You Keep Me Hangin' On

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by The Supremes
from the album The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland
B-side	"Remove This Doubt"
Released	October 12, 1966 (U.S.)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); June 30 and August 1, 1966
Genre	Pop, soul
Length	2:47
Label	Motown M 1101
Writer(s)	Holland–Dozier–Holland
Producer	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier
The Supremes singles chronology
"You Can't Hurry Love" (1966) "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1966) "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" (1967)
Music sample "You Keep Me Hangin' On" Alternative cover

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is a 1966 song originally recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. The song became the group's eighth number-one single when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for two weeks in the United States from November 13, 1966 through November 27, 1966.

It has since been covered by numerous musicians such as Wilson Pickett, The Box Tops, Jackie DeShannon, Rod Stewart, The Chipmunks and The Chipettes, and the cast of Glee, but the three most successfully by late-1960s rock band Vanilla Fudge, 1980s pop singer Kim Wilde, and 1990s country singer Reba McEntire.

History

Original recording

Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland (H-D-H), the single is very-much rooted in proto-funk and rhythm and blues, compared to the Supremes' previous single, "You Can't Hurry Love," which utilizes the call and response elements akin to gospel. The song's signature guitar part originated from a Morse code-like radio signal heard by Lamont Dozier, who collaborated with Brian and Eddie Holland to integrate the idea into a single.

Many elements of the recording, including the guitars, the drums, and Diana Ross and Florence Ballard's vocals, were multitracked, a production technique which was established and popularized concurrently by H-D-H and other premier producers of the 1960s such as Phil Spector (see Wall of Sound) and George Martin. H-D-H recorded the song in nine sessions with The Supremes and session band The Funk Brothers before settling on a version deemed suitable for the final release.

The track is one of the more oft-covered songs in the Supremes canon. They performed the song on the ABC variety program The Hollywood Palace on Saturday, October 29, 1966.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the first single from the Supremes' 1967 album The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland. The original version was #339 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Recording personnel

• Lead vocals by Diana Ross
• Backing vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Chart history

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	8

Preceded by "Poor Side of Town" by Johnny Rivers	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Supremes version) November 19, 1966 (2 weeks)	Succeeded by "Winchester Cathedral" by The New Vaudeville Band
Preceded by "Knock on Wood" by Freddie Jackson	Billboard Hot R&B Singles number-one single (The Supremes version) November 26, 1966 – December 17, 1966 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "(I Know) I'm Losing You" by The Temptations

Vanilla Fudge version

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Vanilla Fudge
from the album Vanilla Fudge
B-side	"Come By Day, Come By Night"
Released	1967 (U.S.)
Format	Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded	1967
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	2:50 (single edit) 6:47 (album version)
Label	Atco 6590
Producer	Shadow Morton
Vanilla Fudge singles chronology
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1967) "Eleanor Rigby" (1967)

Vanilla Fudge's 1967 psychedelic/hard rock remake of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" reached #6 on the Hot 100 chart two years after the release of the Supremes' recording. While the version released on 45 RPM single was under three minutes long, the album version was extended to six minutes and forty-five seconds. The recording, done in one take, was Vanilla Fudge's first single.

Chart history (Vanilla Fudge version)

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6

Kim Wilde version

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Kim Wilde
from the album Another Step
B-side	"Loving You"
Released	October 13, 1986 (U.K.) March 1987 (U.S.)
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1986
Genre	Synthpop, Hi-NRG
Length	4:15
Label	MCA
Writer(s)	Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer	Ricki Wilde
Kim Wilde singles chronology
"Schoolgirl" (1986) "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1986) "Say You Really Want Me" (North American issue) (1986)

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was covered in an updated version by British singer Kim Wilde in 1986. It was released as the second single from Wilde's Another Step album (although "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the LP's first worldwide single, as the first single had been released only in selected countries).

Wilde's version was a total re-working of the original, completely transforming the Supremes' Motown Sound into a 1980s power pop/hi-NRG song. She and her brother, producer Ricki Wilde, had not heard "You Keep Me Hangin' On" for several years when they decided to record it. The song was not a track they knew well, so they treated it as a new song, even slightly changing the original lyrics. It became the biggest hit of Wilde's career, reaching #2 in her home country as well as hitting the top spot in Europe and Australia. It also became Wilde's second and last top 40 hit in the US following "Kids in America" and is also, to date, her most successful song in that country, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in June 1987.

Incidentally, since Wilde's recording was popular during the evolution of sample-based hip hop,^{[citation needed]} a short drum break in her version has become one of the most sampled pieces of audio ever.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, she performed a new version of the song with the German singer Nena for her Never Say Never album.

In 1988, Wilde's version was covered as a duet by Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Chipettes for their album The Chipmunks and The Chipettes: Born to Rock.

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single.

Chart performance

Chart (1986/1987)	Peak position
Australia	1
Austria	20
Canada	1
Denmark	3
France	19
Germany	8
Ireland	2
Netherlands	17
Norway	1
Switzerland	2
United Kingdom	2
United States	1

Preceded by "With or Without You" by U2

Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (Kim Wilde version) June 6, 1987 (1 week)

Succeeded by "Always" by Atlantic Starr

Reba McEntire version

"You Keep Me Hangin' On"
Single by Reba McEntire
from the album Starting Over
Released	1996
Format	CD single, maxi single
Genre	Country
Length	3:22
Label	MCA Nashville
Writer(s)	Holland-Dozier-Holland
Producer	Tony Brown, Michael Omartian, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire singles chronology
"Starting Over Again" (1996) "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (1996) "The Fear of Being Alone" (1996)

Country music singer Reba McEntire covered the song on her 1996 album Starting Over. Although not released to country radio, McEntire's rendition was her only dance hit, reaching #2 on Hot Dance Club Play.

Chart (1996)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	2

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1966 (U.S.)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1987 (U.S.)