Tammi Terrell had a great voice. Her version with Marvin Gaye should have been a big hit. During the mid sixties she made some super records, none of them made the charts in the UK though. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles did some great records which missed the charts. If anyone really wants to dig deeper than Baby Love then have a listen on Spotify. Search for 'Complete Motown Singles'. About ten years ago Motown released a box set for each year from 1959 to 1972. Every A side and B side is available. Listen to 'More love' by the Miracles from the 1967 set. It will blow you away. Why did that not make the UK charts. There are hundreds more like that.
"For New Readers."
I'm posting the link I posted before, which lists all the UK issued Motown records, by Catalogue number, Artist, "A and B" sides and Issue date. I bet a good number you won't have heard of, (nor had I).
A great subject but not surprisingly another disappointing countdown show. They appear to be set up for an audience who has the attention span of a gnat. Why not just play the whole song? Motown consistently produced classic songs but few would have gone beyond three minutes. The bits in between could be filled by those associated with the songs. Just forget the pointless hangers-on who kept turning up last night - as ever they added nothing.
Motown was essentially a 60s label and although it continued by the early 70s the great sound had virtually gone forever. This list should have better reflected the vintage period (it should have been easy to have produced a top 20 from the Four Tops and The Supremes alone) but presumably this choice was derived from a shortlist which no doubt bowed to songs from the later period.
Given that the Motown catalogue is around a thousand records which were actually released. I wonder what percentage of those the voters had actually heard?
As Marvin Gaye is an enduring favourite and his "protest songs" were mentioned, I can't remember this one being mentioned. It was a T/M recording.
It's one I've always liked. It's a nice tune to play.
A great subject but not surprisingly another disappointing countdown show. They appear to be set up for an audience who has the attention span of a gnat. Why not just play the whole song? Motown consistently produced classic songs but few would have gone beyond three minutes. The bits in between could be filled by those associated with the songs. Just forget the pointless hangers-on who kept turning up last night - as ever they added nothing.
Motown was essentially a 60s label and although it continued by the early 70s the great sound had virtually gone forever. This list should have better reflected the vintage period (it should have been easy to have produced a top 20 from the Four Tops and The Supremes alone) but presumably this choice was derived from a shortlist which no doubt bowed to songs from the later period.
I agree that the early tracks were great but, for me anyway, I think they were matched by the later 70s stuff. A lot of the mid 60s tracks still endured with newer fans like me then. My first ever single (bought with birthday record vouchers no less) was For Once In My Life which I bought when I was 11. Then first album Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 (the silver one) and so on and Vols 1 & 2 were packed with goodies from the 60s. It was good value as a schoolgirl to wait for the Chartbusters and then complement them with singles here and there..I was record mad then ! I was lucky to see a lot of the acts in my mid to late teens in the 70s and even saw Stevie again for my 50th. It never leaves you.
But "the official verdict" was a cancerous brain tumor, on which they'd previously operated eight times.
I think that rightly or wrongly, people were looking for someone to blame and because of her abusive relationship with David, he got the blame.
That doesn't take away from the fact that, even with his faults, David was an incredible charismatic singer & The Temptations were at their best, I believe, when he was at the lead.
Regarding the Isley Brothers: I never realised they were at Motown. It is a pity that Summer Breeze & Harvest for the World was produced under a different label.
No chum, I'm not "spinning" anything. I'm expressing an opinion.
I've acknowledged Ross's record sold in great numbers.
Tamla Motown was a small record company and had nowhere near the clout at the time their record was issued, (1967) than did EMI, when they issued Ross's, (1973). She'd only just starred in the film, "Lady Sings the Blues," so there was a lot of weight behind her promotion, so as a household name, it would be expected to sell well.
YouTube figures don't lie. The Tammi Terrell recording is currently by far the most popular, with people who use it to listen to records.
That's what I said to start with and hopefully, that's all I need to say now.
I've never thought Diana Ross much of a singer. She had a thin, whiney, nasal voice and was certainly not the best singer in the Supremes.
Get your facts right chum, DR's version was 1970, not 1973, long before "Lady Sings The Blues" and was on Motown. It is ridiculous in the extreme to claim that Motown was a small company and wasn't selling loads of singles by 1967 and was suddenly a massive company three years later. You're still ignoring my point that you use one set of figures when it suits you (You Tube views) and ignore another (actual record sales) because that contradicts your argument, but ho hum. Your view of the multi million selling Diana Ross's voice has no relevance to this discussion.
Get your facts right chum, DR's version was 1970, not 1973, long before "Lady Sings The Blues" and was on Motown. It is ridiculous in the extreme to claim that Motown was a small company and wasn't selling loads of singles by 1967 and was suddenly a massive company three years later. You're still ignoring my point that you use one set of figures when it suits you (You Tube views) and ignore another (actual record sales) because that contradicts your argument, but ho hum. Your view of the multi million selling Diana Ross's voice has no relevance to this discussion.
Hmm..
Sorry, I was looking at a different album.
I've not ignored record sales I accepted that she sold a lot of records, but once again it wasn't my point. How often do you want me to say it?
My point is about the popularity of the recordings now, not forty years ago. The 30 million YouTube hits on the Tammi Terrell video have been in the last ten years.
In the late sixties, as has been mentioned before a lot of MoTown artists were unknown to the British public, Whilst Diana Ross was "practically being rammed down our throats."
My view of Diana Ross is relevant to my opinions and I'll mention them as often as I please.
I think that rightly or wrongly, people were looking for someone to blame and because of her abusive relationship with David, he got the blame.
That doesn't take away from the fact that, even with his faults, David was an incredible charismatic singer & The Temptations were at their best, I believe, when he was at the lead.
Regarding the Isley Brothers: I never realised they were at Motown. It is a pity that Summer Breeze & Harvest for the World was produced under a different label.
I quite enjoyed this earlier. It's put me in the mood for some Motown later. I was quite surprised at number two in the list - I missed the first half an hour or so and expected a Stevie Wonder song in there. Number one was pretty obvious though.
I often wonder who votes. I never saw anything about voting? And I would have put Lets Get it On by Marvin at number 1. This top 20 showed what I class as typical Mowtown Songs. Nothing out of the ordinary.
12 US number 1s? Yes, she really did ruin The Supremes didn't she? (Rolleyes)
Well she was not much support to Florance Ballards family after she died. Saw a docu with her daughter and she didn't have many nice words about Diana.
Well she was not much support to Florance Ballards family after she died. Saw a docu with her daughter and she didn't have many nice words about Diana.
EMI really got behind Diana Ross, as I mentioned earlier, she was rather forced down the record buying public's throats. Other Tamla Motown artists probably weren't as well supported by them. You had to seek out the recordings, or even order them.
Anyway, I could never stand her nasal whiney voice.
Well she was not much support to Florance Ballards family after she died. Saw a docu with her daughter and she didn't have many nice words about Diana.
She doesn't come over as a very nice person. She always made such a fuss of Michael Jackson, especially when he was a child. He made her guardian of his three children which she agreed to be, and then when he died she didn't keep her promise and didn't even go to his funeral. Pretty bad of her really.
She doesn't come over as a very nice person. She always made such a fuss of Michael Jackson, especially when he was a child. He made her guardian of his three children which she agreed to be, and then when he died she didn't keep her promise and didn't even go to his funeral. Pretty bad of her really.
That's "showbusiness," the PR projected image doesn't always match the reality.
It was reported that when Sarah Vaughan was dying, Billy Eckstine a long-time musical collaborator of hers, refused to go and see her.
Comments
"For New Readers."
I'm posting the link I posted before, which lists all the UK issued Motown records, by Catalogue number, Artist, "A and B" sides and Issue date. I bet a good number you won't have heard of, (nor had I).
http://www.broadwayboogaloo.co.uk/boogooA56.htm
Motown was essentially a 60s label and although it continued by the early 70s the great sound had virtually gone forever. This list should have better reflected the vintage period (it should have been easy to have produced a top 20 from the Four Tops and The Supremes alone) but presumably this choice was derived from a shortlist which no doubt bowed to songs from the later period.
A wonderful track....very poignant too for those who have lost - " I just looked around...and he was gone". Marvin's delicate delivery at its best.
I agree that the early tracks were great but, for me anyway, I think they were matched by the later 70s stuff. A lot of the mid 60s tracks still endured with newer fans like me then. My first ever single (bought with birthday record vouchers no less) was For Once In My Life which I bought when I was 11. Then first album Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 (the silver one) and so on and Vols 1 & 2 were packed with goodies from the 60s. It was good value as a schoolgirl to wait for the Chartbusters and then complement them with singles here and there..I was record mad then ! I was lucky to see a lot of the acts in my mid to late teens in the 70s and even saw Stevie again for my 50th. It never leaves you.
I think that rightly or wrongly, people were looking for someone to blame and because of her abusive relationship with David, he got the blame.
That doesn't take away from the fact that, even with his faults, David was an incredible charismatic singer & The Temptations were at their best, I believe, when he was at the lead.
Regarding the Isley Brothers: I never realised they were at Motown. It is a pity that Summer Breeze & Harvest for the World was produced under a different label.
Marvin Gaye - Abraham , Martin, John. ;-)
Get your facts right chum, DR's version was 1970, not 1973, long before "Lady Sings The Blues" and was on Motown. It is ridiculous in the extreme to claim that Motown was a small company and wasn't selling loads of singles by 1967 and was suddenly a massive company three years later. You're still ignoring my point that you use one set of figures when it suits you (You Tube views) and ignore another (actual record sales) because that contradicts your argument, but ho hum. Your view of the multi million selling Diana Ross's voice has no relevance to this discussion.
Hmm..
Sorry, I was looking at a different album.
I've not ignored record sales I accepted that she sold a lot of records, but once again it wasn't my point. How often do you want me to say it?
My point is about the popularity of the recordings now, not forty years ago. The 30 million YouTube hits on the Tammi Terrell video have been in the last ten years.
In the late sixties, as has been mentioned before a lot of MoTown artists were unknown to the British public, Whilst Diana Ross was "practically being rammed down our throats."
My view of Diana Ross is relevant to my opinions and I'll mention them as often as I please.
Yes, the Isleys recorded under a few labels.
I think that lovers of Motown music should stick together & not fall out.
Good point!
I'm out of it now!
Some people can be a bit touchy if you criticise someone they like.
I really don't mind what opinion other people have of any artist, I mean what difference can it make to me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H7ATUZxeBU
Sorry, it's actually repeated on SATURDAY not Sunday, at 2.30.
Hope you see this in time. ;-)
Fantastic.
I bet you've forgotten many of them.
Tamla MoTown produced around 1000 records.
A complete list of the "A & B" titles of their total production, can be found here.
http://www.broadwayboogaloo.co.uk/boogooA56.htm
A "copy and paste" into YouTube, of some you don't immediately recognise, can be rewarding.
Well she was not much support to Florance Ballards family after she died. Saw a docu with her daughter and she didn't have many nice words about Diana.
EMI really got behind Diana Ross, as I mentioned earlier, she was rather forced down the record buying public's throats. Other Tamla Motown artists probably weren't as well supported by them. You had to seek out the recordings, or even order them.
Anyway, I could never stand her nasal whiney voice.
She doesn't come over as a very nice person. She always made such a fuss of Michael Jackson, especially when he was a child. He made her guardian of his three children which she agreed to be, and then when he died she didn't keep her promise and didn't even go to his funeral. Pretty bad of her really.
That's "showbusiness," the PR projected image doesn't always match the reality.
It was reported that when Sarah Vaughan was dying, Billy Eckstine a long-time musical collaborator of hers, refused to go and see her.
That's sad. The irony of "Passing Strangers".
I love that song, they sang well together and as individuals.
The irony is that he only out-lived her by three years.