Five Motown classics that will still be remembered in 100 years
Hit records were always the bread and butter of Motown Records, and Berry Gordy amassed well over a hundred top ten entries during the tenure of his empire. In the end, though, artistic merit is judged not by commercial success, but by immortality.
Ever since the dawn of the pop charts, the weekly rankings have routinely been populated by tracks that arrive out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly; flavour of the month singles that might have climbed to the dizzying heights of chart stardom during their day, but have since been lost to the merciless march of time. Motown was certainly no exception, either.
From its first flurries into the musical realm, Motown produced some of the most iconic and influential pop, soul, and R&B records to ever grace the airwaves, recorded by a plethora of legendary names stretching from Diana Ross to Marvin Gaye. For every one of its beloved anthems, though, the label also released a deluge of instantly forgettable flops that have since been forgotten by everybody save for a few dedicated Motown obsessives.
To the label’s credit, though, its triumphs far outweighed its mistakes. Not only did Motown dominate the transatlantic pop standings of the 1960s, giving even The Beatles a run for their money, but its legacy still prevails today. Gordy might have offloaded the label in 1988, but that didn’t spell the end of Motown’s cultural capital; with the label’s litany of classic tracks still filling dancefloors and popping up everywhere from movie soundtracks to northern soul nights across the globe.
It has been nearly 70 years since Berry Gordy first introduced Motown to the airwaves, and looking back upon the label’s incredible discography, there are still countless tracks which haven’t aged a day. So, the question remains, which classic Motown tracks will still be being spun one hundred years from now, potentially in some Max Max-esque post-apocalyptic landscape?
Five Motown classics that will be remembered in 100 years:
Barrett Strong – ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’
Barrett Strong’s defining moment, ‘Money’, was the single that first launched the Motown success story, becoming the label’s inaugural entry into the pop charts and heavily influencing that distinctive ‘Motown sound’ as a result.
Even today, the 1959 single boasts a colossal legacy in the pages of musical history. Not only was it the track that established Motown on the national stage, but its earworm quality and swagering edge inspired a plethora of cover versions, including a cult new wave rendering by The Flying Lizards, and a much more popular version by a little-known band named The Beatles, who chose it as one of three Motown tracks to cover on their second studio album, With The Beatles, in 1963.
Even setting its rock and roll legacy aside, the song’s defiant lyricism and sharp edge still ring true today – and likely will for as long as capitalism continues to be the dominant global economic system. So, whether we are living on Mars in the next century, or simply wiling away our finite time left before the Earth implodes, people will still be strutting their stuff to Strong’s independent swagger.
The Supremes – ‘Baby Love’
One of the greatest success stories of Motown’s golden age, The Supremes were a rudderless vocal outfit on the brink of falling into the depths of obscurity when they first signed for Motown in 1961. After a few years and failed attempts, though, the Diana Ross-fronted group became Gordy’s flagship artist, cultivating more chart-topping hits and incredible performances than anybody else on the label, of which ‘Baby Love’ is perhaps their finest hour.
With the songwriting mastery of Holland-Dozier-Holland behind it, ‘Baby Love’ is about as close to being a perfect pop song as it is possible to get – credentials it proved by immediately becoming a transatlantic number-one. Had it never achieved those accolades, though, the vocal performances and harmonies on this track would be nonetheless beautiful, reflecting The Supremes at their ultimate peak.
In all honesty, there are multiple Supremes tracks which are more than deserving of a spot in this list (not to mention Diana Ross’ solo efforts); the group’s output has aged like a fine wine, only becoming more stylish and catchy with every passing year. ‘Baby Love’ is particularly timeless, though, and it is difficult to imagine it ever exiting the airwaves for good.
Stevie Wonder – ‘Sir Duke’
Another Motown icon who never seems to have gone out of style, Stevie Wonder spent more time at the label than anybody else, including Berry Gordy. Signing his first contract in 1961, when he was just 11 years old, and only leaving in 2020, it is fair to say that Wonder’s masterful output has always been key to the very fabric of Motown Records.
If you had to pinpoint the peak of Wonder’s creative output, though, 1976’s Songs in the Key of Life is unavoidable, and ‘Sir Duke’ is its stand-out track. Recorded at a time when the pianist’s songwriting was at its most powerful, innovative, and often experimental, the song pays heartfelt tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington, who had passed a few years prior, but it acts as a stunning celebration of virtually all of Wonder’s extensive influences.
Given that one of Wonder’s first projects at Motown had been a tribute album to Ray Charles, the track also demonstrated just how far Wonder had progressed during his time at the label, rising from little more than a childhood novelty act to one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
The thing about songwriters of that ilk, of course, is that they aren’t forgotten in a hurry, and every year the strength of Stevie Wonder’s legacy only seems to re-cement itself, so why should it be any different in one hundred years’ time?
The Temptations – ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’
Vocal groups were aplenty during Motown’s heyday, but none of them could quite rival the experimental, trailblazing output of The Temptations and their pulchritudinous blend of soul and psychedelia.
Motown’s attempt to keep up with the shifting sands of counterculture, following in the footsteps of groups like Sly and the Family Stone, created an entirely new genre in and of itself, and ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ remains not just one of the greatest Motown anthems, but one of the greatest songs of the 20th century.
At just over 12 minutes in length, depending on which mix you select, the single is undoubtedly Motown’s most sonically diverse, exploring a mind-expanding wealth of artistic avenues over the course of that runtime, with a particular emphasis on the blossoming worlds of funk and psychedelia.
Given its multi-layered composition and sheer length, ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ presents a new part of itself with every repeated listen, so perhaps in a hundred years, the world will still be exploring its expansive sound.
Marvin Gaye – ‘What’s Going On’
Marvin Gaye’s ultimate masterpiece, and perhaps the most important song to ever pass through the offices of Hitsville USA, ‘What’s Going On’ is the kind of profound social commentary that will, rather depressingly, likely always ring true.
The vocalist gives an incredibly stark, heartbreakingly honest portrayal of life and the state of affairs in US society during the early 1970s, with the war in Vietnam raging on, and a much more pressing conflict occurring on the streets of the nation. Today, the song still rings incredibly true across the world, and it doesn’t show any signs of becoming obsolete anytime soon.
Even in the hope that Earth in one hundred years time will be an egalitarian utopia, in which America’s horrifying history of institutionalised racism, and its steady descent into fascism, are both things of the past, ‘What’s Going On’ will still remain an incredibly poignant historical text, akin to Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal’ or Lord Tennyson’s ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.
