History Ain’t Too Proud to Compile: My Motown Top 25 List
posted by on February 12 at 13:26 PM
Stevie Wonder: Clean outtasight.
Smokey Robinson: Author of the best Motown song ever.
If you grew up in the Detroit area in the ’60s/’70s, as I did, the Motown sound practically became ingrained in your DNA through radio and TV exposure. This was both a blessing and a curse. By the late ’70s, I had reached my saturation point with the fabled label’s output and began to reflexively tune it out, save for a few special exceptions. It took about 15 years of decompressing from Motown bombardment to reach a point where I actively sought out the music again. Now I can listen to Motown artists (in moderation!) without being reminded of cloying yuppie nostalgia (a phenomenon exacerbated by The Big Chill) and the supremely (ha) depressing decline of my hometown that transpired after the oil crisis, the Big 3 auto company slump, and mother-funkin’ Motown Records moving to L.A.
Seeing a flyer about Wonderlove, a Stevie Wonder appreciation night happening Feb. 16 at Re-Bar and hosted by DJs Riz and Same DNA, spurred me to reconsider Motown’s incredible roster and masterpiece-rich back catalog. I don’t hear many young folks talking about Motown anymore, but I sincerely hope that it hasn’t become strictly the province of Baby Boomers and hiphop producers looking for dope samples.
It’s hard to say anything new about Motown at this late date. At the risk of coming off like Nick Hornby, all I can really do is reiterate that for most of the ’60s and ’70s, Berry Gordy’s company generated some of the greatest pop (in mass quantities) humankind is likely ever to experience. The quality level of the singers, the producers, the composers, and the players and the depth of the talent? Jesus—it was a dynamic dynasty of mind-blowing dimensions that is too easy to take for granted some 25 years after Motown’s last crucial period.
After much deep concentration on the matter, I’ve compiled my 25 favorite Motown songs as of February 12, 2007. (One could easily make 10 separate such lists and not have any overlap.) You can probably find most of these tracks on Rhapsody or on the individual artists’ original or greatest-hits albums. I’m curious to know what your favorites are—or if you even care about Motown anymore.
Segal’s Top 25 Motown Choons
01 Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “Tears of a Clown”
02 Stevie Wonder, “I Was Made to Love Her”
03 Four Tops, “Bernadette”
04 Temptations, “Ball of Confusion”
05 Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”
06 Jackson 5, “The Love You Save”
07 Eddie Kendricks, “Keep on Truckin’”
08 Stevie Wonder, “Uptight”
09 Edwin Starr, “War”
10 Commodores, “Machine Gun”
11 Temptations, “I Can’t Get Next to You”
12 Four Tops, “Reach Out I’ll Be There”
13 Rare Earth, “Get Ready”
14 Marvin Gaye, “Trouble Man”
15 Stevie Wonder, “Living for the City”
16 Jackson 5, “2-4-6-8”
17 Supremes, “Some Day We’ll Be Together”
18 Four Tops, “You Keep Running Away”
19 Undisputed Truth, “Smiling Faces Sometimes”
20 Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, “I Second That Emotion”
21 Temptations, “Psychedelic Shack”
22 Stevie Wonder, “Don’t You Worry Bout a Thing”
23 Edwin Starr, “25 Miles”
24 Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On”
25 Rare Earth, “(I Know) I’m Losing You”
What's with the aversion to female artists? No Syreeta, Gladys Knight, post-Diana Ross Supremes, Martha & the Vandellas, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, or Velvelettes? I do, however, applaud your inclusion of The Undisputed Truth.
glad to see you so inspired, dave, and coming up w a kickass list. i can tell you that kids are all over motown these days, at least in san francisco, where there are several hugely popular oldies/stax/motown nights that attract all the skinny-jeansed mission hipsters. for real. shits fun as hell, too.
i do argue your jackson five inclusion, however. only one? and that one? hmm...
segal, this is a great fucking list. we are in total agreement regarding smokey robinson. i, too, cite the big chill effect with regard to his music.
that movie really made it tough to hear artists of that era, particularly motown artists, without cringing. smokey definitely got the worst of it.
to this day, i still think cruisin' is one of the sweetest love songs of all time, regardless of its status as a hit.
bonus points to you for #19, which is one of my go-to tracks every wednesday at bananas.
What's with the aversion to female artists? No Syreeta, Gladys Knight, post-Diana Ross Supremes, Martha & the Vandellas, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, or Velvelettes?
I respect all of those artists, but it's just down to personal taste. I almost included Gladys Knight's version of "Grapevine," which is killer.
i do argue your jackson five inclusion, however. only one? and that one?
Two, actually. See #16. "The Love You Save" animated (literally; there used to be a J5 cartoon show) my childhood with a vengeance, so the choice was heavily tinted by nostalgia. Mea culpa.
'Twas hard to keep this list to 25!
kids are all over motown these days, at least in san francisco, where there are several hugely popular oldies/stax/motown nights that attract all the skinny-jeansed mission hipsters.
Damn. Color me shocked—and impressed.
Personal thanks for including Rare Earth!
wow! where the hell are the women on your list. # 17 and possibly #19. that's it!?!??!
ouch!
where the hell are the women on your list.
See comment #4.
What about Tammy Terrell?
Hey, I invited y'all to compile your own lists. You find mine lacking? Do it up large, people. Spread your knowledge.
I don't know if it's necessarily one of the best, but I think one of the most underrated Motown songs of all time is the Jackson Five's cover of "Hum Along and Dance," which they transform into an eight-minute-long funky, Krautrock-esque freakout. Back when I DJ-ed on a regular basis, I often worked it into my sets, and any time I played it, at least 3 or 4 people would come up to ask what it was. And they were always shocked that it was the Jackson Five (they usually assumed it was a Can side-project or something).
Anyhow, good list. Tears of a Clown is a favorite of mine, as well, even though it conjures up images of my mom's collection of clown-with-a-single-tear-running-down-its-cheek paintings.
Although I do enjoy most Motown, I gotta say that Memphis/Muscle Shoals Southern Soul kicks the shit out of Motown any day of the week. You want some soul, listen to Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave or Otis Redding. You've got some great songs on your list, but I'd take Think, Respect, Hold On, I'm Coming, In the Midnight Hour, or Soothe Me every time.
Booker T and the MGs got honored last night. Where's their list?
No denying the greatness of Southern soul, gillsans; I was simply riffing off the upcoming Wonderlove night and indulging in some nostalgia over my Detroit background. I have enough to love for Southern and Northern soul (and West Coast, and Texan, etc. etc.).
the temptations, "just my immagination"... the opening bass line is reason enough for inclusion... that and "backstabbers"... they smile in your face...
The O'Jays weren't on Motown. Great tune, though.
here's my top 25 motown/family of labels top hits- NO particular order, well, prolly some kinda drunk order in my house if I was gonna play motown for an hour...
1 the contours - just a little misunderstanding
2 the monitors - number one in your heart
3 the marvelettes - i'll keep on holding on
4 marvin gaye - can i get a witness
5 chris clark - do i love you (indeed i do)
6 smokey/miracles - going to a go go
7 shorty long - here comes the judge
8 marvin gaye & tammi terrell - california soul
9 jr walker - brainwasher
10 temptations - i gotta know
11 marvin gaye - baby don't do it
12 gladys knight/pips - just walk in my shoes
13 supremes - going down for the third time
14 edwin star - my weakness is you
15 martha/vandellas - can't break the habit
16 four tops - shake me wake me
17 chris clark - don't be too long
18 marvin gaye - one more heartache
19 kim weston - take me in your arms
20 jr walker - shotgun
21 earl van dyke - 6x6
22 edwin star - mighty good lovin'
23 chuck jackson - the day my world stood still
24 velvelettes- he was really sayin' somethin'
25 brenda holloway - starting the hurt all over again
sorry, NO mary wells, jackson 5, or stevie wonder...
that's a real sweet list, nips. the chris clark cut is dyanamite! no stevie wonder, though, is a crime against humanity.
why don't you go put on i don't know why i love you and then tell me why little stevie isn't on your list. that song will DESTROY!
not a slight against stevie, but I've heard enough, and I LOVE Uptight...but he'd be the last I'd play. hmmm, instead of stevie I'd play that Contours track TWICE!
I always thought "Tears of a Clown" was really annoying--that circus keyboard part--until the doctor played it while he delivered my daughter (c section).
A Motown/Rare Earth label flashback.
In 1969, the Motown subsidiary, Rare Earth wanted to jump on the rock music bandwagon. They put out the Rare Earth album which was fantastic but there was another little album that was put out by a group called Love Sculpture. The album was yellow and shaped like the Rare Earth album with a semi-circle top. At the time, these album jackets were very cool in my opinion.
The lead guitarist of Love Sculpture was an up and coming English guitarist by the name of Dave Edmunds. The album was mainly blues covers and was extremely enjoyable. They put out one Rare Earth album but then signed to Parrot and put out one of my favorite albums called Forms and Feelings. They had a popular 11 minute instrumental song that "FM underground" stations played called Sabre Dance but my favorite track was called Nobody's Talking. The sound of those vocals coupled with Dave Edmunds guitar playing will stay in my head forever.
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