Detroit Free Press: 75 Greatest Motown Songs

[woodward]

A Free Press extra published today shows the top 75 Greatest Motown Songs that were voted on by readers.

http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/08/13/detroits-100-greatest-songs-extra-greatest-motown-songs/88629370/

[theboyfromxtown]

Still don't help me....

I'm a bit disappointed at who are not there

[marv2]

Still don't help me....

I'm a bit disappointed at who are not there

A lot of what you see on that list has to do familiarity. By that, I mean old, old songs that people have not been allowed to forget because they are the ones you usually hear on oldies radio.

[marv2]

A Free Press extra published today shows the top 75 Greatest Motown Songs that were voted on by readers.

http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/08/13/detroits-100-greatest-songs-extra-greatest-motown-songs/88629370/

Thank you Woodward.

[woodward]

Out of curiosity, I decided to rank the artists from the most to the least and to determine the ones that were totally ignored. Here are my results:

1st Place 12 songs Temptations
2nd Place 9 songs Marvin Gaye - Supremes -
3rd Place 6 songs Stevie Wonder - Four Tops
4th Place 5 songs Miracles
5th Place 4 songs Martha & the Vandellas
6th Place 3 songs Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
7th Place 2 songs Gladys Knight & Pips - SR & Miracles - Diana Ross - Marvelettes -
Jr. Walker & All Stars - Rare Earth
8th Place 1 song Edwin Starr - Barrett Strong - Mary Wells - Jimmy Ruffin - Contours -
Spinners - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston - Undisputed Truth - Isley Bros.

Now to see who was not included in the Top 75.

Commodores - Elgins - Fantastic Four - Brenda Holloway - Velvelettes - Lionel Richie

Who did I miss?

[marv2]

Out of curiosity, I decided to rank the artists from the most to the least and to determine the ones that were totally ignored. Here are my results:

1st Place 12 songs Temptations
2nd Place 9 songs Marvin Gaye - Supremes -
3rd Place 6 songs Stevie Wonder - Four Tops
4th Place 5 songs Miracles
5th Place 4 songs Martha & the Vandellas
6th Place 3 songs Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
7th Place 2 songs Gladys Knight & Pips - SR & Miracles - Diana Ross - Marvelettes -
Jr. Walker & All Stars - Rare Earth
8th Place 1 song Edwin Starr - Barrett Strong - Mary Wells - Jimmy Ruffin - Contours -
Spinners - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston - Undisputed Truth - Isley Bros.

Now to see who was not included in the Top 75.

Commodores - Elgins - Fantastic Four - Brenda Holloway - Velvelettes - Lionel Richie

Who did I miss?


The Jackson Five and Michael Jackson!

[carole cucumber]

Still don't help me....

I'm a bit disappointed at who are not there

There were 2 Velvelettes songs [['Needle In a Haystack' & 'He Was Really Saying Something') among the original 499 song list compiled for voting.

"A working list was compiled by Free Press music writer Brian McCollum, then expanded and fine-tuned in consultation with dozens of Detroit musicians, fans and other experts — including a public panel event in March at the HopCat club. Panelists included Paul Barker, DJ Invisible, Tino Gross [[Howling Diablos), Matt Lee, Sundiata O.M., Drake Phifer and Mary Restrepo [[Detroit Cobras).
Also on hand that night were Kern Brantley, DJ Head, Ishmael Ahmed and a crowd of dedicated Detroit music aficionados."
http://www.freep.com/pages/interactives/detroit-greatest-songs/complete-list/

[carole cucumber]

The Jackson Five and Michael Jackson!

Although we Motown fans see things differently, they weren't included because of the criteria used to define Detroit artists:

"What were the criteria?

There's no precise way to define a "Detroit song," and there weren't any ironclad rules. But we can definitely say what we weren't going by: These are not songs with lyrics about Detroit, necessarily, or tracks that happened to be recorded here by visiting acts.
We're simply talking about records that were spawned by this area in some fundamental way, created by people widely viewed as Detroit artists in their time. That doesn't mean the songs had to be written here or cut in a local studio. It's just that, in some underlying sense, the Detroit region helped give birth to these tracks.
One barometer we used when considering a given selection: Would a knowledgeable music fan on the other side of the globe think of this as a Detroit song?
So, no Madonna?

She's a good example of someone whose work we didn't think fit the bill. Sure, Madonna grew up in Michigan, and the world at large knows her as an artist with Detroit roots. But she was long gone by the time her music career kicked in, and her body of work is generally associated with New York and Los Angeles.
I see Stooges songs in there. But where's Iggy Pop's solo stuff?

Check out the Madonna explanation above. The Stooges were intrinsically tied to the Detroit rock scene during their career. But after the band's split, front man Iggy Pop sowed his creative oats in other spots around the world. We'll always be happy to claim him as a Michigan guy, but for the purposes of this project, we've made the distinction.
Similar decisions were reached with Alice Cooper, Jack White and many Motown artists: We've included only the records that are commonly linked to their Detroit periods. Take Stevie Wonder as an example. The list includes his work through 1971 or so, about the time he and Motown Records headed off to California.
We tried not to get bogged down in a lot of hair-splitting, and many of these were gut calls in the end. With some of these decisions, even our expert consultants were sharply divided with one another.
Questions? Contact Brian McCollum at bmccollum@freepress.com."

[marv2]

Although we Motown fans see things differently, they weren't included because of the criteria used to define Detroit artists:

"What were the criteria?

There's no precise way to define a "Detroit song," and there weren't any ironclad rules. But we can definitely say what we weren't going by: These are not songs with lyrics about Detroit, necessarily, or tracks that happened to be recorded here by visiting acts.
We're simply talking about records that were spawned by this area in some fundamental way, created by people widely viewed as Detroit artists in their time. That doesn't mean the songs had to be written here or cut in a local studio. It's just that, in some underlying sense, the Detroit region helped give birth to these tracks.
One barometer we used when considering a given selection: Would a knowledgeable music fan on the other side of the globe think of this as a Detroit song?
So, no Madonna?

She's a good example of someone whose work we didn't think fit the bill. Sure, Madonna grew up in Michigan, and the world at large knows her as an artist with Detroit roots. But she was long gone by the time her music career kicked in, and her body of work is generally associated with New York and Los Angeles.
I see Stooges songs in there. But where's Iggy Pop's solo stuff?

Check out the Madonna explanation above. The Stooges were intrinsically tied to the Detroit rock scene during their career. But after the band's split, front man Iggy Pop sowed his creative oats in other spots around the world. We'll always be happy to claim him as a Michigan guy, but for the purposes of this project, we've made the distinction.
Similar decisions were reached with Alice Cooper, Jack White and many Motown artists: We've included only the records that are commonly linked to their Detroit periods. Take Stevie Wonder as an example. The list includes his work through 1971 or so, about the time he and Motown Records headed off to California.
We tried not to get bogged down in a lot of hair-splitting, and many of these were gut calls in the end. With some of these decisions, even our expert consultants were sharply divided with one another.
Questions? Contact Brian McCollum at bmccollum@freepress.com."

Their explanations and not clear nor valid in my opinion.

[daviddesper]

How could Don't Mess With Bill not make such a survey? Also disappointed about Needle in a Haystack and Heaven Must Have Sent You being absent, but as someone mentioned, that was likely due to lack of familiarity and chart success.

[Ngroove]

How could Don't Mess With Bill not make such a survey? Also disappointed about Needle in a Haystack and Heaven Must Have Sent You being absent, but as someone mentioned, that was likely due to lack of familiarity and chart success.

Most general "Best Of" song charts are mostly basing songs off the top ten of the POP charts, not R&B.

[marv2]

Most general "Best Of" song charts are mostly basing songs off the top ten of the POP charts, not R&B.

Also, why call it "Greatest Motown Songs" when there's a special criteria that disqualifies so many great "Motown" songs?

[midnightman]

The Jackson 5 may have been the last stars on the classic Motown lineup of stars, but they probably consider the Jacksons "Californians by way of Indiana" so they never consider them as "Motown" since most of their music wasn't made at Hitsville, save for the covers Bobby Taylor produced on their first album though it's odd to see Hollywood-era Motown singles such as "Let's Get It On" get included. Kinda destroys its premise.

[marv2]

The Jackson 5 may have been the last stars on the classic Motown lineup of stars, but they probably consider the Jacksons "Californians by way of Indiana" so they never consider them as "Motown" since most of their music wasn't made at Hitsville, save for the covers Bobby Taylor produced on their first album though it's odd to see Hollywood-era Motown singles such as "Let's Get It On" get included. Kinda destroys its premise.

Very odd indeed!

[tmd]

Hard to believe that one man was so instrumental in the top Motown songs. Should have more recognition with the Detroit Free press. no one comes close to him on this list.

[marv2]

Hard to believe that one man was so instrumental in the top Motown songs. Should have more recognition with the Detroit Free press. no one comes close to him on this list.


He was on more hits than just about anyone.