“every little bit hurts” (written by ed cobb, who also penned the northern soul classic “tainted love”) was brenda holloway’s first chart-topping success for the motown label in 1964. out of all the motown girls in the early 1960s, holloway had the voice closest to my idea of perfection: clean and effortless delivery, superior control and a tone as pure as the sunlight, each lyric a bright, beaming ray. every lyric hurt—you can feel it. her voice, it relays the heartache with such ease, and you can feel the pain and anger; she’s fed up. the song is brilliant, and brenda holloway is immaculate. while this performace doesn’t quite capture the essence of the tune (um, can the audience members look any more bored standing behind brenda?), check out the song on its own. you won’t regret it.
