"You Keep Me Hangin' On" is the name of a 1966 hit song recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland-Dozier-Holland, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" is among the most often covered Supremes songs, and was the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for two weeks, from November 13, 1966 to November 26, 1966.

While its immediate predecessor, "You Can't Hurry Love," showcased a gospel music feel, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" leans more towards a rock music feel. Songwriter Lamont Dozier got his inspiration for the song's Morse code-like guitar line from listening to the news over the radio, and he and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland integrated the idea into a song in which lead singer Diana Ross delivers a "news flash" of sorts to her undeserving lover, who, she proclaims, doesn't "really love me/you just keep me hangin' on."

Many of the elements in the song, including the guitars, the drums, and Ross' lead vocal, were multitracked (the parts were recorded multiple times and the takes layered over one another) to create a stronger, fuller sound than the previous Supremes records.

The song is one of the more often-covered songs in the Supremes canon: Wilson Pickett and Reba McEntire have both recorded their versions of the song, but the two most succesful covers were recorded by the late-1960s rock band Vanilla Fudge and pop singer Kim Wilde. Vanilla Fudge's psychedelic/hard rock remake of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" made it to #6 on the U.S. pop chart two years after the release of the Supremes' recording. The Kim Wilde version of the song reached #2 in the UK, and a few seconds of its audio, in the form of a power-drumming interlude between verses, have become one of the most sampled pieces of audio ever.

"You Keep Me Hangin' On" was the lead single from the Supremes' album, The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Credits

• Lead Vocals by Diana Ross
• Background Vocals by Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

• Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.
• Produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier

Sample

• Download sample of "You Keep Me Hangin' On"