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.

Love Train: A Tribute To Soul Train: O'Jays, The Commodores, Rick James, McFadden And Whitehead, MFSB and Three Degrees

"TSOP"    MFSB and THE THREE DEGREES

Not many TV show theme songs were legitimate dance/funk hits.  The theme song to Soul Train was TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia).   Every Saturday, I watched Soul Train in the 70's, yes, I know I was a white boy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but I loved that show!   Funny thing was my dog, Clem, would HOWL when they'd say, "It's SOOOOOUUUUULLLLLL Train".   This is my same hound dog who would bark at only the black people in the town parade, hmmm, hope I didn't have a racist dog :)

"SOOOOOUUUULLLL TRAIN INTRO"

 
"LOVE TRAIN"   O'JAYS

Now sure how a group can be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and still be underrated?   Eddie Levert has one of the top 10 voices of all-time, is still alive although his two oldest sons including Gerald have both passed away.    The O'Jays were a soul/funk/R&B powerhouse.   "For The Love Of Money" (Donald Trump's theme song), "Used Ta Be My Girl", "I Love Music", "Backstabbers" are just a few of their timeless jams.   "Love Train" is Philly Soul at his finest. 

"SWEET LOVE"   THE COMMODORES

Lionel Richie and his boys, The incomparable Commodores, were legendary for their slow dance favorites like "Sail On", "Three Times A Lady", and "Still".   Yet the Tuskegee based band could get the crowd jumping to their funk classics like "Brick House" and "Machine Gun".   One of their first ballads, "Sweet Love" wasn't as popular on the charts but I think it's one of Lionel's greatest hits in his illustrious songbook.   Lionel turns preacher around the 2:20 minute mark, timeless love song.

"GIVE IT TO ME"   RICK JAMES

The Soul Train line dancers tear up this 70's Rick James club hit.  Need a laugh, check out Rick's classic interview with Don Cornelius during his first Soul Train appearance.  "When I was high in the sky, I'd imagine us dancing" - tough to hear from Rick James, wow, another reminder that cocaine is hell of a drug and took some of our greatest musical artists away from us too early.   

"AIN'T NO STOPPING US NOW"  McFADDEN & WHITEHEAD

"Ain't no stopping us now, we've got the groove" - The perfect song to turn a bad day around!   The lyrics don't quit and neither should you!   A timeless jam to get you on your feet, dancing, smiling, and loving life!   Each day is a gift.  "Don't Let Nothing, NOTHING stand in your way",  As the trendy saying goes YOLO, You Only Live Once!