5 Decades of Motown: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Jackson Five, Diana Ross, Boyz II Men, India Arie, Four Tops

Berry Gordy Jr. changed music and American culture in the 1960's and 70's arguably more than any other individual.  With the opening of Motown Records (Detroit is the Motor City), a new soundtrack to people's lives was being formed with each new record on the label.  

Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Jackson 5, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Marvelettes, on and on, music acts that competed with The Beatles and dominated the charts worldwide.  Even more incredible was how they changed public perception and an awareness and acceptance of black artists being respected by the masses.  

Smokey Robinson wrote, "Into the '60s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize the impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands."  

Motown has been putting out amazing records for 5 decades, here's a recap of the decades and some unforgettable favorites.   If you aren't smiling, dancing, and singing along to these songs, check your pulse, you may be dead.


60's  "AIN'T NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING"   MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL 

60's   "REACH OUT I'LL BE THERE"   THE FOUR TOPS

70's   "I WANT YOU BACK"   JACKSON 5
Motown in the 70's released some of the all time greatest albums like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and "Let's Get It On", Stevie Wonder's "Talking Book" and "Songs In The Key of Life".   Add in the Diana Ross solo albums, Gladys Knight & The Pips, the Commodores, and The Temptations and Motown's legacy grew with their 70's classics.

70's  "TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING" (alternate raw version!)  DIANA ROSS

80's   "RUNNING WITH THE NIGHT"  LIONEL RICHIE
Big acts on Motown in the 80's included the Commodores, the Lionel Richie solo CDs, Rockwell (Berry Gordy's son), DeBarge, and Rick James.

80's "PART TIME LOVER" STEVIE WONDER

90's   "END OF THE ROAD"   BOYZ II MEN
Motown had lost steam in the 90's but still had major success with Boyz II Men, Shanice, Johnny Gill, Tony Toni Tone, and even 98 Degrees!

00's   "VIDEO" INDIA.ARIE
By the mid 2000's, Motown had merged with Universal and sadly marked the end of almost 50 years of life changing music from the greatest American record label.   Brian McKnight, Erykah Badu,  Michael McDonald, India.Arie, and some old favorites like Diana Ross were still on the label.

Do You Remember Your First? Jackson 5, Elton John, Peter Gabriel, Kid Rock

"I'LL BE THERE" & "ONE MORE CHANCE"     JACKSON 5

My First 45 Record:  I can still remember my blue Motown 45 singles and also the cardboard Jackson Five records I cut out of Sugar Smack Cereal boxes, anyone else remember those?   After three faster songs, ABC, The Love You Save, and my favorite, I Want You Back, the Jackson 5 put out their first ballad.   I wore those records out and could probably still lipsync every bit of Michael's lead or Jermaine's harmony parts.   The lesser known B-side, "One More Chance" was another favorite.   Always loved that line, " Everybody loves a star when he's on top, but no one ever comes around when he stops to drop.  But YOU were someone special, you stuck through thick and thin."  

"SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT"

My First Cassette:  My dad showed me an insert for the Columbia House Record mail in service where you could get something like 10 free cassettes if you agreed to buy 3 more.   Needless to say, I was addicted quickly!  Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, Cassette #1.  Elton John's music really moved me.  I can remember playing this song on an actual jukebox at a favorite pizza place in Milwaukee.  Thought I was a young 10 yr old rebel singing that line, "it's 4:00 in the morning, DAMMIT listen to me good!"   Hearing the Jackson 5 and early Elton really takes me back in time.

"IN YOUR EYES"       PETER GABRIEL 

My First CD:  I had so many cassettes and albums that I didn't want to start over and switch to CD's.   But when you saw how easy it was to move from song to song and hearing the incredible sound quality and nuances on a friend's copy of Dire Straits, "Brothers In Arms", I knew I wanted the new gadget!   Peter Gabriel's CD "So" was my first compact disc.   Loved the MTV Video Of The Year, Sledgehammer, with its claymation, the duet, "Don't Give Up" with Sinead O'Connor, and Daniel Lanois' beautiful production on "Red Rain" and "Mercy Street".   Of course, anyone who seen the John Cusack film, Say Anything, knows that In Your Eyes with the boombox over head will live forever in our hearts!   I've been told I'm a lot like Lloyd Dobbler, I've always taken that as a compliment.

"BAWITDABA"   KID ROCK

My First MP3:  First year teaching, one of my students told me about Napster.  "Wait, you can download any song for free?   Anything?"   Yep!   Must have spent that whole first weekend filling up my hard drive.   Of course, Lars Ulrich wasn't too happy with this and within two years, Napster's short run was over.   It was summer 1999 and Kid Rock was the latest rage.   Metal guitars, hardcore raps, and a rebellious attitude, "My Name is .....Kiddddddd Rock!", "Bawithaba" was my summer jam!   Fun fact:  Kid Rock is still holding out on putting his music on ITunes and this song is the only one available from Kid Rock since it was released.

Today's my birthday so I took a trip down memory lane, love to hear what some of your first music loves were?  This song was dedicated to me today :)

DAILY MUSIC TRIVIA ANSWER: Yesterday:   The Cosby Show