Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Can You Believe It?

Fifty years ago today, on April 14, 1960, Motown Records was incorporated by Berry Gordy Jr.

I can't imagine what things would have been like without the Motown Sound; their roster of artists reads like a "Who's Who" of 1960's and early 1970's popular music:  Martha and the Vandellas ("Dancing in the Street"), Smokey Robinson and the Miracles ("The Tears of a Clown"), The Temptations ("My Girl"), The Four Tops ("Reach Out I'll Be There"), Diana Ross and the Supremes ("Stop! In the Name of Love"), Gladys Knight and the Pips ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine"), The Jackson 5 ("ABC"), Stevie Wonder ("Superstition"), and Marvin Gaye ("What's Going On") all recorded for the label, as did later artists like Rick James, Lionel Richie, Boyz II Men, Erykah Badu, and India.Arie.

Although Motown is most famous for its releases in the genres of pop, rhythm and blues, soul, and hip hop, I was surprised to learn on Wikipedia that over the years the label has owned or distributed releases from more than 45 subsidiaries in varying genres, including gospel, jazz, rock, spoken word, country, New Wave, and Latin.

Can you name the artist and title of these 10 Motown hits? If they're not all familiar, don't worry. The answers are revealed at the end.

3 comments:

  1. Amazing! This music has impacted so many of our lives. It has been like putting whipped cream and a cherry on top of our lives. :-)

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  2. AnotherQ-Mmmm...whipped cream and cherries. Thanks for starting my morning off right with the visual!

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  3. That is hard to believe. Motown and I are almost the same age!

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