Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Dancing In The Street

Originally released in 1964, Dancing in the Street actually reached number 4 in the UK charts in a 1969 version. It was co-written by Marvin Gaye and William Stevenson and presented to Martha Reeves when she came to Motown.

Martha was born in Alabama in 1941 and sprang from a gospel tradition. Whilst she performed in a number of local groups in Detroit (including the Del-Phis), it wasn’t until she was spotted by Motown’s Mickey Stevenson that her future career took off. In fact, her first job at the hit label was as unpaid secretary! She even acted as vocalist on a number of other artist’s sessions. Again, fate intervened and Stevenson invited the Del-Phis in at short notice to cut “You’ll Never Cherish A Love So True” and the trio of Martha, Rosalind Ashford and Annette Sterling (Beard) shortly became “The Vandellas.

Sample “Dancing In The Street” on Motown 50 here:

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