Motown Classics

I wonder if anyone in America actually digs the Motown sound, or if people even realize what that whole vibe is actually about.

Since nobody seems to be chiming in, I guess I’ll kick things off since I started this thread. Motown was this record label based out of Detroit, and from about '60 to '73, they had this incredibly specific, unmistakable sound. They pretty much exclusively signed Black artists back then, and honestly, that label paved the way for almost every major Black superstar we see today, like Beyoncé or Alicia Keys.
Motown churned out hundreds of hits—just top-tier stuff—with an roster that included The Supremes (who I think were the greatest female group ever, having twelve number one hits), The Temptations, The Miracles, The Four Tops, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, The Commodores, Lionel Richie, and so on.
Apparently, when The Beatles were at their peak, John Lennon got so fed up with his producer, Martin, that he actually demanded to know why their songs didn't sound half as good as those Motown tracks. And Bob Dylan once went as far as to say Smokey Robinson of The Miracles was basically the greatest living American poet.
A lot of songs from the Motown catalog get covered, too—like Wild's version of You Keep Me Hangin' On, or Bruce Springsteen doing War, or Phil Collins covering You Can't Hurry Love, and so on. Most of them feel like pretty mediocre imitations to me.
I mean, I suspect Motown represents the absolute peak of pop-rock, and compared to those legendary artists and those phenomenal musicians coming out of Detroit, most modern music just feels like total garbage.

It’s actually kind of depressing that nobody is chiming in here. Is the taste in this country really that primitive? It feels like there isn't even a hint of refined sensibility—not even a basic, average American sense of musical appreciation.
Anyway, here are some tracks from the Motown vault. Most of these hit number one or two on the charts, except for the first one I'm listing;
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
Baby Love
Dancing in the Streets
Where Did Our Love Go
Mr. Postman
My Guy
My Girl
Just My Imagination
Reach Out I'll Be There
I Can't Help Myself
Touch Me in the Morning
Upside Down
Endless Love
I'll Be There
Never Can Say Goodbye
Do any of these songs actually mean anything to you guys? Maybe you know a cover version or two? How would you rate the musicianship on the original recordings?
Just say something, I guess. Even if you don't know a whole lot about it.

George Garcia24 said:I’m honestly shocked that nobody is weighing in on this. Is America really this backward and uneducated? Is there truly no one in this entire country who... It isn't even about having refined taste; we’re talking about having at least an average American palate.

Why would average American taste even be considered a good thing?🤷

Yeah, we’ve all heard about Motown! You've got Diana Ross and The Supremes, Michael Jackson, The Jackson 5, and Lionel Richie...

I don't really have a strong opinion on this. Quality music is quality music, whether it comes from Motown or anyone else.😉

Are you happy now?😁

George Garcia24 said:Is America really this primitive and uncultured, where nobody even possesses a decent sense of taste, let alone an average American one?

America is just indie!

Grace Fox83 said:Why would average American taste be considered good?🤷

Yeah, we've all heard about Motown! Diana Ross and The Supremes, Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5, Lionel Richie...

I don't really have a strong opinion on it; quality music is just quality music, whether it comes from Motown or whoever else.😉

Happy now?😁

Well, the US is basically the birthplace of rock & roll, R&B, country, evergreen hits, and so on. I guess it's because they didn't have a heavy classical tradition, so their listeners—or at least they used to—had better taste, which maybe leads to having the best "average" taste.
Music today feels like trash, honestly. People just watch it instead of actually listening to it. You see these adult film stars popping up on music channels pretending to be singers, like Britney Spears or Beyoncé. It’s all about showing off skin; the songs and the vocals are just terrible.
Back in the sixties, the competition and the sheer quality of the music was insane. You had The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Phil Spector, Motown, and all those legendary Black artists led by Aretha Franklin, Burt Bacharach (though who even remembers him these days?), Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, and more. What we have now is just a big zero.

George Garcia24 said:Well, the USA is the birthplace of rock & roll, R&B, country, evergreen hits, and more, precisely because they didn't have classical music; their listeners have (or at least had) the best taste, which leads to having the best average taste overall.

I have to disagree.☕
Why would their taste be anything special if they lacked classical music (though they did have Aaron Copland, who could pass for a classical composer)🤣?

I just don't see how that works.🤷

Grace Fox83 said:I wouldn't agree with that.☕
Why would their taste be anything special if they didn't have access to classical music (though, I guess, Aaron Copland could probably pass for one)🤣?

I don't really get it🤷

It seems like you might be a bit too young for this. For a long time, pop and rock were basically looked down upon in Europe; people treated them like some low-brow genre, and sometimes they were even ignored or outright banned (and that wasn't just happening in socialist countries).
If it weren't for those "average" American consumers, we wouldn't have had guys like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, or Elvis Presley, for instance.
Are you actually suggesting that the average pop-rock listener in Germany or Romania has better taste than someone in the US or maybe here in America?

That’s not what I said.🤷
It was just the tone you took after nobody else had even reacted to the Motown thread.
And honestly, who knows what today's mainstream music would even look like if it weren't for America? We'll never know.
We owe them a lot for the diversity we have today.

Look, I love European art and culture, so I felt compelled to respond to what felt like, an unprovoked attack on the European musical legacy.😁

But then again, would Motown even exist if Europe hadn't paved the way for modern music much earlier?

George Garcia24, if you don't change your tone, there will be consequences.

George Garcia24 said:Is America really this primitive and unrefined? Like, is there seriously nobody here with any actual taste...

Not at all.
Americans just happen to have a massive soft spot for Stax over Motown....

George Garcia24 said:It’s pretty obvious you’re a bit too young for this conversation. For years, pop and rock music were looked down upon across Europe—treated as some "lesser" genre, often ignored or even outright suppressed (and that wasn't just limited to socialist countries).
If it hadn't been for those "average" American consumers, we wouldn't have had legends like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, or Elvis Presley, for instance.
Are you seriously trying to suggest that the average music consumer in Germany or Romania has better taste in pop-rock than people in the USA or perhaps in America?

Besides, the stuff topping the charts in the US is just as much garbage as what hits the top lists in Europe. Take Motown—they released a massive amount of material and artists, but honestly, most of it could easily fit onto a single double compilation. So, there isn't actually that much depth there. Even the stuff I personally love from the States isn't exactly mainstream for them. In my view, good old Europe completely outpaced them when it came to innovation and how they approached rock music—starting around the late 60s, maybe even earlier.
If you want to talk about the true legacy of American music, it’s jazz.

Benjamin Thompson66 said:I mean, what hits the top charts in the US is basically the same crap you see on European charts. Motown released a ton of stuff and artists, but honestly, it all fits onto one double compilation. So, not much there. Most of what I actually like from the States isn't even that common over there anyway. And good old Europe totally outdid them when it comes to innovation and how they approach rock music—somewhere around the late 60s, maybe even earlier.
I guess the real legacy of American music is jazz.

I figured my emails would draw some negative criticism. Look, you guys are free to hate on America because of Barack Obama or George W. Bush, but please, leave the music out of it. Debating taste is a lost cause, but Mr. Thompson66, your claim that everything worth hearing from Motown fits on two compilations... well, that just makes you look completely clueless, which is pretty embarrassing.
Just The Supremes alone had about a hundred massive hits, and then you have everyone else like Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and many, many others who had even longer careers.
Those Motown records had something nobody else could touch. From the first few bars, you just knew it was that signature Motown sound. Their session musicians (mostly jazz musicians, I think) unfortunately didn't get their due until late in life or even posthumously, which is why they finally made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their bassist, James Jamerson, is hands down the best bassist of all time.
The sound they built? People will probably still be listening to it ten centuries from now.

Austin Myers96 said:not really.
Americans just seem to have more of a thing for Stax over Motown....

I guess you're partially right, but honestly, the reason is probably because back in the old days in Yugoslavia, there was this one specific music magazine called Jukebox out of Belgrade that basically worshipped Stax while constantly tearing down Motown. And our people tend to be pretty passive listeners—they mostly just stick to whatever is served up to them or what the critics decide to put on a pedestal, without much interest in actually digging deeper themselves..
History has kind of shown that Motown wasn't just more popular than Stax, it was actually more highly regarded by the critics too, I suppose.

I’m a huge fan of Motown music... I don't really follow any one specific artist religiously, but those massive, iconic hits are just 😍 (Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), Let's Get It On, The Temptations - My Girl, The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On, Jackson 5 - ABC, I Want You Back...)

Anonymous said:I think Motown music is great... I don't really listen to any one specific artist, but those big hits everyone knows are definitely 😍 (Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), Let's Get It On, The Temptations - My Girl, Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On, Jackson 5 - ABC, I Want You Back...)

Thanks for the positive note. Honestly, I bet plenty of people love Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears"—you know, the ones the soldiers sing in that unforgettable scene from Sylvester Stone's *Platoon*. Or "Nowhere to Run," which seems to pop up in movies all the time. Then there's Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," which Cyndi Lauper covered, or the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go," later done by Soft Cell. Or "Heatwave" by Martha and the Vandellas, which Linda Ronstadt covered. And songs like "Baby Love" and "Dancing in the Street" have been covered hundreds of times, not to mention the countless versions of the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love," or Mariah Carey's cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There." I could probably list a thousand examples. I mean, no independent label ever had that many hits, or such a massive success rate compared to their singles.
Thanks for the support—just the two of us against the primitive, backward, Hades-style mentality here in America.

Off.

Since we're talking about frustrations...

I'm sitting here flipping through a massive music encyclopedia at the library today (covering everything from the '40s to now), but man, this thing is huge.
I flipped straight to the eighties.😍

I'm scanning through '80, '81, '82... '85... and nothing. Seriously, I can't find any European artists anywhere (and I'm not counting U2 or Madonna).

Nena, Scorpions, Falco😍, Laibach🤣, and so on!

See, that's what gets to me.
If we're trying to build an anthology, shouldn't we be mentioning everyone? I honestly don't understand why they'd claim Diana Ross contributed more to music than someone like Falco or the others I mentioned!

George Garcia24 said:You're partially right, but the whole thing stems from the fact that back in the old days, there was this one single music magazine—Jukebox out of Belgrade—that basically worshipped Stax while constantly dragging Motown through the mud. And honestly, people can be pretty musically gullible; they often just listen to whatever is served up or what critics are hyping up, without really wanting to go out and explore on their own...
History has actually shown that Motown wasn't just more popular than Stax—it was actually held in higher regard by the critics too!

I definitely wasn't aware of all that shady business going on with the Jukebox editorial staff.
Oh man, look at what those Mexicans did to us...

George Garcia24 said:Thanks so much for the kind email. Honestly, I bet a ton of people connect with Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears," or how soldiers sing his stuff in that unforgettable scene from Sylvester Stone's *Platoon*. Or think about "Nowhere to Run," which shows up in movies all the time, or Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On"—which Cyndi Lauper covered—or even The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go," famously remade by Soft Cell. Then there's "Heatwave" by Martha and the Vandellas, later covered by Linda Ronstadt, or classics like "Baby Love" and "Dancing in the Street" that have been reimagined hundreds of times. You could list a thousand examples, including the countless versions of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" or Mariah Carey's take on the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There." Seriously, no independent label has ever produced that many hits or had such a massive success rate compared to their total releases.
Thanks for having my back. It’s us against the primitive, backward, old-school mindset here in the States.

That music just hits different for me... it has this "something" about it that I can't quite put into words.😁
I'm not entirely sure if Otis Redding falls under the Motown umbrella (not that I'm an expert! 🙈), but man, he is absolutely incredible too.🙏

No, Otis belongs to Stax.😁

George Garcia24 said:History has pretty much proven that Motown wasn't just more popular than Stax, it was actually held in higher regard by the critics too.

And honestly, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone claim that around here.