Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969

Motown has at least one achievement that no other label can match. The world has seen fairly substantial numbers of child pop music stars. Yet, it consistently remains extraordinarily rare for child recording artists, or even child musical prodigies in general, to find significant success as adults — let alone legendary status. But Motown managed to discover and originally sign the two most notable and prolific performers in pop music history who managed exactly that.¹ It is these two young men, then aged 12 and 20, who dominated Motown’s best 1970 releases.

But Little MJ and Big Stevie weren’t Motown’s only hitmakers that year. Gladys Knight and the Pips had their first smash since I Heard It Through the Grapevine, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles managed an even bigger comeback. Edwin Starr released his best-remembered song and one of Motown’s most effective, and certainly most explosive, forays into politics. Diana Ross broke out officially as a solo artist, having some of her biggest successes in years. And though the Temptations had hit a rut, they’d find their way back up to the top, if only briefly, very soon. A very sad year that saw the death of 24-year-old Tammi Terrell after a long battle with cancer, 1970 was eclectic and uneven. It nonetheless managed to produce a couple of my very favorite Motown singles.

1. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours

VIDEO: Stevie Wonder lip syncs Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours on the set of Soul Train. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Your lyrics.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours is quite simply the very best single Stevie Wonder had released to date. And while this is a matter heavily up for debate, I’ve always viewed it as the moment when Stevie Wonder finally reached his long-awaited maturity and, in one incredible burst of energy, became Stevie. That’s not to say that he wouldn’t keep on growing as an artist — he would, and at an amazing rate. This song isn’t Superstition, Higher Ground, or Sir Duke — and between this single and 1972, Wonder would take his sweet time to try out a lot of new stuff, not all of which would work. Nevertheless, this is not the same Stevie we heard on songs like Uptight, I Was Made to Love Her, and My Cherie Amour.

Seizing the rare opportunity to work with a fellow blind musician, Lee Garrett, as well as his future-wife Syreeeta Wright and mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Stevie and Co. wrote themselves a masterpiece. Displaying a vocal confidence previously unheard, Wonder delivers a throaty, soulful lead, filled with gutsy experimentation, punctuating himself with emotional, high-pitched squeals. You can almost hear the light bulb going off over his head, that brilliant moment when he truly shed his Little Stevie past and realized I’ve got this. Significantly, this was Wonder’s first single production, which heavily contributes to the sense of newness. Opening with an electric sitar line played by Eddie Willis, and featuring a big bold bass line — perhaps the greatest ever played by recently deceased Funk Brother Bob Babbitt — and dirty horn section, this track delivers a funky groove that would become the trademark of Wonder’s best work. The fierce immediacy of the track was achieved by Berry Gordy’s order, upon hearing Stevie’s rough mix of his new single, to release it as is without changes. Introduced to a new generation though Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, strongly supported by Wonder, this is one of Stevie’s most accessible and best-loved tracks.

2. If I Were Your Woman

VIDEO: If I Were Your Woman plays over changing images of Gladys Knight and the Pips. If I Were Your Woman lyrics.

The astonishingly prolific “She sucks, dump her and go out with me” genre of songs is far from my favorite; and yet, there is no denying that as far as such songs go, If I Were Your Woman is the absolute cream of the crop. With a slinky arrangement, the song’s first verse starts as a convincing, sultry attempt at seducing a man who we have no reason to believe is already attached. But quickly, we learn that the object of the narrator’s affections has a partner; and as she reveals this, her facade crumbles, and she moves at an alarming pace into desperation and even anger. No longer offering throaty, sexy promises of eternal devotion, Gladys trashes her unrequited love’s actual woman. But far from sounding like an intimidating “other woman” archetype, she seems incredibly threatened herself, like she’s grasping at straws, going out of her mind with jealousy but unable to actually act on it. With the verse structure constantly changing, further evidencing the narrator’s volatile emotional state, the chorus and the Pips provide the song’s anchor and keep us oriented throughout the track’s other shifts.

Interestingly, despite the outstanding and emotional vocal Gladys delivers here — it’s one of my favorites — she claims that she couldn’t relate to the lyrics, and in fact hated the song and begged Berry Gordy to not release it. Concerned that the single would threaten her “good girl” image, in her autobiography she describes the song’s character as “a bold thing” and says that she couldn’t see herself “as the sort of woman who would be chasing another woman’s man.” But she seems to have at least partially misinterpreted the song. If I Were Your Women is not about a confident, home-wrecker of a woman cornering this attached man with her come-ons — in my favorite verse of the song, she in fact reveals that it’s all an inner-monologue:

Life is so crazy, and love is unkind
Because she came first, darling, will she hang on your mind?
You’re a part of me, and you don’t even know it
I’m what you need, but I’m too afraid to show it

The song is a fantasy, and an interrupted one at that. The man is actually oblivious to how she feels about him. And instead of making sure he knows, Gladys’ character can do nothing more than sing passionately about him to herself. Far from a bold, sexually aggressive woman, the character in this song is only playing one in her head, before realizing that’s who she’ll never be. She won’t get the guy; she’ll keep loving him from afar — no matter how bad she thinks his partner is, or how much she wants him.

3. I’ll Be There

VIDEO: The Jackson 5′s I’ll Be There plays over an image of the group. I’ll Be There lyrics.

The last of the Jackson 5′s 4 (all successive) #1 hits, I’ll Be There showcases a maturing sound for the group, and signals a move away from the brilliant bubblegum that had previously marked their career. Not composed by the apparently defunct Corporation, but by a new team headed by Berry  Gordy and otherwise comprising Bob West, Willie Hutch, and Hal Davis, I’ll Be There is a tender ballad that easily marks one of the group’s greatest moments. It was to replace Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through the Grapevine as Motown’s biggest selling single yet. Notably displaying Motown’s increased interest in its own legacy, Michael cunningly includes a reference to Motown’s other #1 I’ll Be There hit — the Four Tops’ Reach Out — with the inclusion of the phrase “Just look over your shoulder(s),” drawing a clear line between the label’s present and heyday past.

The single includes a double-lead, with a prominent feature spot for Jermaine Jackson, the group’s teenage heartthrob who was soon to move on to a solo career. And yet, Michael is rightly always remembered as the star of this track. Interestingly, at the start of the Jackson 5′s most emotionally mature production to date, Michael also sounds younger and more innocent than on his previous singles. And yet, that only makes the performance all the more brilliant and emotionally arresting. Just as he likely was in real life, Michael sounds like a child lost, terrified of being swallowed whole by a big, bad world he’s not ready for, and desperately looking for something constant to anchor himself to. It’s a devastating yet incredibly poignant image, and a much more effective one than if Michael had summoned his usual precocious ability to give the illusion of being an adult in a child’s body. Thoroughly humanizing a man who was far more frequently dehumanized by the media and society, it’s no surprise that this is a song Michael frequently performed live throughout his adult career and one that his fans seized on to eulogize him.

4. The Tears of a Clown

VIDEO: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ The Tears of a Clown plays over changing images of the group. The Tears of a Clown lyrics.

The Tears of a Clown has one of the most unusual track histories in Motown’s catalog. A collaboration between two of the label’s most legendary songwriters, a young 16-year-old Stevie Wonder approached Smokey Robinson at the 1966 Motown Christmas party with a tape. Explaining that he had a song with no lyrics, Wonder encouraged Robinson to give it a listen and see what he could make of it. In the track’s swirling, tooting riffs, Smokey rightly heard carnival music and pulled out his best-worn story, encased in a new metaphor. The tale of the man who seems happy on the outside but is secretly deeply miserable is the most common in his catalog²; it was used to greatest effect in The Tracks of My Tears, but to biggest commercial success here.

That was, in several years’ time. The Tears of a Clown was programed as the last track on the Miracles’ 1967 album Make it Happen …. and that was it. Overlooking the obvious single, Motown instead released More Love and The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage — better songs, I would argue, but certainly inferior for the purpose of marketing to radio and selling 45s. The group moved on to their non-album hit I Second That Emotion and then to a long, sad lull, in which they stopped being hitmakers and became Motown’s legacy artists. But that year, in the UK, the “legacy artist” thing was actually working out for them. A reissue of The Tracks of My Tears had dramatically reignited interest in the group among British fans, and eager to strike while the iron was hot, UK Tamla-Motown employees started combing the Miracles’ material for a follow-up. The Tears of a Clown was discovered, long forgotten and waiting. With a unique, instantly-recognizable tune, driving James Jamerson bass, and rich backing harmonies, the single exploded. Motown then released the single in the States, and saw the same result. It was the biggest success the Miracles would ever have, and remains endlessly sampled to this day. Not Smokey Robinson’s or the Miracles’ greatest artistic achievement, it was a more than worthy single, and a huge moneymaker for Motown.

5. ABC

VIDEO: The Jackson 5 lip sync their single ABC on American Bandstand. As usual, Michael is out front, and Jermaine and Tito mime bass and guitar respectively. All members wear different colorful shirts with vests over top. ABC lyrics.

In line with Motown’s tried and true formula of following an artist’s hit single with another song that sounded very much like it, ABC is highly derivative of I Want You Back. As is almost always the case, the copy wasn’t quite as good as the original. All the same, it seems to actually be the group’s most remembered single, its nursery rhyme lyrics having become associated in listeners’ minds with the performers’ tender ages. Of course, one has to imagine that the song actually stuck in their craw. It was bad enough that Berry Gordy had put out press releases stating most of the members were younger than they really were — a gross humiliation for kids in their teens and pre-teens — but now he was having them sing “A-B-C, 1-2-3″ like they were in kindergarten. If it weren’t for all the wealth and screaming girls, the older Jacksons would have undoubtedly taken an awful lot of shit from their peers.

Opening with the same “a-bom-bom-bom-bom” harmonies that worked so well during I Want You Back’s bridge, as well as copying the earlier song’s excellent groove, ABC is a sugar overload. Michael remains the lead on this song, but showing Motown’s savvy understanding of boy band politics, each of the other Jacksons gets short lead sections intended to satisfy Jermaine, Tito, Marlon, and teen girl favorite Jermaine’s individual fans. In the breakdown that constitutes one of the track’s greatest moments — Sit down, girl! I think I love you! No, get up, girl! Show me what you can do! — Michael shows off his advanced and impeccable study of soul music’s great shouters. Incredibly catchy, but actually nauseating upon one too many repeat listenings, ABC isn’t up to the same level as I Want You Back, but did make for a stellar follow-up single and served to cement the group as superstars.

Bonus Track: I Remember When (Dedicated to Beverly)

VIDEO: I Remember When plays over an image of Ivy Jo Hunter. Lyrics unavailable.

President of the Ivy Jo Hunter Fan Club,³ reporting for duty. This absolutely has to be the most obscure of my bonus track picks, which is a shame, because Hunter deserves to be a lot better-known than he is. Besides co-writing and co-producing Dancing In the Street, he’s most famous among Motown fans for being known as King of the Can.⁴ Though Hunter was incredibly prolific, and his work was frequently outstanding, he failed to obtain for himself the commercial success that the likes of Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield, and HDH did; as a result, his tracks as both a writer/producer and performer were shelved at an alarming rate. The situation seemed to only escalate after his main songwriting partner Mickey Stevenson left Motown in 1967. Raynoma Gordy also claims that Hunter bravely defied Berry by angrily speaking out about the way that his white executives were treating the label’s longtime Black artists, songwriters, and producers, and found himself blackballed by Berry and those same white executives in response.

Hunter was thwarted by racism, internal politics, and bad quality control decisions, but sadly, even Ms. Fan Club President here knows that Hunter was never destined for pop stardom. Lacking the right image by a large margin, and possessing a voice that was full, compelling, and at times breathtaking, but also extremely unusual, even tagging his releases with the abridged, teen-friendly name “Ivy Jo” couldn’t help his chances.⁵ I Remember When is far from Hunter’s best recording; his only recently-released demos of Truly Yours, Only a Lonely Man Would Know, and Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever are all astounding and wildly superior recordings. Still, I Remember When is a track that possesses a quiet dignity and majesty that I didn’t know quite what to make of when I first heard it, but grows on me more with every listen. It was intended for his first album, to be released on VIP records, called Ivy Jo is in This Bag. When Motown shelved it, Hunter finally left the label that had never done him right. The sad passing of Frank Wilson two weeks ago, which has left me heartbroken, is a terrible yet important reminder that Motown’s greats will not be around forever. Hunter is 72 years old, and Motown frankly owes it to him to finally release his work while he is alive to enjoy the long-due acclaim that fresh ears would surely send its way.⁶ And I don’t just want the shelved album — I want the whole Ivy Jo Hunter anthology.

My absolute favorite Motown release of 1970 was the David and Jimmy Ruffin collaboration I Am My Brother’s Keeper, from which their cover of Stand By Me was released as a single that year; I adamantly encourage any soul fan who doesn’t own the album to secure a copy immediately. The Temptations released a strange precursor to Billy Joel’s 1989 We Didn’t Start the Fire; Ball of Confusion is a litany of social and political buzzwords without any stance, though one wildly offensive lyric does manage to work its way in nonetheless.⁷ And Marvin Gaye and (quite likely not) Tammi Terrell released their mercifully final single, the equally toothless but far more nauseating The Onion Song. More successfully political was Edwin Starr’s War, a powerful statement that remains a classic refrain of anti-war politics. Diana Ross had her first solo releases with Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand) and an astonishingly popular cover of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.⁸ In her absence, the post-Ross Supremes had their biggest hit with Up The Ladder to the Roof. And the Jackson 5 managed a third #1 that year with the incredibly catchy melody but disturbing pint-sized slut-shaming of The Love You Save. View a complete list of Motown’s 1970 singles here, and share your own top five in the comments.

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968

Sadly, we must pause at the beginning of another post to note the passing of an under-appreciated Motown great. Mr. Frank Wilson, songwriter and producer for Motown from 1965-1976, died yesterday. I wrote significantly about Wilson in my post about 1965; as head songwriter and producer for one of my very favorite Motown artists, Eddie Kendricks, he is extremely well-represented in my record collection, and I am particularly saddened by this news. Thanks for all the music, Frank; Rest In Peace.

After an unexpected hiatus, I’m back to finish up the last three installments of this series. Still lacking, as they forever after would, the cohesion of their 1963-1966 period, Motown continued to rely on an array of songwriters and producers, with mixed results. Johnny Bristol was actually the most successful songwriter/producer of the year, according to my list, something that back in 1969 probably surprised even him. Norman Whitfield was still working out some of the kinks in his new sound, at the same time as Berry Gordy threw himself head-first back into the writing game and operations started to shift further to California. Diana Ross was preparing to strike out on her own, while Marvin Gaye struggled with depression, and Stevie Wonder kept working on finding Stevie. David Ruffin and Edwin Starr both tried valiantly to become Motown’s latest male star, though neither would achieve the lasting success they hoped for. And everything the Temptations touched still turned to gold, though they had some stiff competition in some young newcomers called the Jackson 5.

All in all, it was arguably Motown’s overall weakest year since their big 1963 breakthrough. But luckily, that’s a comparative measure, and the results still turned into a great list.

1. I Want You Back

VIDEO: I Want You Back plays over an image of a Jackson 5 greatest hits album. I Want You Back lyrics.

With the label gradually moving more into soul music with the departure of HDH, I Want You Back is Motown’s best pop single since Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and their best piece of pure bubblegum since You Can’t Hurry Love. Even more than that, it holds the highly esteemed position of being Michael Jackson’s very first masterpiece. A family group of young teen and pre-teen boys, the Jackson 5 were first brought to the attention of Motown by Gladys Knight and the Pips, only for Berry Gordy to ignore their praises, not wanting to deal with the labor law hassles of underage performers. Motown singer/songwriter/producer Bobby Taylor eventually got him to hear the group, at which point Berry signed them instantly — and then promptly gave credit for their discovery to Diana Ross. After knocking their ages down a couple of years in press releases to make them seem even more cute, all they needed was a hit; they found one in Berry’s new songwriting group, the Corporation.

Intended to replace HDH as Motown’s hit-making machine, the Corporation was deliberately anonymous, with the intention of avoiding the “big heads” Berry perceived HDH as having grown. Comprised of Berry Gordy and the virtually unknown Alphonzo Mizell, Freddie Perren, and Deke Richards, the collective fell far short of living up to its overall goal, but did produce one legendary song. At the time, it was all the J5 needed. Recorded in LA — where the bulk of the group’s work was to be completed, strongly signalling a shift away from Detroit and the Funk Brothers’ sound — the track features an impressive bass groove by Wilton Felder and crisp, clear instrumentation. A story mature beyond little Michael’s 11 years, he delivers it with a precocious conviction, surrounded by bubbly backing vocals made for radio. This song would be covered by a plethora of Motown’s acts, including very, very well by David Ruffin, but none would match the pop perfection of the original. And though the Jackson 5 would carry on with many other worthy singles, their debut was to be the finest track by the last superstars of Motown’s golden age.

2. Someday We’ll Be Together

VIDEO: Diana Ross and the Supremes wear shimmery gold and bronze pant/jacket outfits and lip sync Someday We’ll Be Together on television set. Someday We’ll Be Together lyrics.

Sales wise, things hadn’t gone so well for the Supremes since Florence Ballard was fired and HDH stopped churning out songs. They stayed in the public eye with generally boring television specials and collaborations with the Temptations, but the group – or, more accurately, Diana Ross and whoever her backing singers happened to be that day — struggled to work their way up the charts. They scored a comeback with the catchy if moralistic Love Child, which remains a fan favorite. Unfortunately, with songs like I’m Livin’ in Shame and the atrocious No Matter What Sign You Are, they slid right back into mediocrity. The last truly great song released under the Diana Ross and the Supremes moniker was also the last, period; it was one of the finest singles ever put out in their name.

An utterly perfect, lush yet subtle production by Johnny Bristol would have made Someday We’ll Be Together an astounding single no matter who sang it.¹ That said, this is without a doubt my favorite vocal Diana Ross ever recorded.² Out of step with most of her vocal work, here Diana is sultry and deliciously laid back, almost sleepy, but never lazy. Her throaty “ay-hey-hey” transition from the bridge into the song’s final verse is my favorite moment, and always sends a chill down my spine. At first, Bristol had trouble getting Diana to deliver this performance; with both artist and producer getting frustrated, he decided to try something new. Bristol ad-libbed vocal responses to Diana as encouragement — his vocals, too, were recorded and ultimately placed on the master track. Though Ross is clearly the star of the show here, Bristol’s romantic harmonies are one of my favorite features of this track.³ When Diana recorded the song, it was intended to be her first release as a solo artist; when Berry heard it, he realized it was the perfect finale single for Diana Ross and the Supremes — the fact that Maxine and Julia Waters sang backup on the track instead of Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong being of little concern, as they had infrequently appeared on the group’s singles as of late. One can and in fact should argue with these internal politics. But artistically speaking, I cannot fault this result. Every single vocal performance on this recording is sublime, and Someday We’ll Be Together is among Motown’s best.

3. I Can’t Get Next to You

VIDEO: I Can’t Get Next to You plays over frequently grainy and entirely anachronistic images of the Temptations. I Can’t Get Next to You lyrics.

Ironically — I’d say tellingly — the best songs from the Temptations psychedelic era … weren’t very psychedelic. What I Can’t Get Next to You is is a fantastic pop song. On I Can’t Get Next To You, all of the Tempts get at short chance at lead vocal, usually changing vocalists every line of each verse. Yet, despite the multitude of voices, they act together as a single narrator. This narrator tells the of having virtually anything he wants in life, listing a series of exaggerated accomplishments and super-human abilities, but laments that despite his impressive résumé, the object of his affections remain unimpressed and oblivious to his existence. It’s an uncomplicated and somewhat silly love song, but the fact of the matter is that singing simple boy-girl love stories was where the Temptations excelled — certainly more than in trying to make serious social commentaries.

Musically, I Can’t Get Next to You is an interesting and innovative production for Norman Whitfield. After the excesses and incredible layers of Cloud Nine and Runaway Child, Running Wild that seemed to take cues from Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, I Can’t Get Next to You sounds stripped and earthy by comparison. The track opens oddly with raucous applause and a series of jarring shouts, before Dennis Edwards orders everybody to “hold it” and a piano quietly plays the opening bars before the full band finally kicks in. Whitfield managed to create a percussion-heavy track that sounds deceptively unadorned while actually containing a lot of understated layers below. This was a song that deserved the straight ride to #1 it got.

4. My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)

VIDEO: Wearing white pants and a royal blue velvet jacket, David Ruffin lip syncs and dances to his single My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) on an empty television set. During the bridge, he completes a lightning-fast and mesmerizing split. My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) lyrics.

David Ruffin’s reaction to being fired from the Temptations was, in a word, devastation. That’s not to say his actions didn’t deserve the response they got — if he worked for me, I’d have fired him, too. But for reasons I won’t get into — lacking the space for my full armchair psychoanalysis — being a Temptation meant a great deal to David, and he took the dismissal hard. But once he finished crying many tears, David got angry.⁴ Fired in large part for erratic behavior, David took the concept to new heights. First he called any publication that would listen and told them about how he’d been fired — only to, later on, stubbornly claim that he quit and feign ignorance as to how everyone got the idea that he’d been let go.⁵ Then, though he was the one who had urged Dennis to take the job, he started attending Temptations concerts, jumping up onstage during My Girl, and taking the mic from Dennis Edwards, who was left helpless in his love and admiration for David. (After sending the crowd into a frenzy, he’d hand the microphone back and exit the building of his own accord, leaving the Tempts with the uphill battle of winning back the audience.) Producer Ivy Jo Hunter cut a whole album’s worth of instrumental tracks for David, only for him to fail to show up to record his vocals. He announced the extremely short-lived creation of a new group, called the Fellas, and a role in a movie that never happened. But to have the biggest ramifications of all, David also hired an outside management company to handle his affairs, which should have been his right, but he knew full well that was against his Motown contract. When the company slapped him with a cease and desist, he sued for release from Motown, claiming (likely very truthfully) that they were concealing his earnings from him.

Of course, he lost that lawsuit. Always one to hold a grudge, Motown was to punish him for it in an impressive variety of ways for many years. They’d pair him with B-list producers and songwriters; they’d pass up his superior versions of songs to release them on other artists; they’d make such bad single picks that it often seemed entirely deliberate; they’d drop the ball on promoting quality songs; and they’d fail to release his greatest works. But immediately, in January 1969, Ruff and Motown seemed to have somehow patched things up. With a track supposedly originally intended for the Tempts,⁶ the irony levels were high, and the lyrics are easily read as directed straight at David’s former group-mates. Reverting to his natural baritone, David kept his heartbroken pleading act well in tact. This is a fine vocal, as well as a fine single, and it regularly scores a spot on Motown compilations. Unfortunately, while it seemed to bode well for David’s solo career, it didn’t. Despite the fact that he was to only improve as a vocalist, he would only see the top 10 once more in his career — six very long years down the line.

5. My Cherie Amour

VIDEO: My Cherie Amour plays over an image of the Stevie Wonder album of the same name. My Cherie Amour lyrics.

Like You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me by the Miracles so many years before, My Cherie Amour was actually the B-side ballad to an uptempo A-side almost entirely forgotten to history. Just as similarly, the choice of singles left DJs scratching their heads at the time and duly flipping the disc over, and fans today puzzled as to how the obvious hit could have passed over for such an unworthy competitor. I Don’t Know Why, the A-side to this disc, is a quality but not particularly remarkable song that might have spent a couple of weeks in the lower top 40, if paired with anything else, on the strength of Stevie Wonder’s name. But My Cherie Amour was the song that captured romantics’ hearts, and it remains one of Wonder’s most popular and best-remembered tracks to this day.

Rounding out a list made up entirely of songs about unrequited love (how’d that happen?), Stevie spends My Cherie Amour daydreaming about the woman he adores but has “never noticed” him back. Even more surprising than the fact that My Cherie Amour was originally the single’s B-side is the fact that it was recorded all the way back in 1966, after which it sat in the can for three long years. The song is far more mature than the other work Stevie was releasing at that time and features a melody that instantly sticks to your mind, along with a “la la la la” refrain that made the song an instant radio hit in the wake of Hey Jude. Lush strings and gentle percussion round out an excellent backing track, as Stevie sings over top with his sweetest of many vocal styles. My Cherie Amour was the second-last single Wonder would write with his long-time partners Sylvia Moy an Hank Cosby, before finding a new collaborator in wife Syreeta Wright. It was the threesome’s biggest hit, and it stays legendary today — not bad for the song everyone overlooked.

Bonus Track: Didn’t You Know (You’d Have to Cry Sometime)

VIDEO: Dressed in black, Gladys Knight and the Pips lip sync Didn’t You Know (You’d Have to Cry Sometime) on a dim television set. Gladys stands on a platform and the Pips, though poorly lit, display their always-on-point dance steps behind her. The audio on the video is slightly distorted. Didn’t You Know (You’d Have to Cry Sometime) lyrics.

As Norman Whitfield’s tastes changed, so did his artists’ sounds — whether they liked it or not. Accordingly, Gladys Knight and the Pips moved away from their funky I Heard It Through the Grapevine sounds that reflected Aretha Franklin’s Atlantic recordings and hopped right on the psychedelic — and Friendship — train. It didn’t quite work. Whit took more production liberties on Gladys and the Pips than he would on his established golden boys the Tempts, and seemed to use them for sound experiments, having them record reinterpreted and inferior takes of other artists’ hits.

But early in the year, Ashford and Simpson got their hands on the group and produced this lovely and notable number. Of the three singles Gladys Knight and the Pips released in 1969, this one performed the poorest by a significant margin. But artistically, I argue it was their best 1969 recording. Importantly, it also foreshadowed a turning point in the group’s career that wouldn’t come for good until a year later. Turning away from the percussion-heavy dance tracks the group usually released, Didn’t You Know (You’d Have to Cry Sometime) was not their first big, emotive ballad recording, but was the first original such track they’d released as a single. Though this one wouldn’t do very impressively, it was the style that would ultimately suit them best and turn them into international superstars. With both Motown and post-Motown singles like If I Were Your Woman, Neither One of Us, You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me, and their legendary Midnight Train to Georgia, Gladys Knight and the Pips would rock these soulful mid-tempo ballads for years to come, and excel at them consistently. This one certainly wouldn’t be the best, but it was the first — and best or not, it was also very good.

The Temptations saw enormous output in 1969, most notably including the majestic harmonies of Runaway Child, Running Wild, and the insincere mass-marketed peace vibes of Psychedelic Shack. Edwin Starr broke through with Twenty-Five Miles, and Marvin and Tammi hit again with Good Lovin’ Ain’t Easy To Come By.⁷ Jr. Walker and the All Stars put out the impressive What Does It Take (To Win Your Love), as Gladys Knight and the Pips tried to regain success with The Nitty Gritty and Friendship Train. David Ruffin’s last single of the year was the incredible secular gospel track I’m So Glad I Fell For You. And Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were eager yet fell flat with Doggone Right and Abraham, Martin and John. A full list of Motown’s 1969 singles can be found here; feel free to leave your own in the comments.

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967

As popular musical tastes continued to evolve away from the girl group craze and smooth pop-soul sounds of the early sixties, Motown continued to evolve with it. While 1968 was an overall less consistent year than the few before it — this was one of the easiest lists in the series for me to make — the label’s best work was truly brilliant, and the year saw some Motown’s most emotional and transcendent releases.

Traditionally, 1971 — or mid-1972 — has been recognized as the end of Motown’s “classic” period, being when they packed up and left their namesake Detroit; but I’ve always felt that 1968 was the last true year of the Motown Sound and the end of its golden age. With HDH gone, Smokey Robinson currently lying fallow, the Supremes stuck in a rut, and the Temptations and Norman Whitfield both going psychedelic, by 1969 the Motown Sound was done evolving. It had become something else entirely.

That’s not to say that Motown wouldn’t still produce a lot of great music in the last three years that make up this series. Indeed, a lot of great music would come out on the label even after the move to LA. It just wouldn’t be the same. There was no more formula, no more assembly line, and Quality Control had lost much of its power to individual producers. In 1969, you could no longer pick a Motown song of the radio from the first couple bars. Different artists were developing sounds more distinct from each other — which would soon be a great boost to singer-songwriters like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, but eventually a detriment to classic Motown artists like the remaining Temptations and Supremes. 1968, though, was a year that saw the release of some of my very favorite Motown hits. It was, in my view, the Motown Sound’s last great hurrah. And it just might be my favorite list in this series.

1. I Heard It Through the Grapevine

VIDEO: Marvin Gaye’s rendition of I Heard It Through The Grapevine plays over photograph of the artist. I Heard It Through The Grapevine lyrics.

After seeing his biggest success in Gladys Knight and the Pips’ version of I Heard It Through the Grapevine, songwriter-producer Norman Whitfield was still not satisfied. Sure, he had proven to Motown’s doubters that the song was a hit. But Whitfield knew Marvin Gaye’s 1967 recording of the song was a masterpiece, and he wanted it released as a single. To Berry Gordy’s credit,¹ he apparently refused to release the single again, this time based not on quality, but a reported desire to not put his artists in the position of competing with each other via the same song.² Never satisfied until he got precisely his way, Whit placed the track on Marvin’s new album In The Groove — soon retitled I Heard It Through the Grapevine — sure that radio DJs would pull the track off themselves. That’s exactly what they did, forcing a single release. Marvin’s version of I Heard It Through the Grapevine soon replaced Gladys Knight and the Pips’ version as the biggest-selling Motown single to date.³

I Heard It Through the Grapevine is, simply, one of the greatest tracks ever recorded anywhere. Immensely ambitious, and entirely successfully so, it is Norman Whitfield’s greatest masterpiece. It is also one of the landmark vocals in Marvin Gaye’s long and legendary career. Norman Whitfield’s instruction to sing the song slightly above his natural register initially caused some tension between the hotheaded singer and equally hotheaded producer, but as with David Ruffin (on whom the trick was originally tried on Ain’t Too Proud to Beg), ultimately resulted in Gaye developing a whole new approach to singing; he’d put this strained, angst-filled style to good use throughout the late 60s and 70s. Swampy piano work by Johnny Griffith, an outstanding drum track made up of all three of Motown’s main drummers, and chilling tambourine by Jack Ashford create one of the Funk Brothers’ absolute greatest and most collaborative performances. Haunting Andantes backing vocals complete the atmospheric and hugely unique recording. Whit was right to be persistent; this is one for the history books.

2. Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing

VIDEO: Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing plays over images of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing lyrics.

Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson were thrilled about the success of their composition Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, but very displeased that they hadn’t been allowed to produce it. They made enough noise to be placated with the opportunity to produce a version of their newest song, Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing, alongside the Fuqua-Bristol team that had successfully completed Ain’t No Mountain High enough and the rest of Marvin and Tammi’s United album. They were to win cleanly in a unanimous Quality Control vote over Fuqua and Bristol’s embarrassingly lukewarm interpretation and become Motown’s latest set of star songwriters and producers. Their cut features lush instrumentation, an utterly astounding Jamerson bass line, inspired harmonies in which neither voice is lost, and lead vocal performances that positively drip with sincerity and devotion.

Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing was reportedly the first track Marvin and Tammi actually recorded together in the studio at the same time, rather than dubbing their parts separately. As great as their earlier songs had been, the proximity clearly paid off for them; this is the most exuberant, passionate set of vocals in their catalog. Indeed, this is not only Marvin and Tammi’s finest duet, but also Tammi’s absolute greatest and most confident vocal performance; even renowned egomaniac Marvin Gaye seems to take a slight step back to let her shine. This fact is all the more remarkable, considering that by the time it was recorded, Tammi was already sick. Though she wouldn’t collapse onstage and be subsequently diagnosed with brain cancer until a week after the track’s completion, she had been experiencing symptoms for some time already.⁴ While it is regularly looked over in favor of both Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and You’re All I Need To Get By (see below), Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing stands out to me as the obvious pinnacle in Marvin and Tammi’s outstanding career. The emotional power of this track would never be matched elsewhere by them — and arguably, not by anyone else at Motown, either.

3. I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)

VIDEO: The Temptations I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You) plays over an image of title from the group’s The Temptations Wish It Would Rain album. I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You) lyrics.

I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You) is a devastating song, and not only because it was the second of Roger Penzabene’s pre-suicide masterpiece lyrical compositions. Too soulful to have made a lasting impact on pop audiences, the song nevertheless remains a favorite with fans, and for very good reason. David Ruffin’s monumental lead vocal has a strained, choked quality to it. Though technically begging his partner to stay, I’ve always felt this song was truly about mourning, and you can hear David cycling and stumbling unevenly through its various aspects in three short minutes: denial, bargaining, anger, and plain grief. Sweetly sad backing vocals and mournful strings swirl around David’s lead, as a jagged beat propels the song forward. But Ruffin is this song’s essence; spontaneously inserting far more pleading cries of baby than Norman Whitfield or Barrett Strong could have possible instructed, he sounds like a man possessed, conveying a pain and loss so great that his voice seems like is a tangible and fragile thing we are literally hearing shatter before us.

One of his finest vocals ever, this was to be David Ruffin’s last lead on a Temptations single before being fired in the summer of 1968. The popular version of the story is that David, at the beginning of a lifelong cocaine addiction,⁵ was growing arrogant and erratic, and even missing shows. While all of this is true, less frequently mentioned is the fact that he was growing loud about the group’s financial situation and relative treatment compared to Diana Ross and the Supremes — both liabilities at Motown, where getting ahead most often meant keeping your mouth shut, and particularly displeasing to Otis and Melvin, who liked to stay on Mr. Gordy’s good side. David would go on to have solo career that was often brilliant but rarely commercially successful, carrying on the most contentious relationship any Motown artist ever had with the label. This track is rightly chosen with regularity as an example of his finest work.

4. You’re All I Need To Get By

VIDEO: You’re All I Need To Get By plays over changing images of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. You’re All I Need to Get By lyrics.

Great love song or greatest love song? While not my pick for Gaye and Terrell’s finest duet, it just might win the separate competition of finest love song — ever. Forty-five years later, You’re All I Need To Get By remains an inspirational testament to transcendental powers of love. Opening with an airy backing vocal by Valerie Simpson, the song begins with a hushed, subdued quality before picking up steam at the 30 second mark. This is a perfect and firmly equal collaboration, and both Marvin and Tammi sound fervent in their devotion and genuinely moved by each other. A deep friendship and mutual respect for the other’s abilities fueled this duo’s incredible body of work. Together, they formed a wildly notable portion of the Motown legend. They are the standard against which all duets should be measured.

This song was recorded after the first of eight brain operations Tammi would ultimately have in attempt to eradicate her cancer. While she was alive, rumors would swirl not only that she was actually dead, but also that the well-documented abuse she had suffered a the hands of David Ruffin, and James Brown before him, were the real cause of her illness. These wildly unfounded rumors continue to this day, providing people with an excuse to pretend that they care about intimate partner violence — but only when it’s deadly, and only if they get to gossip about its gory details. More similarly than most proponents of this theory would like to admit, others make sport — as they would with many Black women before and after her — of labeling Terrell the aggressor and denying that she was a victim at all, insisting that she both provoked and deserved the horrific gendered violence she endured throughout her short life. As Tammi’s cancer progressed, Motown would release one more album’s worth of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell material, but confusion abounds as to whether or not she actually sang on the songs or was filled in for by Valerie Simpson.⁶

By the time she died at the age of 24 in 1970, Tammi had already ceased to be an actual person to most people and instead become a symbol. Fodder for debates about whose voice was actually on Easy, and a political football in contrasting yet equally dehumanizing portrayals as tragic, defenseless victim or loud-mouthed harpy who got what she deserved, rarely is she allowed to be a human being, or even an outstanding vocalist, instead of a prop in somebody’s agenda. Little remembered is the woman who suffered greatly, worked ambitiously, lived vivaciously, flirted shamelessly, strutted confidently, danced goofily, loved fiercely, and sang with all of her heart. Tammi Terrell’s story is heartbreaking, but she was not a walking tragedy. She was a real woman; and she was fucking amazing.

5. Cloud Nine

VIDEO: The Temptations’ Cloud Nine plays over changing, frequently anachronistic images related to the group. Cloud Nine lyrics.

It took a long time debating with myself and overcoming a lot of my own stubbornness before I finally conceded and decided to place Cloud Nine on this list. As a Temptations fan — a Classic 5/David Ruffin fan, specifically — I have an uneasy relationship with the group’s psychedelic era, and Cloud Nine, the song that started it all, in particular. In any case, when the Temptations decided to fire David Ruffin, they picked one Dennis Edwards as his replacement. Ironically, Edwards was not only a huge Ruffin fan, but also his friend. After Ruffin’s death, Dennis revealed that it was David who in fact came to his house late at night after being fired, before Dennis ever got the call to join the group, and insisted over his objections that he should take the job. Simplifying a long story, he did. And the Temptations were left to find a new sound.

David and Dennis’ voices are incredibly different. Honestly, I remain amazed that Temptations fans did not rebel against David’s replacement — and I have always been convinced that the Tempts have Norman Whitfield’s progression to thank. Overnight, they did not only have a new lead singer; they became a different group. This was, in fact, the only way they could have possibly survived. Gone were the anguished, pleading one-man leads and silky, cohesive harmonies; in were multiple leads on a single track and complex, multilayer, and driving backing vocals. No more classic soul sound, the Tempts were now psychedelic. It was a style that suited Dennis’ powerful voice better than any he had tried before or would try later.

Inspired by Sly and the Family Stone’s Dance to the Music, which featured multiple vocalists, Norman Whitfield devised Cloud Nine with his songwriting partner Barrett Strong. The track features a prominent wah-wah guitar by Dennis Coffey, bass by the recently deceased Bob Babbitt, and pounding drums by Uriel Jones. But the cut’s most notable feature was the use of alternating lead singers (mainly Dennis Edwards and Paul Williams) and the astounding, mesmerizing backing vocals that include many overlapping melody lines. Dennis Edwards has repeatedly attributed the writing of the Temptations’ backing vocals largely to first tenor Eddie Kendricks, and my hat is definitely off to him. Musical qualities aside, Cloud Nine was also the most daring song to come out of Motown to date, with its lyrics of hardship and escapism through drug use⁷ — even though all involved repeatedly attempted to distance themselves from the drug references, claiming they didn’t exist or that the song was a “cautionary tale.” Honestly, I’ve always felt the record is a bit marred by the fact that Paul and Eddie did their vocals better live on the Temptations Show television special. But this track has a monumentally important place in Motown’s history, and would dramatically impact all that was to come from the label for years.

Bonus Track: I’m Gonna Make You Love Me

VIDEO: I’m Gonna Make You Love Me plays over an image of Diana Ross and the Supremes. I’m Gonna Make You Love Me lyrics.

I’m breaking every single one of my own rules regarding bonus track choice to include this song. What we’ve got here is not a track by unknown artists, but in fact by two of Motown’s most popular acts, nor an unknown song, being a #2 hit and their most popular collaboration; it’s also a song by artists already included in bonus tracks throughout this series and a track by an artist already included on this list (twice!).⁸ But I just don’t care. I had to have it on here.

I may not be a fan of Diana Ross, but I am a fan of chemistry. And Eddie and Diana had it. Rumored (though never definitively confirmed) to be onetime lovers who harbored a bit of a soft spot and crush for each other, whatever they had going on certainly turned up on record. They didn’t lay down their parts at the same time and place, but even still their flirty lines back and forth positively sizzle with desire. The two absolutely should have recorded a duet album in the early 70s — they would have been a better match than Diana and Marvin (and at that time, Eddie was just as popular).

Eddie Kendricks sounds like an angel on this song — a sexy, sexy angel. While I honestly don’t know if/how the Supremes utilized this song, a version sung entirely by Eddie became a staple of Temptations’ concerts, and it was always met with enormous shrieks and cries. There’s just something about a man who looked and sang like Eddie Kendricks saying he’s “gonna do all the things for you a girl wants a man to do” that sends panties flying. Okay, Otis’ speaking part is completely unnecessary and should have been done by Eddie, who had a lovely speaking voice (as heard elsewhere on this track). But still, this is a fantastic recording — quite arguably Motown’s greatest duet not done by Marvin and Tammi.

The two most notable singles left off of this list are Diana Ross and the Supremes’ post-HDH comeback single Love Child and Stevie Wonder’s incredible uptempo version of For Once In My Life. Meanwhile, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas released the charming Sweet Darlin’, Gladys Knight and the Pips searched for another hit with The End of Our Road, and the Four Tops put out Walk Away Renee. The Temptations’ exquisite Eddie Kendricks-led Please Return Your Love to Me is criminally overlooked, and in the face of other huge hits, Marvin and Tammi’s fantastic Keep On Lovin’ Me Honey also usually gets forgotten. You can view a full list of Motown’s 1968 singles here. Give it a browse, and join the fun by leaving your own list of top tracks in the comments.

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Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969

The Pe’ Sla area of the Black Hills in South Dakota is sacred to the Lakota people, the indigenous inhabitants of that land. As a result of colonization, a non-Native family now privately owns this area and is planning on auctioning it off to the highest bidder. The Lakota people need this land to perform sacred ceremonies, but it is expected that the state of South Dakota will buy it to build a highway and develop industrially. To save their land from this irreparable “development,” the Lakota people are going through the only legal means at their disposal and attempting to buy back what is rightfully theirs — or at least as much as is possible. The full text from their Indiegogo page:

Pe’ Sla is an area in the Black Hills of South Dakota (just west of Rapid City) that is considered by the Lakota people to be the Center and heart of everything that is. It is part of our creation story. It is a sacred place. We perform certain ceremonies at Pe’ Sla which sustain the Lakota way of life and keep the universe in harmony. This area is currently owned by the Reynolds family. They plan to auction off almost 2,000 acres on August 25, 2012 to the highest bidder. It is likely that the state of South Dakota will put a road directly through Pe’ Sla and open up this sacred place for development. The seven bands of the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota Oyate (people) aka Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) have a collective effort to buy as much of Pe’Sla as we can at this auction (although we also believe that the land cannot be owned and that our sacred places were illegally taken by the United States). Yet we are trying to work within the current U.S. laws to regain custody of our sacred sites and prevent future road and industrial development. Our sacred ways must be protected and passed on to our future generations so that our children may live. This area of the Paha Sapa (Black Hills) is also home to many plants and animals who should also be protected. In fact, many consider that the area should possibly be a historical site, which would also assist in protecting it from future development as well. As Lakota people, our ancestors prayed here, at Pe’ Sla, at certain times of year, when the stars aligned. We cannot go elsewhere to pray. We were meant to pray here. This is what they do not understand. Please help the Lakota people. “Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.” Chief Sitting Bull, 1877 We have a group of young professional Native people that are dedicated to the promotion of education, health, leadership, and sovereignty among our indigenous Nations. Our goal is to assist in any way possible the purchase of Pe’ Sla by a collective effort of the seven bands of the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation) – the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people. All proceeds from this campaign will go towards that effort. This area would be open to tribal nations for ceremonial purposes. The plants, animals, water, and air in the area would be respected and honored. Please see http://www.lastrealindians.com/category/chase-i… for more information. We thank you for your hope in the future.

We are hoping to buy as much of the land that is being put up for auction as possible. The total amount of land is 1,942.66 acres which is in 5 tracts (300 – 440 acres each).  It is difficult to say how much this land would be sold for as developers may increase the true western “value”.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has designated $50,000 for the purpose of purchasing Pe’ Sla land.  By contributing to the effort of all the Sioux Tribes, we aim to purchase at least some of the tracts, if not all.  Many of the Sioux Tribes continue to exist in poverty and do not have a thriving casino-based economy as the media may have portrayed.  Yet we continue to fight for what is sacred, because it matters!

A more general background as to why land and the spiritual ceremonies performed on it are so important to Native peoples can be found in Andrea Smith’s Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide (bold emphasis mine; italics are the author’s):

Native spiritualities are land based — they are tied to the landbase from which they originate. When Native peoples fight for cultural/spiritual preservation, they are ultimately fighting for the landbase which grounds their spirituality and culture. For this reason, Native religions are generally not proselytizing. They are typically seen by Native peoples as relevant only to the particular landbase from which they originate; they are not necessarily applicable to peoples coming from different landbases. In addition, as many scholars have noted, Native religions are practice centered rather than belief centered. That is, Christianity is defined by belief in a certain set of doctrinal principles about Jesus, the Bible, etc. Evangelical Christianity holds that one is “saved” when one professes belief in Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. But what is of primary important in Native religions is not being able to articulate belief in a certain set of doctrines, but being able to take part in the spiritual practice of one’s community. In fact, it may be more important that a ceremony be done correctly than it is for everyone in that ceremony to know exactly why everything must be done in a certain way. As Vine Deloria (Dakota) notes, from a Native context, religion is “a way of life” rather than “a matter of proper exposition of doctrines.” Even if Christians do not have access to church, they continue to be Christians as long as they believe in Jesus. Native spiritualities, by contrast, may die if the people do not practice the ceremonies, even if the people continue to believe in their power.

Native communities argue that Native peoples cannot be alienated from their land without committing cultural genocide. This argument underpins many sacred sites cases, although usually to no avail, before the courts. Most of the court rulings on sacred sites do not recognize this difference between belief-centered and practice-centered traditions or the significance of land-based spiritualities. For instance, in Fools Crow v. Gullet (1983), the Supreme Court ruled against the Lakota who were trying to halt the development of additional tourist facilities in the Black Hills. The Court ruled that this tourism was not an infringement on Indian religious freedom because, although it would hinder the ability of the Lakota to practice their beliefs, it did not force them to relinquish their beliefs. For the Lakota, however, stopping the practice of traditional beliefs destroys the belief systems themselves. Consequently, for the Lakota and Native nations in general, cultural genocide is the result when Native landbases are not protected.

There are only 3 days left to raise funds. Donations as low as $1 are being accepted. Please give as generously as you can and spread this information as widely as possible.

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966

The Motown Sound was changing. In 1967, the label’s most reliable songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, would decide they weren’t making what they deserved and walk out, waving a lawsuit, to start their own label. Smokey Robinson, past his prime, no longer boasted his incredible hit-making power. And that left a series of up and comers, who had largely toiled in the lower echelons of Motown’s staff, to break on through with hits of their own. The most successful of those songwriters and producers — at least immediately — was to be Norman Whitfield, who then preferred a slightly earthier, more soulful sound to those put out by HDH and Robinson. But the HDH void was also to be filled by the glossy productions of newcomers Ashford and Simpson, who had long aspired to get their foot in Motown’s door. And Stevie Wonder’s ever-maturing and increasingly complex work was becoming a force to contend with.

The year also saw a couple of important artist breakthroughs. Gladys Knight and Tammi  Terrell were to be the last two women to become stars during Motown’s golden years, the first women to break through after Diana Ross’ meteoric rise, and two of the very best female vocalists ever signed to the label. While Ross would still receive a vast majority of Motown’s resources,¹ Knight and Terrell restored the gender-balance of Motown’s roster and served up some of the label’s hottest tracks.

In turns funky, melancholy, and exuberant, all representing an evolving Motown Sound, my top 5 tracks from the year are below.

1. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

VIDEO: Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell lip sync their song Ain’t No Mountain High Enough on the grounds of the 1967 World’s Fair. Marvin wears a maroon mock turtleneck and gray blazer; Tammi wears a matching blue plaid coat and skirt with cap. The two unabashedly flirt throughout their performance. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough lyrics.

Let’s get straight to it: this is one of the greatest pop records ever made. Opening with a vibes part so shimmering and dazzling that it verges on disorienting, the greatest duet team in history enters to claim their rightful title. Though technically about a couple that has already parted, you’d be hard pressed to find a more exuberant or romantic song in Motown’s catalog — as always, Marvin and Tammi sound like young people very much in love. Featuring rock solid drumming by Uriel Jones and smooth, grounding bass line that James Jamerson apparently considered his own best work, this track does not contain a solitary misstep; it’s hard to imagine anything else on pop radio ever being this perfect.

Gaye and Terrell’s first duet — something so extraordinary reportedly inspired quite simply by the fact that both artists were considered for the song — they did not record this track together, but it sounds as though they did. Marvin’s frantic vocal combined with Tammi’s smooth, confident delivery was to set up the overwhelming future dynamic on their recordings. It was one that consistently worked. This song was also songwriters Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson’s first song for Motown. And while Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol would do an unarguably brilliant job recording the newcomers’ track, Ashford and Simpson soon get to start cutting the material as producers themselves. Their work with Marvin and Tammi would soon take them all to new heights.

2. I Wish It Would Rain

VIDEO: I Wish It Would Rain plays over a black and white photo of the Temptations circa late 1967. I Wish It Would Rain lyrics.

The Temptations’ I Wish It Would Rain is many things: one of my favorite Tempts songs, one of David Ruffin’s finest lead vocals with the group, and one of Motown’s absolute saddest songs. A melancholy piano melody — written on a broken piano with only ten working keys — sets the stage, before David’s stripped and anguished lead enters. The lyrics alone are steadfast in their hopelessness — no sign that the narrator’s beloved will come back, no indication that he will get over her and stop crying, no light peaking out at the end of the tunnel. But the story behind the song is one of the most somber in Motown’s history.

One of a growing handful of non-Black songwriters at Motown, Roger Penzabene was a young and promising Jewish lyricist who had recently found himself teamed up with Norman Whitfield. Penning several songs for the the Temptations and Gladys Knight and the Pips, Penzabene was a man wildly in love with his wife, as documented on the fabulous Temptations love song You’re My Everything. Those lyrics soon took on a new meaning. Penzabene discovered that his wife had been having an affair and was planning on leaving him. Crushed, he poured his heart out into his two greatest compositions, I Wish It Would Rain and I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You). He watched both songs be recorded. And then, ten days after I Wish It Would Rain was released, on New Year’s Eve 1967, Penzabene failed to make his expected appearance at Motown’s annual party; instead, he stayed home and committed suicide.

David’s interpretation of this song is both eminently dignified and soul-crushing in its sadness, as he poured his own lifetime of hidden pain into his performance; it was the song that made me fall in love with his voice. One day after his own birthday and less than 20 days after Penzabene’s death, David had to go on national television and sing what essentially constituted the man’s suicide note. And, well, he nailed it, giving the performance of a lifetime. There’s no indication that Ruffin and Penzabene were more than friendly acquaintances, but placed in the unusual and intimate position of articulating the man’s most devastating emotions every time he went on stage, David never forgot him. In interviews throughout his life, and to audiences from the stage, he often told Penzabene’s story, seemingly intent on both making sure Penzabene was remembered and somehow exorcising the horrible tale from his own consciousness. I Wish It Would Rain is one of the Temptations’ greatest and most honest accomplishments.

3. I Heard It Through the Grapevine

VIDEO: Dressed in stylish street clothes, Gladys Knight and the Pips dance and lip sync their song I Heard It Through the Grapevine on Soul Train, while the Soul Train dancers dance around the stage. I Heard It Through the Grapevine lyrics.

Nope, not that I Heard It Through the Grapevine — Marvin Gaye’s version, though recorded first, wouldn’t be released until 1968. Inexplicably, Berry Gordy rejected Grapevine as Marvin’s new single in favor of the pleasant but clearly inferior Your Unchanging Love. So Norman Whitifield — never one to give up easily, not ever — took his masterpiece to one of Motown’s newest signings, Gladys Knight and the Pips. Gladys Knight and the Pips had been together since their school days (indeed, Gladys won a national singing competition at age 7). Having toured the country for years and become known for their tight performances, they faced a lot of trouble breaking through to mainstream radio success. Whit told the group to work on Grapevine and see what they could come up with — and what they came up with was a wild reinterpretation of the song, a funky dance record filled with complex harmonies. Berry still didn’t like it and refused to promote it² — so Gladys and the Pips did it themselves through their radio DJ connections. It would become Motown’s biggest selling single to date — that is, until a little single also called I Heard It Through the Grapevine beat it out the next year.

This version of the track has largely been lost to history, known mainly to fans of the group or Motown, but rarely remembered by radio listeners. When I first heard this cut, before Gladys Knight and the Pips became one of my very favorite groups, I was confused — and I didn’t like it. Marvin’s version is an undisputed classic, frankly one of the finest recordings ever made in all of music history. But that’s no reason to give up on this track; it’s utterly fantastic. The commanding, funky backing track features a far more authoritative piano part by Earl Van Dyke than the (also excellent) one Johnny Griffith played on Marvin’s version, as well as dominating drums by both Uriel Jones and Benny Benjamin.³ Over top, Gladys Knight and the Pips would lay down one of their many sets of astounding, fresh vocals. Knight — the best female vocalist Motown ever had, and one of the greatest ever, period — belts out her lead, sounding far less anguished by her lover’s unfaithfulness than really fucking pissed. And the Pips, who were perhaps the tightest set of backing vocalists and dancers soul music has ever produced, deliver an utterly relentless set of prominent harmonies. Definitely be on the lookout for this group to return in future installments of this series.

4. I Second That Emotion

VIDEO: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ song I Second That Emotion plays over various images of the group and single. I Second That Emotion lyrics.

Smokey Robinson may have already passed his incredibly prolific peak, but that wasn’t to say he didn’t still have some great hits left in him. This single is among the best of his post-1965 output. In a common narrative with an interesting partial gender flip,⁴ Smokey Robinson sings of fear that his female love interest is only interested in a one night stand and in the morning will “go away and never call.” Counter to dominant gender scripts, she’s the one who thinks that “love will tie [her] down,” while he expresses an interest in a lasting emotional connection, knowing that he cannot have a physical encounter without developing a deeper attachment.

The song features a lively, danceable horn arrangement and an excellent, playful yet emotive lead vocal from the master Smokey. One of my favorite Funk Brothers, Eddie “Bongo” Brown, really gets to shine here with a prominent, driving percussive part; meanwhile, Eddie Willis gets a relatively rare lead on guitar, providing key riffs throughout the track. The backing from the Miracles, as always, is divine in texture; Claudette Rogers Robinson sounds absolutely lovely here, and her voice blends with Smokey’s perfectly. All told, this song will always have you grooving and singing along. It was hardly the most innovative single to come out of Motown in 1967, but it was one of the best.

5. I Was Made to Love Her

VIDEO: Stevie Wonder’s I Was Made to Love Her plays over an image of his album by the same name. I Was Made to Love Her lyrics.

From the time of his first entry in this series back in 1965, the now 17-year-old Stevie Wonder had matured considerably in the preceding two years. Compared to the also excellent Uptight, I Was Made to Love Her is a far more textured, complex, and fully-realized construction. Written by Stevie with his mother Lula Mae Hardaway and his frequent songwriting partners Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby, this was quite simply both Stevie’s best song to date and an all around worthy accomplishment in a career soon to be filled with unimaginable achievements. His voice having now filled out, Stevie belts this number out in a style much closer to the one that would grace his 70s hits; he also provides a lovely harmonica solo during the song’s introduction.

1967 was an incredibly good year for Eddie Willis, getting a chance to step out of Robert White’s shadow not only on I Second That Emotion, but also here, in perhaps his most distinctive part on any Motown recording. But the real star of this track — yes, even above our young Stevland — is the man whose bass line Willis is mimicking on guitar. Rolling out what is arguably the singular greatest bass line of is utterly genius career, James Jamerson is essentially on lead, and he entirely steals the show. Fat, full, round, and bouncy notes flow in lightning fast melody from Jamerson’s cucumber cool fingers. The greatest bass player to ever live, he leaves you in slack-jawed awe. And whenever Jamerson’s playing, that’s exactly how it should be.

Bonus Track: The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage

VIDEO: The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage plays over images of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage lyrics.

Framed by the characteristic, melancholy guitar of Marv Tarplin is Smokey Robinson’s greatest accomplishment as a lyricist. An achingly beautiful song, The Love I Saw In You Was Just a Mirage features a heartbroken yet elegant Smokey Robinson at the high end of his range, Claudette providing a fragile echo of his lines. And it is pure poetry. Here, Smokey provides the most incredible, complex, and vivid images of his storied and prolific career as a songwriter, occasionally taking your breath away. It’s true that if you take the time to actually sit and break it down, the song’s story is ultimately little more than the old, misogynistic, evil seductress tale; this is an amazingly disappointing realization. But when he puts it into words like that, it’s still a little hard to care.

When he hits you with the lovely construction of “you held me captive in your false embrace” in the first verse, Smokey is just gearing up. Before you know what’s happening, he starts throwing out lyrics like Sweetness was only heartache’s camouflage; All that’s left are lipstick traces from the kisses you only pretended to feel; and Just like the desert shows a thirsty man/A green oasis where there’s only sand/You lured me into something I should have dodged/The love I saw in you was just a mirage. Doing only about as well on the charts as could be reasonably expected, this is, without a doubt, one of Smokey Robinson’s masterpieces. Luckily for audiences, he still performs it in his live shows to this day.

While I’m deep in hiding for fear of retaliation over excluding Diana Ross and the Supremes’ Reflections from my list, feel free to vindicate it in the comments or otherwise leave your own top picks. The two other most notable exclusions include the fantastic Martha and the Vandellas’ single Jimmy Mack — recorded back in 1964 — and the Four Tops’ outstanding Bernadette, featuring a Jamerson bass line on par with his work on I Was Made to Love Her. The Temptations released their brilliant love song You’re My Everything and my personal very, very favorite of their songs, (Loneliness Made Me Realize) It’s You That I Need. The Supremes — before their name change — also released The Happening (which I consider to be nauseating), and the far less popular but far better Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone. Meanwhile, Marvin and Tammi hit again with the astounding Your Precious Love, Brenda Holloway released her greatest songwriting accomplishment You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, and Gladys Knight and the Pips scored with a slinky, definitive cover of the Temptations’ Everybody Needs Love. And I cannot neglect to give honorable mention to Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher. It was not a Motown track — it would have made the list if it had been — but starring the most Motown singer to never actually Motown, several key Funk Brothers, and even a couple of Andantes, it might as well have been. A full list of Motown’s (actual) 1967 singles can be found here; give it a browse and share your favorites below.

Next:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965

As far as years at Motown go, 1966 is hardly the most historical. Placed right at the halfway point in this series, the year certainly was filled to the brim with hits, ranking easily alongside ’64 and ’65 in terms of overall quality. Indeed, this was one of the the most difficult lists in the series for me to narrow down to only five picks. But in large part, things were business as usual. The biggest artist breakthroughs for the year were Kim Weston (It Takes Two with Marvin Gaye), the previously-famous Isley Brothers (This Old Heart of Mine), and Jimmy Ruffin — all of whom rapidly faded back into obscurity.

Still, there were changes on the horizon. The year saw Smokey Robinson unseated as the label’s most reliable one-man songwriter and producer, and the biggest success yet for Norman Whitfield — who would not only usurp Smokey’s access to the Temptations, but soon become the man behind the vast majority of Motown’s hits. Meanwhile, Holland-Dozier-Holland was still turning out hit after hit like a fine-tuned machine, but it was to be the final year of their incredible reign. In 1967, they would release significantly fewer singles — I would say also largely of significantly lesser quality — before departing Motown midway through over contract disputes and leaving multiple artists in a lurch.

If Motown was down to a formula by this point, you certainly couldn’t knock it. The first four songs on this list are all so fantastic, you could just about shuffle them at random and still find yourself with an order that would be hard to argue with. Here they are, the cream of the crop.

1. You Can’t Hurry Love

VIDEO: The Supremes’ You Can’t Hurry Love plays over an image of the group. You Can’t Hurry Love lyrics.

One of the most pop-oriented records in Motown’s catalog, it was songs like this that gave Motown its reputation of having turned its back on Black music’s roots. But while soul music purists may turn their noses up at this track, it’s pure perfection. One of the Supremes’ most outstanding cuts, Diana Ross delivers an incredible, perfectly-phrased vocal that doesn’t miss a beat. Speaking of beats, this track has got plenty, with James Jamerson and Benny Benjamin demonstrating their ability to read each other’s minds, Robert White providing a rhythmic, jangly guitar, and Jack Ashford dominating the track on tambourine. Designed for radio and the dance floor, this is the sound of the Supremes at their peak. And at a time when virtually everything they did went straight to the top, this is a cut that absolutely deserved its #1 spot.

Just as 1966 was the last year of HDH’s reign, it was in my view also the last truly great year for the Supremes. They would suffer as much as anyone from HDH’s departure from the label. Further, 1967 would see the non-coincidentally simultaneous renaming of the group as Diana Ross and the Supremes — making explicit what had been heavily implied for years — and the abhorrent firing of Florence Ballard by Berry Gordy for “insubordination.” But Flo’s remarkably full and unique backing vocals (not to mention her boisterous personality) were not the only loss, as Motown largely failed to utilize Mary Wilson or Flo’s replacement Cindy Birdsong on future recordings, instead substituting them with the label’s house backing vocalists the Andantes. I have previously and will continue to praise the Andantes for their superb, skillful work. But having the same exact sound heard on records by the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, and many other artists was a huge detriment to a group that was supposed to have been woman-centered. In losing Flo, the Supreme not only lost a big part of their distinctive sound; they also failed to find a new one. Diana Ross and the Supremes will turn up in this series again, but the Supremes portion of that title will mostly be in name only.

2. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg

VIDEO: The Temptations, wearing tan suits and gold open-collared shirts with no ties, lip sync Ain’t Too Proud To Beg in front of a yellow and red television set. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg lyrics.

I know you wanna leave me — and with that, a thousand necks snap in the direction of the speakers. Going from one of Motown’s most pop-oriented singles to one of its most soulful, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg is an utterly epic track. Oh, we can spend all day discussing the horn arrangement, Uriel Jones’ dominating drum track, Earl Van Dyke’s piano, the backing harmonies, or the somewhat disturbing lyrics¹ and their fascinating expressions of masculinity, but there’s really only one thing you want to talk about when it comes to this song — and that’s David Ruffin. This track is the sound of one of soul music’s greats finding his voice. The raspy, pleading urgency was achieved on this song by Norman Whitfield instructing David to sing above his natural register without resorting to falsetto. This was actually a fairly common trick around Motown, but Whit and Ruff took it to a whole new level. Otis Williams recalls David “singing his butt off” a few lines at a time, sweat pouring down his face and trademark glasses fogged up, while Otis and Eddie Kendricks encouraged him from the control room. A result of hard work, this is a legendary performance, and would shape how David sang for the rest of his career.²

This song is also among the most important in the group’s catalog, not only for the career-defining vocal, but for how it severely altered the group’s future. Written and produced by Norman Whitfield, he had been on a quest for a few years now to unseat Smokey Robinson as the Tempts’ main producer. He was open about his ambition, but no one believed he could actually do it — Eddie Holland, who agreed to write the song’s lyrics, nevertheless admits to laughing at Norman and telling him he would never beat Smokey. He seemed right; at the first Quality Control meeting, this song was turned down in favor of the radio-friendly yet far less innovative Get Ready. An example of just how little control Motown’s artists had over their own output in the 60s, the Tempts were both shocked and disappointed, apparently preferring Ain’t Too Proud greatly themselves.³ But no one ever got far underestimating Norman Whitfield. Utterly fuming at his loss, Berry Gordy promised him a single release if Get Ready failed to make Top 20 — when it did, a hit was born, Smokey was out, and Norman was in. A rougher soul sound would become the group’s trademark, with David Ruffin dominating even more leads than before and helping to revolutionize what exactly constituted the Motown Sound.

3. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted

VIDEO: A black and white clip of Jimmy Ruffin lip syncing What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, frequently overlaid with his own image. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted lyrics.

Jimmy Ruffin was a man always destined to stand uncomfortably in his younger brother’s shadow. He was born first and signed to Motown first, but otherwise just couldn’t catch a break. (Indeed, Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, a #3 pop hit with David Ruffin on lead, was recorded by Jimmy first. Whoops.) Lacking the same powerful, commanding range as his brother, Jimmy ultimately reduced himself to regularly boasting that, in fact, the Temptations had wanted him before they wanted David. (Otis Williams and Eddie Kendricks played along with this claim for years, before Otis finally lost his temper and insisted with great emphasis that the Temptations never considered Jimmy as a member. Ouch.) But in 1966, he had a stroke of luck. The surest way to get a song at Motown was to hang around Hitsville and hear it before anyone else got a chance — and that’s exactly what Jimmy did here. Intended for the Spinners, Jimmy persuaded the writers to cut it on him instead.

As classic a Motown song as there is, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted strangely wasn’t written by any of Motown’s superstar songwriters, but staff songwriters who usually served to provide album filler tracks. William Weatherspoon, Paul Riser,⁴ and James Dean concocted themselves a masterpiece here. This song is an utter delight for anyone currently in a self-pitying mood, and What Becomes of the Brokenhearted is Motown’s most quintessential breakup song. Containing defeatist lyrics like “happiness is just an illusion,” “I’m searching though I don’t succeed,” “everyday heartaches grow a little stronger/I can’t stand this pain much longer,”  and “all that’s left is an unhappy ending,” the song perfectly reflects the post-breakup state of mind, in which it seems you will be alone forever and things will never get better. As for the decision to give the song to Jimmy, he earns it, giving an inspired performance rarely matched elsewhere in his catalog.⁵ What Becomes of the Brokenhearted is a favorite for a reason.

4. Reach Out (I’ll Be There)

VIDEO: The Four Tops, all wearing different suits, lip sync their song Reach Out (I’ll Be There) on a dimly lit television stage. Reach Out (I’ll Be There) lyrics.

One of HDH’s most accomplished tracks, the trio’s efforts here display an abundance of ambition while skillfully evading the pitfalls of self-indulgent excess. A polished single indeed, it is also incredibly dramatic, and several key choices saved it from over-produced pop music hell. One of them was to utilize the inimitable James Jamerson. There was something about the Four Tops that seemed to inspire many of Jamerson’s most inventive and outstanding bass lines, and on this track he again brings his A game with a trademark bounce and groove that sets this song apart and gives it its soul.

With a haunting flute melody (apparently provided by 13-year-old player Danya Hartwick) and an insistent, percussive galloping (apparently achieved with hands on a wooden chair), HDH has set up a series of contrasts on this track that build acute tension. That tension can only be released by the vocal of Levi Stubbs. As he would on the Tops’ equally outstanding Standing in the Shadows of Love from this same year and 1967′s Bernadette, Stubbs commandingly shouts the song’s verses instead of singing them. With the remaining three Tops and the Andantes providing an atmospheric set of echoing refrains, sweetly contrasting against Levi’s rough lead, his barking is not exactly the reassuring tone that the lyrics suggest. But the powerful, raw delivery and ad libs — Just look over your shoulder!⁶ — and refusal to give into the words’ saccharine qualities make this song the classic that it is.

5. I’m Ready For Love

VIDEO: Martha and the Vandellas’ I’m Ready For Love plays over an image of the single. I’m Ready For Love lyrics.

Somebody’s going to have my head for this relatively obscure pick, I can feel it now — but as many fantastic recordings as Motown produced in 1966, I  simply cannot resist the charm of this vivacious cut by Martha and the Vandellas. Featuring a thumping, prominent Jamerson bass line and driving drum beat,⁷ this is an exuberant song about throwing off the chains of inhibition. Previously comfortable being single and afraid of rejection and heartbreak, Martha sings ecstatically of doing some soul searching and finding herself newly “ready for love.” The lyrics by Eddie Holland are irresistibly fine constructions, and since I always love a skillful word invention, his repeated use of the phrase “moonful night” is remarkably charming.

Martha Reeves was one of the first artists at Motown to stand up to Berry Gordy’s business practices and obsession with Diana Ross to the detriment of other artists; unfortunately, Berry didn’t react well to challenges to his authority, and she would face largely the same stonewalled fate that would soon befall both Florence Ballard and David Ruffin. After their Watchout! album, which I think is their finest, the Vandellas would face other problems, such as numerous personnel changes that would weaken their sound. After getting stuck with HDH’s leftover for years, they were then hurt harder by the songwriting team’s departure in 1967 and struggled thereafter for chart positions. The Vandellas would have their last really big hit in 1967 with Jimmy Mack, a fabulous track recorded all the way back in 1964. Though my favorite female group, they will sadly not be appearing in this series again.

Bonus Track: Come On and See Me

VIDEO: Tammi Terrell’s Come On and See Me plays over images of various CD collections of Terrell’s work. Come On and See Me lyrics.

Tammi Terrell is my favorite female vocalist. Hardly a powerhouse like Gladys Knight or Aretha Franklin, Terrell was more in the league of Martha Reeves — a strong set of lungs and an outstanding abundance of personality. She didn’t have a particularly large range, but she did have a way of owning a song, of making everything she sang uniquely hers, and singing it like nobody else could. In my book, her ability to phrase a song is simply unmatched, always getting the tone precisely right — whether it’s flirtation, heartbreak, indignation, sass, devotion, exuberance, or desperation. Unfortunately, Motown severely overlooked her as a solo artist, and her solo work is always passed over in favor of her series of astounding duets with Marvin Gaye.⁸ And her incredible talent is too often overshadowed by the tragedy of her short life, made up of repeated intimate partner violence (most notably by James Brown and Motown’s own David Ruffin) and a long battle against brain cancer that killed her in 1970, shortly after her 24th birthday.

Recorded at age 20, this was Tammi’s second Motown single. And while certainly not her best solo effort — most of those were not released in her lifetime — it is probably her best-remembered. Written and produced by Motown stalwarts Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, the song is one big, well, come on. Though suffering from backing vocals by the Spinners that were mixed too high, Tammi manages to ride a fine line between innocence and seduction. Vocal highlights include her winking delivery of “I’ve got some joy love for some boy love” and throaty, bluesy shouts during the song’s outro. Tammi rerecorded this song a year or so later as a duet with Marvin Gaye (it appears on their second album, You’re All I Need), and having improved significantly as a vocalist during that time, I think she might actually outdo her original cut. If anything, this only serves to showcase the tragedy in the fact that Tammi had limited opportunity to record as a solo artist post-1966, with Motown directing most of her waning energy into the hit-making machine of her pairing with Gaye. Her several dozen solo cuts that do exist, though, are well-worth many repeated listenings.

Honorable mentions absolutely must go to both the Temptations’ masterful classic (I Know) I’m Losing You and the Four Tops’ exquisite Standing in the Shadows of Love — both of which feature the outstanding work of one of my favorite Funk Brothers, Eddie “Bongo” Brown. One of several peak years for Motown, 1966 was yet another to feature a smorgasbord of fine recordings. Further Temptations releases include the danceable Get Ready and the laughably insulting Beauty Is Only Skin Deep. The Supremes released You Keep Me Hanging On (which I feel very strongly should have gone to either Martha and the Vandellas or Tammi Terrell) and the incredibly charming yet lesser-known Love Is Like an Itching In My Heart. The Vandellas put out the fabulous yet little-heard What Am I Going to Do Without Your Love, while Jr. Walker and the All Stars had Road Runner, and the Isley Brothers scored their biggest Motown single, This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You). Meanwhile, Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston provided serious competition with It Takes Two and the equally great B-Side It’s Got to Be a Miracle (This Thing Called Love). You can view a complete list of Motown’s 1966 single releases here; give it a read and leave your own top picks in the comments.

Next:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964

The hits keep on coming, and as they do, these lists get harder to narrow down to a mere five picks. Holland-Dozier-Holland was still Motown’s premiere songwriting team, but Smokey Robinson was nowhere near ready to give up his crown as King of Motown. After a year of singles for his own group that went nowhere, he was back with a vengeance, producing their greatest work while keeping up a steady stream of songs for other artists.

Left without their first female star Mary Wells, Motown wasted no time at all catapulting Diana Ross into super-stardom as lead singer of the Supremes. It’s not a coincidence that from here most other women rapidly fade off of these previously gender-balanced lists, but a result of Berry’s carefully laid plans. New female stars at Motown would be born, but they’d be depressingly few and far between, and old ones would become obsolete with remarkable swiftness.

On the male side of things, Marvin Gaye was weathering a relative slump (which still meant respectable chart positions), and Stevie Wonder was facing a career crossroads and breakthrough. Meanwhile, the Tempts and Tops, always rivals yet friends, were battling it out for the title of Motown’s most successful male group — and while the Tops would win this year, 1966 would show that it was still anybody’s’ game.

Motown was now a bona fide cultural phenomenon, an unstoppable force. Whatever Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson may have preferred to call it, the undeniable fact is that Motown was sweeping the airwaves with Black music. While the label’s music would almost always be more popular on the R&B charts, Motown was making Black singers, Black songs, and Black style a major part of mainstream pop culture, with far less outrage from white folks than in the past.¹ Most boldly, Motown was openly positioning a Black woman as a new universal model of idealized femininity — and however problematic that ideal might have been, that is what we call a big fucking deal. There was no going back now; Motown was indeed the Sound of Young America, and it was here to stay.

1. The Tracks of My Tears

VIDEO: Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (minus Claudette), dressed in white suits, lip sync their song The Tracks of My Tears on the set of a television show. The Tracks of My Tears lyrics.

Since we last saw the Miracles, they’d undergone some major changes. For one, they had been rechristened Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, putting their star lead singer’s name out front once and for all. For another, we had seen the last of Claudette, though we hadn’t heard the last of her, not by a long shot. Having suffered a devastating number of miscarriages over the years during strenuous touring, she and her doctor decided it would be best for her to stay off the road. Inexplicably, her medical condition somehow resulted in her face and name going missing from every television appearance, all of the group’s promotional materials, and the album cover credits. All the while, her exquisite harmonies would remain as prominent as ever, helping Smokey sound utterly amazing, without most people ever knowing there was a woman in the group. Some would call it “consistency in branding”; I call it sexist erasure. Nevertheless, the Miracles — er, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles — would keep on trucking, and in 1965, put out their very best album, the absurdly brilliant Going to a Go-Go.

Leading that album was Smokey Robinson’s single greatest masterpiece. We’re talking about a man who both wrote and sang more perfect songs than most of us could ever dream; but none of his other works would ever reach the singular peak of the Tracks of My Tears. It just about stuns the words out of you. The elegant lyrics are pure poetry. The textured harmonies and exquisite lead — one of Smokey’s finest, most disciplined performances — make you want to cry. And the hook is effective and instantly memorable, drawing you in no matter where you are or what you’re doing. It then pays itself off with a swelling, decadent climax in the bridge. This song simply has it all. In my opinion, it is the very, very best Motown track.

2. I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)

VIDEO: I Can’t Help Myself plays over an image of the Four Tops’ name. I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) lyrics.

As a Temptations fan, this song is the bane of my existence — for the last time, people, it’s a Four Tops song. The common misattribution is not only baffling, since the groups ultimately don’t really sound very similar, but also insulting. The Tempts had plenty of their own smash hits, thank you very much, and don’t need to claim those belonging to other groups; the Tops, by the same token, certainly deserve to be accurately credited for one of their most fantastic and enduring works. I Can’t Help Myself (more commonly referred to by its alternate title Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) is as fine a representation of the Motown Sound as exists, a tour de force in less than three minutes. It’s among the pinnacle of HDH songwriting, with more hooks than a single song ought to be legally allowed. The track opens with a compelling intro, a variation on the main riff, before a drum roll launches us straight into the legendary chorus. The energy doesn’t wane even slightly throughout the verses, while somehow managing to not zap any of the excitement from the chorus every time it rolls around. By the time you’re grooving along to the fantastic sax solo (by Mike Terry), the rules of pop music tell you it’s probably just about over. One more verse, a chorus, and we’re out of here — but then HDH knocks us on our asses with the ace up their sleeve. When you call my name/Girl it starts to flame … before throwing us full force into the most energetic chorus yet. The song wipes you out, but you immediately want to hear it again.

Lead singer Levi Stubbs delivers an astounding vocal; later relegated by HDH to largely shouting his songs, here he gets to show off his real chops. He gets the tone exactly right, sounding both starry-eyed in love and somewhat distressed by his complete loss of control over his own emotions. As they would on many tracks, helping to create the group’s distinctive sound, the Andantes add an extra layer to the remaining three Tops’ backing vocals, making for an utterly divine combination. Sure, the lyrics are sexist,² but filled with half-rhymes, they’re also disarmingly and irresistibly charming. And that band — holy hell, that band. Funk Brothers leader Earl Van Dyke pounds out one of his greatest piano parts with his customary forceful style; Pistol Allen and Jack Ashford continue their great rapport on drums and tambourine; and let us please all take a moment to pause and bow before the great James Jamerson. Delivering probably his most astounding bass line to date, the man seems to have magically grown a couple of extra fingers;³ he is all over the fret board, throwing a dizzying array of notes at us while simultaneously managing to not overpower the song. Definitely one of the Tops’ best and most iconic songs, it’s also one of Motown’s finest.

3. Since I Lost My Baby

VIDEO: The Temptations’ Since I Lost My Baby plays over an image of the group’s Temptin’ Temptations album cover. Since I Lost My Baby lyrics.

Surrounded by bigger hits and more significant accomplishments that would alter the landscape of soul music, this stunning little gem gets lost in the shuffle. Stirring us with heavenly yet melancholy strings, David Ruffin enters tenderly at the higher end of his vocal register to set the scene of a warm idyllic day — only to note with pain that since his beloved has gone, for him “the sun is cold and the new day seems old.” Against the sweet yet slightly rough-edged lead, Melvin delivers an incredible bass vocal melody⁴ on the first verse, with Eddie Kendricks getting a short turn on the high end during the second. As always, the Tempts’ harmonies are exquisite and seem truly impossible in their beauty.

Smokey Robinson’s verse lyrics are perfect constructions, delivering precise rhymes, contextual consistency, and a strong grounding in reality with a nod to his and the Tempts’ working class roots⁵ (There’s plenty of work/And the bosses are paying not being a particularly meaningful reference point for the economically secure). The lyrics’ big reveal, however — in which it is ultimately suggested that the narrator has not “lost” his significant other in the sense of her leaving him, but actually misplaced her — might be an example of Smokey Robinson being just a little too clever for his own good. But the melody and rhyming scheme that surround this lyrical play is so divine, you just don’t care. You just want the Tempts to keep on singing Every day I’m more inclined to find her/Inclined to find her/Inclined to find my baby forever — that is, before David interjects an anguished cry of Been looking everywhere/Baby, I really, really care. And then, you want him to keep doing that forever. This is definitely one of the Tempts’ best Smokey-penned and produced tracks.

4. Stop! In the Name of Love

VIDEO: A black and white clip of the Supremes, dressed in slacks, blouses, and caps, lip syncing and performing the iconic dance to their song Stop! In the Name of Love at a racially integrated picnic. Stop! In The Name of Love lyrics.

Stop! In The Name of Love is one of the Supremes’ and Motown’s most iconic numbers. Apparently inspired by an argument between Lamont Dozier and his girlfriend about his infidelity — in which he actually yelled out the title phrase — the lyrics are a grating affair, making you want to scream at your speakers “DTMFA, Diana! Just DTMFA!” (Seriously, the arrogance of turning a fight about his cheating into her begging at his feet for him to please, please stop being unfaithful is infuriating.) Politics aside, however, this song is a masterpiece of pop production. The song comes at you with a burst of energy, three voices strongly in unison, piano pounding, horns blasting. Though mixed lower than he was on I Can’t Help Myself, Jamerson comes through with yet another innovative bass line, with Johnny Griffith’s organ driving the song along. Though it wouldn’t be all that long before Motown would fire Florence and start using studio singers on recordings instead of Mary and Flo’s replacement Cindy, this is one of the many Supreme’s pre-1967 recordings that show how integral the other two Supremes were to creating the group’s distinctive sound. Diana was the icon, but Flo and Mary were absolutely vital, always adding depth and resonance.

At least as famous as the track itself is the dance that goes with it. Scheduled to perform the song for the first time on a UK Ready, Steady, Go! Motown special but stuck without a dance routine, a very panicked Suprmes turned to Temptations’ member and choreographer Paul Williams for help. No stranger to choreographing in a pinch for his own group, Williams’ devised the legendary move, and he and Melvin Franklin quickly taught the simple routine to the Supremes. It’s simultaneously his most-famous yet least-credited contribution to Motown, with the song and hand gesture having become synonymous, listeners performing it themselves reflexively as they sing along. One simply cannot imagine the two existing apart.

5. Uptight (Everything’s Alright)

VIDEO: A teenage Stevie Wonder, with a close brush cut, black tux, and trademark sunglasses, dances and lip syncs to his song Uptight (Everything’s Alright) in front of a white dancing teenage audience. Uptight (Everything’s Alright) lyrics.

It was really hard to choose a final single for this list — my hardest pick yet — but here we are with Stevie Wonder, who wasn’t so little, anymore. Stevie Wonder’s role in the Motown story is enormous, but despite entering it so early, the fact that his best work was accomplished in the 70s leaves him under-represented in this series. At this crucial juncture, where Stevie was no longer cute, going through a voice change, and failing to provide a good gimmick, Berry Gordy was going to drop him from the label. (Yes, you read that right: Berry Gordy was going to drop Stevie Wonder because his voice changed.) Then a skillful young staff writer named Sylvia Moy stepped in to stop Berry Gordy from making by far the biggest mistake of his professional life. If she could write a hit for Stevie with his new voice, she asked Berry, would he keep him on the label? Berry took her up on it, and with Henry (Hank) Cosby and Stevie himself — already an astonishingly good songwriter at only 15 — Moy penned this song, which (having never been a fan of Fingertips), I think is his first truly great track. And Stevie Wonder has never been signed to a different record label.

Usually the last person to cut Gordy a break, it’s true that dropping the kid who thought of Motown as family just because he grew up would have been morally vacuous; and historically, it would have been worse than Decca passing on the Beatles. But while today Stevie Wonder is known as a fantastic singer, you have to admit his voice is unusual. If we didn’t have decades worth of hits to back it up, it’d be hard to think of what exactly you could do with it. Uptight skillfully answers that question, at least for the next few years. Still getting used to his new voice, Stevie half-talks part of this song and half-shouts the rest. It doesn’t matter; he carries it with confidence and exuberance, sliding in a few soon-to-be vocal trademarks. The track opens with blasting horns and is driven by a relentless drum beat,⁶ to the point where it sometimes feels like the only instrument on the track; that’s not a bad thing.

Moy would continue to be one of Stevie’s primary songwriting partners until he started writing all on his utterly stunning lonesome. Though rarely getting any credit (because sexism), she was among Stevie’s most vital mentors in his formative years as a songwriter⁷ and one of Motown’s best non-star songwriters. And in this case, she might have done Motown the biggest favor anybody ever did.

Bonus Track: Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)

VIDEO: The label of Frank Wilson’s ultra-rare Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) shows as the song plays. Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) lyrics.

This rare Frank Wilson track was never actually officially released. It nevertheless became a darling of the British Northern Soul movement and has been repeatedly called one of the best Motown tracks ever. I’d not go so far, but there is something a little magical about this single originally slated for Motown’s budding Soul label. Wilson was one of Motown’s staff writers and producers, and wrote this number himself, before having the release pulled at the last minute. Generally accepted wisdom says that Wilson decided he didn’t really want to be a recording artist, and wished to focus on his writing and producing; others suggest that Berry was underwhelmed by Wilson’s vocal abilities and didn’t want his songwriters and producers becoming singers.⁸ On this exuberant, shimmering track filled with urgent soulful shouts and a big gospel choir-inspired chorus, the West Coast musicians (featuring Carol Kaye on bass) do a fine job of filling in for the Funk Brothers. It’s impossible to say whether US tastes would have responded to this song and made it a hit, had it been released; though bearing several markers that show it was intended for mass audience, it does retain a slightly esoteric quality. But would-have-beens don’t matter; what does is that the song is fantastic.

Originally a part of the sparse West Coast crew, Wilson found himself working on Brenda Holloway tunes before requesting and receiving a transfer to Detroit. There, a still-rising Norman Whitfield took Wilson under his wing, even letting him release a single on the Temptations (All I Need), despite managing to effectively block Holland-Dozier-Holland. Wilson would work with a variety of artists over the next few years, but mostly getting second-rate assignments like the Temptations and Supremes’ “show biz” releases. Then Wilson happened to be waiting in the hall before a meeting with Motown execs, and my second-favorite singer Mr. Eddie Kendricks left the conference room immediately after securing his release from the Temptations’ and solo signing to Tamla. The two having worked together before, and Wilson being no fool, he snapped up Eddie has his artist right then and there. Their partnership would last 5 years and produce not only smash hits like Keep on Truckin’, but far greater works like If You Let Me, Darling Come Back Home, and Can I. In 1976, having clearly lost interest in songwriting a year or so prior, Wilson left Motown and became a born again Christian, today running a ministry with his wife. Do I Love You was Frank Wilson’s only Motown single as an artist, but his contributions to Motown were considerable, as are the achievements of this track.

1965 was positively overflowing with contenders for this list. It was physically painful for me to leave off Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ Ooo Baby Baby, which is one of their finest songs; they also hit that year with the thumping Going to a Go-Go, and the majestic My Girl Has Gone. Almost as painful to exclude was Martha and the Vandellas’ Nowhere to Run; and while It’s the Same Old Song may be highly derivative of a certain song that did make it on this list, it’s also my personal favorite song by the Four Tops. The Temptations scored with their My Girl follow-up It’s Growing, while better tracks from the Supremes’ enormous output include Back In My Arms Again, My World Is Empty Without You, and everybody’s favorite but mine, I Hear a Symphony.⁹ Kim Weston had her biggest solo hit with Take Me In Your Arms, while Marvin Gaye grooved along with the Smokey Robinson-penned I’ll Be Doggone and Ain’t That Peculiar. Jr. Walker and the All Stars broke through with Shotgun, the Marvelettes came back with Don’t Mess With Bill — in other words, you could make a great mix tape, and I’m exhausted just listing them all! View a complete list of 1965 singles here and leave your own list of top tracks in the comments.

Next:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1963

For the first time, you don’t have to be a Motown junkie to love this list — if you don’t know every single one of these five songs, there is something seriously, seriously wrong with your radio dial. A watershed year, it would see the breakthrough of both the Temptations and the Supremes, who would rule Motown’s roster for years to come, as well as those other beloved chart-toppers the Four Tops.

It was an eclectic year, seeing top tracks by Holland-Dozier-Holland, Smokey Robinson, and even Hunter-Stevenson (that’s Ivy Jo Hunter and William “Mickey” Stevenson). For the first time, no one artist is listed multiple times — and yet, they easily could be. The fact that the Supremes and Tempts don’t have multiple songs scoring is because there just weren’t enough slots.

And yet, Motown faced formidable challenges this year. The arrival of the Beatles, their unprecedented dominance of the charts, and the British invasion that came in their wake left a lot of American music producers quaking in their (Beatle) boots. Audience tastes were changing, and the music being put out by most labels was changing with it. With Motown only established for a couple of years, there was a real chance that they might not survive. Far from mop tops, Motown’s Black artists and sounds were rather different from the inadequate, white-friendly imitations British acts liked to do of them. But even as Motown responded to the Beatles’ dominance,¹ the Motown Sound ultimately persevered and strengthened. It was one of few forms of popular music that would come out of the year in tact.

To call 1964 “Motown’s best year yet” would be to severely trivialize the matter; 1964 was one of Motown’s best years ever.

1. My Girl

VIDEO: A black and white clip of the Temptations, dressed in matching suits, performing to their track My Girl in front of a seated audience. My Girl lyrics.

Anchoring the other end of the year with another legendary release after the immaculate The Way You Do The Things You Do finally got the Tempts some much-deserved national attention in January, My Girl wasn’t actually a hit until 1965, released just as 1964 closed. But single release date is what I’m going by, and so 1964 is where this song rates. Written by Smokey Robinson as a “response track” to his own My Guy composition for Mary Wells (see below), this ode to Smokey’s wife (and Miracles member) Claudette is one of Motown’s greatest love songs. It was given to the Tempts after Smokey caught one of David’s leads during a live performance and was blown away.² It would become the most enduring single they ever released, their signature song.

Taking over from Eddie Kendricks for the first time, one of the most intriguing things about David Ruffin’s vocal on this track is how he seems to get looser as he goes. My Girl was the first Motown song I ever fell in love with, thanks to the early 90s movie by the same name, and even as a seven-year-old, I recognized that there was something special about how he sang that last verse and outro. He goes from a careful and deliberate “I’ve got sunshine …” as the song begins to a raspy and fervent “I don’t need no money” by the time it ends. Directly linked to the success of this song, Ruffin would lead almost every single by the group for the rest of the three and a half years he remained a member, soon taking raspy to a whole new level. No mention of this song is complete without a bow to James Jamerson and Robert White on bass and guitar respectively. My Girl is exactly what any great song should be.

2. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

VIDEO: Dressed in a snappy tux, Marvin Gaye lip syncs How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) while white teenagers dance in the audience. How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) lyrics.

How Sweet It Is is the absolute cream of the crop of Marvin Gaye’s pre-Tammi Terrell output, and it is one of Motown’s and Holland-Dozier-Holland’s most perfect recordings. (I was utterly shocked to learn that anyone could possibly not worship at this track’s feet.) Putting that crooner’s ambition to good use, Marvin’s smooth and mellow delivery is the very definition of perfection. His reading is not excited or ecstatic, which some apparently find a flaw, but that’s just the way it should be. This is not a song about falling in love, or about how his lover knocks him off his feet every time she walks in a room. With fine, fine lyrics by Eddie Holland, this is a song about mature love, a love that has aged and aged well. It’s a song about the simple beauty of being fully comfortable with yourself in the presence of another person, and Marvin’s relaxed lead conveys that exquisitely. The reason he needs to STOP! and thank her, baby, is precisely because he’s so used to her and usually forgets to do so. This isn’t yet another pop song about how she’s “still the one” and after all this time manages to make his heart skip a beat. It’s much more honest and lovely than that, because in the end, that’s not what the narrator needs; as most of us eventually realize, we don’t need butterflies so much as we need “someone to understand [our] ups and downs.” A grateful reflection on how his partner’s life has made his life a better one to live, the quietly joyful mood this record strikes is exactly right.

I needed to break out my thesaurus on this one, because I found myself using and reusing the word “perfect.” Perfect. Perfect. PERFECT! That is the most accurate word I can find to describe this recording. Johnny Griffith’s gently tinkling, jazzy piano and the interplay between Pistol Allen’s drums and Jack Ashford’s tambourine make up the pieces of one of the Funk Brothers’ most beautifully understated tracks. The Andantes’ backing is divine. My most instinctive and reliable measure of a truly great song, How Sweet It Is always ends too soon. I listen to it once, and I need to listen to it again. And again. I find myself singing it to my cats. One of the largest jewels in Holland-Dozier-Holland’s lavishly bedazzled crown, and the best that Marvin ever got in his early career.

3. Where Did Our Love Go

VIDEO: The Supremes frolic rather dangerously through traffic on a busy city street while lip syncing Where Did Our Love Go. The focus of the camera is almost entirely on Diana. At the end of the video, an unamused policeman wisely escorts the group onto the sidewalk. Where Did Our Love Go lyrics.

After three years without a hit, the Supremes finally broke through and had not one, not two, but three #1 pop chart hits in 1964. Come See About Me is a great song, one of my favorite Supremes tracks; Baby Love is one of the most famous recordings the group has to their name; but their breakthrough hit, Where Did Our Love Go is both one of the best and most important songs they ever released. Originally turned down by the Marvelettes (to be begrudingly accepted by the Supremes, who felt they had no choice), it’s hard to blame them, and even harder to believe that they would have had the same monster hit with it. Indeed, while I either feel very strongly or know for a fact that other artists could have done a great number of the Supremes’ songs better, nobody could have made Where Did Our Love Go the way that they did.

Diana’s weak in the knees cooing would soon grow tiresome, but the wide-eyed, faux-innocent seduction of her vocal here strikes precisely the right note and does the bulk of the work in turning this ultimately thin and repetitive number into a masterpiece. The injured little girl act is deliberate, and there was no more inspired way to deliver a line like “oooh, please don’t leave me all by myself.” At points, you can actually hear her bottom lip forming a pout. A purposely sparse track, a classic Pistol Allen shuffle mixes with the distinctive stomping of floor boards, and the soprano of Florence Ballard (with Mary Wilson underneath) echoes atmospherically in the empty space. This is a perfect little song, and as far as Supremes tracks go, a couple may be as good, but none would ever be better.

4. Dancing In The Street

VIDEO: Martha and the Vandellas lip sync Dancing In The Street before an outside audience in different stylish pant suits. The video occasionally switches to a clip of the group performing in in shimmering dresses. Dancing In The Street lyrics.

From the moment those famous horns kick in, it’s a dance party. Written by the underrated songwriting team of Hunter-Stevenson with, oddly enough, one Marvin Gaye, this song is generally recognized among Motown’s greatest classics (though I’m actually with Nix that the designation is a little strange). One of the most iconic intros in Motown history — right up there with My Girl, in fact — the horns simply blast out of your speakers, followed by the steady clanging of Ivy Jo Hunter banging snow tire chains against a piece of wood, which gives the song its most unique and distinctive quality.³ The shameless appeal to hometown pride in the litany of city names rattled off is transparent, but always has you singing along. As for the singing, Reeves has much better vocals in her catalog, but this one is strident and powerful, and was captured in two takes — the slightly angry tone in her voice coming from the fact that they failed to actually record her first.

Somewhere along the way, a bizarrely large group of people have gotten it in their heads that Dancing In The Street is not about dancing at all. The impression is that “dancing in the street” is a thinly-veiled metaphor for revolutionary protest, even riots. But this is either baseless conjecture or wishful thinking — the first clue that Motown would never put out such a song is how, despite the fact that this interpretation is not necessarily a bad thing, they’ve always denied it vehemently. The fact of the matter is that Martha isn’t calling for or standing in solidarity with racial protest, and (while the political views of artists themselves obviously varied) Motown’s stance was always firmly integrationist and assimilationist. That’s not to downplay the political significance of Motown — it was impossible for Motown’s artists to have the enormous popularity they did, perform regularly on the Ed Sullivan show, and appear at the Copacabana in the 1960s without it being political. But that doesn’t change the nature of the politics; Motown was always about money and broad success over racial “authenticity” or uplift, with all of Motown’s major acts performing Broadway numbers, and Smokey Robinson proudly proclaiming from then to this day that Motown never set out to make “Black music,” but music that was popular. Even when Motown did slip into “political” and “social commentary” songs in the late 60s, prior to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and Stevie Wonder’s subsequent coming of age, they lacked any meaningful stance, let along radical ones.⁴ A political call to action it is not; a fine dance record it is.

5. My Guy

VIDEO: A black and white clip of Mary Wells, dressed in an open trench coat, lip syncing My Guy as she strolls along the edge of a lake. My Guy lyrics.

A signature Smokey Robinson tune with cute lyrics, swinging beat, and exquisite melody, I dare you not to sing along; you find yourself doing it without even realizing. A #1 pop hit, this was Mary Wells’ signature song, and a hell of one it was. Punctuated by hand claps, the interplay between Benny Benjamin and James Jamerson is fantastic, as is the distinctive and prominent yet understated brass section. Wells herself is in perfect form, putting forth a coy and incredibly mature delivery with mesmerizing phrasing and enunciation. Behind her, the Andantes create one of the tracks most vital qualities, a series cascade of echoing refrains. The bluesy little breakdown at the end is also divine, if sadly too short.

It was after her greatest hit that Mary Wells decided she could do a lot better than what Motown was paying her, and proving in court that they had illegally signed her to contract as a minor, she left for 20th Century Fox and would never have another big hit. Wells has been greatly maligned over the years for her decision to leave Motown, and it is true that ultimately she needed Motown much more than Motown needed her. It is however also true that hindsight is 20-20, and most criticisms of her choice serve as apologism for Motown’s bad business practices. They did sign her to a contract she was too young to sign. They weren’t paying her what she deserved. (She later had to sue them for unpaid royalties.) And in any case, there’s little doubt they would have lost interest in her after Diana’s big break just as quickly as they lost interest in Martha Reeves.

But Wells’ decision had far-reaching implications for all of Motown’s artists who stayed behind. A proud and vindictive Gordy viewed Wells’ defection as betrayal, was furious at the loss of one of his most successful artists, and vowed to never let it happen again. He’d ultimately fail, but that certainly didn’t keep him from trying. Surely not coincidentally, all Motown artists felt the company’s grip tighten on them; but in a wildly sexist manner, this was especially true for the women on the label. (The Supremes were certainly pampered, but Motown also watched them like hawks.) The “family” atmosphere at Motown began to disintegrate, and freedom grew less and less. Nonetheless, My Guy remains one of Motown’s most memorable tracks.

Bonus Track: Every Little Bit Hurts

VIDEO: Dressed in tight black leather, Brenda Holloway lip syncs Every Little Bit Hurts surrounded by bored-looking white teenagers and a bizarre interpretive dance routine. Every Little Bit Hurts lyrics.

Brenda Holloway was one of the greatest female vocalists Motown ever had, and they threw her away. Bested only by Gladys Knight in terms of power, range, and natural talent, she had the misfortune to be one of many women at Motown in the Time of Diana Ross. (I should be clear that while I have many criticisms of Diana, this is not one of them — it was absolutely Motown’s fault that there was only ever enough room at the label for one woman at a time, while an abundance of room for men.) It also didn’t help that she was one of Motown’s few West Coast artists, while all resources were going into the hit-making machine in Detroit. She was getting leftover songs, disinterest in the songs she herself wrote (though they were quite good), bare-bones promotion, and, as per her letter of resignation, hardly any professional wardrobe, hair, makeup, or even advice on the matter. Fed up, and seeing for herself what happened to solo female artists at Motown — they got paired with Marvin Gaye or ignored — she walked out in a huff in 1968. Like so many of the company’s former artists, a disproportionate number of whom seemed to be women, she later had to sue the company to get money owed to her.

Her most successful release was her very first Motown single, this elegant torch song recorded in LA. It was a powerful vehicle for her dramatic and compelling voice, which at only 17 sounded far more worldly. Usually going for a more sensual, slightly breathless yet weeping effect on her vocals, she belts out this number with force and conviction. She was a powerhouse — and as they generally didn’t with such female singers, Motown didn’t have the slightest idea what to do with her. Holloway may be one of Motown’s forgotten artists, but her work is worth seeking out. Her only released U.S. album, though suffering from a severe lack of up-tempo songs, is excellent. Her large bulk of unreleased material is filled with lots of substandard songwriting, but also contains plenty of gems, including her very own exemplary songwriting effort, You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.

If any year had a bevy of top tracks to choose from, 1964 was it. You can view a complete list of 1964 Motown singles here. In addition to the Supremes’ two other #1s, there’s the Temptations’ exuberant breakthrough The Way You Do The Things You Do and the Four Tops’ first (and memorable) single Baby I Need Your Loving. The Marvelettes would make a grand appearance with Too Many Fish in the Sea, and Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston would duet on a lovely little number called What Good Am I Without You. Leave your own list of top tracks from this year in the comments. And stay tuned for 1965, in which the Miracles would make a comeback, the Four Tops would rise to new heights, and the Supremes and Temptations would stay firmly on top.

Next:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969

A 17-year-old sexual assault victim named Savannah Dietrich — who has given permission for her identity to be made public — has been held in contempt of court and faces a potential jail sentence and fine for tweeting the names of her assailants. Dietrich did not make a false allegation, or even an unfounded one; in fact, her assailants pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism last month. But they are juveniles — like Dietrich, who they victimized — and therefore their “confidentiality” is considered of the utmost importance, and a court order had been issued for her to not speak about the case.

Frustrated by what she felt was a lenient plea bargain for two teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her and circulating pictures of the incident, a Louisville 17-year-old lashed out on Twitter.

“There you go, lock me up,” Savannah Dietrich tweeted, as she named the boys who she said sexually assaulted her. “I’m not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell.”

Now, Dietrich is facing a potential jail sentence, as the attorneys for the boys have asked a Jefferson District Court judge to hold her in contempt because they say that in naming her attackers, she violated the confidentiality of a juvenile hearing and the court’s order not to speak of it.

A contempt charge carries a potential sentence of up to 180 days in jail and a $500 fine.

“So many of my rights have been taken away by these boys,” said Dietrich, who waived confidentiality in her case to speak to The Courier-Journal. Her parents also gave their written permission for her to speak with the newspaper.

“I’m at the point, that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it,” she said. “If they really feel it’s necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me … as opposed to throwing these boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don’t understand justice.”

Dietrich’s very interview could also be considered contempt of court on the same grounds that her tweet of the boys’ names likely will be:

The boys’ attorneys, however, have asked the court to continue the order barring Dietrich from speaking to the media about the assault case or allowing the newspaper or anyone else to witness the contempt hearing.

Emily Farrar-Crockett, deputy division chief of the public defender’s juvenile division and one of Dietrich’s attorneys, said her client was advised that her interview with the newspaper could “potentially” be a violation of the judge’s order.

“But she feels it’s important to speak out and chose to do so,” Farrar-Crockett said.

This is how defense attorneys and criminal courts work — to revictimize sexual assault survivors in order to protect rapists.

Dietrich’s assailants not only sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious at a party, they also took photos of the attack and spread them around to their and Dietrich’s peers. While enacting sexual violence against her, documenting it, and joyfully sharing it, they most certainly were not concerned with her “confidentiality.” But now theirs has been deemed of the utmost importance — at the expense of the right of their victim to publicly name what they did to her.

This is an issue that comes up commonly in college rape cases that go through the school’s internal system. Often, victims are forced to sign “confidentiality agreements,” which can cover a wide range of ground, including discussing the attack at all, naming the attacker(s), or disclosing the outcome of disciplinary hearings. These victims more often than not wish that they had never gone through the system, feeling more vulnerable and victimized before. Having not only been assaulted, but also seeing little justice, they are then treated as criminals themselves and denied the most basic right — and frequent necessity of recovery — of discussing what they have been through.

In this case, it’s the government doing the gagging. While penalties schools can levy are severe, they are not nearly as much so as the potential for incarceration or a permanent criminal record. While these young men have not yet been sentenced, and the media is still protecting their identities and privacy, it is fair to deduce from Dietrich’s statements regarding the recommended sentence that it does not involve any form of jail time. Considering the court order refusing discussion of the case, and the fact that they are being tried as minors, it is also safe to assume that this violent and misogynistic assault will also not be following them on their criminal records into adulthood. Meanwhile, Dietrich has to live with the emotional aftermath of this assault for the rest of her life.

When survivors of gendered violence, including sexual violence and relationship violence, know that they cannot rely on the criminal justice system to protect them, public naming is a common tactic relied on to protect future potential victims. This doesn’t necessarily keep survivors safe, though it can; community members may still rally around the abuser, and the abuser may wish to confront the survivor, opening the potential for further trauma and abuse. This is to say that like all tactics for dealing with violence, it is to be handled with care, and no survivor is ever obligated to use it — only survivors can decide which tactics will keep them safest and which risks they are and are not willing to take. But it is valid and necessary tool among many.

The criminal justice system refuses to recognize that. It refuses to support survivors and then condones any methods survivors use to support themselves as dangerous and illegal vigilantism. The most important thing is to obey the all-powerful state and its methods, even though those methods are never set up for survivors’ best interests:

Farrar-Crockett said Dietrich looked at the laws of confidentiality before she tweeted and “tried not to violate what she believed the law to be,” not tweeting about what happened in court or was in court records.

Leslie, of the press freedom committee, said Dietrich should “not be legally barred from talking about what happened to her. That’s a wide-ranging restraint on speech.”

“By going to court, you shouldn’t lose the legal right to talk about something.”

But other legal experts said Dietrich knew the court’s order was in place and had a responsibility not to violate it, regardless of whether it was overly broad.

David Marburger, an Ohio media law specialist, said even if the judge is limiting freedom of speech with an order, “it doesn’t necessarily free you from that order. You have to respect the order and get the judge to vacate the order or get a higher court to restrain the judge from enforcing the order.”

Jo Ann Phillips, who heads Kentuckians Voice for Crime Victims, said she doesn’t blame Dietrich for standing up for what she felt was an injustice, but said she should have gone about it another way.

“This (assault) could affect her for the rest of her life and the fact that she said, ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,’ you have to applaud her,” Phillips said. “But you also have to respect authority.

“ … She should have gone to a victims’ group or her local legislator and fought for the right to speak out.”

Here, even organizations that are supposed to advocate for victims’ rights fail to critique the state’s authority. Indeed, they also reassert their own authority over the survivors’ rights and autonomy — she should have come to us, the experts, to tell her more about what she wasn’t and wasn’t allowed to do. There is nothing liberatory about forcing victims to rely on more institutions clearly intertwined with the the state that is victimizing them, and if it’s not victim-blaming, I don’t know what is. Activists, usually women of color, have long been critiquing the role of non-profit organizations in reinforcing state authority and institutionalizing oppression rather than empowering communities and challenging power. This is one instance where that role is made particularly blatant, and proves yet again why the criminal justice system cannot usually be relied on to effectively handle violence against women, and why alternate tactics and systems are necessary to both respond to and end violence.

While the victim in this case is a white woman, it’s worth nothing that these critiques generally come from women of color because women of color are significantly more likely to be victimized by the state and face little recourse once they are. Women of color have been thrown into jail countless times for defending themselves against abuse, but rarely see wide media exposure. At least partially as a result of already knowing that the justice system is not designed to protect them in advance, Black women are far less likely to report their rapes to police (pdf) in the first place.¹ The system works badly for virtually all victims of sexual violence, but that is not to say that it does so equally.

Relatedly, my outrage at the courts’ handling of Dietrich’s case and protection of her abusers is not to suggest a lack of concern about the rights of juveniles caught in the criminal justice system. But to appeal to a prison abolitionist framework in this case would be not only misguided but also an instance of appropriation. Minors caught in the juvenile justice system are often treated terribly; the system is racially unjust, with children of color much more likely not only to face charges but also to face time in detention than white children for the same exact offenses. Minors of color are also much more likely than their white peers who are facing the same allegations to be tried as adults, facing a lifetime of stigma and lost opportunities, frequently for crimes that involved no violence. But that system not only values property over bodies, but some lives much more greatly than others. What we are looking at here is not a rare case of concern for offenders where there usually is none, but business as usual. The young men convicted here have not been identified, but since 90% of rapes are intra-racial, it is entirely fair to assume that they are white. As they have been tried as juveniles, have good lawyers launching a vigorous defense, are the subject of great privacy concerns, and are seemingly not facing detention — all things which defendants of color are far less likely to get in these circumstances — there’s not a lot of guesswork involved. This is yet another instance of the system blatantly preferencing white men above both men of color and women as a whole. And a successful defense of these young men’s “rights” will not in any way carry over to or benefit youths of color, including those whose offenses were non-violent.

These boys committed a grievous sexual assault, and through proudly publicizing their violence, showed absolutely no sense of remorse for their actions or mercy for their victim. For that, they are being shielded as vulnerable persons in need of state protection. Though they were not so young as to not publicly brag about their actions, they are being guarded as too young to be held publicly accountable for them. They are being represented, by their lawyers and by the courts, as the victims of the over-zealous vengeance of a vindictive young woman who is wild and on the loose. A woman whose vindictiveness only exists because they sexually assaulted her. That is the protection of patriarchy and white supremacy at work.

Currently, many are debating whether the gag order issued by the judge qualifies as a Constitutional violation of free speech. I think that’s to radically miss the point. The authority of the court is such that even an order ultimately found to be unconstitutional is still legally required to be followed. The authority of the court is also such that these types of orders can be issued in the first place, even if, as is arguably the case here, there is clear precedent against it. Further, the decisions about which speech and other rights are and are not protected is still placed overwhelmingly in the hands of white men to decide within a framework explicitly designed to benefit white men. That system presents a problem of far more than just a few rogue judges. It is a system that is categorically unsafe for survivors, a system inherently based upon the dual whims of white supremacy and patriarchy, a system designed to grant justice to a very select few.

Whether Dietrich will end up in jail while her convicted sexual assailants do not remains to be seen. But what is ultimately clear is that she has not, and will not, find justice here. The sad fact is, she was never meant to.

Previously:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1959-1961
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1962

Though he did not join Motown until 1967, and therefore his work will not be featured in this post, it nevertheless seems only right to starting by noting the passing earlier this week of Funk Brother bassist Bob Babbitt. Brought on board to handle the work Jamerson couldn’t, he was an excellent bassist in his own right, and several of his most famous bass lines will be making an appearance in this series later on. With only three Funk Brothers still living, this is a very sad moment indeed. My condolences to Babbitt’s family and fellow musicians. Thanks for the music, Bob; Rest In Peace.

In Motown history, 1963 is notable for many reasons, all interconnected. In 1963, Motown’s premiere songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland formed. Brian Holland was a young songwriter and producer whose biggest success had been Please Mr. Postman, and who had been in the Motown circle back when Berry and Ray were running Rayber. His older brother Eddie, also one of their earliest acquisitions, was a Jackie Wilson-esque singer with incredible stage fright but an equally incredible knack for writing lyrics. Lamont Dozier was also a singer — one who, unlike Eddie, would eventually return to performing — who found greater success behind the scenes. Brian and Lamont would be responsible for the music, arrangement, and productions, while Eddie was the primary lyricist, finishing the songs while the other two laid down backing tracks, and then recording vocal demos and teaching the singers their parts. They were an incredibly productive and efficient team, working their method out to a science, and this along with their incredible skill contributed to their prominence.

Not coincidentally, 1963 has been noted as the year that saw the start of the Motown assembly line. This is a difficult thing to pin down, with several of its features, or at least rudimentary versions, having already been in place in prior years. The “assembly line” is dubbed such because of its basis in inspiration from real assembly lines at Detroit’s auto factories, and represents the label’s regimented, efficient, and incredibly quick way of recording and releasing singles. The assembly line’s most famous feature is its Quality Control meetings, which eventually took place every Friday morning. Producers would play their latest recordings, and they would get voted up or down for release by other producers, sometimes from teenagers pulled off the street, and by Berry himself; these meetings could be rough and get incredibly heated, and standards were often set very high. Whether or not the assembly line really started in ’63 or had existed in some form prior, Motown released a lot more singles and albums that year than they had any year before. The studio started running longer hours; songwriters started getting more competitive; and producers started lining up outside Hitsville’s one studio, round the clock, waiting for their hour or two with the band to lay down what they hoped would be their latest hit (and its B-side).

Just as hard to precisely put your finger on but also notably given credit to this year, and inextricably intertwined with the emergence of both HDH and the assembly line, is the birth of the Motown Sound. I’ve said before that the Motown Sound, while instantly recognizable and inimitable, is something incredibly difficult to define. I’m surely not qualified for the task. While, as with the assembly line, many qualities of the Motown Sound could be found on countless previous recordings, 1963 was undoubtedly the year that the Motown Sound coalesced, the year you could start picking a Motown record off the radio before the singer came in.

It was a good year for Motown. It was a a good year for Martha and the Vandellas, a good year for Marvin Gaye, and an absolutely great year for Holland-Dozier-Holland. It was probably the last year before Motown completely lost its innocence, when artists would talk about Motown as “family” and do so with an entirely straight face. Though the music was still great — in fact, it got better — that would very soon no longer be true. One cannot help but relish in the youth and joy present on all of these tracks.

1. (Love Is Like a) Heat Wave

VIDEO: Martha and the Vandellas dance and lip sync to their song Heat Wave in front of a crowd of dancing teenagers. (Love Is Like a) Heat Wave lyrics.

One of the most brilliant records Motown ever released, this song is on fire from start to finish. The backing track is all horns and drums, and the vocals are nothing less than a tour de force. Filled to the brim with verve, female lust hits the dance floor. Martha is at her very best, sounding truly overwhelmed with desire; the Vandellas are slaying it, making a much greater sound than two women should have been able; and with Richard “Pistol” Allen leading the way, the Funk  Brothers are giving the performance of a lifetime. A blast of life and frenzy, it always feels over just as soon as it starts; and then you’ve got to play it again. If this isn’t the Motown Sound, I don’t know what the hell is. But in the end, who cares what you call it? It’s one of the best damn sounds that’s ever going to come out of your speakers.

2. Can I Get a Witness

VIDEO: A suit-wearing Mavin Gaye lip syncs his song Can I Get a Witness on a TV set, as white go-go dancers enthusiastically whip their hair around him. Can I Get a Witness lyrics.

Before he was the legend he is today, Marvin Gaye was one of the most sought-after artists at Motown by writers and producers. At a company where producers carefully guarded their own acts against encroachment, anybody who was ever anybody at Motown nevertheless eventually wrote and/or produced a hit for Marvin. This one was another by the untouchable HDH, and it’s as soulful a track as Motown ever produced. With a gospel organ, big drums, a fervent vocal, and common church refrain used in a secular context, this is a deliberate attempt at pure soul music, from a company that otherwise shunted its few artists they thought were pure soul to a separate label.¹ Along with work from Gladys Knight and the Pips and a several Temptations cuts, it’s among the most authentic soul Motown ever made in the 60s.

Not dissimilar to HDH’s prior Heat Wave, but out of step with a great deal of their later catalog, this is a raucous little number, and another true band record. Strangely, however, it’s one that doesn’t feature most of the regular Funk Brothers, with Benny Benjamin on drums and Eddie Willis on guitar being the main usual suspects. All the same, George Fowler’s organ is killer, as are the horn players. The Supremes fail fill the big hole left in Marvin’s backing vocals by Martha and the Vandellas’ departure for their own recordings, and their absence, along with James Jamerson’s, is the one big regret to be found. But this is a fantastic record, the kind you’re inclined to play over and over again, with Marvin’s occasionally strained, soulful shouts giving us a hint at the places he’d later go.

3. Come And Get These Memories

VIDEO: Come and Get These Memories plays over an animation of various images of and relating to Martha and the Vandellas. Come and Get These Memories lyrics.

A brilliant kissoff, and both Martha and the Vandellas’ and HDH’s very first hit. Secretary Martha Reeves had been attempting to work her way into the studio for some time when Mary Wells one day failed to show up to a session, and Martha got her big break. A few cuts later, the Vandellas would be the first recipient of the HDH boon, though neither its biggest nor last. While surely debatable, this song has been noted by many as the first true “Motown Sound” record, including by an excited Berry Gordy, who upon hearing the track supposedly exclaimed something like “That’s the Motown Sound! That’s the sound I’ve been looking for.”²

On this letter to an ex who she has freshly realized doesn’t deserve her, Martha sounds mildly miffed, but mostly breezy and businesslike. Eager to be rid of her ex’s ubiquitous and insidious presence in her home — precisely the kind of thing you don’t notice until you break up — she wants his things gone so she can start over again. More annoyed than mournful, there is no expected plea for his return, but rather the declaration that she’s found somebody new, and can he please come and get his shit already. The snide entreaty to “give them to your new love” is fresh, cheeky, and delicious, while the Vandellas’ chipper enjoinder to “come and get it!” provides an almost comedic backdrop to the surely-resulting deflated male ego. Recorded slightly too slowly, this song always sounded a bit better to me at the faster tempo the group used during live performances. But every time I hear it, it is stuck in my head for positively hours.  And yet, I rarely find myself resenting that fact. With a big Benny Benjamin drumbeat taking inspiration from both jazz and military styles, classic piano by Joe Hunter, and danceable horn section, it’s not exactly something you want to stop humming. If not the first Motown Sound record, it is among its better representations. And it’s definitely one of Martha and the Vandellas’ most brilliant tracks.

4. Mickey’s Monkey

VIDEO: The male members of the Miracles lip sync to Mickey’s Monkey in low-cut shirts on a small stage, surrounded by dancing teenagers. The video occasionally switches to a clip of the group performing the song on Ready, Steady, Go with the help of the Supremes, the Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, and Dusty Springfield. Mickey’s Monkey lyrics.

Not one of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s more dignified attempts, it nonetheless scored a hit, sparked a dance craze, and inspired spontaneous outbursts of Lum De Lum De Lai all across the nation. Perhaps the most gimmicky track in Motown’s catalog, one feels compelled to protect their personal claim to good taste by turning their nose up at it. But if one is smart, they’ll eventually realize that it’s fruitless to resist — and coolness points aside, stubbornly refusing to dance along is hurting you rather than serving you well.

One thing to be said for Smokey is that he’s always been a good sport, and just as it’s hard to imagine anybody else doing this song justice when he sweetly hits that high note on Lai, it’s equally hard to imagine anyone throwing themselves as completely into this vocal. He’s utterly convincing here — he makes you think that he really wants you to do Mickey’s Monkey with him, and that enthusiasm is infectious. Smokey walked in on Lamont Dozier working on the song, when it was mainly a piano part and refrain, and wisely snatched it up before anyone else got the chance. Sure, the lyrics are vapid; but unlike with Do You Love Me, I find the quality of the hook cancels it out, if it doesn’t quite justify it. Claudette sounds great on this song, too, as do the horns and Benny Benjamin’s utterly enormous back beat. A silly song, absolutely, but a hell of a catchy one all the same.

5. Pride and Joy

VIDEO: Marvin Gaye, wearing a sports coat, open shirt collar, and no tie, lip syncs Pride and Joy on a television show, in front of a mostly-white teenage audience. White female dancers in tee-shirts perform behind him. Pride and Joy lyrics.

Enter Norman Whitfield. A quiet, skinny kid with a staring problem, Whitfield got himself into the Motown control room through sheer persistence (which always seemed to impress Berry Gordy more than anything else). Creeping out engineers by silently studying their every move, Norman absorbed all and would put it to good use. Becoming Motown’s primary hit-maker after Holland-Dozier-Holland walked out in a huff, until then he would have to subsist on their and Smokey Robinson’s scraps, fighting tooth and nail in quality control meetings for releases. This charming and elegant number, which he wrote with Gaye and Mickey Stevenson, but undoubtedly to his chagrin did not get to produce³, was his first success.

Starting with a series of distinctive, infectious hand claps (a Motown Sound staple), Pride and Joy is a bubbly, ambling track, driven by Joe Hunter’s fabulous and prominent piano work. Trying to slip a little of his old crooner’s style under the radar, Marvin’s starts singing in a style clearly influenced by Sam Cooke before gradually sliding into something a rougher and looser. In their last of three sets of backing vocals for Marvin, the Vandellas shine as brightly as ever, and are one of the track’s highlights and main attractions. (Marvin used to joke that the group got it’s name from a tendency to “vandalize” all of his songs by upstaging him.⁴)

Bonus Track: I Want a Love I Can See

VIDEO: I Want a Love I Can See plays over an image of the Temptations’ first album. I Want a Love I Can See lyrics.

Almost two years down the line, Motown was running out of options for the hitless Temptations. In their most bizarre move yet, the label rebranded the Tempts “the Pirates” for one single release, and to the Tempts’ great relief, that, too, failed. Berry Gordy sure as hell couldn’t write them a hit, but maybe Smokey Robinson could. In fact, he did, and would turn out to be one of two magic ingredients that assured the group’s success — but it would take a while. His first A-side for the group was this little number, with a great groove, excellent musicianship, and big old soulful vocal by none other than Paul Williams.

Originally sharing lead vocal duties in the Tempts with Eddie Kendricks, Paul found his voice long before Eddie did, but would eventually be overshadowed by him. Paul’s story is an incredibly sad one, and not only because health problems, including alcoholism, forced him to leave the group against his will in 1971, or because he committed suicide in the summer of 1973. Paul Williams was the heart and soul of the Temptations; no one ever believed in the Tempts the way that Paul believed in them. He choreographed their dance routines, was in charge of making sure every one was on point onstage, and gave everyone much-needed pep talks when they thought their moment would never come. Without Paul, though we likely would have heard from a couple of its members, the Temptations would have never happened. They needed him desperately.

But the Temptations weren’t necessarily good for Paul. Had he found himself in a different group, his big, emotive, and commanding yet restrained vocals would have automatically rendered him lead singer, and he might be a legend today. Instead, he had the bad luck to end up in a group with Ruffin and Kendricks. When The Way You Do The Things You Do hit the next year with Eddie on lead, Paul surely thought his moment would come next. It never did. He struggled to get more than a solitary lead on the group’s albums; his best studio performance never saw release; though eventually billed as a double A-side, even his excellent Don’t Look Back was looked over for the pop-oriented yet clearly inferior My Baby. He had a brief shining moment in the sun during a wild reception to his brilliant performance of For Once In My Life on national television, and would hear his voice on the radio for a few seconds at a a time once David Ruffin was out of the group and the five lead singers format was put in his place. But mostly, he would be faded to the background, for Kendricks, for Ruffin, even for late-comer Dennis Edwards. And he surely didn’t belong there. This is not his best track, but it is a fantastic one nonetheless.

One can view a full list of Motown singles released in 1963 here. Maybe you prefer Mary Wells’ or the Marvelettes’ output from this year. The Miracles released quality songs in 1963 that bombed on the charts, and Little Stevie Wonder had his first hit with Fingertips (Part 2). Feel free to leave your own top 1963 tracks in the comments. In the next installment of this series, we’re about to visit one of Motown’s best years ever.

Next:
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1964
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1965
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1966
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1967
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1968
Top 5 Motown Singles: 1969