"Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)" is a 1965 pop ballad by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas.^[1] A rare ballad for the group, whose forte was reportedly uptempo soul dance numbers including "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run", the b-side to the group's single, "You've Been in Love Too Long", although the song only peaked at #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #22 on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart,^[2] it was number one on many American urban radio playlists. Also the song was Top 10 at a number of Top 40 radio stations in major cities like Los Angeles(KHJ-KRLA-KFWB-KBLA), San Francisco(KYA-KEWB), San Diego(KGB-KCBQ ), San Antonio(KONO), and Atlanta(WQXI-WPLO). Also beside being a B-Side originally the airplay and success the song achieved in the early part of 1966 bumped up against a new release My Baby Loves Me (Martha and the Vandellas song). With the limited airplay in the Southwest, Midwest, South and on the East Coast and competing against a new single caused the song to peak as low as it did on the national charts. The song, written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland, has the narrator explain why love makes her do things she later regrets. Cash Box described it as a "plaintive, slow-shufflin’ heart-throbber with a nostalgic years-back sound."^[3]

Other artist recording the song include: Kim Weston (original recording artist on unreleased track), Diana Ross and the Supremes, Thee Midnighters, Slim Smith, Jean Carn, Billy Preston, and Eula Cooper. The Andantes recorded co-backing vocals on all three Motown recordings.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Martha Reeves
• Background vocals by The Andantes: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow and Louvain Demps
• Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier
• Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

References