Do you have a favourite Motown/Tamla Motown record ?

[WildRosie]

I couldn't name just one as there are so many great songs so I have five, in no particular order:

The Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson And The Miracles
If I Were A Carpenter - The Four Tops
I'm Still Waiting - Diana Ross
The Onion Song - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder

If I were forced to choose just one of these five, I think I'd settle for The Tears Of A Clown. It took three years for it to be a UK hit. Motown's finest hour.

@Blueberrycreampie

Summer Breeze The Isley Brothers (Seals and Croft).

Also Standing in the Shadows of Loe. The Four Tops.

Love, not Loe!

I bloody love motown. So many absolute bangers.

papa was a rolling stone is probably my fave

Motown would not be Motown without James Jamerson. Far and away the best bass player on the planet. The Motown sound is him.

Kudos to the other members of the Funk Brothers too.

open.spotify.com/track/3whsYSLtEEUL6aRvxPPAq5?si=1qYBKZ4vSLeWIVri4BEBTg&dl_branch=1

I've just remembered another one I love and is rarely heard. the Supremes, Up the ladder to the roof.

I’m in my early 30s and was brought up with the sound of Motown, my dad is the biggest Motown nerd going. When I was a teen I thought it was really uncool as my friends dads were all rockers. Silly silly me.

@TheDogsMother Oh I love this It's my fav supremes song

Love Motown and bought up on it by parents and got heavily into Northern Soul.

My favourite is Nine Times out of Ten by Muriel Day.

Have loved the song since 14 and definitely one of my desert island top ten, but the meaning behind the lyrics make me cringe now. Still gets me up on the dance floor though

Band of Gold - Freda Payne

[quote apricotdreams]@TheDogsMother Oh I love this It's my fav supremes song [/quote]
It's lovely isn't it but heard so rarely 😊

I'm fairly sure Paul Gambaccini played 'Up The Ladder To The Roof' on Pick of The Pops last Saturday.

Although Motown was largely about funk and danceable pop, it did have its mellower moments. 'Lately' by Stevie Wonder and 'Still' by The Commodores are two such examples. On the flip side, The Commodores also gave us 'Machine Gun' which couldn't be more different from the Lionel Richie ballads.

What a great thread. For nearly every song mentioned I remember the dance we did for them. Definitely going to be playing Motown and have a dance around the house tomorrow!

@PartTimeLegend ageee with you about Jamerson. There's a really good documentary just about The Funk Brothers, called Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, that has loads of anecdotes and also goes into detail about how they built the 'Motown Sound'.

Apparently Jamerson was pretty much blind drunk when he recorded the bassline for Heard It Through The Grapevine! There'd been delays in the studio and he'd headed out to a bar thinking they didn't need him, then they hauled him back in and he came up with that iconic hook. Amazing!

I love loads of Motown but I think my two favourites are Bernadette and Heatwave.

@WildRosie 'Lately' is a really beautiful track I think. Sounds a bit bossa? Good to be reminded of the more lyrical melodic side of the label as well as the stompers.

@PartTimeLegend

Motown would not be Motown without James Jamerson. Far and away the best bass player on the planet. The Motown sound is him.

Kudos to the other members of the Funk Brothers too.

I got the dvd of Standing in the Shadows of Motown, years after seeing it on TV. Anyone who loves Motown should see it.

But I was waiting for a line I remembered about, "Marvin was great but he danced like a white person" - AND IT WASN'T THERE! Did it get edited out? I'm sure I didn't imagine because I was so stunned when I heard it. I mean Marvin, of all people to say that about!

@Armadollo that sounds great. Where can I find that documentary ?

Walk Away Renee
I Can't Help Myself
Heaven Must Have Sent You
Farewell is a Lonely Sound
This Old Heart of Mine
All favourites and many many more. Part of my youth, danced so many times to all of them, in our local dance hall. What memories they bring back. It's like a different life

@TheDogsMother

I've just remembered another one I love and is rarely heard. the Supremes, Up the ladder to the roof.

Absolutely loved that.

Ain’t no mountain for me too. Also Dancing in the Street. Both I can’t help but belt out and grin at the same time.

I bloody love Motown. I don’t listen to it too often though, because I get genuine ASMR happy chills from it and I read that listening too much can deaden that.

The Jean Knight song mentioned upthread. I've played it and it seems familiar - has it been sampled in something more recent ? It sounds like the sort of song that would feature in a blaxploitation film.

Amazing thread with great responses ! I started a similar thread years ago under a different name and ended up with 5 responses only.

A selection of some of my favorite Motown songs:

1. Papa was a rolling stone Temptations/ Original version Undisputed Truth Norman Whitfield 1972

2. Friendship Train Gladys Knight and the Pips 1969 Norman Whitfield 3. Standing in the Shadows of love Four Tops 1966 / Holland/ Dozier/ Holland

1. Big John is My name/ Undisputed Truth/ Rare Earth 1974 Norman Whitfield . A song that i expected very few people have heard but must check out on you tube.

1. I'm living in Shame Diana Ross and the Supremes Frank Wilson/ R dean Taylor

1. The Day will come between Sunday And Monday Kiki 1970 Dee Hinton/ Pam Sawyer this is a superior version though a cover to the original Supremes version. Kiki Dee was the first British artist signed to Motown in 1968 i think .

Great northern Soul choice in Nine Times out of Ten Muriel Day who once represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.

1. Pride and Joy Marvin Gaye 1963 Mickey Stevenson/ Norman Whitfield (back up vocals Martha and the Vandellas)

The Funk Brothers will as critical to Motown's success as MFSB were to Philadelphia's take over of the Disco scene from 1974-1978.

@WildRosie
I don’t know. I used to listen to it over and over again in the eighties with my best mate.

Tbh you don’t hear it much now.
Did you like it?

Behind a painted smile - Isley brothers
Standing in the shadows of love - four tops