The Ten Greatest Motown Songs Of All Time
October 27, 2007
It’s not really the greatest ten Motown songs of all time. Sorry if I tricked you with the thread title. As is traditional with this sort of list, I’ve gone for ten songs by ten different artists. If I was going for the ten greatest songs of all time, it would probably be narrowed down to about four acts, which, in my opinion, tower head and shoulders above more or less every other musical act in the entire history of music. So, I’ve made it trickier for myself and, by extension, you lot. Ten different acts. Well, nine, actually. I couldn’t resist putting in two tracks by The Temptations.
10. The Commodores – “Machine Gun”: It is something of a tragedy that The Commodores are remembered as balladeering crooners, and that their legacy is often mistaken for the largely atrocious solo career of Lionel Ritchie. In the beginning, they were a hard-funkin’ band, and “Machine Gun”, the title track of their debut album, was much more typical of their sound at the time. It’s as tight as anything that more critically lauded bands of the time managed, and it broke them as a band on both sides of the Atlantic. Brilliant stuff.
9. Rare Earth – “Every Now And Then We Get To Go On Down To Miami”: A guilty pleasure, for sure. Firstly, Rare Earth were not the first white act to sign for Motown. That honour went to Nick & The Jaguars. They did, however, inspire the bile of Gil Scott-Heron in “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, which is a large (and somewhat unfair) chunk of their legacy. The thing about Rare Earth (Scott-Heron added a British Invasion-esque “The” to their name) was that they were, depending on your outlook, a rock band with soul or a soul band that rocked out. This brilliant song, from their 1972 album “Willie Remembers”, isn’t necessarily their most famous, but I’ll happily bet a pound to a penny that you’re tapping your toes to it by the time it gets to the first chorus.
8. The Supremes – “You Keep Me Hanging On”: Now, I happen to know that this placing will upset at least one person, but I’m not certain that this is a brilliant performance by The Supremes themselves, and for that it drops about five places in the list. As a song, however, it is the stand-out song written for them, and shows the first signs that Motown was prepared to break away from the “Hitsville USA” mould and experiment, musically. I don’t know whether the jangling guitar is supposed to sound like Sputnik orbiting the earth, but it does. It also has an endearing, relentless quality – when all the other instruments cut out, the guitar starts up again and the song bursts back into life. It’s still the high-water mark of Diana Ross’s career, which says a lot about the rubbish that she’s being putting out since she left the rest of them behind.
7. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “Heatwave”: This song is probably the closest to what I would describe as the traditional “Hitsville” sound of Motown that ruled the roost on the label until about 1965, and it was a close call between it and “Dancin’ In The Street” to make the cut. It’s also the oldest song in this top ten, released in 1962. Even so, it shows the first flowering of the lyrical subtlety that was a signature of the best Motown music – “Has high blood pressure got a hold on me, or is this the way life’s supposed to be?” is one of the greatest lyrics in the entire history of pop music.
6. The Temptations – “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”: To be honest, I cringe at gangsta rap. There are plenty of people who are happy to stereotype black American men as being violent, ignorant thugs, without black Americans playing up to it for the amusement of white kids from the suburbs. So, here’s something from the opposite end of the spectrum – a man who is prepared to do anything, including humiliating himself, in order to keep the love of his life. This is the “Classic Five” version of The Temptations, featuring David Ruffin, and just before he went a bit mad and started insisting on being driven around in a private fur-lined limousine. Also, that instrumental break: two notes on the saxophone and two notes on the piano. Less is more.
5. Marvin Gaye – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”: This is the sound of America on fire. 1969. Teddy Kennedy may or may not have killed his secretary at Chappaquidick. Charles Manson and The Family have killed Sharon Tate and her friends. Altamont is a full stop to the hippie ideal. “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” is the comedown song. It’s smoky and dark, full of paranoia and bitterness and, just as we are always told that The Specials’ “Ghost Town” is the perfect musical accompaniment to urban Britain burning during the late summer of 1981, this song does the same for America in 1969, though about five times as subtly. It’s in the rolling keyboard, the menacing drums, and Marvin Gaye’s haunted voice. Has he heard it through the grapevine, or is he just coming down? Socially, politically and culturally, America was wobbling, and this song perfectly encapsulates that insecurity.
4. The Jackson Five – “ABC”: Suddenly, party time! The most unashamedly joyous song in this list. I can still find a small place in my heart for Michael Jackson, if only for The Jacksons’ output between 1970 and 1973 (with the possible exception of “Ben”). Watching recordings of them is an almost traumatic experience. Where did that carefree young lad go? What happened to the rest of them? This was another close call, actually. Obviously, “I Want You Back” ran it close. However, at the end of the day, you can’t help but love the percussive break in the middle and the plaintive cry of, “Hey, girl” I think I LOVE YOU!”. My particular love for this song was, of course, also amplified by the musical scene in “Clerks 2″.
3. Stevie Wonder – “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”: Another joyous song. You know that absolutely uplifted feeling that you get when you first fall in love? Well, some people don’t. Some people never do. However, Stevie Wonder evidently does. What’s more, he knew it when he was (pause for breath) fifteen years old. Let me just say that again: fifteen years old. It’s an awesome performance and, whilst I recognise the achievements of arguably more obvious selections such as “Superstition” and “He’s Misstra Know It All”, this is still the song. Just listen to the squelching bass at the start of it!
2. The Temptations – “I Can’t Get Next To You”: It was a close call, but I couldn’t not have my favourite song of all time at number one, could I? So, nudged down into number two place is this brilliant, brilliant song, about a man with all the powers of a God who still can’t impress the woman that he adores. So, what makes this such a great song. Well, after the departure of David Ruffin, The Temptations went off and experimented with the outer edges of what they could do with soul music. No more ballads and doo-wop. They went psychedelic with their “Cloud Nine” album, but made a slight return to pop in 1970 with this song. It’s an ensemble effort, with all five members contributing a line at a time each. More than that, it’s tight and funky, with an expansive eight second long break in the middle of it which gives the impression building up to a crescendo. It went to number one in the USA and made the top ten in Britain (and if you need confirmation of just how wonderful it is, they put in an absolutely killer performance of it on “Top Of The Pops” in 1970).
1. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – “The Tears Of A Clown”: Such a tough choice. Anybody that knows me will be fully aware of the extent to which I idolise Smokey Robinson – how do you choose just one song, when the back catalogue contains such moments of genius as “Tracks Of My Tears”, “Second That Emotion” and “Going To A Go Go” (all of which would have made this top ten had it been songs and songs alone)? Well, I had to, and it was this one. Awesome, killer tune? Check. Sumptuous four part harmonies? Oh, check. Magnificent lyrics (without doubt, the finest song lyrics ever written)? Double check. Robinson’s invocation of the spirit of La Pagliacci (the operatic clowns that cry when no-one is around) is the greatest pop song ever written. I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t like it and, on that basis, I hereby nominate it as (should we ever come across alien life-forms and need one) the National Anthem Of Earth.
RIGHT, WELL.
The problem is, despite my fever for You Keep Me Hangin’ On, I find it very difficult to argue with any of this. I’d shuffle stuff around, perhaps. I actually think I prefer Uptight to You Keep Me Hangin’ On today, in fact. There’s no-one in the history of pop music as capable of capturing the sound of joy as Stevie Wonder.
I also prefer Dancing in the Street to Heatwave. And Nowhere To Run, that song is very clever. And Never Leave Your Baby’s Side, because it’s so ludicrously meek and submissive, it should probably be in a bygones museum.
All very good choices. Although i think that for me no.2 would be Shakey Ground instead. But thats perhaps due to my bass focus at the moment.
Eexcellent choices. i personally would have to include 2 brilliant tracks, bothe by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, You’re all I need to get by and Ain’t no mountain high enough. Smokey’s Ggoing to a go go is so evocative of that era. there’s been nothing to beat these superb Motown tracks. Ruth