This article is about the Holland–Dozier–Holland song sung by the Supremes. For the Gosdin Brothers song covered by Cliff Richard, see (You Keep Me) Hangin' On.
The song has since been interpreted by many performers. American rock band Vanilla Fudge released a cover version in June the following year, which reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Wilson Pickett recorded it in 1969. English singer Kim Wilde covered "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1986, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1987. In 1996, a version recorded by American country singer Reba McEntire reached number two on the US BillboardHot Dance Club Play chart.
In the first 32 years of the Billboard Hot 100 rock era, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" became one of the six songs to reach number one by two different musical acts, for the Supremes and Wilde versions.[4] The BBC ranked the Supremes' original song at number 78 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases by their all-time UK downloads and streams.[5]
The Supremes original version
Background
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was originally recorded in 1966 by the Supremes for the Motown label. The single is rooted in proto-funk and rhythm and blues, compared to the Supremes' previous single, "You Can't Hurry Love", which uses the call and response elements akin to gospel. The song's signature guitar part is said to have originated from a Morse code-like radio sound effect, typically used before a news announcement, heard by Lamont Dozier. Dozier collaborated with Brian and Eddie Holland to integrate the idea into a single.[6]
Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Diana Ross's vocals were multitracked, a production technique which was established and popularized concurrently by Holland–Dozier–Holland (H–D–H) and other premier producers of the 1960s such as Phil Spector (see Wall of Sound) and George Martin. H–D–H recorded the song in eight sessions with the Supremes and session band the Funk Brothers before settling on a version deemed suitable for the final release.[6]
Reception
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the first single taken from the Supremes' 1967 album The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland. The song became the group's eighth number-one single when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for two weeks in the United States from November 19 to 26, 1966.[7][8] It peaked at number eight in the UK Singles Chart. The Supremes original version was ranked number 339 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[9] It was voted number 43 on Detroit's 100 Greatest Songs, a Detroit Free Press poll in 2016.[10]Billboard described the song as a "pulsating rocker with the trio in top form" with an "interesting, driving guitar figure throughout."[11]Cash Box said that it is "another in [the Supremes'] long-line of strong 'Detroit' offerings" that "is bound to follow in footsteps of the group’s previous winners."[12]Record World described it as "a driving nifty with distinctive sound."[13]
The track is one of the most often covered songs in the Supremes canon. The group performed the song on the ABCvarietyprogramThe Hollywood Palace on October 29, 1966.[14]
In 1999, the 1966 original recording by the Supremes was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[15]
Vanilla Fudge's 1967 psychedelic rock remake titled "You Keep Me Hanging On" reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a year after the release of the Supremes' recording. While the edited version released on the 45 RPM single was under three minutes long, the album version was 7:26 and features a markedly slower and more aggressive interpretation of the song. The recording, done in one take, was Vanilla Fudge's first single.[41]
Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice talked about the band's decision to record the song in a 2014 interview:[42]
That was Mark and Timmy [the band's keyboardist and bassist]. We used to slow songs down and listen to the lyrics and try to emulate what the lyrics were dictating. That one was a hurtin' song; it had a lot of emotion in it. "People Get Ready" was like a Gospel thing. "Eleanor Rigby" was sort of eerie and church-like ... like a horror movie kind of thing. If you listen to "Hangin' On" fast ... by the Supremes, it sounds very happy, but the lyrics aren't happy at all. If you lived through that situation, the lyrics are definitely not happy.
The Vanilla Fudge version appears in the series finale of the television show The Sopranos (2007), at the conclusion of episode 1 of season 7 of the television series Mad Men (2015),[43] the film War Dogs (2016), the video game Mafia III (2016), the film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and its soundtrack, and over the closing credits of the "Intervention" (2022) episode of That Damn Michael Che. It Also appears in the snowboarding film by Burton "One World" (2020). [44]
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was covered by English singer Kim Wilde in 1986. Wilde's version was a total re-working of the original, completely transforming the Supremes' Motown Sound into a hi-NRG song.[52]
Reception
It was released as the second single from Wilde's fifth studio album, Another Step (although "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the LP's first worldwide single, as the first single had been released only in selected countries). The song reached number two in Wilde's native United Kingdom,[57] and number one in Australia.[58] It also became Wilde's second and last top-40 entry in the United States following "Kids in America" (1981), as well as her most successful song in that country to date, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in June 1987.[4] It later ranked as the 34th best-selling song of 1987 on Billboard's Hot 100 year-end chart that year. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI)[59] for UK sales in excess of 250,000 copies.[60]
In 2006, Wilde performed a new version of the song with German singer Nena for her Never Say Never album.
Music video
Wilde filmed a music video to promote the song.[61] Directed by Greg Masuak, the video shows Wilde in a dark room lying on a large bed. She then rises from the bed as she sings the song and finds herself being "threatened" by a strange man who is breaking down the walls around her.[62]
American country singer Reba McEntire covered "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1995 for her twenty-second studio album, Starting Over (1996). Released as the album's fourth single in 1996 on MCA Nashville Records, it was co-produced by Tony Brown and Michael Omartian. Although not released to country radio, McEntire's rendition was her only dance hit, reaching number two on the US BillboardHot Dance Club Play chart.[90]
Reception
Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "A Reba McEntire dance record? On paper, such an idea seems frighteningly incongruous. But in the hands of British production team Love To Infinity, the concept works like gangbusters. Playfully digging into the Supremes' pop classic, McEntire has a saucy style that is well-suited to the track's storm of bright pop/house percussion and sugary synths. Her country base may find this a tad hard to swallow, but it is so darn good that you'll be wishing for another romp in the disco round ASAP."[91] Dan Glaister from The Guardian said songs like "You Keep Me Hanging On" are "safe, solid, and destined for a marketing megablitz. They're huge, but hardly country."[92]
In 1969, Mary McCaslin released a cover version. According to The New York Times, it "transforms the tune from an urban teen-oriented lament into a mountain-flavored folk song of quiet, adult desperation."[93]
R&B singer Wilson Pickett recorded a version of the Vanilla Fudge cover which was released as a single in 1969 and included on his 1970 album Right On. Pickett's version reached number 16 on the US R&B chart and 92 on the Billboard Hot 100.
^Pitchfork Staff (August 18, 2006). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 12, 2022. No wonder: Its unceasing beat, bright guitar chirping, horn blasts, and bubbling bass line make it arguably the most rock-influenced hit of the group's career.
^Cartwright, Garth (2010). "You Keep Me Hangin' On - The Supremes". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. New York: Universe. p. 193.
^ abCartwright, Garth (2015). "The Supremes - "You Keep Me Hangin' On". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. New York: Universe. p. 193.
^ abBronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: The Inside Story Behind Every Number One Single on Billboard's Hot 100 from 1955 to the Present (5th ed.). Billboard Books. pp. 213, 667. ISBN0-8230-7677-6.
^Joseph Murrells (1984). "THE SUPREMES". Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory. London: B.T. Batsford. p. 233. ISBN0-7134-3843-6.
^Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 175.
Chronology(The band's name history: The Primettes 1959–1961 / The Supremes 1961–1967 / Diana Ross & The Supremes 1967–1970 / The Supremes 1970 / Diana Ross & The Supremes 1970 / The Supremes 1970–)
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!["Gallup UK Singles – W/E Jan 24, 1986 [sic]"](http://scans.chartarchive.org/UK/1987/04%20-%2024%20January%20-%20RM%20Singles.jpg){kind=link}
