Locking Up My Heart

The first charting single written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland,¹ "Locking Up My Heart" was also the first single to feature Wanda Young as lead vocalist on the A-side, albeit in a split lead vocal with main lead vocalist Gladys Horton. The track was recorded 8 January 1963 in Studio A Hitsville USA and released 15 February 1963; the B-side: "Forever", was a cut from the 1962 Playboy album, written and produced by Holland–Dozier–Gorman (H-D-H's predecessor), and also featured Young as lead vocalist.

On the single's initial A-Side, Horton, as the main lead and narrator, tells the audience that she's giving up love, as she's "tired of being abused" and "mis-used". The flip-side, narrated by Young, tells us she's so devoted to her love that she'll endure any pain and suffering for it. The second single of the group where both sides charted, it would be promoted as if it were a "double A-side" by the label. This is also one of the last Marvelettes' singles to feature member Juanita Cowart (in the background) on either side. By the time of the single's release, Cowart, who had already ceased performing on stage, would permanently leave the group and had retired from both performing and recording.

"Locking Up My Heart" broke out in Baltimore and San Francisco to enter the Billboard Hot 100 dated 23 March 1963 at #83; Motown considered the track to be significant enough to re-press it with adjusted instrumentation that April. However "Locking Up My Heart" lost its strong initial momentum as disc jockeys in some markets - including Pittsburgh - began to play the intended B-side: "Forever", and the Hot 100 dated 4 May 1963 showed "Locking Up My Heart" stalled at #44 as "Forever" debuted at #100; subsequently "Locking Up My Heart" would abruptly drop from the chart while "Forever"'s popularity would fail to coalesce into major hit impact with the track peaking at #78.^[2]

Both sides of the single ranked in the R&B Top 30 where "Locking Up My Heart" (#25) was succeeded by "Forever"(#24).

¹The first Holland-Dozier-Holland production was "Dearest One" an overlooked 1962 release by Lamont Dozier.

Personnel

Lead vocals by Gladys Horton (verses - A-side) and Wanda Young (choruses, outro - A-side; B-side),
Background vocals by Gladys Horton, Wanda Young, Georgeanna Tillman, Wyanetta ("Juanita") Cowart, and Katherine Anderson
Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Chart (1963)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	44
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles	25^[3]

References

↑ The Complete Motown Singles Vol 3: 1963 [CD liner notes]. New York: Hip-O Select/Motown/Universal Records.
↑ Allmusic
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 379.

The Marvelettes

Gladys Horton Katherine Anderson Wanda Young Ann Bogan Georgeanna Tillman Wyanetta Cowart Georgia Dobbins

Albums	Please Mr. Postman (1961) The Marvelettes Sing aka Smash Hits of '62 (1962) Playboy (1962) The Marvelous Marvelettes (1963) The Marvelettes Recorded Live on Stage (1963) The Marvelettes Greatest Hits (1966) The Marvelettes (1967) Sophisticated Soul (1968) In Full Bloom (1969) The Return of The Marvelettes (1970) The Marvelettes Anthology (1975) The Best of The Marvelettes (1975)

Singles (US/UK Top 40)	"Please Mr. Postman" (1961) "Twistin' Postman" (1961) "Playboy" (1962) "Beechwood 4-5789" (1962) "Too Many Fish in the Sea" (1965) "I'll Keep Holding On" (1965) "Don't Mess with Bill" (1966) "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" (1967) "When You're Young and in Love" (1967) "My Baby Must Be a Magician" (1968)

Categories	Albums Songs

Book:The Marvelettes

Holland–Dozier–Holland

Brian Holland Lamont Dozier Eddie Holland

Songs	1962 "Dearest One" "Old Love (Let's Try It Again)" "Darling, I Hum Our Song" 1963 "Leaving Here" "Locking Up My Heart" "What Goes Up Must Come Down" / "Come on Home" "Tie a String Around Your Finger" "Come and Get These Memories" / "Jealous Lover" "You Lost the Sweetest Boy" "Heat Wave" / "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" "(He Won't Be True) Little Girl Blue" "Mickey's Monkey" "Too Hurt to Cry, Too Much in Love to Say Goodbye" / "Come on Home" "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" / "Standing at the Crossroads of Love" "I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying" "Quicksand" / "Darling I Hum Our Song" "Live Wire" / "Old Love (Let's Try It Again)" "Run, Run, Run" / "I'm Giving You Your Freedom" "Can I Get a Witness" 1964 "A Tear from a Woman's Eyes" "My Lady Bug Stay Away from That Beatle" "Like a Nightmare" / "If You Were Mine" "In My Lonely Room" "Just Ain't Enough Love" "Where Did Our Love Go" "Baby Don't You Do It" "Guarantee for a Lifetime" "Baby I Need Your Loving" / "Call on Me" "Candy to Me" / "If You Don't Want My Love" "Whisper You Love Me Boy" "Baby Love" / "Ask Any Girl" "Come See About Me" / (You're Gone But) Always in My Heart" "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)" / "Love has Gone" "You're a Wonderful One" "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" 1965 "Where Did You Go" "Stop! In the Name of Love" / "I'm in Love Again" "You've Been a Long Time Coming" "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "Nowhere to Run" "Back in My Arms Again" / "Whisper You Love Me Boy" "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" "The Only Time I'm Happy" "Mother Dear" / "He Holds His Own" "Nothing but Heartaches" / "He Holds His Own" "Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)" "It's the Same Old Song" / "Your Love Is Amazing" "Mother Dear" / "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "I Hear a Symphony" / "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "Something About You" "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" "Darling Baby" "There's a Ghost in My House" 1966 "(I'm a) Roadrunner" "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" "Ask any Man" "My World Is Empty Without You" "Put Yourself in My Place" "There's No Love Left" "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" / "Just as Long as You Need Me" "Helpless" / "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" "Call on Me" "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart" / "He's All I Got" "Who Could Ever Doubt My Love" "I Like Everything About You" "I Guess I'll Always Love You" "Nothing but Soul" "Love's Gone Bad" / "Put Yourself in My Place" "You Can't Hurry Love" / "Put Yourself in My Place" "Little Darling (I Need You)" "Reach Out I'll Be There" / "Until You Love Someone" "Stay in My Lonely Arms" "You Keep Me Hangin' On" / "I Wanna Mother You, Smother You With Love" "You Keep Me Hangin' On" / "Remove This Doubt" "Standing in the Shadows of Love" / Since You've Been Gone" "I'm Ready for Love" "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need" "Heaven Must Have Sent You" 1967 "Just One Last Look" "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" / There's No Stopping Us Now" "Your Love Is Amazing" "Jimmy Mack" / "Third Finger, Left Hand" "Bernadette" / "I Got a Feeling" "My World Is Empty Without You" "The Happening" / "All I Know About You" "Just Ain't Enough Love" "7-Rooms of Gloom" / "I'll Turn to Stone" "I Understand My Man" "Your Unchanging Love" / "I'll Take Care of You" "Reflections" / "Going Down for the Third Time" "One Way Out" "You Keep Me Running Away" / "If You Don't Want My Love" "I Got a Feeling" "In and Out of Love" / "I Guess I'll Always Love You" 1968 "Whisper You Love Me Boy" "Forever Came Today" "I'm in a Different World" 1969 "We've Got a Way Out Love" "Crumbs off the Table" 1970 "Give Me Just a Little More Time" "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String" "Everything's Tuesday" "Band of Gold" "Westbound #9" 1972 "The Day I Found Myself" "Don't Leave Me Starvin' for Your Love" "Why Can't We Be Lovers" 1973 "You're Gonna Need Me" 1975 "We're Almost There" "Just a Little Bit of You" "Early Morning Love" "Where Do I Go from Here" 1976 "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking" "High Energy" "Let Yourself Go" 1982 "We Can Never Light That Old Flame Again"

Related topics	Motown Hot Wax Records Invictus Records List of songs written by Holland, Dozier and Holland

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