Who's your favourite Motown Artist (s)

cyprusgiant


Joined: 08/07/2009
Posts: 467

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 16:50

Motown music is still as popular in 2010, as it was nearly 50 years ago, maybe it's because it doesn't sound dated.



My favourite artist's are :-



MALE MARVIN GAYE

FEMALE KIM WESTON

MALE GROUP THE TEMPTATIONS

FEMALE GROUP THE VELVELETTES



ALL TIME FAVOURITE JUNIOR WALKER & THE ALL STARS





What's your favourite?

bigbadbob


Joined: 04/08/2010
Posts: 368

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 16:59

The fourtops

Junior walker

The supremes



Leaving your motown favourites my alltime favourites are

Bryan Adams

Eric Clapton

Guns nRoses

Rolling Stones



You may have gathered I am a bit of a rocker!!!

jimchris09


Joined: 13/02/2009
Posts: 547

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 17:03

Mmmmrmph!! It's a difficult call this one... Group - The Four Tops; Individual - Stevie Wonder

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 17:03

Female -Brenda Holloway

Male-Smokey Robinson (for his singing AND songwriting)

Female Group -Martha & the Vandellas (funny how no Tamla fans pick 'Miss Ross')

Male Group -Temptations (but not the 'Funkydelic stuff)



Favourite single "How Sweet it is..." (Junior Walker version)

Dawnie1


Joined: 27/09/2008
Posts: 217

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 17:12

LOL



Male Marvin Gaye

Female Diana Ross

Group, not sure, several to choose from

clews



Joined: 16/03/2009
Posts: 70

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 17:23

Lionel Ritchie & The Commodors

Stevie Wonder

The Drifters

The Stylistics

Jackson 5

Teddy Pendergrass

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

Billy Paul



To name a few . . .

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 17:36

Hi Clews...

Unfortunately not many of them recorded on T/M

Pugwash


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 1797

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 17:55

Diana Ross



Four Tops and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

cyprusgiant


Joined: 08/07/2009
Posts: 467

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 18:26

Branwell, It's claimed that Smokey Robinson has written over 4,000 tracks! No wonder that Berry Gordy made him vice-president. Also, another little gem, Holland-Dozier-Holland only wrote just over 150 songs for Motown yet incredibly, 27 of their songs topped the American Billboard. I guess if I was a singer performing in Detroit I'd be gagging for a HDH song

Bazaar


Joined: 01/07/2010
Posts: 217

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 19:08

If you like a bıt of Motown why not go down to Cafe On near pia bella traffıc lıghts thıs saturday for motown nıght.. 20tl a ticket ıncludes chıcken curry,onıon bhaje,aubergine bhajeeş popperdoms and a stronbow\heinkeın... come dance the nıght away after wıth your favorıte Motown songs for tıckets call Wendy 0533 8379298

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
29/09/2010 19:13

Good stuff CG...but as you know as a Tamla fan (rather than a pop music fan) being top of the charts isn't a sign of quality....otherwise we'd have listened to The Seekers and Herman's Hermits, instead

pammick


Joined: 09/07/2009
Posts: 722

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 01:07

Hi Max, you started something here with this thread - and picked some great singers.



My choices are:-



Male Group - Four Tops (with Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch the best song)



Female Group - Supremes (12 US number 1's in the Billboard charts)



Male singer - Marvin Gaye



Female Singer - Mary Wells



Duet - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell



Although not Motown, my all time favourite group are the Drifters - they had so many hits which are still played regularly today. Most people not in the know, would say that they were a Motown band because their sounds are of a similar style.



DJ MIKE

bigOz


Joined: 29/09/2010
Posts: 1244

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 01:11

For me Diana Ross forever!

apc2010


Joined: 28/07/2010
Posts: 1689

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 01:14

what about "kiki dee" or" forever the sickest kids"...????

lovinit


Joined: 20/06/2008
Posts: 745

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 03:16

The four tops



Junior walker



The supremes



Diana Ross



Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell



Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Sazna


Joined: 12/09/2009
Posts: 1177

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 06:57

Al Green



Marvin Gaye

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 08:33

'Call her Miss Ross' is a good read for those interested in T/M ....especially if you're interested in the death of Florence Ballard.

loulou



Joined: 14/05/2008
Posts: 785

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 09:18

Lionel Ritchie & The Commodors

Marvin Gaye for me

parky


Joined: 13/06/2009
Posts: 182

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 11:51

I will go for the Temptations.

parkview



Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 1123

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 13:57

Four Tops and Marvin Gaye...

spud03


Joined: 12/07/2010
Posts: 66

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 18:38

so many motown fans get yourself down to cafe on3 saturday nite 2nd Oct 8pm onwards should be a good nite. Need to know numbers by lunch time 2moro we have a limit of 40 people so please call to book your table 0533 8379298 wendy. Great music, great food, great booze Heineken, Strongbow, John Smiths WKD Cider, WKD's, Great South African wine & French wine. Go on treat yourself to a nite out

spud03


Joined: 12/07/2010
Posts: 66

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 18:56

so many motown fans get yourself down to cafe on3 saturday nite 2nd Oct 8pm onwards should be a good nite. Need to know numbers by lunch time 2moro we have a limit of 40 people so please call to book your table 0533 8379298 wendy. Great music, great food, great booze Heineken, Strongbow, John Smiths WKD Cider, WKD's, Great South African wine & French wine. Go on treat yourself to a nite out

Toonie


Joined: 18/07/2009
Posts: 78

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 19:27

Went to see Four Tops August at Newcastle Arena, still the best with Duke still performing at the age of 84, unbelievable.

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
30/09/2010 19:31

Unbelievable is right....since Duke was born in 1935 you must have gone to see him in Newcastle in 2019!

cyprusgiant


Joined: 08/07/2009
Posts: 467

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 14:13

The Motown stable was full of singers/groups that produced superb tracks but never got the commercial recognition their music deserved, yet everybody (if they can't name the artists) know the songs. As a second string to the main headliners, my personal favourites include :-



THE DETROIT SPINNERS

THE CONTOURS

THE MONITORS

BRENDA & PATRICE HOLLOWAY

TAMMI TERRELL

R DEAN TAYLOR

JJ BARNES

EDWIN STARR

JIMMY & DAVID RUFFIN



I'll wager that most people will recognise at least one track by each act I've named.

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 15:36

You're right, of course CG (...and there were also some absolute stinker-tracks made, often huge sellers- when Gordy left behind his R'n'B root to search for pure-pop that was core-showbiz ...'The Happening' springs to mind or, excrutiatingly, 'The Onion Song'.)

I tend to favour the earlier stuff -The Contours had several including 'First I Look at the Purse', Marvin's earlier 12-bar releases (Wonderful One, Witness) for example ...Brenda Holloway was unusual in that her voice was tough enough to have been on Stax which was rare in T/M

It's hard to imagine what an impact this music had on 'those with ears to hear' in the UK when it first filtered in through basnds like the Beatles

Revolver


Joined: 29/07/2010
Posts: 212

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 15:50

stevie wonder, temptations, marvin gave, diana ross and the supremes

spider


Joined: 03/01/2009
Posts: 5527

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 16:43

The O'Jays Harold Melvin and the Blue notes..Archie Bell and the Dells. Billy Paul, Lou Rawls Anthony White, Dexter Wansel, Dee Dee Sharp, Patti Labelle, Shirley Jones, The Tramps. Bunny Sigler Dexter Wansel The White Head Brothers. Three Degrees, The Jacksons, Peoples Choice, The Indruders ,Teddy Pendergrass, Archie Bell and the the Drells.Carolyn Crawford, Jean Carn, The Jones Girls, The Stylistics, Pattilabelle, McFadden and Whitehead..





Spider,X

cyprusgiant


Joined: 08/07/2009
Posts: 467

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 17:05

Wow Spider you've just about covered every record label based in Michigan! Love your taste, many of the artists you listed would not look out of place recording on Motown. Like you I thought Archie Bell & The Dells were outstanding, after James Brown & Sam and Dave they must have been the best soul 'live' band. I also own a few Dee Dee Sharp tracks and she has a tremendous voice. Great selection Spider...

cyprusgiant


Joined: 08/07/2009
Posts: 467

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 17:22

Branwell, You're right about the Beatles. People tend to forget that they didn't write all the stuff they recorded. I remember having With The Beatles bought for me, and my favourite 2 tracks were Please Mr Postman, and you've Really Got A Hold On Me. It wasn't untill many years later that I found out they were both smash Motown hits prior to the Beatles recordings. Same goes for Twist & Shout and Money on the Please Please Me Album.

spider


Joined: 03/01/2009
Posts: 5527

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 17:40

Thanks thats how come i never stopped dancing all night at the Motown event..So pleased we managed to get to see it too would not have missed it for all the tea on the island )







Spider,X

kevnmax


Joined: 05/08/2008
Posts: 105

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 20:20

Jnr Walker

Edwin Starr [was a brilliant live act]

Washerman


Joined: 19/09/2008
Posts: 2301

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 20:36

.............................................Elvis

Glynn


Joined: 25/03/2009
Posts: 192

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 20:39

Pablo Picasso

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
01/10/2010 23:48

CG..you know your stuff ...keep the faith!

clews



Joined: 16/03/2009
Posts: 70

Message Posted:
02/10/2010 10:14

Perhaps not all black artists recorded on Motown but I think most people consider soul music from the era to be 'Motown' . . . or perhaps it comes under another genre that no one has heard of . . .

arrry



Joined: 19/08/2008
Posts: 1235

Message Posted:
02/10/2010 11:02

R Dean Taylor " Indiana wants me " was a " white " Motown artist so was Kiki Dee !!



I love Motown ! In my humble opinion they have / had the best recording artists ever !



Long live Motown ...................

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
02/10/2010 13:52

Msg 36

I think most people consider soul music of that era to be ...soul music! (Certainly I wouldn't lump Stax or Goldwax or Chess or Hi -each with their distinct sound- under the Motown banner.

Loodylou


Joined: 28/09/2010
Posts: 2

Message Posted:
02/10/2010 17:36

Marvin Gaye

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
02/10/2010 23:36

Shot by your own Dad...that's no way to go!

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
03/10/2010 08:38

For me it's got to be Gladys Knight,she was there at the start and is still going strong.saw her on Jools Holland still amazing....

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
03/10/2010 08:49

"In 1966, Gladys Knight and the Pips were signed to Motown Records' Soul subsidiary, where they were teamed up with producer/songwriter Norman Whitfield. Knight's tough vocals left them slightly out of the Motown mainstream, and throughout their stay with the label the group were regarded as a second-string act. In 1967, they had a major hit single with the original release of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", an uncompromisingly tough performance of a song that became a Motown standard in the hands of its author Marvin Gaye in 1969. "The Nitty Gritty" (1968) and "Friendship Train" (1969) proved equally successful, while the poignant "If I Were Your Woman" was one of the label's biggest-selling releases of 1970..."



Gladys joined Motown in 1966 and left in 1972 ...in no way was she there "...at the start ..." Unusually for T/M she was an established artist BEFORE she signed for the label and had her biggest hits (e.g. 'The Way We Were') after she left

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
03/10/2010 09:16

Msg 42. Thank you for the corrective "info",but for" me" although she as you point out was only there some 6/7 years,had the most extraordinarily recognisable voice,I well remember driving my Mk 1 Cortina up a then "EMPTY" M1 listening to "I heard it through the grapevine" those were the days.

branwell



Joined: 09/08/2010
Posts: 141

Message Posted:
03/10/2010 10:48

You're right Martin about her voice which was much more mature and 'bluesy' than the younger 'girl' singers who were the staple of Berry Gordy's 'empire'. The 'home-grown' singers tended to be integrated into the overall sound -'The Sound of Young America'- rather than be seen as artistes in their own right. Probably Brenda Holloway was the only other. None of them got the T/M publicity machine behind them except for 'Miss Ross' (but then she was sleeping with the boss, wasn't she!)

apc2010


Joined: 28/07/2010
Posts: 1689

Message Posted:
12/12/2010 02:34

Diana Ross ....