MOTOWN
grandpa_shig
5,799 Posts
no, not motown67. but, i should say you all should say thank you to that dude as he pretty much runs the reviews section of the soulstrut board.no, this is about the motown catalog. which includes tamla, and gordy. top 5?1. mary wells - please forgive me2. tammi terrel - dontcha worry bout a thing3. brenda holloway - ive been good to you4. stevie wonder - sunsets5. miracles - depend on me
Comments
Kim Weston - I'm Still Loving You [tamla]
Carolyn Crawford - My Heart [motown]
The Contours - Just A Little Misunderstanding [gordy]
PJ - TLC [tamla]
The Supremes - He's All I got [motown]
- Jr. Walker & the All-Stars - "Gotta Hold On To This Feeling"
- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - "Doggone Right"
- Richard "Popcorn" Wylie - "Funky Rubber Band"
- PJ - "It Takes A Man To Teach A Woman How To Love"
(the flip side of the PJ cut that Sexy B Nyce mentioned above, and the best Esther Phillips song that Esther Phillips never did)
marvelettes - don't make hurting me a habit
marvin gaye - stubborn kinda fella
edwin starr - hooked on you
bob kayli - tie me tight
kim weston - thrill a moment
temptations - i'm the exception to the rule
david ruffin - you can come right on back to me
miracles - bad girl
etc.
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Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone
Marvellettes - I'll Keep On Holding On
Martha & The Vandellas - In My Lonely Room
Earl Van Dyke - Soul Stomp
1. Marvelettes "Here I am Baby"
2. Barbara Randolph "Can I get a Witness"
3. Marvin Gaye "Baby dont you do it"
4. Stevie Wonder "Hey Love"
5. Temptations "Aint no Sunshine"
I gotta add this though...fuck Jack Ashford and his "Stax stole everything from Motown"...sounds like Motown were doing a little biting of their own with the aformentioned Barbara Randoph track..but damn it smokes
Marvin: After the dance
Stevie: Knocks me off my feet
Martha Reeves and Vandellas: Heatwave and Jimmy Mac
Jacksons: I wanna be where you are
Smokey: Quiet Storm
Bonus:
That rare earth joint.
Smokey and the Miracles-Going to a Go Go
Tempations- Get Ready
Stevie Wonder-Sugar
Valerie Simpson-Sinner Man
Gladys Knight and the Pips-Nitty Gritty
today's Motown song I can hear a million times and it always amazes me(and there are many):
Tears of a Clown-Smokey and the Miracles
1. Jackson 5 ??? Darling Dear
2. Temptations ??? Heavenly
3. Eddie Kendricks ??? Date With The Rain
4. David Ruffin ??? Walk Away From Love
5. Jr. Walker & The All Stars ??? Why Can???t We Be Lovers
BONUS:
Michael Jackson - We're Almost There
Aretha Franklin Track Of My Tears
English Beat Tears Of A Clown
Roland Kirk What's Going On
Laura Nyro Monkey Time
Earl Klug I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Motown song writers worked the man crying theme with 3 of the above plus I Wish It Would Rain, and others I'm forgetting.
Dan
Not to bust any balls or anything, but "Monkey Time" originally came out on the OKeh label (by Major Lance). Motown had nothing to do with that one.
not to take away from the ball busting at hand but that song me likey too!
the major lance version that is. havent heard the laura nyro version
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Baby, Baby Don't Cry
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Baby, Baby Don't Cry
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Baby, Baby Don't Cry
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Baby, Baby Don't Cry
I know! What the hell is it with that song? I feel the same about I Second that Emotion, as well.
Damn.
I'm going home and listening both those songs. Twice. Ya hear? Twice!
Yeah, Smokey Robinson was the songwritingest man anybody ever seen, huh?
Uh-huh.
another one that never gets old is
just my imagination - temptations
MOTOWN RULES!
yea yea yea...
right now i'm getting my love on for smokey...friday night, it'll be all about sam and isaac...i have no favourites, i just love a soulful man.
Anyway, a sampler of 5 Motown tunes that are on some "next level" shit for me, although I could name a hundred more:
1. Eddie Kendricks - Girl You Need a Change Of Mind (full version)
2. Marvelettes - Hunter Gets Captured By the Game
3. Stevie Wonder - You Haven't Done Nothin'
4. Temptations - Just Let Me Know
5. Brenda Holloway - Land of a Thousand Boys
geez that was hard, can we do a top 50?
We already DID a Stax thread, go back and bump THAT one!
("Best Records On Stax.....[not sister labels]," 5/30/05).
Man, Motown was (and is) GREAT MUSIC. Some of the greatest. I could name so many songs, artists, albums, producers, etc. But just give me David Ruffin's cocaine and alcohol laced vocals and I'm good for life. REAL HEADZ KNOW THE DEAL. They got braeks too!
BTW, my favorite current album is on Motown- Kem "II". So grown and sexy, mang (I'll forgive him for the wack cover of "I Get Lifted"- the rest of the cd is reallllly good IMO).
I'll admit, I was tired of Motown for the longest time, thanks to overkill on oldies radio in the 80's and 90's. Of course, if, say, Duke/Peacock got the same treatment, I'd be tired of hearing Bobby "Blue" Bland myself. The point is, overexposure is the ONLY problem. Once you get past that, there is no denying that Motown had a killer roster of acts that couldn't be denied (esp. during 1961-72).
Two Motown albums I bought recently that are surprisingly good: David Ruffin's FEELING GOOD and the Originals' NATURALLY TOGETHER. (I say "surprisingly" because several Motown albums back in the day had a mess of unspectacular filler tracks, but both of these elpees make it from the gitgo to the bitter end.)
http://www.hip-oselect.com/catalogue_ruffin.asp
Growing up in the UK as a kid you had no real access to funk etc Motown was the nearest thing you'd ever get to hear. I saw David with Eddie & Dennis (Edwards) about 2 months before David's death, Eddie was looking pretty frail but still put on best show I've ever seen.
What did you make of that Temps tv serial? We didn't get it over here but I managed to catch the DVD, thought the dude playing David was pretty decent.
Whatever you say about motown they paved the way for most the other shit we talk about on here...
For a made-for-TV flick, not bad. It was period-appropraite, from what I recall - they got the fashions and whatnot right. Some of these rock dramas have long-haired men in 1952.
Not just Motown, but Stax, Chess, OKeh, etc.. As gigantic as Motown was, they were but one piece of the puzzle that was sixties soul.
Yeah I agree but I think they helped open the door for some of these smaller labels?
I think the Temps movie is one of the most entertaining music bios ever, maybe THE most entertaining. The guy playing Eddie Kendricks nailed it, and Leon has made a career of playing David Ruffin(or Ruffin-esque characters-5 Heartbeats).
The guy playing Eddie definately nailed it.
One of the best music bios I've seen, just a shame there was such an Otis Williams bias seeing as it was based on his book ..
well, most of the important soul labels of the 60s that i can think of either started at the same time as motown (like stax) or had a 10-20 year head start (like chess and OKeh), so i dont know if they exactly opened the door