Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, I Care About Detroit | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 97th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “I Care About Detroit” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.  

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 97^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “I Care About Detroit” performed by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

“Are you proud to call it your hometown? / When you come right down to it I bet you’ll agree to a resounding yes when you’re talking about Detroit, my hometown.” Smokey Robinson & The Miracles care about Detroit, Michigan, PERIOD! How does the legendary Motown collective honor the storied Midwest city? With the song “I Care About Detroit”, of course. “I Care About Detroit” was written by Jack Combs and Jimmy Clark. Smokey Robinson and Al Cleveland produced the proud song. It appears in the compilation, The 35^th Anniversary Collection. Not one of those big hits Robinson and company, “I Care About Detroit” deserves ample love, nonetheless.

What makes this 1968 gem awesome? The spoken word intro ‘gasses’ up the adoration for Detroit, which is cool.  The music – the instrumental – cooks.  That Motown sound from the 1960s is iconic and “I Care About Detroit” thrives because of it.  The rhythm section is tight while the horns add bite.  Also, the background vocals ‘up the ante.’ Of course, the star of the show is the one-and-only Smokey Robinson who sounds phenomenal.  That high, buttery-smooth tenor is perfect for praising and believing in his city. In the verse, he sings, “There’s so much important work still to be done / Let’s not lose all the gains that we’ve won / And the first place to start you must feel in your heart / We should all be together as one.” Word. The socially conscious vibes = superb. Other notes of excellence include the harmonic scheme, which features a few surprises, and an excellent key modulation.  There are far bigger songs by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, but the rarer “I Care About Detroit” is also fabulous.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles // The 35th Anniversary Collection // UMG Recordings, Inc. // 1994

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 97 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings, Inc.; OpenClipart-Vectors, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]