Golden age of magic Motown

AS Motown celebrates its 50th birthday, Chronicle Beats charts its all time favourite tracks.

“I Heard It Through The Grapevine” — Marvin Gaye

Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, this song was first given to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles to record and later The Isley Brothers but both versions were vetoed by the label’s strict quality control department. Gladys Knight & The Pips had a hit with it in 1967, but it was the 1968 version by former Motown session drummer Marvin Gaye that really shone.

Gaye’s version remained Motown’s biggest–selling single until The Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back” was released almost two years later.


“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” — The Supremes

This showed how Motown truly excelled with bittersweet tales of love gone wrong.

This marks the beginning of Diana Ross’s prominence in the group and the start of her relationship with Berry Gordy.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was one of the group’s 12 No 1 hits in America and reached No 8 in the UK in 1966.


“Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” — Stevie Wonder

Until this song’s release in May 1966, Little Stevie Wonder was known as nothing more than a Ray Charles imitator. He was also in danger of being dropped by Motown as Berry Gordy wasn’t sure he would continue being successful after his voice had broken.

But “Uptight” saw Wonder’s transformation from boy star to groundbreaking artist and he is now Motown’s longest–serving musician, having been with the label since 1962.


“Nowhere To Run” — Martha And The Vandellas

This gem — the story of a girl trapped in a relationship with a no-good man she can’t help but love — is also from the Holland–Dozier–Holland stable.

They rattled snow chains as percussion when recording this track, just as they had done on Martha And The Vandellas’s other calling card “Dancing In The Street”. The song features the gritty vocal and hard–edged brass sound that set the band apart from their peers. Exciting, raw and energetic, “Nowhere To Run” is about as thrilling as Motown’s output gets.


“This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)” – The Isley Brothers

H-D-H did it again with this track, although it was originally intended for The Supremes. It was their only hit for Motown during their brief time with the label, yet remains popular today thanks to its association with the Northern Soul scene of the late 1970s.


“What’s Going On” — Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye fell into a deep depression and contemplated giving up music after the death of his friend and singing partner Tammi Terrell in 1970.

Thankfully, he didn’t and instead broke the mould of Motown forever. Berry Gordy initially refused to release “What’s Going On” but relented when Gaye stood his ground.

“What’s Going On” ushered in a new phase for soul music and became the label’s fastest–selling single, eventually shifting more than 2.5 million copies in the US.


“Reach Out I’ll Be There” —The Four Tops

Remains The Four Tops’s signature track to this day. With a pulsating bassline, glorious backing harmonies and part–sung, part–screamed vocal from Levi Stubbs, it’s one of Motown’s most dramatic songs. The verse and chorus shift from minor to major keys too, the first of many times the band used the effective technique.

It was a No. 1 hit for two weeks in 1966, and has been covered hundreds of times by artists including Diana Ross, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Bolton and Boyz II Men.


“Tears Of A Clown” — Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

Although it was first released in 1967, this song, written by Smokey, Stevie Wonder and Hank Cosby, made the charts a second time in 1970 and hit No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic.

Robinson assumes the character of a spurned lover, and compares himself to characters in the Italian opera Pagliacci, who hid their anger behind empty smiles.


“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” — The Temptations

The Temptations were THE male vocal harmony group in the mid–60s with Smokey Robinson writing the songs.

When their 1965 single “Get Ready” flopped, it was time for a rethink so in came Norman Whitfield and Eddie Holland with “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”.

Thanks to its James Brown–esque horn section and bruised, blues–inspired vocal from David Ruffin, the song was exactly what The Temptations needed in 1966 to reinvigorate their sound.


“He Was Really Sayin’ Somethin’” — The Velvelettes



Amazingly, this classic wasn’t a hit when it was released in late 1964. Their other timeless track, “Needle In A Haystack”, wasn’t a success either and they weren’t together long enough to record a full album. Despite that the song about the lies men tell when trying to woo women has stood the test of time.