Motown Turns 50

Motown signed/produced a lot of talented artists.

[rocker]

What a bunch of talented artists:
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
The Temptations
Marvin Gaye
Four Tops
Mary Wells
Complete list. [en.wikipedia.org...]

If your not familiar with Motown, just listen to the music from this youtube video, you'll be hooked.
The Temptations YouTube ~ Just My Imagination [youtube.com]

[Receptional Andy]

Probably the best "pop" music ever created. Rare to see musicians and writers of that degree of talent in the charts these days!

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

I was lucky enough to be around when they came to the fore in 1964/65. At that time all I was interested in was Motown and Stax (Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, Booker T and the MGs.).

Great memories!

[Syzygy]

It's incredible the impact Gordy's labels had on the world. Let's not forget though that much of his mid-60's inspiration came from the likes of the Ric-Tic and Golden World labels. Edwin Starr's first Motown hits were originally recorded and released for Ric-Tic, but Gordy bought them up and released them as his own - therein came a considerable part of the Motown sound.

Sorry to see that Levi Stubbs - the lead singer with the Four Tops - passed away not that long ago. Personally, I think that Mr Stubbs is one of the most overlooked vocalists of his age.

Just this evening watched an original demo copy 45 of a UK Motown release fetch an amazingly high price (four figures) at a specialist online vinyl auction! It's amazing how collectible some of the vinyl is.

One of the 'rarest' 45's on the planet is a Motown single - a quality control copy of a track that in recent years was used to back an ad by KFC! For years there was just one copy known to exist, currently owned by a well-known record collector in Scotland.

Then, maybe half a dozen years ago, a second copy was found in a junk shop by a couple of funk collectors in either Detroit or Chicago. Either way, they sold it on for even more than the first known copy.

Still got your 60's soul records stashed in the garage or attic? Ever see the film 'Desperate Man Blues'?

As a point of interest, Booker T Jones and his current group are touring Europe presently and will be in my neck of the woods - Amsterdam's Melkweg - in just three or four weeks time. Am looking forward to it!

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Levi Stubbs was great. His powerful, effortless vocals on tracks like "Walk away Renee" were amazing.

Sorry, I can't help myself.