cloud nine’ might suggest to some that he is right.