Why is Motown so big in the UK?

[copley]

In some cases the Northern Soul crowd latched on to the likes of R Dean Taylor's 'There a Ghost in my House' which years later then crossed over to mainstream and became a huge hit. However the same cannot be said for NS anthem 'I'll Keep Holding On' by the Marvelettes! Jimmy Ruffin's UK success had nothing to do with NS. The Four Tops were bigger in the UK from 'Loving You is Sweeter than Ever' but the Temptations were minor league by comparison. Martha had very little success and the Marvelettes & Mary only had one hit! Up until 'You Can't Hurry Love' the Supremes were very hit and miss! I don't think that Motown was bigger in the UK back in the day at all but I do believe that the UK holds classic Motown in higher regard than the US. That's the difference as I see it.

[Sotosound]

In some cases the Northern Soul crowd latched on to the likes of R Dean Taylor's 'There a Ghost in my House' which years later then crossed over to mainstream and became a huge hit. However the same cannot be said for NS anthem 'I'll Keep Holding On' by the Marvelettes! Jimmy Ruffin's UK success had nothing to do with NS. The Four Tops were bigger in the UK from 'Loving You is Sweeter than Ever' but the Temptations were minor league by comparison. Martha had very little success and the Marvelettes & Mary only had one hit! Up until 'You Can't Hurry Love' the Supremes were very hit and miss! I don't think that Motown was bigger in the UK back in the day at all but I do believe that the UK holds classic Motown in higher regard than the US. That's the difference as I see it.

What you describe was probably the case until late 1968. Hence British Motown Chartbusters Volume 2, released in autumn 1968, had barely any real hits on it.

Volume 3, released a year later, however, was crammed with hits, starting with Marvin's version of "Grapevine" and wrapping up with the reissued "Tracks Of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles.

Volume 4 from autumn 1970 was also full of hits, and Motown UK was so successful that they issued two volumes of Chartbusters in 1971. Volume 7 in 1972 also had a load of hits on it.

It was only with Volume 8 in 1973 that things started to slip.

[reachoutuk]

In some cases the Northern Soul crowd latched on to the likes of R Dean Taylor's 'There a Ghost in my House' which years later then crossed over to mainstream and became a huge hit. However the same cannot be said for NS anthem 'I'll Keep Holding On' by the Marvelettes! Jimmy Ruffin's UK success had nothing to do with NS. The Four Tops were bigger in the UK from 'Loving You is Sweeter than Ever' but the Temptations were minor league by comparison. Martha had very little success and the Marvelettes & Mary only had one hit! Up until 'You Can't Hurry Love' the Supremes were very hit and miss! I don't think that Motown was bigger in the UK back in the day at all but I do believe that the UK holds classic Motown in higher regard than the US. That's the difference as I see it.

Originally I thought that there may have been a simple explanation to this query, although everyone would probably have a different solution! Now I feel that it is not that simple. the similarity between the US and the UK is that both have record-buying public. At the time [[i.e. the 60s in particular) maybe there was a difference in tastes between us, as demonstrated in the statistics you kindly provided in a subsequent post. Maybe there is a question as to whether this occurred through natural choice or through promotion/advertising I'm not sure.

In hindsight, I now feel that the words used in the original query could be modified in line with your thoughts that the love affair with Motown has lasted longer in the UK than in the US.

Yesterday I was working my way through the Four Tops "50th Anniversary: The Singles Collection" and I came across this comment by Keith Hughes [[in relation to Simple Game) - "...but its lack of stateside success demonstrated the widening gulf between British and American Motown tastes."