Motown 100

[Amitwiirly]

People from "Rolling Stone" magazine have compiled what they think is the "100 greatest Motown songs" A hard thing to do and I know its all about taste and opinion but I don't think they've looked too much past the "Major" artists and dug too deep (I know 100 people would all have a different top 100) but some great records missing off this list,what do you think Link   Rolling Stone picks Smokey Robinson and the Miracles track as greatest Motown song

[Jimmy Mack]

need to do it  with people on here and it would be totally different ,and then email it to rolling stone .

[Winsford Soul]

28 minutes ago, amitwiirly said:

People from "Rolling Stone" magazine have compiled what they think is the "100 greatest Motown songs" A hard thing to do and I know its all about taste and opinion but I don't think they've looked too much past the "Major" artists and dug too deep (I know 100 people would all have a different top 100) but some great records missing off this list,what do you think Link   Rolling Stone picks Smokey Robinson and the Miracles track as greatest Motown song

Is the Rolling Stone magazine going of sales to make its top 100   ? and if so is it US sales or worldwide ? Or a opinion poll ? 

[Amitwiirly]

7 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

Is the Rolling Stone magazine going of sales to make its top 100   ? and if so is it US sales or worldwide ? Or a opinion poll ? 

Apparently done by a panel of "Rolling Stone" writers

[Autumnstoned]

59 minutes ago, amitwiirly said:

Link   

Link is missing. I think this is it:-

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-motown-songs-1139063/

Arguably they got No1 right but as you say many omissions. However, was pleasantly surprised to see Willie Hutch - I Choose You at 49? A good inclusion.

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Autumnstoned

[Amitwiirly]

11 minutes ago, Autumnstoned said:

Link is missing. I think this is it:-

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-motown-songs-1139063/

Arguably they got No1 right but as you say many omissions. However, was surprised to see Willie Hutch - I Choose You at 49? A good inclusion.

 

Thanks for adding the link

[Leicester Boy]

Ask the lonely by the 4tops not in the top 100.

[Tomangoes]

A great article. Nice how they put a link to each song up.

I wonder what Berry Gordy would pick for this list?

Ed

[Leicester Boy]

10 minutes ago, Tomangoes said:

A great article. Nice how they put a link to each song up.

I wonder what Berry Gordy would pick for this list?

Ed

To be honest i think BG certainly had his favourites who benefited when it came to track choices. 

[Jimmy Mack]

1 hour ago, Leicester Boy said:

Ask the lonely by the 4tops not in the top 100.

That is one of Motown's greatest i would put it in my top 10 .

[Jimmy Mack]

1 hour ago, Leicester Boy said:

To be honest i think BG certainly had his favourites who benefited when it came to track choices. 

It would be interesting to see his choices ,Would his choices be similar to rolling stones or completely different ?

[Toni Cientanni]

Like you have all said its all down to opinion and personal taste there are some great tunes there and lots missing

 

[Leicester Boy]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Mack said:

That is one of Motown's greatest i would put it in my top 10 .

Musical perfection. 

[Modularman]

No 'Baby I Need Your Loving '?

Insane!

[Carty]

At least a dozen on there would not make my top 1000 .  ,  All subjective of course , but for me , So, so much missing and even with only 100 to choose , so much filler .

[John Hart]

What A load of Tosh !! None of these Rolling Stone Motown songs would be in my Top 100 .

As a  life long Berry  Gordy jnr Collector and Weekender Dj At the Amazing NS Portugal Algarve  Gig { 7 th to 11th October 2021 ,see S.S Events for details } , Last year ,Pre Covid ,I did a Straw poll on some influential Players on the NS ,/Classic Motown scene ,Ginger Taylor, Kev Roberts, Chris Dalton, Tony Blackburn , Steve Plumb, Booper ,Roy Rogers ,Trigger ,etc. to Really Track opinions , Number One , " NOT  "Tracks " ,or ABC no 15 ,Teena Marie .Rick James , "War " etc NADA ,,, Numero Uno .....

         1.     Supremes & 4 tops ," A Taste Of Honey " 

         2. Chuck Jackson ,              " Aint No Sun " 

        3 ,Martha  Reeves ,               " No One There "

With the welcome Contributions of  mS.S Members I will compile a Top One Hundred of Our Greatest Motown Moments !  {Plus a Book ,Video ,Download ,Patch &  T Shirt .}

                                Stay Safe and Well,,, LOL ,John, Malaga ,Spain.

[Chalky]

We have to remember we are not the market for Rolling Stone.  The 100 we would choose will be unknown to the majority of RS's readers.

The same argument was had with Motown's 60th celebrations, that's why I did an alternative unreleased 60 at 60.

As always subjective and very emotive.

[Winsford Soul]

This is the top ten Motown singles by sales 

 

[Timillustrator]

Thought it was a pretty good list though, not totally obvious. Nice the see rare earth in there too - largely forgotten. 

[givemesoul]

17 hours ago, Leicester Boy said:

Ask the lonely by the 4tops not in the top 100.

Would be my number 1 or 2 with the fantastic flip where did you go motown at its best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8lsVNqFzrY

[Jimmy Mack]

8 hours ago, givemesoul said:

Would be my number 1 or 2 with the fantastic flip where did you go motown at its best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8lsVNqFzrY

I would also throw in other Four Tops double siders  "7 Rooms Of Gloom/Is There Anything I Can Do (no UK or Us Release), Cant Seem To Get You Out Of My Mind/Do What You Got To Do, Bernadette/I Got A Feeling ,Same Old Song/Your Love Is Amazing ,Standing In The Shadows Of Love/Since You've Been Gone .

[Solidsoul]

On 02/04/2021 at 09:00, Jimmy Mack said:

It would be interesting to see his choices ,Would his choices be similar to rolling stones or completely different ?

If Berry Gordy is like a lot of the artists, his favourites would be the one's that sold the most! 

There are so many great Motown records, it should have been a top 500!

[Chalky]

14 hours ago, givemesoul said:

Would be my number 1 or 2 with the fantastic flip where did you go motown at its best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8lsVNqFzrY

I think "Do What you Gotta Do" is the best soul record the Tops did but ask 100 people and you'll probably get 100 different answers, the same with the the top 100 Motown, count you would get two answers then same.

[Soulman58]

21 hours ago, Winsford Soul said:

This is the top ten Motown singles by sales 

 

Hi Steve,

Are you trying to mess with my mind, I only count 8!!!!   

 

Neil

[Soulman58]

It would be interesting to see a similar article from mainstream music media buffs in the UK to see what the differences would be.  Its always going to be very different from this audience, though I was amazed to read that John Hart wouldn't have any of them in his top 100.  I always say 'To Each His Own' but I'm struggling to think any of  Baby I'm For Real, Tracks Of My Tears, Every Little Bit Hurts, I Heard It Through The Grapevine or Whats Going On,  wouldn't be included.

[Winsford Soul]

33 minutes ago, Soulman58 said:

Hi Steve,

Are you trying to mess with my mind, I only count 8!!!!   

 

Neil

Hi mate. I never noticed that . I just copied and pasted the chart from Google

Neil. Virtual Blue Peter badge is on its way because only you noticed

[Frankie Crocker]

What an awesome piece of music journalism this is. Great photos, interesting summaries and handy links to the records. If I was in an airport right now, I’d buy a copy of Rolling Stone for the flight. Articles like this remind us what a phenomenon Motown was back in the day, and of course, going forward, every single day on the radio, all around the world. I think a Motown Top 1,000 would be entirely possible, and we would still be hearing lesser known tracks, familiar to later generations. For me, the Detroit years were the best; Motown went in a new direction as Berry headed for La La Land. Detroit era, early ‘60’s were the formative years; 66-69 was the vintage period when copyists all over the States tried to emulate the Motown sound, and hey presto, here we are, fans of the off-shoot music just looking over our roots. When this Covid thing is behind us, get yourself over to Detroit and visit the Motown studio - it is a humbling experience whatever’s on your Top 100 list...

 

[Jimmy Mack]

10 minutes ago, Frankie Crocker said:

What an awesome piece of music journalism this is. Great photos, interesting summaries and handy links to the records. If I was in an airport right now, I’d buy a copy of Rolling Stone for the flight. Articles like this remind us what a phenomenon Motown was back in the day, and of course, going forward, every single day on the radio, all around the world. I think a Motown Top 1,000 would be entirely possible, and we would still be hearing lesser known tracks, familiar to later generations. For me, the Detroit years were the best; Motown went in a new direction as Berry headed for La La Land. Detroit era, early ‘60’s were the formative years; 66-69 was the vintage period when copyists all over the States tried to emulate the Motown sound, and hey presto, here we are, fans of the off-shoot music just looking over our roots. When this Covid thing is behind us, get yourself over to Detroit and visit the Motown studio - it is a humbling experience whatever’s on your Top 100 list...

 

been many times ,you are right a top 1,000 would maybe cover it with "b" sides lp tracks and the unreleased  cuts 

[Chalky]

Rick James, Rare Earth..Top 100 Motown, really?  Some great selections, some not so.

[Leicester Boy]

9 hours ago, Chalky said:

Rick James, Rare Earth..Top 100 Motown, really?  Some great selections, some not so.

Agree absolutely, top 100 motown is slightly abstract because i would imagine the majority on this site would be inclined to pick records from a golden period of about 7 years.