You’re probably thinking of Martha and the Vandellas. Or maybe you're humming that breezy, trippy indie-pop tune that took over TikTok and the Billboard charts a couple of years ago. Honestly, it's one of those titles that has lived a dozen lives. If you ask your grandma who sang "Heat Wave," she’ll give you a different answer than your younger cousin.
Music history is funny like that.
The most iconic version—the one that defined the Motown "Sound of Young America"—dropped in 1963. It was Martha and the Vandellas, led by the powerhouse vocals of Martha Reeves. But that’s just the beginning of the rabbit hole. From Linda Ronstadt’s rock-infused cover to the chart-dominating "Heat Waves" (plural) by Glass Animals, the phrase has become a recurring fever dream in the music industry.
The Motown Queen: Martha and the Vandellas
It was 1963. Martha Reeves was working as a secretary at Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. office before she got her big break. She wasn't even supposed to be the lead singer that day, but life happens. The songwriting trio known as Holland-Dozier-Holland—Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland—had written this frantic, gospel-infused track. They needed someone who could cut through the brassy instrumentation.
Martha stepped up.
The song, officially titled "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave," is basically a masterclass in tension and release. It starts with those driving drums and that immediate baritone sax. When Martha sings about having a "burning desire," you actually believe her. It’s not just a pop song; it’s an emergency.
It hit number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first song by a Motown group to snag a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording. If you're looking for the definitive answer to who sang "Heat Wave," it’s Martha. She owns the DNA of this track.
The 70s Rock Rebirth: Linda Ronstadt
Fast forward to 1975. The world was changing, and so was the sound of the radio. Linda Ronstadt, arguably the biggest female rock star of the decade, decided to take a crack at the Motown classic for her album Prisoner in Disguise.
It’s different. Very different.
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While the original was all about that Detroit soul and rhythmic precision, Ronstadt turned it into a high-energy rock anthem. She leaned into the guitar work and gave it a California-cool edge that somehow didn’t lose the heat of the original. Her version actually climbed back up to number five on the charts. It’s rare for a cover to hit almost exactly as high as the original, but Ronstadt had that Midas touch in the mid-70s.
Clearing Up the Confusion: Glass Animals and the "S"
Now, if you are under the age of 30, there is a 90% chance you aren't looking for Martha Reeves at all. You’re looking for Dave Bayley.
Technically, the 2020 global phenomenon is titled "Heat Waves" (with an 's'), but in the world of SEO and casual conversation, people mix them up constantly. Glass Animals, an indie band from Oxford, England, released this track right as the world was shutting down for the pandemic.
It took forever to become a hit. Literally.
It broke the record for the longest climb to number one in Billboard history, taking 59 weeks to reach the summit. It’s a song about mid-August, longing, and the blurry haze of memory. Dave Bayley wrote it about a friend he lost, and that melancholy resonates underneath the upbeat production. It’s a completely different vibe from the Motown soul or the Ronstadt rock, yet it occupies the same cultural space of "summer songs that make you feel something slightly uncomfortable."
The Irving Berlin Connection
We have to go back even further to be truly thorough. Long before Motown existed, the legendary Irving Berlin wrote a song called "Heat Wave" for the 1933 Broadway musical As Thousands Cheer.
Ethel Waters sang it first.
This version is a "slow-burn" jazz standard. It’s about a woman who "started a heat wave by letting her seat wave." It was scandalous for 1933. Later, Marilyn Monroe famously performed it in the 1954 film There’s No Business Like Show Business. If you’re watching an old black-and-white movie and hear a sultry version of the title, that’s the Berlin composition. It has nothing to do with the Holland-Dozier-Holland song, but it’s a crucial piece of the puzzle.
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Why Do We Keep Writing Songs About Heat?
There's something universal about it. The physical sensation of a heat wave—the lethargy, the sweat, the way the air feels heavy—is the perfect metaphor for love or grief. Whether it’s Martha Reeves comparing her heart to a furnace or Dave Bayley thinking about "late nights in the middle of June," the weather is an easy shorthand for being overwhelmed.
Think about the production styles:
- 1933 (Ethel Waters): Sultry, theatrical, brass-heavy jazz.
- 1963 (Martha and the Vandellas): Staccato, rhythmic, soul-drenched pop.
- 1975 (Linda Ronstadt): Driven by electric guitars and 70s rock production.
- 2020 (Glass Animals): Trap-influenced beats, pitch-shifted vocals, and synth layers.
It’s the same title, but it’s a mirror reflecting whatever music was popular at the time.
Other Notable Mentions
You can't talk about this song without mentioning The Jam. The British mod-revival band covered the Motown version in 1979 on their album Setting Sons. It’s fast. It’s aggressive. It sounds like a bunch of kids in London who grew up worshipping Detroit soul but had too much caffeine.
Then there’s Phil Collins. In 2010, he released a cover album called Going Back, where he meticulously recreated Motown hits. His "Heat Wave" is a literal carbon copy of the Martha and the Vandellas arrangement. It’s technically perfect, though some critics felt it lacked the raw grit of the 1963 original.
Tracking the Success
If you're wondering which version was "bigger," it depends on how you measure success.
The Martha and the Vandellas version is culturally the most significant. It’s in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It’s on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It basically helped build the Motown empire.
However, in terms of sheer numbers and global reach in the digital age, Glass Animals’ "Heat Waves" is a monster. It has billions of streams. It stayed on the charts for years, not weeks. It’s a different kind of "big." One defines an era; the other defined a digital generation.
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Identifying Which One You’re Looking For
If you’re trying to find the song on Spotify or Apple Music, look at the lyrics.
If the lyrics are: "Whenever I’m with him, something inside starts burning and I can’t explain it," you are looking for Martha and the Vandellas (or Linda Ronstadt).
If the lyrics are: "Sometimes all I think about is you, late nights in the middle of June," you are looking for Glass Animals.
If the lyrics are: "We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave," you are looking for the Irving Berlin version (Ethel Waters or Marilyn Monroe).
How to Use This Info
The next time you’re at trivia night and the question "Who sang Heat Wave?" pops up, don't just give one name. Be that person who explains the difference between the 1933 jazz standard and the 1963 Motown hit.
To really dig into these tracks, try listening to them back-to-back. Start with Martha Reeves to get the soul in your bones. Move to Linda Ronstadt to hear how the 70s transformed that soul into rock. Finish with Glass Animals to see how modern production has turned the concept of a "heat wave" into a lo-fi, psychedelic experience.
It's a weirdly effective way to see how much—and how little—music has changed over the last 90 years.
Next Steps for Music Fans:
Check out the "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" documentary to see the Funk Brothers—the studio band that actually played the instruments on the 1963 hit. They were the unsung heroes who created that driving beat that made Martha's vocals pop. After that, look up Dave Bayley’s "Quarantine Covers" on YouTube to see how the Glass Animals track was stripped down during its rise to fame. It’ll give you a whole new appreciation for how these "hot" tracks are built from the ground up.