The Supremes - Stop! In the Name of Love (1965)

"Stop! In the Name of Love" was the fourth #1 hit for the Supremes in a row when it came out in early 1965. The choruses tended to be the main hooks of the songs Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland wrote for the Supremes, and that might be even more true of "Stop! In the Name of Love" than it is of most of their other hits. 

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"Stop! In the Name of Love" was a little different from the first triumvirate of Supremes chart-toppers ("Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," and "Come See About Me") in that it was a little more dramatic and assertive. That was particular true of that oft-repeated chorus, which hit a minor key in which the Supremes declared the title phrase in semi-operatic tones. The message was softened a little by the second part of the chorus, in which the melody got gentler and the group cautioned, "think it over." The verses are less dramatic and strident than the famous chorus, but have a nice fetching strong melody, and a more conciliatory, vulnerable attitude toward romance than the message delivered by the song's title. It's also neat the way the verse and chorus both end with the mini-hook of the Supremes singing-warning "think it over." 

Listen, too, for the very beginning of the song, where a super-brief upwards organ slide pulls the track into gear like a crane lifting a car out of a swamp. While the first quintet of #1 Supremes hits in 1964-65 did tend to sound similar to each other, "Stop! In the Name of Love" is one of the stronger of the five, and made a further imprint on the public with the famous dance (with the Supremes making stop signs with their hands) the group devised when performing it on stage and TV.