zayk35
Superstar
There's no way you can boil down just t"hree best" songs from Motown. There's something to be said about "quality control". It's how you got all that perfection.
The best MOTOWN song of all time comes down to one of these three
- Thread starter Ed MOTHERFUCKING G
- Start date
That Reach Out by the Four Tops goes HARD.
I'll concede it's tough to just pick 3 but that has all the right attributes.
The first notes are iconic. You already know what this is.
The lead up to the chorus is
They singing their asses off and the music is flawless.
I don't know if there really is an answer but if I had to, I'd pick that one.
Real talk.Motown has so much heat, this is basically impossible to boil it down to just 3
Like their music defines not just an era but like..alot of those songs I feel it's embedded into American ears.
Across racial boundaries.
Like not all black people listen to Elvis or heard a song..same goes for Beatles.
Meanwhile guys like Marvin Gaye,GOATie Wonder, Jackson 5..Temptations, and The Supremes have influenced people across racial lines..White people and black people consumed the music. Influenced both white and black...from Usher to Beyonce to Hall and Oates..even lynryd skynryd singer was a stevie wonder fan.
Not just subpar but classic long lasting shyt.
Even today we have studios trying to imitate the motown sound on how they recorded..what equipment...the sound proofing in the rooms..down to the guitar strings used on the songs or the type of drum heads and drum sticks used on the motown music
@Art Barr explained how Diana Ross was influential amongst black women..he had a dope take.
shyt wasn't the word DIVA created for her?
TheMailMan
All Star
Impossible to single out just 3 but I might have this on it
Young Mike with the David Ruffin inflection in his voice
Ruffin was your favorite singer favorite singer..
Art Barr
INVADING SOHH CHAMPION
Hathaway
Someday, We'll All Be Free
A Motown thread 
I already read The Temptations and Marvin Gaye biographies. Now I'm onto Stevie Wonders autobiography. I'm bout to write like 10 paragraphs in this shyt
My fav Motown songs :
J5 Darling Dear - a young MJ in his first prime. Yes, this nikka had multiple primes. Vocals were pitch perfect and the way he carried the lead at such a young age always sits with me. But the real star of this song is the Funk Brothers; the in house Band that played on just about all of Motowns hit songs. Particularly, James Jamerson eating that bass line to DEATH.
2nd Temptations Since I Lost My Baby-
Smokie Robinson was in his mf bag when he wrote this. The lyrics always stand out as so simple but emotionally complex at the same time. The way David Ruffin conveyed the tug of war emotions of the song vocally was masterful. A lonely man knowing the good things about the world but realizing he can't enjoy them because his girl is gone. The Tempts on the background vocals are so smooth as well. I like to listen to the acapella version and hear the distinct voices of all the members: Pauls earthy baritone, Melvins pure bass, Otis soft and mellow tenor and Eddies sweet falsetto. These 5 men in my opinion are the #1 vocal group of all time and this is my fav Tempt song.
Lastly, Stevie Wonder For Once in my Life-
Whew this song is a masterclass in the art of vocal performance and he has many songs where he gives a masterclass in vocals, musicality, writing etc. This song I believe is where Stevie took off as a respected vocalist. 18 years old and ate this song up. Keep in mind, this is a difficult song to sing. It's fast and very uptempo. Not a lot of breathing room vocally. Lots of dynamic pitch changes and a half step modulation from the key of F to F#.
Side note: Motown producers and writers used to intentionally make songs too high for the singer because they felt it brought more "feeling" or "soul" to the vocals. So they would learn your comfortable vocal range and make your songs maybe 1 or 2 keys higher to bring more out of you. You can definitely hear this a lot with David Ruffin because he would strain on a lot of his songs but it sounded really soulful. Check out Aint too Proud to Beg and I'm Losing You for examples of this.
Back to Stevie. The singer and band had to get this shyt right in one take. No mess ups. The Funk Brothers also played on this track and their musical magic was otherworldly. But Stevies high energy voice carried this song. His high pitched squeal while being able to come down and cut that corner clean as hell at 1:15 while keeping his breathing and pitch perfect is amazing. I also have to pay homage to the God Earl Van Dyke on keys. As a piano player myself, I always marvel at how full, crisp and well timed he played on this song. The piano definitely leads/carries this song as the main instrument. It dominates throughout the track as the only instrument you can almost alway pick out besides the bass of course.
Happy Thanksgiving
I already read The Temptations and Marvin Gaye biographies. Now I'm onto Stevie Wonders autobiography. I'm bout to write like 10 paragraphs in this shyt
My fav Motown songs :
J5 Darling Dear - a young MJ in his first prime. Yes, this nikka had multiple primes. Vocals were pitch perfect and the way he carried the lead at such a young age always sits with me. But the real star of this song is the Funk Brothers; the in house Band that played on just about all of Motowns hit songs. Particularly, James Jamerson eating that bass line to DEATH.
2nd Temptations Since I Lost My Baby-
Smokie Robinson was in his mf bag when he wrote this. The lyrics always stand out as so simple but emotionally complex at the same time. The way David Ruffin conveyed the tug of war emotions of the song vocally was masterful. A lonely man knowing the good things about the world but realizing he can't enjoy them because his girl is gone. The Tempts on the background vocals are so smooth as well. I like to listen to the acapella version and hear the distinct voices of all the members: Pauls earthy baritone, Melvins pure bass, Otis soft and mellow tenor and Eddies sweet falsetto. These 5 men in my opinion are the #1 vocal group of all time and this is my fav Tempt song.
Lastly, Stevie Wonder For Once in my Life-
Whew this song is a masterclass in the art of vocal performance and he has many songs where he gives a masterclass in vocals, musicality, writing etc. This song I believe is where Stevie took off as a respected vocalist. 18 years old and ate this song up. Keep in mind, this is a difficult song to sing. It's fast and very uptempo. Not a lot of breathing room vocally. Lots of dynamic pitch changes and a half step modulation from the key of F to F#.
Side note: Motown producers and writers used to intentionally make songs too high for the singer because they felt it brought more "feeling" or "soul" to the vocals. So they would learn your comfortable vocal range and make your songs maybe 1 or 2 keys higher to bring more out of you. You can definitely hear this a lot with David Ruffin because he would strain on a lot of his songs but it sounded really soulful. Check out Aint too Proud to Beg and I'm Losing You for examples of this.
Back to Stevie. The singer and band had to get this shyt right in one take. No mess ups. The Funk Brothers also played on this track and their musical magic was otherworldly. But Stevies high energy voice carried this song. His high pitched squeal while being able to come down and cut that corner clean as hell at 1:15 while keeping his breathing and pitch perfect is amazing. I also have to pay homage to the God Earl Van Dyke on keys. As a piano player myself, I always marvel at how full, crisp and well timed he played on this song. The piano definitely leads/carries this song as the main instrument. It dominates throughout the track as the only instrument you can almost alway pick out besides the bass of course.
Happy Thanksgiving
Whips-n-Chains
Chi
One of my personal favorites
Yup but I felt Love Child was their most important song
GAWDly music