Editing Martha and the Vandellas (section)

===Motown success and stardom (1962–1967)===
[[File:Martha & The Vandellas, Gordy Recording Artists (cropped).jpg|thumb|Publicity photo of Rosalind Ashford, [[Betty Kelly]] and Martha Reeves, c. 1965]]
During this period, the Vandellas were hired to sing background for [[Marvin Gaye]] after the label's premier backing vocalists, [[The Andantes]], were unable to make the session. The Vandellas contributed background on Gaye's first hit records, "[[Stubborn Kind of Fellow]]", "[[Hitch Hike (song)|Hitch Hike]]" and "[[Pride and Joy (Marvin Gaye song)|Pride and Joy]]" and would on many occasions back Gaye onstage for a couple of years. In 1963, their second single under the name Martha and the Vandellas, "[[Come and Get These Memories]]", the first song composed and produced by the team of [[Holland-Dozier-Holland]], became the group's first hit rising to number six on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot Rhythm & Blues Sellers]] chart and crossing over to number 29 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Their follow-up, "[[Heat Wave (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Heat Wave]]" (originally titled "(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave"), became their first top ten pop hit, peaking at number four, and staying at number one on the R&B chart for five weeks, resulting in their only [[Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance|Best R&B Performance]].<ref name=pc26>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19781/m1/ |title=Show 26 – The Soul Reformation: Phase two, the Motown story. [Part 5] |show=26}}</ref> Their next hit, "[[Quicksand (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Quicksand]]", also reached the top ten, peaking at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 just over a week after [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|the assassination of President John F. Kennedy]]. Two successive follow-ups, "[[Live Wire (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Live Wire]]" and "[[In My Lonely Room]]", however, failed to reach the ''Billboard'' top 40 and the group began experiencing problems, with Gordy and Motown focusing their efforts on the group's rivals, [[The Supremes]], whose single "[[When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes]]", became their first top 40 hit. Just as this was happening, Annette Beard left the group in 1964. Reeves would later claim in her memoirs that Beard left on her own accord due to being pregnant, though Beard would claim Reeves forced her out of the group.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn|url-access=registration|quote=martha reeves.|title=American Singing Groups: A History, From 1940 to Today|editor-last=Warner|editor-first=Jay|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/americansingingg00warn/page/584 584]|isbn=0-634-09978-7|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Beard was quickly replaced by former [[The Velvelettes|Velvelette]] [[Betty Kelly]]. 

In the summer of 1964, the group released "[[Dancing in the Street]]", co-written by Gaye, [[Mickey Stevenson]] and [[Ivy Jo Hunter]]. The [[dance music|dance song]] became their [[signature song|signature single]], peaking at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where they were unable to unseat [[Manfred Mann]]'s "[[Doo Wah Diddy]]" off the top spot. The song became their first hit in the UK, initially peaking at number 21 on the [[UK Singles Chart]]. Five years later, a re-issue of the song helped to send it to number four. The song became a million-selling hit and has since become one of the most played singles in music history.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ocwDAAAAMBAJ&q=martha+reeves&pg=PA62|title=Martha Reeves Without the Vandellas|date=February 1988|publisher=Ebony|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Their follow up, "[[Wild One (Martha and the Vandellas song)|Wild One]]", only managed to peak at number 34, however the next single afterwards, HDH's "[[Nowhere to Run (song)|Nowhere to Run]]" gave the group their fourth top ten single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number eight on the chart and number 26 in the UK and becoming as well known for the group as "Heat Wave" and "Dancing in the Street". Due to Reeves' [[soul music|soulful]] vocals and the Vandellas' brassy harmonies, they were often considered the "soulful" alternative to the more [[pop music|pop]]-oriented [[The Supremes|Supremes]]. After successive singles such as the group's first ballad single, "[[Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things)]]" and "[[You've Been in Love Too Long]]" only performed modestly on the charts, they reached the US top 30 with another ballad, "[[My Baby Loves Me (Martha and the Vandellas song)|My Baby Loves Me]]" in 1966. The group returned to the US top ten that same year with the song "[[I'm Ready for Love]]", which reached number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming their fifth top ten US hit, while peaking at number 2 on the R&B chart and number 29 in the UK. By this period, the Andantes began to sing on these tracks with Reeves, with Ashford and Kelly sometimes not being featured on the songs. In early 1967, more than two years after it was recorded, the [[Holland-Dozier-Holland|HDH]] pop ballad, "[[Jimmy Mack]]", was released and reached number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached number one on the R&B chart, their first number one single there in four years. "Jimmy Mack" served as the last top ten single on the pop chart for the group.

Appearances on television shows such as ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'', ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'', ''[[American Bandstand]]'' and ''[[Shindig!]]'' helped to keep the group high-profile during this period as other Motown groups such as the Supremes, [[The Temptations]] and the [[Four Tops]] were enjoying bigger crossover success. On June 28, 1965, the Reeves/Ashford/Kelly lineup of the Vandellas performed "Nowhere to Run" on the [[CBS]] special, ''Murray The K - It's What's Happening, Baby'' while skipping through a [[Ford Motor Company]] auto plant in Detroit and sat on a [[Ford Mustang]] as it was being assembled.