You Keep Me Hangin' On
| "You Keep Me Hangin' On" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a 1966 hit song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" is among the most often covered Supremes songs, and was the number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from November 13 to November 26 1966.
While its immediate predecessor, "You Can't Hurry Love", showcased a gospel music feel, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" leans more towards a rock music feel. Songwriter Lamont Dozier got his inspiration for the song's Morse code-like guitar line from listening to the "news flash" signal over the radio, and he and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland integrated the idea into a song. The song's lyrics feature Supremes lead singer Diana Ross berating her lover for stringing her along, stating that "you don't really love me/you just keep me hangin' on."
Many of the elements of the song, including the guitars, the drums, and Ross's lead vocal, were multitracked (the parts were recorded multiple times and the takes layered over one another) to create a stronger, fuller sound than the previous Supremes records.
The song is one of the more oft-remade songs in the Supremes canon: Wilson Pickett, Rod Stewart, Madness, Melanie Safka, and Reba McEntire have all recorded versions of the song, but the two most successful remakes were recorded by the late-1960s rock band Vanilla Fudge and 1980s pop singer Kim Wilde. Vanilla Fudge's 1967 psychedelic/hard rock remake of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" reached number six on the U.S. pop chart two years after the release of the Supremes' recording. The Kim Wilde version of the song (recorded in 1986) reached number two in the United Kingdom and number one in the U.S. in 1987. A few seconds of the Kim Wilde version's audio, a power-drumming interlude between verses, have become one of the most sampled pieces of audio ever.
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the first single from the Supremes' album, The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland.
Credits
- Lead vocals by Diana Ross
- Backing vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
- Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.
- Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier