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Supremes1966single3

"Stop! In the Name of Love" is a 1965 song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Stop! In the Name of Love" held the number-one position on the Billboard pop singles chart in the United States from March 21, 1965 through April 3, 1965, and reached the number-two position on the soul chart.

History[]

"Stop! In the Name of Love!" was recorded in January 1965 and released as a single on February 8. The song was included on the Supremes' sixth album, More Hits by The Supremes, and was nominated for the 1966 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance, losing to "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers. The song was also honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's permanent collection of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Supremes' choreography for this song, with one hand on the hip and the other outstretched in a "stop" gesture, is equally legendary. Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin of The Temptations taught the girls the routine backstage in London, before the Supremes' first televised performance of the single on the Ready Steady Go! special "The Sound of Motown," hosted by Motown enthusiast Dusty Springfield. They also performed the song on an episode of the ABC variety program Shindig! which aired on Wednesday, February 25, 1965.

Cover Versions[]

Cover versions were later recorded by Margie Joseph, Gene Pitney, Nicki French, Sinitta, Globe, Johnny Rivers, C:Real, Claude François (as "Stop au nom de l'amour"), Renata Pacini (as "In nome dell'amore") and The Hollies (who saw their version peaked in America at #29 and in Canada at #31 in 1983). In 1996, Los Flechazos recorded an instrumental version for his EP "En tu Calle". In 1998, a cover version by Jonell Mosser was included in the film Hope Floats. A eurodance remix was made for the 2002 Dancemania compilation Speed 8. Lil' Wayne sampled the song on the song "Gossip." The song was covered as part of a mash-up on the Fox series Glee along with "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue in the episode "Never Been Kissed."

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