"Paradise" is a

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

single by

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

for the

Gordy ''Gordy'' is a 1994 American family comedy-drama film directed by Mark Lewis, about a livestock piglet named Gordy who searches for his missing family (who are taken away to a slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska). He experiences the lives of othe ...

label. The single is notable for being The Temptations' first charting single on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Pop charts. However, it was not their first on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

(that honor would go to the group’s later single, " The Way You Do the Things You Do"), instead it charted at 22 on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

charts.

Overview

Temptations'

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...

sings the main lead vocal on the song, the group's bass singer,

Melvin Franklin David Melvin English (October 12, 1942 – February 23, 1995) better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin or his nickname "Blue", was an American bass singer. Franklin was best known for his role as a founding member of Motown singing g ...

, also has a few lead parts on the intro, the bridge and on the outro. Kendricks narrates how he hopes his former love would come back to him as it would be as if he was in paradise if she does. This single was the follow-up to " Dream Come True", in which Kendricks was also the main lead and was the first one to ever chart for the group (on the R&B charts). Though this was the group's first appearance on the Pop charts, due to its low placing on the chart (and failing to chart on the Hot R&B Sides chart) the next single "

I Want a Love I Can See "I Want a Love I Can See" is a 1963 single by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. The single was the group's first A-side and B-side, A-side to be written and produced by The Miracles, Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson. Robinson had p ...

" would be led by group

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

–main lead singer Paul Williams, and would be the first produced by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

. It however was a regional smash hit in many areas of the country, especially around California.Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Temptations. Lanham, MD: Cooper Square. .

Personnel

* Lead vocals by

and

* Background vocals by Al Bryant,

, Paul Williams, and

Otis Williams Otis Williams (born Otis Miles Jr.; October 30, 1941) is an American second tenor/baritone singer.Ribowsky, Mark (2010). ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Endearing Soul of the Temptations''. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. ...

* Instrumentation by

The Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

Chart history

Footnotes

1962 singles The Temptations songs Songs written by Berry Gordy Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy Gordy Records singles 1962 songs {{1960s-R&B-song-stub