Heat Wave

Japanese pressing of their 1963 album. Heat Wave is the second album released by American Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Released in 1963 on Motown's Gordy imprint, it was intended to capitalize on the success of the title track, which rose to number four on the pop singles chart and to number one on the R&B singles chart. The album was produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland (who composed the group's first five hit singles) and Mickey Stevenson. This was the last album to feature original Vandella Annette Beard. The material is composed almost entirely of cover versions of songs that were popular at the time. These range from pop tunes like "Then He Kissed Me" and "My Boyfriend's Back" to mainstream standards such as "More" (the theme from the 1962 film Mondo Cane) and "Danke Schoen." The folk song "If I Had a Hammer" is also included, as the Peter, Paul, and Mary version was big at the time. On it's original release Heat Wave charted at 125 on the U.S. albums chart. Universal. 2019.