The Temptations had been around Motown in one form or another for a couple of years, but it wasn't until 1963 that they settle on the line-up of Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin as lead voices. Their immediate importance was to provide a new medium for Smokey Robinson and a series of beautiful love songs—"The Way You Do The Things You Do", "My Girl", "It's Growing", "Since I Lost My Baby", and many more…. Partly Smokey was inspired by the Temptations' own abilities—Eddie Kendricks, for example, whose falsetto was usually used as first lead, had a tougher voice than Smokey's own, without losing a whit of tenderness; partly, with [Motown staff composers Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland] taking care of the rockin' business, Smokey could give his romanticism full flow—lyrically, these songs have never been matched…. [Take "It's Growing"]:

  Like a snowball rolling down...