Poll: The Greatest Motown Single...

So many singles that were left out ....

Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Loving
Four Tops - It's the Same Old Song
The Miracles - Mickey's Monkey
The Miracles - I Second That Emotion
Stevie Wonder - My Cherie Amor
Martha & The Vandellas - Jimmy Mack
The Supremes - Come See About Me
The Supremes - I Hear a Symphony
The Supremes - Love Child
Mary Wells - Two Lovers
Mary Wells - The One Who Really Loves You
Marvin Gaye - Ain't That Peculiar


And many more....

 

Marvin's "I'll be Doggone" for me.

Aaron

 

Bernadette!

 

The OP said greatest not favourite. Here in the UK Reach Out had by far the biggest impact turning Motown from dance hall and club favourites to chart toppers. So though it's far from my favourite it has to be the greatest.

 

Crispi, I would've expected better from you

 

Funnily enough the trouble and I had a four hour car journey on Wednesday evening. We had Motown's Greatest Hits on the CD player. Wow, they were great. Or maybe as I was there it's just nostalgia

 

I didn't see it in the list but This Old Heart Of Mine by the Isley Brothers. Loved it since I first heard it in an episode of Moonlighting

 

Dancing In The Streets !!

 

I do think Bernadette is the greatest -- not my favourite, but the greatest. Great beat, catchy tune, a powerful arrangement and a healthy dose of angst.

 

Anything by Mary Wells.

 

If we're talking vintage Motown, it has to be Where Did Our Love Go. Overall I'd say Upside Down though.

I suspect The Supremes will fair poorly on this because of the saturation of their songs in the public conscious.

 

'My Baby Must be a Magician' killer Smokey-penned tune by the Marvelettes. My fave...

 

More Love - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

 

I voted for "Shotgun" to give it some love, but IMHO it's gotta be a Temptations song -- though none that were on the list, such as

"Just My Imagination"

or

"I Wish it Would Rain"

.

 

Wow, this like Olympic competion results, where the the difference between the top contenders is in 1000/sec measurements !!!

So, that said, from the OP list, I choose the 1964 Marhta and the Vandellas "Dancing In The Street", written by William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter and Marvin Gaye, and produced by Mickey Stevenson.

In 2006, it was announced that Martha and the Vandellas' version of "Dancing in the Street" would be one of 50 sound recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry.

I also like the tribute VH did for "Dancing In The Streets on their 5th album, in 1982:

 

Voted My Girl, but What Becomes of The Broken Hearted may is my favorite Motown track. I have a great version by Bruce Springsteen from a sound check(?).

Missing contenders:
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone, ...Imagination, I Wish It Would Rain

Just make another list and let the winners battle!

 

Glad she's finally getting some love.

 

A lot of great options. I went with "My Girl," but I could have just as easily voted for "Tears of a Clown" or "Where Did Our Love Go."

 

For classic, upbeat, insistently catchy Motown, I Can't Help Myself.

 

I was looking for Papa Was A Rolling Stone! Didn't realise it was only sixties. From the list, a very hard choice. Opted for Grapevine over Reach Out, by a whisker. So many great tracks!

 

All great, but I went for "Tears of a Clown" for the psych-soul feel and the lyrics mentioning Pagliacci.

 

"Papa Was a Rolling Stone" is a stone classic, but I prefer the 11:45 album version over the single edit.

 

That's the only way it should be heard.

 

I voted for "My Girl"... but just as easily could have voted for quite a few here & a number of "Other" choices... almost impossible, but my sentimental fave won out...

 

Something else by Stevie Wonder. Whatever fits the parameters here. Does "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" count?

If so, that one.

Jeff