Where Did Our Love Go: The Marvelettes' Reject That Reached Gemini 5

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In early 1964 Holland-Dozier-Holland had a slow song that Brian Holland said he wrote for the Supremes, while Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Mary Wilson said it was first offered to the Marvelettes, who turned it down. It went to the Supremes, then mocked around Motown as the no-hit Supremes. Florence Ballard and the group wanted something with the punch of Please Mr. Postman and called the song kiddie-ish, but they were ordered to record it. At Hitsville in April 1964, the producers moved the lead from Mary Wilson to Diana Ross and made her sing in a low register, and her annoyed, breathy delivery gave the record its intimate tone, set against Wilson and Ballard's background parts arranged by Dozier.

Released June 17, 1964, the single entered the Hot 100 at No. 77 while the Supremes were the opening act on Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars tour. Within six weeks it reached No. 1 for two weeks in August, and by the end of the tour they were headliners. It became the first of five straight No. 1 singles, arriving weeks after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and months after the Kennedy assassination, and its mood is credited with matching the time. It sold two million copies in the U.S., was recorded in German in April 1965, and entered the National Recording Registry in 2016.

• Mike Valvano supplied the beat by stomping on the studio's wooden floorboards.
• Jack Ashford played vibraphone, Andrew "Mike" Terry took a baritone sax solo and James Jamerson played bass.
• After hearing the playback, Ross brought in Berry Gordy, who predicted a top 10 hit.
• In August 1965 NASA sent the song to astronauts Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad aboard Gemini 5.
• Covers include Donnie Elbert in 1971, the J. Geils Band in 1976 and Soft Cell's 1981 UK No. 1 medley with Tainted Love.