"Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by
the Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...
for the Motown label.
Written and produced by Motown's main production team
Holland–Dozier–Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. Du ...
, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the #1 position on the ''Billboard'' pop singles chart in the United States from March 27, 1965, through April 3, 1965, and reached the #2 position on the soul chart.
''Billboard'' named the song #38 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time. The
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...
ranked "Stop! In the Name of Love" at #56 on ''The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart'', which ranks Motown releases by their all time UK downloads and streams.
In 2021, it was listed at No. 254 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
History
The song was written by Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland. Dozier said that he got the idea after he got cheated on by his girlfriend. In the heat of the argument, he said, "Baby, please stop. In the name of love- before you break my heart."
The Supremes recorded "Stop! In the Name of Love" in January 1965 and released as a single on February 8. The song was included on the Supremes' sixth album, '' More Hits by The Supremes'', and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers.
'' Cash Box'' described it as "a rousing, shufflin’ pop-blues romancer about a gal who cautions her boyfriend to go a little bit slower" that should "continue in he Supremesfantastic chart-riding ways."
The Supremes' choreography for this song involved one hand on the hip and the other outstretched in a "stop" gesture. They performed it on an episode of the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
variety program
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compà ...
''
Shindig!
''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Diana Ross
* Backing vocals by
the Andantes
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Ma ...
: Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow and Louvain Demps
* All instruments by
the Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...
Joe Messina
Joseph Lucian Messina (December 13, 1928 – April 4, 2022) was an American guitarist. Dubbed the "white brother with soul", he was one of the most prolific guitarists in Motown Records' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers.
Early life
Mes ...
– guitar
**
James Jamerson
James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bass player. He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases ...
– bass
**
Benny Benjamin
William "Benny" Benjamin (July 25, 1925 – April 20, 1969), nicknamed Papa Zita, was an American musician, most notable as the primary drummer for the Motown Records studio band The Funk Brothers. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of ...
– drums
**
Jack Ashford
Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934), known to his friends as Jashford, is an American musician widely known as the percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing th ...
–
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...
The Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...
' version in 1983 peaked in the US at #29 and in Canada at #31, from the album ''What Goes Around...''
* Scottish singer
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and ' January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a ...
released her version in 1983 from the album ''Heartbeats'', peaking at #29 in Belgium.
* American singer
La Toya Jackson
La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television personality. The fifth child and middle daughter of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, ''The Jacksons'', ...
Globe (band)
is a dance-oriented Japanese pop band, formed in 1995 by producer and songwriter Tetsuya Komuro. Originally consisting of Komuro, Keiko Yamada and Marc Panther, the group's singles consistently hit the charts. In late 2002 Yoshiki, drummer and ...
included it on their 2002 album ''Lights''.
* Icelandic band
Bang Gang
Bang Gang is a downtempo band from Iceland founded by songwriter and producer Barði Jóhannsson (see also Lady & Bird). The band was formed in 1996, in Barði’s hometown of ReykjavÃk. Bang Gang were initially a surf band but it moved into ...
released their rendition on the 2003 album '' Something Wrong''.
*The song is featured in the 1979
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
film ''
More American Graffiti
''More American Graffiti'' is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton, produced by Howard Kazanjian. It is the sequel to the 1973 film ''American Graffiti''. Whereas the first film followed a group of frie ...
'' and is also included in the soundtrack.
See also
*
List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1965 (U.S.)
These are the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number one hits of 1965.
That year, 14 acts hit number one for the first time: Petula Clark, The Righteous Brothers, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, The Temptations, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and ...