I didn’t think I would do a music post tonight, since the cat, Tiger Lily, broke my @#$% headphones earlier!  She somehow managed to get tangled in the wire that goes from the phones to my laptop and snapped the headphones right in two!  But then, I figured out that they still work … they just won’t sit on my head, so I have to hold each ear piece up to the respective ears, but in a pinch … whatever works, right?  I haven’t played this one for a few years, and … well, what’s not to love about Smokey Robinson, right?  Now, two additions to my previous posts of this song.  The first is one that my friend Michael Seidel sent me last time I played it … it is Bonnie Bramlett singing this song on “Roseanne” in 1988 and boy can she belt out a tune!  The second addition is The Zombies’ version of the song, because rawgod requested it.  And on that note …

Tonight’s song is either going to take you back … way back … else leave you scratching your head and saying, ‘huh?’  Go back, if you can, to 1962.  I was eleven … how old were you?  In ’62, the Beatles, the Stones, and the Turtles weren’t yet around, and the sound of the day, at least for most of us, was Motown.  And there was none better than Smokey Robinson and his Miracles.

Smokey wrote and produced this one that was released in November 1962 under the Motown Tamla label.  It zoomed to #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart in the U.S.  It has been featured in at least 12 films and a television special,  Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.  

Smokey Robinson said he was thinking about Sam Cooke’s Bring it on Home to Me (another great one, in my book) when he got the idea for this song.  Cooke’s song finds the singer apologizing to his girl after casting her off, promising to treat her right if she comes back. You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me is the same sentiment but with the roles reversed: the girl mistreats the guy, but he loves her unconditionally.  Gender equality, even in the ’60s.

The Beatles recorded this in 1963 and performed it in their last movie, Let It Be. The Beatles were the first big British band to come to America and admit they were influenced by black music. Robinson admired this admission, and felt they helped black artists by covering their songs.

The quality of this video isn’t the best, but hey … it was 1962 … YouTube and digital photography hadn’t even been invented yet.  There are more recent versions, but I felt this one had the most authenticity.  And now I give you …

You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me
The Miracles

I don’t like you, but I love you,
Seems that I’m always thinking of you.
Oh, oh, oh, you treat me badly,
I love you madly, you really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me, baby,
I don’t want you, but I need you,
Don’t want to kiss you, but I need you.
Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now,
My love is strong now you really got a hold on me.

You really got a hold on me, baby,
I love you and all I want you to do is just hold me,
Hold me, hold me, hold me.

I want to leave you, don’t want to stay here
Don’t want to spend another day here.
Oh, oh, oh, I want to split now, I can’t Baby,
I love you and all I want you to do is just hold me,
Hold me, hold me, hold me.
You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.

Songwriters: William Robinson Jr.
You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC