- Superstition / Stevie Wonder
- Shop Around / Smokey Robinson
- Please Mr Postman / The Marvelettes
- Do You Love Me / The Contours
- My Girl / The Temptations
- Rescue Me / Fontella Bass
- I Got You (I Feel Good) / James Brown
- People Get Ready / Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions
- Reach Out, I'll Be There / The Four Tops
- What Becomes of the Broken Hearted / Jimmy Ruffin
- Knock on Wood / Eddie Floyd
- I Heard It Through the Grapevine / Marvin Gaye
- You Can't Hurry Love (Mono - Single Version) / The Supremes.
- (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone / Aretha Franklin
- (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay / Otis Redding
- Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Instrumental) / The Funk Brothers
- Ain't no Mountain High Enough / The Temptations
- I Want You Back / Jackson 5
- The Tears Of A Clown / Smokey Robinson
- Treat Her Like a Lady / Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose
- Proud Mary / Tina Turner
- Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (Single Version) / The Temptations
- Mothership Connection: Starchild (Fully Equipped mix) / Parliament Funkadelic
- Super Freak / Rick James
- Brick House / The Commodores
- Play That Funky Music / Wild Cherry
Tamla-Motown
· Detroit, Michigan.
· Founded by Berry Gordy Jr in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family’s savings club.
· Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music
· The first record label owned by an African-American.
· Hitsville USA was the home of Motown in the early days… office & studio where all the hits were made.
· First act signed was The Matadors, who later changed their name to The Miracles.
· The Miracles’ lead singer, Smokey Robinson, became vice president of the company later that year.
· Motown’s first Number 1 hit on R&B chart was “Shop Around” by The Miracles. It reached Number 2 on pop chart. Motown’s first platinum selling record.
· 1960, Tamla and Motown became one company
· First Number 1 hit on pop chart, The Marvelettes’ “Please Mr Postman”
· 110 Top Ten hits between 1961 and 1971
· Gordy and Robinson wrote a lot of the Motown hits.
· Motown moved to LA in 1972
· From 1972-1998 it added artists like Brian McKnight and Boyz II Men to its roster. (blah!)
· Boyz II Men released an album called Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA in 2007
· Hitsville USA is now the Motown Museum. 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI
· Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations had remained with the label since its early days, although all except Wonder recorded for other labels for several years.
· Ross left Motown for RCA from 1981 to 1988, but returned in 1989 and stayed until 2002. Robinson left the label in the late 1990s, and the Temptations left a second time in 2004. Stevie Wonder is today the only artist from Motown's early period still on the label.
The Commodores-The Contours-The Four Tops-The Funk Brothers-Marvin Gaye-Michael Jackson-The Jackson 5-Rick James-Gladys Knight & The Pips-Teena Marie-The Marvelettes-Martha Reeves & The Vandellas-Smokey Robinson & The Miracles-Diana Ross and The Supremes-The Temptations-Stevie Wonder
The Funk Brothers
Session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to LA in 1972. “Played on more number-one hits than The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys combined” including ‘My Girl’, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, ‘Baby Love’, ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours’, ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’, ‘Tears Of A Clown’, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and ‘Heat Wave’
