Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson wrote this song in 1966 and they refused to give it to Dusty Springfield who badly wanted it, as they thought it could be their ticket to Motown. (Dusty went on to record similar sounding I'm gonna leave you, mind you.... And indeed Motown wanted it and in 1967 it ended up to Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell. It was duo's first hit (#19) out of 11 singles they released from three albums they di together before Tammi sadly died of a brain tumor....   In 1970 Diana Ross had left The Supremes and this became her first solo #1 (out of six) and today it is better known as her song. It has become one of her signature songs she always keeps performing in her live concerts that go on still. This summer she's touring the US again :-)

Motown loved - besides recording the same hits by various artists - to pair their star acts and one of the most succesful and obvious pairing was that of their best selling female and male groups: The Supremes and The Temptations. The Supremes by now had become Diana Ross & The Supremes underlining Diana's Queen like status in the music business and inside Motown. I'm gonna make you love me features some most urgent falsetto vocals ever and is so full of passion and need you believe every word. Outstanding in every way! It peaked at #2 (behind another Motown act, Marvin Gaye's Grapewine btw) and #3 in the UK in late 1968. Curiously they never performed it live together..... Diana sung it with Stevie Wonder , The Temps did it alone,  The song was originally recorded and #88 hit by Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne's sister, Cissy's niece and Whitney's cousin, btw) in 1966. It was also offered to Dusty Springfield who passed it on to her backing singer...