The Supremes My World is Empty Without You - one of the greatest pop singles ever?

I know that many would nominate Good Vibrations or Strawberry Fields Forever both of which are amazing but for me nothing captures the sheer joy of pop music like a classic Motown 45.

From around 1964-67 almost every single Motown put out was great. Many of them were written by the Holland Dozier Holland team who I think are pop geniuses.

The queens of Motown were the Supremes. They had everything - the songs, the voices, the looks, the outfits. They had an incredible run of singles at that time. Of these the cream of the crop for me is My World is Empty Without You.

That bass riff! The drum roll ! And then the vocals kick in. Diana's voice really soars in the verses. Some people don't rate her voice but to me it's pop gold. The insistent beat and dramatic sound of the song floors me every time. I usually play it 3 or 4 times in a row, thinking "How can anything sound this great?"

Here's the song being performed on the Ed Sullivan show - the original audio has been replaced by the studio recording:



So, any other Supremes/Motown fans here? If not, can any single top this for sheer Pop magnificence?

 

I Love The Supremes! Don't know if My World Is Empty is my favourite of their songs, but take your pick... i'm not going to argue against it, the main point for me is that The Supremes are one of the greatest. "Sheer pop magnificence" absolutely.

 

Yes, one of the greatest by the supremes and thus one of the greatest of all time.

 

Reflections can.
She uncharacteristically sings in her lower register. Great hook, an attention grabbing intro, immaculate playing. Lyrics are (for Motown) blunt, detailing the pain.

 

Yes, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Motown, The Funk Brothers and The Supremes while they were The Supremes (no Diana Ross &) at their peak.

That intro! It's definitely up there with just about anything.

 

Very predictably, I love the avatar!

 

The run of singles from "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" up to "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is some of the most glorious music ever recorded. Any time a new Supremes single came out was special, their songs were just stunning. If I want to explain why AM pop radio was so important I point to those songs, hell, virtually everything in the Motown repertoire at the time.
The Sound Of Young America, indeed.

 

I like it a lot and I love HDH and the house band, but this isn't one of their better songs. It has kind of an assembly line feel to it - like mix in equal parts of Baby Love, I hear a symphony, and Where did our Love go and you get this.

 

I've got an absolute load of Motown CDs recently, some due to being very lucky in a charity shop and others from the incredibly cheap Music Magpie seller on eBay.

Listening to CDs like 'Motown Connoisseurs' and the 'A Cellarful of Motown' series, it's astonishing the quality and amount of material Motown either buried on obscure albums and B-sides, or didn't release at all, especially as the original 60s albums were often patchy. They recorded so much while they were in Detroit and thankfully, the tapes have survived and were finally released.

 

Great! A fine mixture.

 

I'm currently playing an Invictus / Hot Wax CD compilation and it's fine. I don't want to criticise it at all, but it lacks the magic Holland-Dozier-Holland had in abundance in mid 60s Motown.

 

My World is Empty is my second-favourite Supremes single after When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes.

 

Brilliant single, but all of the Holland/Dozier/Holland singles were brilliant. While it may be the obvious choice, I’d rate Stop! In The Name Of Love as the most brilliant of all.

 

My answer to the thread question is no. There are soooo many in the history of music, but for the Supremes, my two votes go to "You Can't Hurry Love" and "You Keep Me Hanging On".

 

Come see about me it’s my favorite. But, nonetheless, one of the greatest runs ever

 

Baby Love

 

Always loved ‘My world....’ but I heard it first in an Osmonds Motown medley. It’s the minor to major key change that hooked me. Great melody too.
My favorites are
Nothing but heartaches
Mother Dear
You keep me hanging on.
Love is here and now you’re gone

 

Hall and Oates got "Maneater" from this.

 

The follow up, Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart, still remains my personal pick for best Supremes single.

The best version of My World to me is the mix Andy Skurow, George Solomon, and Kevin Reeves did for the I Hear A Symphony expanded edition a few years back. They turned back up Flo & Mary’s background vocals to nice effect. They are virtually muted from the hit version, in effect making this the first solo Diana Ross single.

 

I'm not sure I had ever previously heard it, but I gave a listen and liked it.

 

The 2012 Mix:

 

The Supremes are my favorite Motown group & "My World Is Empty Without You" is one of my many favorites by them. I seem to recall there being a slightly different musical backing on this song. I will have to find it in my archives. They're both great!

 

Every Supremes single was the greatest pop single ever.

My favorite hasn't been named yet: Back In My Arms Again.

 

I love how they're always more adventurous with the bonus remixes of The Supremes songs on the expanded editions. They usually go on much longer than the original versions and even have previously unused sections and cold endings. The Beatles remixes seem to be only slightly different than the originals.

 

Very good song.