1966 No. 1 Hit, Reimagined by Vanilla Fudge, Ranked Among ‘Greatest Songs of All Time’

It’s not very often that a song manages to hit the top of the charts once, let alone twice…but three times? That’s what “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” did, though, thanks to a couple of covers that took the classic track in very different directions.

Originally released by the Supremes in 1966, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” became one of only six songs to reach #1 by two different musical acts in the first 32 years of the Billboard Hot 100 when Kim Wild‘s electronic dance version reached the highest chart position in 1987. In between, psychedelic rockers Vanilla Fudge made it all the way to #6 in 1967.

Apparently, the legendary songwriting team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland knew what they were doing when they wrote “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” which was recorded over the course of eight sessions at Motown’s Hitsville studio, according to Rolling Stone.

“‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ was about a girl complaining about the guys fooling around and we knew all about that because that was what we did,” Dozier said. “We considered ourselves to be playboys.”

“We wanted to make it believable, add some everyday talk, like the girl was really going through this predicament,” Dozier explained in a Songfacts interview. “When you get to a certain point with a situation, you realize, ‘Hey, there ain’t nothing I can do about it,’ because you’re so wrapped up with this individual that you can’t run, you can’t hide, and there’s nothing you can do about it. So, you just deal with it the best you can.”

The jilted girlfriend concept was flipped in Vanilla Fudge’s 1967 cover. The band was skilled at reinterpreting other people’s material, such as “People Get Ready,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “I Want It That Way” and “Tearin’ Up My Heart.” “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was no different.

“We used to slow songs down and listen to the lyrics and try to emulate what the lyrics were dictating,” Carmine Appice told Ray Shasho in 2014.

“That one was a hurtin’ song; it had a lot of emotion in it,” he continued. “‘People Get Ready’ was like a Gospel thing. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ was sort of eerie and church-like…like a horror movie kind of thing. If you listen to ‘Hangin’ On’ fast…by the Supremes, it sounds very happy, but the lyrics aren’t happy at all. If you lived through that situation, the lyrics are definitely not happy.”

As for what the Supremes thought of these later versions of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” it’s rumored that Diana Ross wasn’t a huge fan of Wild’s cover.

“We had feedback from the writers, who were absolutely delighted with it. But I never actually had any contact with her,” Wild told the BBC, per Songfacts, adding, “I did hear thirdhand that they were not too impressed, but the writers were, and that means more to me than anything.”

Perhaps Ross had the last laugh, since it was the Supremes’ original “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” that was included on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list.

Related: 1968 Rock Masterpiece, Reimagined by Joe Cocker, Was Written by a 21-Year-Old