Some Billboard R&B Chart Stats for Motown
I compiled the following information from THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF NUMBER 1 RHYTHM AND BLUES HITS
NOTE: MY USE OF "MOTOWN" IS ALL INCLUSIVE, I.E. ALL SUBSIDIARY LABELS AND THE MOTOWN LABEL ITSELF ARE REFERRED TO COLLECTIVELY AS "MOTOWN"
MOTOWN RHYTHM AND BLUES CHART STATS 1965-1990
Artists with most #1 Hits[[max of 20 to min of 5):
Stevie Wonder-18
Temptations-14
Marvin Gaye-12
Commodores-7
Jackson Five-6
Supremes-6
Diana Ross-5 [[1 with Lionel Richie)
105 number 1 hits combined for all of Motown’s labels [[Motown, Gordy, Tamla and Soul.) Nearest competitor is Atlantic with 52! Does not include labels distributed by Atlantic records.
“I Can’t Help Myself” is the longest running number 1 hit on the charts with a 9 week run on top. “Ain’t too Proud to Beg” had an 8 week run and “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye had a 7 week run
Number of #1 Hits that topped both the R & B charts AND the HOT 100: 34
In 1965, there were 3 songs that accomplished this feat, and they were all on Motown. In 1966, three of the four were on Motown. In 1967, one of the two were on Motown. In 1969, two of the three were on Motown. In 1970, six of the seven were on Motown. In 1973, 3 of the 5 were on Motown. In 1977, four of the seven were on Motown. In 1980 and 1981, one of the two were on Motown. In 1983, one of the three were on Motown. In 1985, two of the four were on Motown. 1986-1990, Motown had no number one hits on the charts.
