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#1 R&B, #2 Pop
An American Musical Treasure, Stevie Wonder, had this smash hit single “I Was Made To Love Her” in 1967. Composed by Henry Cosby, Lula Mae Hardaway (Stevie’s Mom) , Sylvia Moy and Stevie Wonder , the song also appeared on a subsequently released LP (#7 R&B, #45 Pop) with the same name.
This was, and still is, one of my early Stevie favorites that I wore the grooves off of my little 45! ( And BTW I still have that beloved 45 rpm disc too!)
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Motown’s next child prodigy also recorded a cover of “I Was Made To Love Her”. I don’t know in what year this J5 rendition was recorded, but I can tell you that it was removed from “The Vault” and put on wax and released after the J5 left Motown and had started making their hits on Epic records.
This track appeared on the LP “Boogie” released in 1979. According to the MJFCL:
‘Boogie’ is a very rare Jackson 5 LP which was released in Canada in January 1979. It was released by Natural Resources (a division of Motown) and included tracks not available anywhere else. Due to legal problems, it was withdrawn shortly after its release and it is now very hard to come by. (SOURCE: The Michael Jackson Fan Club)
The original LP may be rare, but you can still get the songs that were on “Boogie” along with the songs on another Motown Vault release from 1976 entitled “Joyful Jukebox Music” on a two-fer that is currently in print: it combines the songs from both LPs with additional bonus tracks. The name of the release is “Joyful Jukebox Music
The “IWMTLH” also appeared on another much later Motown Vault release entitled “Looking Back on Yesterday.” It is labeled as a Michael Jackson product (not J5) and was released in 1986 to capitalize on MJJ’s solo superstardom no doubt. This song set is also out of print.
Forty years later another former young group of Motown artists, Boyz II Men, would also cover “IWMTLH” for their 2007 Decca release “Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA.” An d why not — this song is classic Motown!
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Now it is time to vote for your song preference while you listen to the San Remo Golden Strings performance of “I Was Made To Love Her” to help you decide who’s lead you prefer, Stevie’s or Mike’s.
Musically Yours,
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Filed under: Bands, Henry Cosby/ Lula Mae Hardaway/ Sylvia Moy/ Stevie Wonder, I Was Made To Love Her, Magnificent Male Vocalists, Motown, Motown Covers Motown, Motown/Tamla, Pop/R&B, R&B/Motown, Seventies, Sixties, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson Five, The San Remo Golden Strings
