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- Marvin Gaye. WHAT’S GOING ON. (Motown, 1971) Marvin Gaye dedicated this LP to the man who killed him – his preacher dad Marvin Gay Senior. Profane though such thinking might be, What’s Going On is the kind of album to make you imagine parallels between its narrator and Christ: both driven to spread a message of brotherhood and suffering for the sins of the world, only for their Fathers to have other plans.
- Stevie Wonder. INNERVISIONS. (Tamla Motown, 1973) If 1972’s Talking Book saw Stevie Wonder merely hinting at the socio-political unrest of early-’70s America, then the following year’s Innervisions faced the darkness head on.
- Four Tops. REACH OUT. (Motown, 1967) Of all the many memorable transformations wrought by Motown’s Hitsville hothouse in the 1960s, perhaps none was more remarkable than that of The Four Tops: four men in their thirties, comfortable in their supper club routine of standards, jazz phrasing and easily crooned harmonies, metamorphosed into million-selling pop stars at the forefront of the label’s international expansion.
- Stevie Wonder. TALKING BOOK. (Tamla Motown, 1972) The two greatest melodists of the rock era are Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Neither seems to have full control over their melodic “gush”; they almost never let anything get in the way of the vocal and sometimes their songs seem built for the sheer joy of singing.
Feb 9, 2013 · 1. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (1971 - Tamla) 2. Innervisions - Stevie Wonder (1973 - Tamla) 3. Reach Out - Four Tops (1967 - Motown) 4. Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder (1976 - Tamla) 5.
- Valerie Simpson: Exposed,Valerie Simpson
- Gloria Jones: Share My Love
- Commodores: Machine Gun
- Four Tops: Nature Planned It
- The Miracles: Do It Baby,City of Angels
- Eddie Kendricks: People… Hold On,Eddie Kendricks
- Jackson 5: Lookin’ Through The Windows,Skywriter, Get It Together
- Syreeta: Syreeta,Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta
- Willie Hutch: Fully Exposed, The Mack
- Edwin Starr: Involved,Hell Up in Harlem
One of rock’s chief developments in the late 60s and early 70s was the rise of the singer-songwriter. Albums by the likes of Carole King, James Taylor, and Don McLean sold by the truckload. This was clearly tricky territory for Motown: the label’s success was built on vocal talent singing other people’s songs. So Motown turned to its backroom compo...
Simpson wasn’t the only Motown tunesmith to step behind the mic. Gloria Jones had been a minor soul star in the mid-60s with the singles “Tainted Love” (yes, the song both Soft Cell and Marilyn Manson covered) and “Heartbeat.” Times had changed, and so had Gloria on Share My Love, released by Motown in 1973. The title track offered baroque strings ...
So, you know Lionel Richie as a smooth, squillion-selling 80s balladeer? That’s only half the tale. Motown signed him in 1974 as joint lead singer (alongside drummer Walter Orange) of Commodores, and the band was a funky sensation. While they became known for gushy gear such as “Three Times A Lady,” their debut album, Machine Gun, was full-on phonk...
Soul superstars in the 60s, Motown seemed to have lost interest in Four Tops by 1971, and it would take a move to the Dunhill label in 1972 to revitalize this wonderful vocal group’s chart status. So it would figure that their final Motown album would be a lackluster love-free zone, right? Nope. Nature Planned It(1972) is a gem of a record, full of...
Staying with Motown icons coping with change, what chance did The Miracles stand when their lead singer and songwriter, Smokey Robinson, quit in 1972? Little or none, you might think, but Smokey’s replacement, Billy Griffin, was a great singer with an appealing voice, and the group had decent writers in their ranks. Two post-Smokey albums stand out...
Eddie Kendricks faced the opposite problem to The Miracles: he’d been a lead singer in a star act, The Temptations, trying to launch a solo career in 1971. For a few years, the career shift worked. His second and third albums have aged best. People… Hold On(1972) is a magnificent affair: “My People… Hold On” held resonant African drumming, deliveri...
On the other hand, Jackson 5’s fame remains, but their music between the early hits and their departure from Motown is underappreciated. Michael and co-released fascinating albums that found them seeking their mature sound while retaining the undeniable charm of youth. Lookin’ Through The Windows (1972) was by no means mature but the title track re...
When Stevie Wonder wasn’t busy breaking new ground with his own albums, he was producing or playing on others,” including those of his ex-wife, Syreeta, who had first recorded at Motown in 1968 as Rita Wright. Syreeta’s self-titled debut album, released in 1972, was firmly aimed at an AOR market and featured a few unlikely covers. Her second offeri...
Willie Hutch was Motown’s great funk hope in the 70s, though his roots were firmly based in soul. He funk-tioned as a commercial songwriter, too, co-composing Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.” Hutch didn’t cross over to any great degree, retaining his cred for an African-American audience through a series of fine albums in the 70s. His first album for t...
Hutch wasn’t the only Motown artist to record a Blaxploitation movie soundtrack. Edwin Starr, not the most likely candidate for such work, created Hell Up In Harlem in 1974. Produced by the rapidly rising Fonce Mizell and Jackson 5 producer Freddie Perren, with top talent such as guitarist Dennis Coffey and Crusaders’ pianist Joe Sample in support,...
- Ian Mccann
- 4 min
- Male
- June 13, 1982
- Daily Entertainment Writer, Music & Culture
- “Songs in the Key of Life” – Stevie Wonder (1976) From 1971 to 1976, Stevie Wonder had arguably the most outstanding creative runs in American music history.
- “What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye (1971) There are two kinds of albums: before Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” and after. By the start of the 1970s, Gaye earned a distinction as the Prince of Motown, but he decided he wanted to make music that went beyond just the typical pop music fare of love and relationships.
- “Street Songs” – Rick James (1981) Rick James reached a breaking point by 1981. After riding the tremendous momentum of his first three albums on Motown, the king of punk funk 1980 release, “Garden of Love,” failed to reach commercial expectations.
- “Mama’s Gun” – Erykah Badu (2000) Erykah Badu became the first lady of the so-called Neo-Soul movement with her 1997 debut album, “Baduizm.” She retained the smoky-voice lounger singing style for her next album but expanded from “Baduizm’s” slick fusion of R&B and hip-hop into more eclectic territories.
COMMODORES. The skill of Lionel Richie’s writing (“Easy”) is increasingly evident, but the Commodores are never less than one tight band on this, their first Top 3 album. “Brick House” rocks the joint. DIANA. The Queen of Motown meets Chic.
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Motown albums discography. This is a discography for albums released by the American rhythm and blues record label Motown as well as its subsidiaries and imprints.
May 14, 2024 · Top Motown Sound albums of all time. Separate: live, archival, soundtracks and scores. Prev. 1 2 3 Next. Updated: 14 May. Average Ratings Reviews. Where Did Our Love Go. The Supremes. 3.72 2,483 29. 31 August 1964. Girl Group Motown Sound. romantic melodic love vocal group lush uplifting longing bittersweet. Reach Out. Four Tops. 3.72 1,340 23.
