Freda Payne’s 1970 hit was not a Motown song, but was released on the Invictus label. It was written by former songwriters at Motown.
I was a kid in Muncie, Indiana at the time, and this song dominated WERK’s top 40 songs for weeks. WERK was a fun AM station for a 11 year old, with a mix of rock, Motown, and bubble gum. Here’s a little more about WERK AM.
This song reminds me of my weekend tradition on Imperial Lane. My friends and I would ride bikes down to the Village Pantry and Rexall Drugs and spend our allowance on baseball cards and candy, with a rare soda from the soda fountain at Rexall Drugs from time to time. I had a TV Guide delivery route, and every month on Friday I would pick up the subscription fees at each house (Fifteen cents for each TV guide delivered, of which I kept 4 cents). So once a month I’d have some extra change in my pocket.
The Village Pantry was like a 7-11, and there was an updated listng of WERK’s top hits for the week on the counter, and you could pick one up. Sometimes I did. I bet Freda Payne was on that list for two months in 1970, and it is a great song well sang.