THE PLAYLIST: MOTOWN AT 50
The record company that defined black music in the 1960s and 1970s is celebrating its golden jubilee. Tim de Lisle picks eight classics for your iPod ...
From INTELLIGENT LIFE Magazine, Winter 2008
Motown in its heyday wasn't just a record label: it was a genre. Halfway from soul to pop, it had the virtues of both--brevity, brio, charm and feeling. It was founded with $800 by Berry Gordy in Detroit in January 1959. Fifty years on, the American car industry, from which it took its name, is grinding to a halt. Motown is still going, but it has long since been owned by Universal, and though it still has stars of the calibre of Stevie Wonder, it appears to have nobody to tell him when he is off form. Its influence remains--just ask Amy Winehouse--and so do its greatest hits, many of which have their own Wikipedia pages.
DANCING IN THE STREET MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS
Definitive early Motown: galloping beat, crisp craftsmanship, and the irresistible sound of youthful exuberance. Co-written by Marvin Gaye.
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO THE SUPREMES
Two and a half minutes of perfection. Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and beautifully sung by Diana Ross, going easy on the syrup.
REACH OUT, I'LL BE THERE FOUR TOPS
Instant yet durable, with a storming vocal from Levi Stubbs, Motown’s drama king. As he said: “I don't really even have a style…When I learn a song, I try to live it as best I can.”
JUST MY IMAGINATION (RUNNING AWAY WITH ME) THE TEMPTATIONS
A great ode to male shyness, immaculately sung by Eddie Kendricks. Covered by the Rolling Stones, not so shyly.
HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT
GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS
Kris Kristofferson’s theme tune is hard to do badly, but this version is special. It turns country to soul, white to black, and listeners to putty.
WHAT'S GOING ON MARVIN GAYE
Motown acquired a social conscience on this lethally conversational jazz-soul ballad. Berry Gordy branded it "uncommercial" and only released it when Gaye threatened to leave. It duly reached No 2 in the American pop chart.
SIR DUKE STEVIE WONDER
As Barack Obama has said, Wonder made five great LPs in a row in the 1970s. The fifth, "Songs in the Key of Life", included this: a great blast of warmth that fuses soul, pop and big-band jazz.
NIGHTSHIFT THE COMMODORES
A lyric partly about Motown itself ("Marvin, he was a friend of mine..."), written soon after Gaye's death and set to the sort of cascading groove that is surely playing in heaven.
Picture Credit: haycarieanne, evanosherow (both via flickr)
(Tim de Lisle is editor of Intelligent Life magazine. See past playlists for Alfred Brendel and Leonard Cohen. )
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Motown at 50
January 14, 2009 - 13:21 — Visitor (not verified)I'm an Economist subscriber who just stumbled across your site/magazine. Most of the time I feel very out of place with today's world as I don't watch TV, don't particularly enjoy shopping, and can't seem to get much out of most popular periodicals. But I was born in Detroit and was 3 years old when Motown was born. I know by heart every song you listed in your article. It's nice to know occasionally I actually belong to this society! Thanks for the enjoyable read.
JB
Chicago
That has to be the hardest
January 15, 2009 - 08:23 — Visitor (not verified)That has to be the hardest list to compile in music seeing as how there's such an embarrassment of riches, but no Smokey, the "King of Motown"?
Motown top 50
January 22, 2009 - 19:47 — Owen Gill (not verified)Oh, but not the Supremes 'You Keep Me Hanging On'??? ... a few minutes of pop classic, the desperation is just palpable. You can tell a good Motown song by whether it was covered ... and a few people did it ... Vanilla Fudge (I think) and someone had a shot at it in the 1980s.
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