Martha & the Vandellas

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Martha & the Vandellas were an American Motown group of the 1960s. Martha Reeves, Annette Sterling Beard, Gloria Williams and Rosalind Ashford founded a group called The Del-Phis in 1960, then recording an unsuccessful single as The Vels. Reeves, then a secretary at Motown, was pulled in to record in 1963 after Mary Wells didn't show up for a recording session. "I'll Have to Let Him Go" became the first Martha & the Vandellas' first single.

The next single was "Come and Get These Memories" was a breakthrough success, which was followed by "Heat Wave" and "Quicksand", also major hits. "Dancing in the Street" (1964) then became the band's biggest hit. By 1968, the hits had begun to dry up and the Vandellas left Motown, finally breaking up in 1972. Reeves continued to work as a solo artist, but the band, nor any member, managed to regain widespread success.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications sent out of a list of 150 songs that were recommended to be pulled from airplay. Martha & the Vandellas' tune "Nowhere to Run" was among those listed. "Dancing in the Streets"—both the Vandellas version and the one later made by Van Halen—was on the list as well.

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