You Keep Me Hangin' On

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by The Supremes
from the album The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland
B-side	"Remove This Doubt"
Released	October 12, 1966 (U.S.)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); June 30 and August 1, 1966
Genre	Soul, pop
Length	2:47 (original release) 3:15 (remastered)
Label	Motown M 1101
Writer(s)	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer(s)	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier
The Supremes singles chronology
"You Can't Hurry Love" (1966) "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1966) "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" (1967) The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland track listing 12 tracks Side one "You Keep Me Hangin' On" "You're Gone, But Always in My Heart" "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" "Mother You, Smother You" "I Guess I'll Always Love You" "I'll Turn to Stone" Side two "It's the Same Old Song" "Going Down for the Third Time" "Love is in Our Hearts" "Remove This Doubt" "There's No Stopping Us Now" "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave"
Music sample "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Alternative cover

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a 1966 song written and composed by Holland–Dozier–Holland. It first became a popular Billboard Hot 100 number one hit for the American girl group The Supremes in late 1966. The rock band Vanilla Fudge covered the song a year later and had a Top ten hit with their version. British pop singer Kim Wilde covered "You Keep Me Hangin' On" in 1986, bumping it back to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1987. The single reached number one by two different musical acts in America. In the first 32 years of the Billboard Hot 100 rock era, “You Keep Me Hangin' On” became one of only six songs to achieve this feat.^[1] In 1996, Country music singer Reba McEntire's version reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Over the years, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" has been covered by various artists including a charting version by Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, and the Box Tops.

The Supremes 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.^[2]

Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Diana Ross and Florence Ballard's vocals, were multitracked, a production technique which was established and popularized concurrently by 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.^[2]

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 13, 1966 through November 27, 1966.^[3][4] It peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. The Supremes original version was ranked #339 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[5]

The track is one of the more oft-covered songs in the Supremes canon. They performed the song on the ABC variety program The Hollywood Palace on Saturday, October 29, 1966.^[6]

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Diana Ross. Florence Ballard shares lead vocals on the bridge and 3rd verse.
• Backing vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Chart performance

Chart (1966–1967)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles Chart	1
U.S. Cash Box Pop Singles Chart	1
Australian Singles Chart	11
UK Singles Chart	8

Vanilla Fudge version

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Vanilla Fudge
from the album Vanilla Fudge
B-side	"Come By Day, Come By Night"
Released	1967 (U.S.)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded	1967
Genre	Psychedelic rock, acid rock, hard rock
Length	2:59 (single edit) 7:20 (album version)
Label	Atco 6590
Writer(s)	Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer(s)	Shadow Morton
Vanilla Fudge singles chronology
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1967) "Eleanor Rigby" (1967)

Background

Vanilla Fudge's 1967 psychedelic/hard rock remake of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" reached number 6 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 seven minutes and twenty seconds long.^[7] The recording, done in one take, was Vanilla Fudge's first single.^[8]

Vanilla Fudge drummer Carmine Appice talked about the band's decision to cover the song in a 2014 interview:^[9]

That was Mark and Timmy. 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.

Personnel

• Carmine Appice - drums, vocals
• Tim Bogert - bass, vocals
• Vince Martell - guitar, vocals
• Mark Stein - lead vocals, keyboards

Chart performance

Chart (1967–1968)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6

Kim Wilde version

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Kim Wilde
from the album Another Step
B-side	"Loving You"
Released	13 October 1986[10]
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1986
Genre	Hi-NRG[11][12] synthpop[13] new wave[14]
Length	4:15
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer(s)	Ricky Wilde
Kim Wilde singles chronology
"Schoolgirl" (1986) "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1986) "Say You Really Want Me" (North American issue) (1986)

Background

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was covered in an updated version by British 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.^[15] She and her brother, producer Ricky Wilde, had not heard "You Keep Me Hangin' On" for several years when they decided to record it. The song was not a track they knew well, so they treated it as a new song, even slightly changing the original lyrics.

Reception

It was released as the second single from Wilde's Another Step studio album (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 became the biggest hit of Wilde's career, reaching number 2 in her home country,^[16] and number 1 in Australia.^[17] It also became Wilde's second and last Top 40 hit in the US following "Kids in America" and is also, to date, her most successful song in that country, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in June 1987.^[18] It later ranked as the 34th biggest hit 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^[10] for UK sales exceeding 250,000 copies.^[19]

In 2006, she performed a new version of the song with the German singer Nena for her Never Say Never album.

Music video

A music video for Kim Wilde was produced to promote her single.^[20]

Chart performance

Weekly singles chart

Chart (1986–88)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17]	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[21]	20
Canada (RPM)	1
Denmark (Tracklisten)[22]	3
France (SNEP)[23]	19
Germany (Media Control Charts)[24]	8
Ireland (IRMA)[25]	2
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26]	17
Norway (VG-lista)[27]	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[28]	2
UK Singles Chart[16]	2
US Billboard Hot 100[29]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1987)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[30]	6
US Billboard Hot 100[31]	34

Reba McEntire version

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Reba McEntire
from the album Starting Over
Released	1996
Format	CD single, maxi single
Genre	Country
Length	3:22
Label	MCA Nashville
Writer(s)	Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer(s)	Tony Brown, Michael Omartian, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire singles chronology
"Starting Over Again" (1996) "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1996) "The Fear of Being Alone" (1996)

Background

Country music singer Reba McEntire covered the song in 1995 for her twenty-second studio album, Starting Over. 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 #2 on Hot Dance Club Play.^[32]

Chart performance

Chart (1996-1997)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	2

References

1. Bronson, 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 (5 ed.). Billboard Books. pgs 213, 667. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6
2. "You Keep Me Hangin' On". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
3. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (Nielsen Company) 78 (47): 30. 1966. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
4. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (Nielsen Company) 78 (48): 26. 1966. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
5. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
6. Host: Herb Alpert (29 October 1966). "Herb Alpert/The Supremes". The Hollywood Palace. Season 4. Episode 6. ABC. KABC.
7. Vanilla Fudge- Vanilla Fudge Retrieved January 16, 2015
8. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Songfacts entry Retrieved March 18, 2007
9. Carmine Appice Interview: The Legendary Drummer Keeps ‘Rock’ Hangin’ On Retrieved January 16, 2015
10. "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for Kim Wilde (from bpi.co.uk)". Imgur.com. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
11. Mason, Stewart. "Kim Wilde – Another Step". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
12. Watson, Graeme (12 September 2013). "Kim Wilde Talks Pop, Parenthood and PVC". OutInPerth. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
13. Discogs information on the song by Kim Wilde, Citing synthpop reference.
14. Denning, Alli. "New Wave Hits of 80s". liketotally80's. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
15. "Another Step-Kim Wilde". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
16. "Official Charts > Kim Wilde". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
17. "Australian Top 50 Singles Chart – Week Ending 22nd February, 1987". Imgur.com. Retrieved 1 May 2016. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
18. Bronson, 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 (5 ed.). Billboard Books. pg 667. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6
19. "W/E Jan 24, 1986 (sic) – Gallup UK Singles Charts". Chartarchive.org. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
20. "Kim Wilde - You Keep Me Hangin' On". YouTube. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
21. "Austriancharts.at – Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
22. "Danishcharts.com – Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On". Tracklisten.
23. "Lescharts.com – Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On" (in French). Les classement single.
24. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
25. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
26. "Dutchcharts.nl – Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
27. "Norwegiancharts.com – Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On". VG-lista.
28. "Swisscharts.com – Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin' On". Swiss Singles Chart.
29. "Billboard > Artists / Kim Wilde > Chart History > The Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
30. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). Sydney: Australian Chart Book. p. 439. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
31. http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/top-100-songs-of-the-year/?year=1987
32. "Billboard search results for "You Keep Me Hangin' On"". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-05-13.

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1966 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1987 (U.S.)