# Top 10 Motown songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956 "2007-05-13T20:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/21 "2007-05-14T03:21:11Z")
In no particular order: 1. Marvin Gaye - “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” 2. Four Tops - “Reach Out I’ll Be There” 3. Chris Clark - “Love’s Gone Bad” 4. The Temptations - “Get Ready” 5. R. Dean Taylor - “There’s A Ghost In My House” 6. Kim Weston - “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)” 7. The Supremes - “Reflections” 8. The Supremes - “You Keep Me Hanging On” 9. Martha And The Vandellas - “Nowhere To Run” 10. Thelma Houston - “Don’t Leave Me This Way” I’m crushed that I only had space for one Four Tops track (especially since I actually prefer them to The Temptations) and no room for The Marvelettes, The Velvelettes, The Jackson 5 or “Upside Down.” Still, that’s 10 solid songs I’d never tire of. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/22 "2007-05-14T17:44:09Z")
[QUOTE=Lisa-go-Blind] In no particular order: 1. Marvin Gaye - “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” 2. Four Tops - “Reach Out I’ll Be There” 3. Chris Clark - “Love’s Gone Bad” 4. The Temptations - “Get Ready” 5. R. Dean Taylor - “There’s A Ghost In My House” 6. Kim Weston - “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)” 7. The Supremes - “Reflections” 8. The Supremes - “You Keep Me Hanging On” 9. Martha And The Vandellas - “Nowhere To Run” 10. Thelma Houston - “Don’t Leave Me This Way” [/QUOTE] Now see, you can learn something from these kind of threads. I never knew R. Dean Taylor was on the Motown label. I don’t think I’ll be rearranging my list because of this revelation, but it’s interesting nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/23 "2007-05-14T17:47:33Z")
No Jackson 5? When I think Motown, that’s immediately what I think of. My personal favorite is I Want You Back, but I’m sure they had other songs that were bigger hits (ABC, Rockin’ Robin, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/24 "2007-05-14T18:19:22Z")
My \*\*Four Tops \*\* favorite is \*Same Old Song \* (used to great effect in the Coen brothers’ movie Blood Simple) I’d also nominate **Parliament’s** _I’ve Been Watching You_, if I knew for sure that Parliament was Motown. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/25 "2007-05-14T19:51:50Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder] Now see, you can learn something from these kind of threads. I never knew R. Dean Taylor was on the Motown label. I don’t think I’ll be rearranging my list because of this revelation, but it’s interesting nonetheless. [/QUOTE] “There’s A Ghost In My House” was actually cowritten by Taylor and Holland/Dozier/Holland, and “Gotta See Jane” was by Taylor and Brian Holland. Taylor also cowrote a number of songs for Motown artists, most famously “Love Child” for The Supremes. [More info here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Dean_Taylor). > [@Lunar Saltlick](#): > > I’d also nominate Parliament’s I’ve Been Watching You, if I knew for sure that Parliament was Motown. [Nope](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_%28band%29). ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/26 "2007-05-14T19:51:51Z")
I can’t believe I keep seeing the Jackson 5 mentioned. While they didn’t exactly suck, they never had what I considered a Motown feel. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/27 "2007-05-14T20:08:28Z")
Most of my favorite '60s and '70s R&B was not released on Motown. Clarence Carter was a Fame/Atlantic artist. Sam and Dave were on Stax, as were Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and Booker T and the MGs. Let’s never forget that Gordy was working for tremendous crossover appeal with his artists, their songs, and indeed his entire operation. And while that was a wonderful and successful thing to do at the time, it did mean that lots of that catalog frankly sounds more commercial and dated to me than lots of the Stax material, by contrast. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/28 "2007-05-14T20:14:23Z")
Also, if you’re uncertain about whether a certain singer or group was on the various Motown labels, you might want to consult [Wikipedia’s list of Motown performers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Motown_performers). It’s also great to look at in an “I didn’t know they were on Motown!” way (Kiki Dee, Teena Marie, Queen Latifah, Damian and Stephen Marley, and, uh, Lindsay Lohan???). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/29 "2007-05-14T20:35:16Z")
[QUOTE=Lisa-go-Blind] Also, if you’re uncertain about whether a certain singer or group was on the various Motown labels, you might want to consult [Wikipedia’s list of Motown performers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Motown_performers). It’s also great to look at in an “I didn’t know they were on Motown!” way (Kiki Dee, Teena Marie, Queen Latifah, Damian and Stephen Marley, and, uh, Lindsay Lohan???). [/QUOTE] That’s only a partial list, though. There were some even more unlikely signings on Motown, such as the Italian progressive rock band Libra, who released two albums on the label (probably something to do with the connection between Motown and Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Manticore label, which was issuing a bunch of Italian prog while using Motown as its distributor). ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/30 "2007-05-14T20:43:21Z")
That’s a good point. My idea, though, was more to stem people from listing tracks by more famous acts like Aretha Franklin or Parliament. Artists of that caliber would definitely have been mentioned on a list of Motown performers, had they actually ever been signed to the label. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/31 "2007-05-14T21:11:45Z")
I basically agree with posters who say you can swap in dozens of songs and still end up with a list of great, memorable work. I just can’t believe I am the first to mention \*\*Tracks of My Tears \*\* - what a song!! And my favorite J5 is \*\*The Love You Save \*\* (although Michael’s version of \*\*Who’s Loving You \*\* is pretty darn great, too…). Otherwise, lots of great stuff mentioned - I could argue a bit, but would rather enjoying the music popping into my head when I see the song titles and artists… And Marvin Gaye’s Grapevine is still pretty much IT for me overall… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/32 "2007-05-14T21:14:32Z")
What hasn’t been mentioned…? Quiet Storm – Smokey Robinson Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye Ball of Confusion and Just My Imagination – Temptations It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye – Boyz II Men Portuguese Love – Teena Marie Give It To Me, Baby – Rick James Two Lovers – Mary Wells Diana Ross – Missing You It’s A Shame – Spinners As – Steve Wonder ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/33 "2007-05-14T21:33:12Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye Great song, but alas, not Motown. Marvin was signed to Columbia at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/34 "2007-05-14T21:38:42Z")
I wondered why no one mentioned it–! ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956/35 "2007-05-14T22:00:34Z")
My list, in no particular order: 1. Shop Around: The Miracles 2. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted: Jimmy Ruffin 3. What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye 4. Someday We’ll Be Together: The Supremes 5. Baby, I Need Your Loving: The Four Tops 6. My Girl: The Temptations 7. Fingertips, Part 2: Stevie Wonder 8. Please Mr. Postman: The Marvelettes 9. I Can’t Help Myself: The Four Tops 10. The Way You Do The Things You Do: The Temptations [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-motown-songs/403956.md?page=1)