Released: 1962
Sometimes you’ve just got to let it all go. In the early part of the decade pop was not cool; not yet having disentangled itself from the kitsch of the previous one, your parents still might dig it if they’d had one too many gin slings on a Friday night.
The story of how The Contours – a Michigan sextet who came under the wing of Berry Gordy – came to record Do You Love Me is now somewhat disputed, with the band’s singer Joe Billingslea rebutting the idea that the song was given to them insted of the then hitless Tempatations by Gordy. Billingslea’s version was that the reverse was about to occur, until after some additional sweat was put into it, the supremo demurred.
Whatever happened, the finished article is an absolute joy. With it’s high camp spoken word intro giving way immediately to the chorus – never make them wait – it was all a little frantic by Motown’s emerging standards, but the song’s remarkable energy wasn’t to be denied. Sing in the mirror, dance at the bus stop, boogie in the store; you just coudn’t look cool jamming to a song like this.
The Voice Of Unreason 