B-side "Dancing Slow" Genre Pop/soul | Released November 3, 1964 Length 2:43 | |
Format Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM) Recorded Hitsville U.S.A., Detroit, Michigan, 1964 | ||
"Wild One" is a dance single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Written and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter (two-thirds of the collaborators behind the group's most celebrated tune, "Dancing in the Street"), the song was another Top 40 triumph for the group as it reached #34 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and #11 on the Hot R&B singles chart. The song, which in lead singer Martha Reeves' description, was a tribute to bikers (released shortly after The Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack"), described the narrator's strong love for her "wild one" who is told he's "no good" by the narrator's close circle. The narrator tells her "wild one" to not listen to what others say and continue to "sav(ing his) love for (her)".
The backing track for 'Wild one' was an alternative version of the backing track to 'Dancing in the Street'.