Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

The Guardian has an interview with Martha Reeves, with lots of reminiscences, both good and bad.

During the summer of 1965, an epoch-defining precursor to the pop video was shown on US television. In it, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, one of Motown’s most successful singing groups whose hits include Jimmy Mack and Dancing in the Street, skip like unruly schoolgirls along a Ford car production line in Detroit. Followed by her two backing singers, Reeves hops in the back of a half-assembled Mustang – the vehicular symbol of rebellious youth at the time – and all three continue singing Nowhere to Run as the car glides forwards and a gleaming engine is lowered on to the chassis.
The founder of Motown, Berry Gordy, had based his business model on the Ford assembly line on which he had once worked, and according to Reeves, the resulting “pace, urgency and pressure” of the recording process was precisely what allowed her to deliver the song with such oomph.

This I did not know. Another good consequence of the assembly line. This is the video.

Maybe it is just me, but I always thought Dancing in the Street was an even better song.