This was written by Motown writers Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, who had written earlier Temptations hits "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "Just My Imagination."
This was the first Temptations song recorded with new lead singer Dennis Edwards. David Ruffin, their original leader, was fired after he missed a gig. Ruffin became very difficult to work with when Motown refused to bill the group as "David Ruffin and The Temptations," as they had done with "Diana Ross and The Supremes."
This was a new sound for The Temptations. It was a kind of psychedelic funk similar to Sly & the Family Stone, rather than the smooth soul they were known for. Many people did not think this was The Temptations when they heard it. "I remember standing outside the Casino Royal in Detroit with Norman and asking him if he was familiar with Sly Stone's 'Dance To The Music,'" The Temptations' Otis Williams recalled to Uncut magazine. Whitfield had heard it, so Williams suggested "we should try some of that funky sounding music with the electric guitars." Whitfield dismissed it a passing fancy, but a few weeks later, he played The Temptations "Cloud Nine." It had "the heavy electric guitars, wah-wah pedals, and background arrangements where each of us were singing different lines."
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