You Keep Me Hangin' On

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"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" cover
Single by The Supremes
from the album The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland
Released October 12, 1966 (U.S.)
Format Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded Hitsville USA (Studio A); June 30 and August 1, 1966
Genre Soul/pop
Length 2:47
Label Motown
M 1101
Writer Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer Brian Holland
Lamont Dozier
The Supremes singles chronology
"You Can't Hurry Love"
(1966)
"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
(1966)
"Love Is Here and Now You're Gone"
(1967)
"You Keep Me Hangin'"
Single by Vanilla Fudge
from the album Vanilla Fudge
Released 1967 (U.S.)
Format Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded 1967
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length 3:00 (single edit)
7:20 (album version)
Label Atco
6590
Producer Shadow Morton
Vanilla Fudge singles chronology
-- "You Keep Me Hangin' On"
(1967)
"Eleanor Rigby"
(1967)
"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Kim Wilde
from the album Another Step
B-side "Loving You"
Released 1986 (U.K.),
1987 (U.S.)
Format 7", 12"
Genre Pop
Label MCA
Writer Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer Ricki Wilde
Kim Wilde singles chronology
Schoolgirl
(1986)
You Keep Me Hangin' On
(1986)
Say You Really Want Me (North American issue)
(1986)

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a 1966 hit song originally recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, and was the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks in November 1966.

The track is one of the more oft-remade songs in the Supremes canon: Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, Melanie Safka, and Reba McEntire have all recorded versions of the song, but the two most successful remakes were recorded by the late-1960s rock band Vanilla Fudge and 1980s pop singer Kim Wilde.

Contents

While both are very much rooted in rhythm & blues, the song's immediate predecessor, "You Can't Hurry Love", showcased a gospel music feel, while "You Keep Me Hangin' On" leans more towards proto-funk. Songwriter Lamont Dozier got his inspiration for the song's Morse code-like guitar line from listening to the "news flash" signal over the radio, and he and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland integrated the idea into a song.

Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Ross's lead vocal, were multitracked (the parts were recorded multiple times and the takes layered over one another). Florence Ballard also contributed to the lead vocal. This was all done to create a stronger, fuller sound than the previous Supremes records. The pulsating, undulating bassline, placed high in the mix, is one of the most noted examples of the pioneering musicianship of session players the Funk Brothers.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the first single from the Supremes' 1967 album The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland. The original version was #339 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" - Supremes version

7" single version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On", performed by The Supremes.

Problems listening to the file? See media help.


Vanilla Fudge's 1967 psychedelic/hard rock remake of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" reached on the Hot 100 chart two years after the release of the Supremes' recording. While the version released on 45 RPM single was under three minutes long, the album version was extended to six minutes and forty-five seconds. This was Vanilla Fudge's first single, and it was recorded in one take. [1]

Tim Buckley recorded a live version of the song on the album "Dream Letter Live in London 1968".

In 1969 the English progressive rock group The Nice recorded a version live on a Swedish radio program. This version is very similar to Vanilla Fudge's because of the slowed down tempo and heavier feel.

Studio One reggae recording artist Ken Boothe also released a cover of the song in 1974, which was recently re-released on the Studio One Soul compilation.

In 1977, Rod Stewart covered the song on his album "Foot Loose & Fancy Free".

Mina recorded a hard-rock version of the song for her album "Kyrie" in 1980.

Kim Wilde's version was covered by Madness in 2005 for their cover album The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1.

And in 2007 the British producer/artist Mark Ronson used some of the lyrics in his song "Stop me". "Stop me" was primarily a cover of The Smiths "Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before", adding The Supremes chorous lyrics toward the end of the cover.

On American Idol, whenever "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was sung by a finalist, including Vanessa Olivarez on the second season and Leah LaBelle on the third season, it was considered a "curse" for them to be sent home the night after their performances. However, Blake Lewis, the runner-up on the sixth season of Idol, delivered it on March 13, 2007 and "broke the curse" with his techno arrangement. Its studio version was released on the American Idol official website and later in the American Idol Season 6: The Collector's Edition, the compilation of the studio versions of song performed by the finalists of Idol.

American Idol Season 3 contestant Camile Velasco, borrowed the lyrics and motown records produced the song with a different sound. The song was released on 2005 and was considered a success. However Motown Records dropped Camile Velasco's label after the single was released.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was given an update in 1986 by British singer Kim Wilde. It was the second single from her Another Step album (the first worldwide single, as the first actual single had only been released in selected countries). Wilde's version was a total re-working of the original, completely transforming the Supremes' Motown sound into a 1980s powerpop song. She and her producer brother Ricki Wilde had not heard the song for several years when they decided to record it and was not a track they knew well, so treated it as a new song, even slightly changing the original lyrics. It became the biggest hit of Wilde's career, reaching #2 in her home country as well as hitting the top spot in Europe and Australia. It also became Wilde's only major hit in the US, spending a week at number one in 1987.

Incidentally, since Wilde's recording was popular during the evolution of sample-based hip hop, a short drum break in her version has become one of the most sampled pieces of audio ever. In 2006, she performed a new version of the song with the German singer Nena for her Never Say Never album.

  1. ^ "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Songfacts entry Retrieved March 18, 2007
Preceded by
"Poor Side of Town" by Johnny Rivers
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Supremes version)
November 19, 1966
Succeeded by
"Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band
Preceded by
"With or Without You" by U2
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Kim Wilde version)
June 6, 1987
Succeeded by
"Always" by Atlantic Starr

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