"When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" is a song written by

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 ...

and recorded in 1963 by

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

singing group

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 ...

. It is notable as the Supremes' first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top 40 recording, following seven previous singles between January 1961 and September 1963 which failed to enter the Top 40. The single is also notable as the first Supremes single written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland, who had previously created hits for

Martha and the Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosali ...

and

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

Overview

Recording

By 1963, the Supremes were struggling to find a pop hit. Until then, the Supremes was a regional R&B favorite, with their most successful single being "

A Breathtaking Guy "A Breathtaking Guy" is a 1963 song written and produced by Smokey Robinson and released first by Motown singing group The Supremes (1963) and later by The Marvelettes (1972). The single was originally released under the title "A Breath Taking ...

", which peaked at number 75 on the Hot 100. The group's competitors inside Motown included

The Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who wa ...

, Motown's first successful female group, but also with

, whose early hits included " (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave" and " Quicksand". Outside of Motown, competitors included such the duo of

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

from New York and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

of Los Angeles. Struggling to find producers who could give the Supremes a successful hit after both he and

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

had failed, Motown CEO

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

decided to have the team of

, who would end up being the dominant songwriting and producing team of Motown, produce a song for the Supremes. Holland-Dozier-Holland responded with "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", a song that was both modeled after and crafted as a response to Spector's

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...

production methods. "Lovelight" would eventually be released after Gordy's Quality Control Department approved of the song.

Reception

Released on October 31, 1963, "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" was the Supremes' first Top 40 pop hit since signing with Motown in 1961. It reached number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 2 on the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

R&B chart. ''

'' described it as "a bright, happy-go-lucky thumper...that the crew drives out in dandy, ' Mickey’s Monkey'-beat style." Due to its success, Gordy decided to have Holland-Dozier-Holland on board as the group's sole producers from then on. It also nearly made the Top 10 in Australia. After the unsuccessful rush-release of the

-inspired " Run, Run, Run", the Supremes would eventually eclipse their female peers after releasing "

Where Did Our Love Go "Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Where Did Our Love Go" was the first single by the Supr ...

" in the summer of 1964.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

critic William Ruhlmann stated that the song "has many of the elements that would contribute to the group's amazing string of major hits between 1964 and 1967, including a massive drum sound augmented with handclaps, driving music anchored by a saxophone, and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

' keening voice." Ruhlmann attributed the relative lack of success compared to later Supremes hit to a less "streamlined sound" and to perhaps being "too busy, with the glorified 'Bo Diddley' beat of the verses changing to a more regular one for the choruses and a mix of instruments that sometimes overwhelmed the singers."

Personnel

*Lead vocals by

*Background vocals by

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-o ...

and Mary Wilson *Additional vocals (growling before instrumental) by:

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

( Levi Stubbs,

Abdul "Duke" Fakir Abdul Kareem Fakir (born December 26, 1935), professionally known as Duke Fakir, is an American singer. He is a founding member of the Motown quartet the Four Tops, from 1953 to the present day. A first tenor, Fakir is the group's lone survivin ...

Lawrence Payton Lawrence Albert Payton (March 2, 1938 – June 20, 1997) was an American tenor, songwriter, vocal arranger, musician, and record producer for the popular Motown quartet, the Four Tops. In 1997, at 59 years old, Payton died of liver cancer. Biogra ...

and

Renaldo "Obie" Benson Renaldo "Obie" Benson (June 14, 1936 – July 1, 2005) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and the bass singer of Motown group the Four Tops, which he joined in 1953 and continued to perfo ...

) and

( Edward "Eddie" Holland Jr.,

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Doz ...

and

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous h ...

) *Instrumentation 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 ...

*Written by Holland–Dozier–Holland *Produced by Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Later Versions

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...

included the song on her 1964 debut album ''

A Girl Called Dusty ''A Girl Called Dusty'' is the debut studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. It was released on 17 April 1964 in the United Kingdom by Philips Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Album Charts and No.5 on NME charts in May 1964 ...

''.

The Zombies The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American chart-topper, hit in 1964 with "She's Not ...

did a version in 1965 (available on Live At The BBC, released 2003) In 1975, Motown Records released a new version of the song (catalog number 1334) by The Boones, a vocal quartet featuring four daughters of

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

(including Debby of " You Light Up My Life" fame). This version reached No. 25 on ''Billboard'' magazine's

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. The Seattle-based electro-pop band

Brite Futures Brite Futures (formerly known as Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, often shortened to NPSH) was an American indie rock/electronica band from Seattle, Washington. The group released its debut album in July 2008 and disbanded in 2012. Their former name ...

included this song on their 2012 posthumous album "When The Lights Go Out".

References

{{Authority control 1963 singles The Supremes songs Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland 1963 songs Song recordings produced by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements