50 Years of Motown

[SiHart]

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the forunding of the Tamla Motown record lable, responsible for some of the best known songs ever released along with a long list of iconic recording artists. From Stevie Wonder to Diana Ross, from Ain't No Mountian High Enough to I Heard It Through The Grapevine, there's so much to love.

So let's talk Motown! Who are your favourites and why? What are your all time favourite songs? What's made the songs last so long?

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Two can make a dream come true!

The funny thing about Motown is that there are so many different versions of the same songs. There are even versions-that-sound-a-bit-like other songs. It becomes very confusing as to who performed what, never mind who wrote what!

But I believe that the Motown era produced some of the most upbeat, infectious pop songs of all time. Songs that everyone from ages three to three-hundred and three can enjoy.

[Dave Lewis]

"Tracks Of My Tears", "Roadrunner", "Behind A Painted Smile", "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone", "Uptight", and "This Old Heart Of Mine" are personal favourites. I'd love to be able to count The Chairman Of The Board's "You've Got Me Dangling On A String" but it was a Hot Wax Record, not a Motown tune. Shame!

[Stephen Morgan]

HAH!! If I'd had my wits about me I'd have started this thread myself.
I'll come back to this when I get home from work as I have loads of memories and loads of favourites from the Motown catalogue.

[Stephen Morgan]

In the sixties Motown was as iconic as The Beatles, it was always there, and it is thanks to The Beatles and their live covers of Smokey Robinson and Isley Brothers songs that brought the Motown label to popularity in Britain.
When I was in school in the sixties I had a friend who was mad on Motown, he'd play Diana Ross and The Supremes albums to me during lunch hour, at that time I wasn't really interested and wasn't really taking all that much notice, I think I was a little prejudiced against all the Motown acts, however, my friend would also play me Cilla Black albums, and apart from Liverpool Lullaby I wasn't taking much notice of her either.
During the early seventies I began to take a little more notice of the music on the radio, and, putting any prejudices aside, loved the Diana Ross single I'm Still Waiting, and during it's monumental stay on the British charts it became the first proper single I ever bought. Later, in December 1971, my gran bought me the Diana Ross album, Everything Is Everything, which I played and played until an old girl friend borrowed it and left it on the window sill in the hot summer sun of 1978. That album remained lost to me until it was re-issued last year as an expanded CD.
1971 was late to come into Motown, but I began buying the Motown Chartbusters series of albums, they contained all the chart hits from the sixties and early seventies, I was surprised at how many of them I was familiar with and continued buying Motown albums for many years afterwards, that Motown sound was iconic, but at that time I had no real perspective of the history of the music or the label.
Motown albums are manifold in my collection, but looking back over the charts of the sixties and sevenites, very few Motown albums actually made the top forty album charts. Sure, greatest hits collections, and there were many, would always do well, but albums like Ross's own solo albums bombed in the UK charts, her 1973 album Touch Me In The Morning did the best by spending 35 weeks on the album chart, and her album with Marvin Gaye spent 43 weeks on the chart. Not even the mighty Four Tops could sell an album in the UK in the early seventies, Yesterday's Dreams only spent 1 week on the chart and of Nature Planned it, their last album for Motown there was no sign, however, bring out a greatest hits and it is garaunteed a long run.
And where in the UK charts was Marvin Gaye's iconic album What's Going On? That album was totally lost on the great British record buying public, who at that time were more interested in the burgeoning Glam Rock scene.
Stevie Wonder was the most bankable albums artist in the UK, his albums My Cherie Amour in 1969 to In Square Circle in 1985 sold in bucketloads, and true to say, Talking Book, Innervisions, and Songs In The Key Of Life are works of art. I remember eagerly awaiting the release of Songs around Christmas 1976, I was not disappointed, that album is truly stunning, and remains a favourite even today.
For me Motown has never lost its appeal, in recent months I've acquired CD re-issues of Diana Ross, The Four Seasons, Syreeta and The Four Tops, and I've also checked out the 50th anniversary retrospective album, although it's a very disappointing collection of tracks that have turned up on many Motown comps over the years and I've left that one on the shelf, if you're a Motown collector you'll acquire the same tracks over and over on the multitude of comps that have come out, I've lost count of the number of times I've bought albums with Diana Ross's Ain't No Mountain High Enough on.
Far more interesting is a series of CDS that began appearing in 2006, The Complete Motown Singles Collection. The set is a massive 14 volumes, (will be by the end of 2009) each comprising six discs and covering a years worth of singles from 1959 to 1972. They are lavish sets, all contain a playable 45 and a massive 148 page book detailing the history of each track. I was playing the first volume only yesterday afternoon, it is interesting to hear, and read, how the songs progressed from their Doo Wop roots, through Gospel to the familiar sound we all know and love. There are some hidden gems on the first volume, Marv Johnson's Come To Me, Eddie Holland's Merry Go Round, Chico Leverett's I'll Never Love Again and many more before you come to the familiar Barrett Strong's Money (That's What I Want) and Smokey Robinson's Shop Around. Interestingly, there's an answer song to Shop Around on the second disc of volume one, Debbie Deans' Don't Let Him Shop Around, in which a mother begs her daughter to encourage a relationship and not let her boyfriend "shop around" in the hope of finding someone better. These kind of songs are a fascinating glimpse into what shaped and formed "The Motown Sound", and I'd recommend anyone with an interest in Motown to check out this early volume, the later songs you'll be familiar with, but these early tracks are something else.

Favourite tracks? Well, there are loads, but I'm Still Waiting has to be tops, it evokes a lot of memories of the summer of 1971. Others include I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Smokey's Shop Around, Smokey's Cruising, Diana Ross and the Supremes Love Child and I'm Livin' In Shame, Stevie Wonder's You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, Syreeta's To Know You Is To Love You, The Supremes 1972 album produced by Jimmy Webb, it was very under rated at the time but has since been recognised as a classic and shows Jean Terrell was a vocalist to rival Ross, shame Berry Gordy was too interested in promoting Ross's film career when that one came out, it was one of the reasons why Terrell left The Supremes in 1973. I could go on all day but it's time for bed.

[SiHart]

I'm a relatively new Motown fan myself. Oh I knew the famous songs, how could you not, but I've only really been discovering the talent there over the last few years. It all really beagn the day Steve put The Definitive Stevie Wonder on in the car. It was great! I always thought perhaps it was all bit cheesy you know, but it wasn't at all. It's wonderful, infectious music and that's the reason why it's lasted so long and why a Motown song will get everyone on the dancefloor (especially if it's Superstition!).

As Stevie Wonder sang: Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday!

Si xx

[Carol Baynes]

Where would we be without Motown? No doubt I'll be dancing to a few of their old hits on Friday night when I strut the night away at the Beat Boutique Mod and Northern Soul night in Manchester!

Stephen's memories were wonderful to read and I agree with every word, but the label's glory days are long behind them. But what a legacy! What an influence! The most successful indie label in the world really, whan you think about it.
Best album for me is probably Marvin Gaye's "What's going on", bets single is perhaps "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder, although there's so many great tunes it's hard to call it!