Post by ClassicSoul on Feb 20, 2006 8:59:36 GMT -5
This is very cute
Maybe what I think is common Motown knowledge just isn’t
February 19,2006
MIKE DEWEY
SUN JOURNAL STAFF
I was listening to a radio call-in show the other night — just passing the time between the Awful and the Hideous — when I came across a host who was attempting to entice his listeners into phoning in their all-time favorite Motown songs.
For those of you who might be too young to remember, allow me to enlighten you. Motown was a record label, founded by Berry Gordy Jr. and based in Detroit. It was Hitsville U.S.A. from 1959-1971.
Motown is revered — and rightly so — for having introduced an entire generation of kids to a new kind of music: Exciting, pulsing with a groove that got inside your head.
Smokey Robinson.
The Temptations.
The Supremes.
They were the Big Three — to my way of thinking, anyway — so I was heartened to hear the first caller request “I Wish It Would Rain.”
You might know the opening lines by heart:
“Sunshine, blue skies, please go away.
My girl has found another and gone away.
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom.
So day after day, I stayed locked up in my room.”
It’s so ... well, so Temptin’ Temptations. They may not have written the Book of Love, but they understood it, chapter and verse.
So I was feeling pretty good about things, and then the next caller asked to hear “Under the Boardwalk.”
And my mood collapsed.
Not because it’s not an immortal song. It is. Faithful readers might recall that it was the first 45 I ever bought, back in the summer of 1964.
But it’s by the Drifters.
And they weren’t on Motown.
They were on Atlantic.
I mean, I still have the single and see can it in my mind’s eye, that distinctive red and black logo that also adorned all those immortal Aretha Franklin classics.
But the host said nothing to refute the caller’s belief that it was a Motown song.
I thought I’d give him — and his theme — one more chance.
Sure enough, I was disappointed.
“I’ve got the best one,” the guy said, “and you’re gonna love all that brass.”
Immediately, I knew he was going to say something stupid.
“I’d like to hear ‘Hold On! I’m Comin’,’ by Sam and Dave,” he said, and the host cued his producer who punched a button or two and soon, the opening riff sifted from the speakers.
“Wrong,” I said. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
Not because it’s not a great song, because it is.
But Sam and Dave are no more Motown than the Drifters.
They recorded for Stax.
Everyone knows that.
So, disgusted, I turned off the radio.
The next caller probably wanted to hear some Al Green who, as most of you already know, was the biggest star that Hi ever offered.
I don’t expect much, but when the host of a show isn’t up to the material he offers to his audience, what good is he?
Not knowing the difference between Motown and Atlantic or Motown and Stax isn’t like shooting someone with whom you’re hunting, but it’s not exactly reassuring.
So, to close, here’s a quick Motown Top 5 — and I promise that I’ve done my homework — even though I know I’m leaving off some titanic heavyweights:
5.) “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me),” David Ruffin (1969).
4.) “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” the Four Tops (1966).
3.) “(Love is like a) Heat Wave,” Martha and the Vandellas (1963).
2.) “The Tears of a Clown,” Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1970).
1.) “Stop! In the Name of Love,” the Supremes 1965.
1.) “Ball of Confusion,” the Temptations (1970).
1.) “Baby Love,” the Supremes (1964).
1.) “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” Marvin Gaye (1968).
1.) “The Tracks of My Tears,” the Miracles (1965).
1.) “Twenty-Five Miles,” Edwin Starr (1969).
I realize that I’ve taken certain liberties with the number 5 but, as my mom always said, I’m a child of excess.
LINK
Maybe what I think is common Motown knowledge just isn’t
February 19,2006
MIKE DEWEY
SUN JOURNAL STAFF
I was listening to a radio call-in show the other night — just passing the time between the Awful and the Hideous — when I came across a host who was attempting to entice his listeners into phoning in their all-time favorite Motown songs.
For those of you who might be too young to remember, allow me to enlighten you. Motown was a record label, founded by Berry Gordy Jr. and based in Detroit. It was Hitsville U.S.A. from 1959-1971.
Motown is revered — and rightly so — for having introduced an entire generation of kids to a new kind of music: Exciting, pulsing with a groove that got inside your head.
Smokey Robinson.
The Temptations.
The Supremes.
They were the Big Three — to my way of thinking, anyway — so I was heartened to hear the first caller request “I Wish It Would Rain.”
You might know the opening lines by heart:
“Sunshine, blue skies, please go away.
My girl has found another and gone away.
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom.
So day after day, I stayed locked up in my room.”
It’s so ... well, so Temptin’ Temptations. They may not have written the Book of Love, but they understood it, chapter and verse.
So I was feeling pretty good about things, and then the next caller asked to hear “Under the Boardwalk.”
And my mood collapsed.
Not because it’s not an immortal song. It is. Faithful readers might recall that it was the first 45 I ever bought, back in the summer of 1964.
But it’s by the Drifters.
And they weren’t on Motown.
They were on Atlantic.
I mean, I still have the single and see can it in my mind’s eye, that distinctive red and black logo that also adorned all those immortal Aretha Franklin classics.
But the host said nothing to refute the caller’s belief that it was a Motown song.
I thought I’d give him — and his theme — one more chance.
Sure enough, I was disappointed.
“I’ve got the best one,” the guy said, “and you’re gonna love all that brass.”
Immediately, I knew he was going to say something stupid.
“I’d like to hear ‘Hold On! I’m Comin’,’ by Sam and Dave,” he said, and the host cued his producer who punched a button or two and soon, the opening riff sifted from the speakers.
“Wrong,” I said. “Wrong, wrong, wrong.”
Not because it’s not a great song, because it is.
But Sam and Dave are no more Motown than the Drifters.
They recorded for Stax.
Everyone knows that.
So, disgusted, I turned off the radio.
The next caller probably wanted to hear some Al Green who, as most of you already know, was the biggest star that Hi ever offered.
I don’t expect much, but when the host of a show isn’t up to the material he offers to his audience, what good is he?
Not knowing the difference between Motown and Atlantic or Motown and Stax isn’t like shooting someone with whom you’re hunting, but it’s not exactly reassuring.
So, to close, here’s a quick Motown Top 5 — and I promise that I’ve done my homework — even though I know I’m leaving off some titanic heavyweights:
5.) “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me),” David Ruffin (1969).
4.) “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” the Four Tops (1966).
3.) “(Love is like a) Heat Wave,” Martha and the Vandellas (1963).
2.) “The Tears of a Clown,” Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1970).
1.) “Stop! In the Name of Love,” the Supremes 1965.
1.) “Ball of Confusion,” the Temptations (1970).
1.) “Baby Love,” the Supremes (1964).
1.) “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” Marvin Gaye (1968).
1.) “The Tracks of My Tears,” the Miracles (1965).
1.) “Twenty-Five Miles,” Edwin Starr (1969).
I realize that I’ve taken certain liberties with the number 5 but, as my mom always said, I’m a child of excess.
LINK