Live Wire (Martha and the Vandellas song)

"Live Wire"
Single by Martha and the Vandellas
from the album Greatest Hits
B-side	Old Love (Let's Try Again)
Released	January 17, 1964
Format	7" 45 RPM
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); 1963
Genre	Soul/pop
Length	2:35
Label	Gordy
Writer(s)	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer(s)	Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier
Martha and the Vandellas singles chronology
"Quicksand (1963) "Live Wire" (1964) "In My Lonely Room" (1964)

"Live Wire" is a 1964 dance single released by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. The song was produced by Holland–Dozier–Holland under the same gospel-pop confection of their earlier hit singles "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" and "Quicksand". The song explained why the narrator can't come up with words to tell her lover that she was through with him because when she looks at him, she feels that he is "like a bolt of lightning" and that he's a "live wire". The song failed to hit the Top 40 of the pop chart (peaking at #42) and reached #11 on Cashbox's R&B singles chart (the Billboard R&B chart was suspended until January 1965).^[1][2]

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Martha Reeves
• Background vocals by Rosalind Ashford and Annette Beard
• Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier
• Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland, Jr.
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

References

1. Warner, Jay, ed. (2006). American Singing Groups: A History, From 1940 to Today. Hal Leonard. p. 584. ISBN 0-634-09978-7. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
2. 50th Anniversary: The Singles Collection 1962-1972 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records