Song · Temptations
“I Can't Get Next To You” by Temptations
From the album Puzzle People (1969)
“I Can't Get Next To You” by Temptations appears on 3 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 2001 and 2020. It was first released in 1969 on the album Puzzle People. Its best result is #635 on the WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,598 indie & aaa song of all time.
"I Can't Get Next to You" is the Temptations in 1969 with the funk turned up, a Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong song cut for Motown's Gordy label with Whitfield producing, and it landed on Puzzle People. It opens on a burst of applause that Dennis Edwards stops dead with a spoken call to listen, and then the lead starts changing hands: Edwards, Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams all take a turn out front, with Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams in the vocal stack and the Funk Brothers laying down the band track.
It sat on top of Billboard's pop chart for two weeks that October and on the R&B chart for five, the second of the group's four pop chart-toppers and one of their biggest sellers; Billboard ranked it third for the whole year. That opening applause was sampled for their own "Psychedelic Shack".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 811 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2007 | 635 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2020 | 1763 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
Also listed as: I Can't Get Next to You.
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