Song of the Day 6/24: The Supremes, “Stop! In the Name of Love”

When is a cease-fire not a cease-fire? When it’s a Trump CeaseFire™! Here’s how you know it’s not a regular cease-fire, the kind where the warring parties have already agreed to it: It’s announced on social media instead of through official channels, and it’s announced by Trump himself.

Yet media framing is that the countries are “violating the cease-fire,” which apparently had been finalized only in Trump’s head, instead of pointing out that no, the cease-fire was not signed, sealed and delivered. At this point, the media are not being played, they’re playing along.

The truth is that Trump is employing his secret weapon, childish indignation and public tantrums. Maybe it would go better if, along with his unsafe-for-TV temper, he employed a little choreography while he hollers “Stop!” It worked for the Supremes, but then, Trump is no Diana Ross.

“Stop! In the Name of Love” was the fourth in a string of five straight No. 1 singles for the Supremes, who eventually racked up 12 in all. Lamont Dozier said he got the idea for the song after he blurted out the title line during an argument with a cheating girlfriend. To give you an idea of how the industry worked back then, the song was recorded in January 1965, released in February and No. 1 on the charts in March. The video appears to be from the group’s performance on “Shindig!”