motown50

Stop In The Name Of Love by the Supremes

EditMotown50 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:07:02 +0000

In March 1965, The Supremes created an all-time record when their single “Stop in the name of Love” made number one. It meant that they had now become the first group in history to have four consecutive number ones. It was during their subsequent european tour that the famous hand gesture associated with their live routine was created. Apparently arriving in London with no choreography, they came up with the gesture after conferring with Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin (Temptations) in the Gents toilet!

Diana Ross has been quoted as saying that this trip was also the beginning of the discontent that eventually lead to the group splitting up.

Sample “Stop In The Name Of Love” on Motown 50 here:

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Marvin Gaye Heard It Through The Grapevine

EditMotown50 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:27:02 +0000

in 1968, this was Marvin Gaye’s first number one hit with Motown. He was known as the “Prince of Motown” and oftimes, the “Prince of Soul”. Gaye was the top-selling artist for Motown in the ‘sixties. “I heard it through the grapevine” was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.

Sample “Heard It Through the Grapevine” on Motown 50 here:

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My Girl by the Temptations

EditMotown50 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:54:51 +0000

“My Girl” was the first US number one single for the Temptations. It charted in 1965 and was written and produced for Motown by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White – both members of the Miracles at the time. Tnis was also the first single to feature David Ruffin as lead vocalist.

The Temptations were in fact the product of two previous groups – the Primes and the Distants. After a brief spell as the Elgins, they were renamed the Temptations. Smokey actually produced and wrote four more successful singles for them before handing over to Norman Whitfield.

Sample “My Girl” on Motown 50 here:

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Superstition by Stevie Wonder

EditMotown50 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:36:37 +0000

Amazingly, Stevie Wonder was signed up by Motown when he was only eleven. Born in 1950 and named Steveland Judkins he wasn’t actually born blind, this being attributed to being given too much oxygen when in the hospital incubator. The name ‘Wonder’ stems from Berry Gordy’s sister Esther apparently who referred to him as ‘a wonder’.

“Superstition” was written, produced and arranged by him in 1972, when he was twenty-two years old. It reached number one in the US and number eleven in the UK in 1973.

Sample “Superstition” on Motown 50 here:

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Tears Of A Clown with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

EditMotown50 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:19:54 +0000

Originally released in 1967 as part of the ‘Make it Happen’ album, it wasn’t until 1970, when it was released as a single in its own right, that ‘Tears of a Clown’ became a number one hit in both the UK and the US. Indeed, it was apparently this success which convinced Smokey to remain with the Miracles until 1972, having already signalled his intention to leave beforehand.

Sample “Tears Of A Clown” on Motown 50 here:

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Reach Out I’ll Be There With The Four Tops

EditMotown50 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:40:46 +0000

Considered by many to be the most popular Four Tops song ever, “Reach out, I’ll be there” charted in 1966. It was one of many hit singles for the group, who ultimately spent many years with Motown – although they did work with other labels at different times. In fact, until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997 – the Group performed continuously as a quartet until 1997, a staggering forty-three years! The other members of the Group being: Levi Stubbs, Abdul (Duke) Fakir and Renaldo (Obie) Benson.

Sample “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” on Motown 50 here:

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Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Dancing In The Street

EditMotown50 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:40:05 +0000

Originally released in 1964, Dancing in the Street actually reached number 4 in the UK charts in a 1969 version. It was co-written by Marvin Gaye and William Stevenson and presented to Martha Reeves when she came to Motown.

Martha was born in Alabama in 1941 and sprang from a gospel tradition. Whilst she performed in a number of local groups in Detroit (including the Del-Phis), it wasn’t until she was spotted by Motown’s Mickey Stevenson that her future career took off. In fact, her first job at the hit label was as unpaid secretary! She even acted as vocalist on a number of other artist’s sessions. Again, fate intervened and Stevenson invited the Del-Phis in at short notice to cut “You’ll Never Cherish A Love So True” and the trio of Martha, Rosalind Ashford and Annette Sterling (Beard) shortly became “The Vandellas.

Sample “Dancing In The Street” on Motown 50 here:

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Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross

EditMotown50 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:43:38 +0000

Although this had been an original hit for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell in 1967, “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough” was re-released by Motown in 1970, but this time with Diana Ross as the artist. It reached number one in the US and number 6 in the UK. It was taken from her debut solo album. However, a mere two years later, Diana Ross quit Motown.

Sample “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” on Motown 50 here:

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War by Edwin Starr

EditMotown50 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:41:36 +0000

Conceived as an anti-Vietnam protest song, “War” was released as a single by Motown by Edwin Starr in 1970. It was a US number one hit. It proved to be the most successful hit of Starr’s career and although originally written for the Temptations, they were considered to appeal to a more conservative audience to be associated with it. Nevertheless, they eventually did release a version, albeit less strident and forceful.

Born in 1942, Charles Edwin Hatcher hailed from Nashville but grew up in Cleveland. He first joined a group called the Future Tones although they never recorded in the five years he was with them. In 1962 he joined the Bill Doggett Combo as a vocalist and it was whilst here that he came up with “Agent Double-O-Soul” – but Doggett wouldn’t let him record it and so he left and joined Golden World’s “Ric-Tic” label where the single broke into the R&B top ten in 1965. In 1966 he recorded “Back Street” and followed it up with “Stop Her on Sight”.

Surprisingly, Starr was unaware that Berry Gordy’s Motown label had acquired Golden Records until after the event and it was two years until “I Want My Baby Back” hit the charts. Starr felt somewhat constrained by the Motown formula that meant individual artists could end up recording different versions of the same song – leaving little scope for those who also had a talent for writing on their own. Finally, in 1969, he reached the Number 6 slot with “25 Miles”.

Edwin Starr never really matched the success of “War” and he split from Motown in the mid-seventies.

Sample “War” on Motown 50 here:

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All Night Long with Lionel Richie

EditMotown50 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:12:54 +0000

Lionel Richie released his second solo album in 1983 and “All night long” promptly became a number one hit. He already had a successful career behind him with the Commodores and continues to be hugely popular today with a string of further hits both as a solo artist both and on occasion with others.

Sample “All Night Long” on Motown 50 here:

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