What was the biggest Motown hit written specifically for a movie?
Motown changed music forever…when Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records in 1959, which was swiftly incorporated into Motown Record Corporation, he sowed the seeds of a musical empire that would shift pop culture on its axis.
The company churned out hit after hit, perfecting the ultimate pop song formula that brought soul and R&B into the mainstream, breaking down barriers regarding racial segregation within the music industry – for the first time, Black artists were dominating the charts, appealing to white audiences just as much as Black American listeners.
The 1960s were, of course, a time of great change when it came to racial issues in the United States, with the civil rights movement making a significant impact that would alter the course of American history. Segregation remained one of the most serious issues throughout the decade, so for Motown to emerge during a time when many States forced intense segregation (and racial discrimination was somehow perfectly legal) was a huge cultural turning point.
Black artists were finding chart success amid a landscape of division and hatred, and Motown was the leading record label bringing Black American artists into the mainstream, from Diana Ross and The Supremes to Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Martha & The Vandellas, and the Jackson 5… It was a ground-breaking time for music.
Motown knew how to make a proper hit, one that would hit you with an unforgettable hook; there was no messing about. Naturally, then, Motown hits pop up in movies quite regularly – The Temptations’ ‘My Girl’ even directly inspired the movie of the same name, while tracks like ‘Let’s Get It On’ by Marvin Gaye or ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder are frequently used as recognisable needle-drops.
What was the biggest Motown hit written specifically for a movie?
But what was the biggest Motown hit written specifically for a movie? Many Motown tracks have been used in movies decades after they were first released, but Wonder wrote ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ specifically for the film The Woman in Red, directed by and starring Gene Wilder. Released in 1984, the movie wasn’t great, but Wonder wrote seven songs for it, with this leading single from the soundtrack earning him an Oscar for ‘Best Original Song’.
The Woman in Red was largely panned by critics, and it stood as a rather unnecessary remake of the French movie Pardon Mon Affaire, released a few years prior. Still, at least it gave us a hit song, which remains one of Wonder’s most successful singles of all time, having stayed at number one for three weeks, while also topping various other charts besides the Billboard Hot 100. It went Gold in the United States and Platinum in the United Kingdom, where it sat in the top spot for six weeks.
Wonder was brought in to make music for the film at the recommendation of Dionne Warwick, who also collaborated with Wonder on the soundtrack, appearing on three of the songs. But it was ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ that proved to be the biggest success, not just for Wonder but for Motown as a whole.
