60s motown vs 70s motown

70s. Because of the funk.

60s because of Holland-Dozier-Holland.

70's because of Norman Whitfield.

want to vote 70s for the reasons you give but the Temps and the Tops and the Miracles and Marvin & Tammy and the deadly HDH/Ashford & Simpson one-two punch - put together a 15-song comp with only the cream from those acts and I don't think you'll be able to do a 70s Motown one that can beat it. or can you?

Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, um.. carry on someone?

the Jackson 5 gotta be on there

i think you could prob match it actually (diana ross, stevie, smokey, marvin, temptations, uhhh, theres got to be a ton of stuff im forgetting). a lot of 60s motown fans dont like the 70s tho cos they prefer how 60s was poppier and closer to rock n roll. but i vote 60s cos of HDH and the funk brothers. plus i can include the J5 material written by the corporation as it came out just before the 70s.

I like the Diana-less Supremes!

Me too.

could also add for the 70s: rick james (you and i), solo eddie kendricks, jackson 5, the commodores...

I vote for 60s because the actual Motown part of it was so much more important then. Surely, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye released some marvellous albums in the 70s, but by then Motown was just any old label, and they might have been on any label, really. In the 60s, Motown had a signature sound, when you hear a 60s song from Motown you know it is Motown. So Motown as a brand was much more important in the 60s.

Geir OTM

Voted 70s, but with a 1973 cut-off.

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" was recorded in 1972, released 1973. So, yeah.

but this should be actual tracks, not artists - both Stevie & the Temps had great work in the 60s (I'll still take "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" Stevie over all)

60s:
I Want You Back
Love Child
Come See About Me
Signed Sealed Delivered
Tears of a Clown
Ain't That Peculiar
Bernadette
Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
For Once in My Life
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Heatwave
This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)
I Was Made to Love Her
Put A Little Love In Your Heart
The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game

but while putting that list together I really looked hard at the seventies and I mean...Diana solo? Rick James? Teena Marie? Off the Wall? What's Going On? this really is a push - if it was "destroy only one," you'd have to flip a coin - neither side dominates imo.

oh shit Off the Wall is Epic not Motown, my bad

"Signed Sealed Delivered" came out in '70. /pedant

Silent majority will run this one too...

I want to vote 60's on the basis of the argument Geir makes, but in real life I listen to way more 70's Motown and so that is where my vote goes.

60s motown is prob over familar to a lot of people but despite that, it doesnt seem to diminish how much i like those records.

yeah nothing against 70s motown, but 60s motown wins against basically anything so

Ah, but what of 80s motown? Rockwell, we hardly knew ye.

"Signed Sealed Delivered" came out in '70.

ooooh. Good info Rev! I learned it on a 3-LP set where almost everything was trad-canon sixties, didn't ever bother to date it.

The chord changes in the top of that song before the vocal are some of the most Stevie Is A Genius stuff, seriously opened up my mind when I was kid.

Trying to make a case for something other than 1960s Motown is like trying to argue that Disney ever topped its own 1940-50s animation films. Sure, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Lion King were good, but could you really say that period was better than classic Disney? I think even the competitors would argue that the classic period was, well, better than their own.

well im listening to that 10xCD Motown boxset at the moment and, having got to 1975 on CD5, it's by far the worst CD so far. Despite the Marvin and Stevie albums of the 70s being among my favourite albums of any genre ever, 60s Motown was almost back-to-back brilliant, and there's just too much shit from their 70s output IMO.

what 10 cd box set are you listening to?

70s hands down Tuomas otm

60s Motown was almost back-to-back brilliant,

This isn't really true at all, especially in the earliest and latest years of the decade.

honestly I really can't stand 60s Motown - I know practically every note of it due to baby boomer overexposure and while I love the Norman Whitfield stuff I honestly do not give a shit if I never hear the Four Tops or the Supremes or early Temptations or whatever ever again. Marvin Gaye is another story, but his peak for me is definitely late 60s/early 70s. Pre-70s Stevie Wonder I don't really care for either.

There is a reason that stuff is overexposed ya know. That said I agree that if I was basing the decision on what I would like to hear more of now I would pick the 70s,

Overexposed doesn't always mean good. But it does indeed have a tendency to. See also "Yesterday" and "Something".

No.

hard to vote against norman whitfield but seriously 60s motown is THE all-time classic soul sound, overexposed or not

^^^ truth bomb for contrarians

60s norman whitfield is just as great though, probably better. although that is like saying pie is better than cake or something. it's all good.

Pie is one of my favorite things ever and I only eat cake to be polite, though.

reverend otm about pie v. cake

I could make a cake that would make you pie purists weep for all the cakes you missed out on because you got served some bogus cakes

respect the real cake

but there are many bogus cakes

Holland/Dozier/Holland >> Norman Whitfield.

What 70s Motown has for it is some marvellous albums by Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, none of which sound like "Motown albums" at all.

TS: Cake vs. Pie

white cake, raspberry filling, vanilla frosting, none of that corn syrup garbage

guarantee the cake-haters will recognize

I mean yeah no doubt pie is better but everybody needs to take the sad hat off the cake

Steak and Ale pie beats any of that sweet cakey stuff.

you say that now, but my Steak and Ale Cake with Chutney Frosting will straight knock the wind outta you

Trying very hard not to post Stephanie cake video.

singles: '60s
albums: '70s
this poll: refuse to choose

I guess, John is right. There are some dope cakes out there, like I can definitely get down with some pineapple upside-down cake or coffee cake or something like that.

j0hn have you ever tried the german chocolate cake at linnea's in san luis obispo? now THAT is some fine cake

This is turning into the "Can vs. Kraftwerk" thread, with that thread's digressions into literal "apples vs oranges" territory. (And why is there no such thing as "orange pie", anyway?)

Anyways, Stevie and Rick James et al aside, I gotta go with the Detroit-era rather than L.A. Motown, which puts the cutoff date at 1972.

whitfield still couldnt make the temptations sound convincing on half those acid/psych soul tracks they did though.

Didn't like those much. "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "I Wish It Would Rain" were both really great though (but also both very 60s)

What 70s Motown has for it is some marvellous albums by Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, none of which sound like "Motown albums" at all.

the 60s was the only album with "motown albums" though, i think that is the point. in the 60s motown was an independent label with a core team of producers, writers, background singers and session musicians, and all the music released had to be approved by their internal quality control department. so there was a certain sound and the label's style that led to a certain kind of album

in the 70s motown branched out and then you had all sorts of genres, produced by all kinds of people, for all kinds of markets, and the "motown album" was no longer the norm.

j0hn have you ever tried the german chocolate cake at linnea's in san luis obispo? now THAT is some fine cake

oh man no, I was a little kid in SLO but we were outta there before I turned 6 & the only cake place I remember was next to a candy store called Chong's which is almost surely long gone

Mr. Chong was awesome though and his candy store was straight outta Steinbeck

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

duh

singles: '60s
albums: '70s
this poll: refuse to choose

― Keep The Dawgs Away (Ioannis), Thursday, January 29, 2009 4:55 PM (2 weeks ago)

motown just arrived on emusic. i have little, if any, interest in 60s motown. but 70s motown is a revelation for me, with albums like marvin gaye's here, my dear and leon ware's musical massage. this funkier, harder-hitting material is fantastic. any recommendations for 70s motown albums is greatly appreciated.

I just got that Leon Ware album myself it's really great. Other great 70's Motown I would recommend.

The Commodores-Machine Gun, Zoom and Caught In the Act
The Miracles-City Of Angels
Smokey Robinson-Quiet Storm, Where There's Smoke
Willie Hutch-The Mack
Syreeta-Stevie Wonder Presents Stevie Wonder (One of the most perfect albums ever made)
The Four Tops-Nature Planned It
The Temptations-Sky's The Limit, All Directions and Masterpiece
Marvin Gaye-In Our Lifetime (Actually from 1981 but it's so good, probably my favourite after What's Going On and Let's Get It On)
Eddie Kendricks-Boogie Down (He has a few others that are supposed to be better but that's the only one I have and I love it)
The Undisputed Truth-The Undisputed Truth
Jackson 5-Moving Violation

Most of the 70's Stevie Wonder albums are essential, Songs In The Key Of Life is my pick. Music Of My Mind and Where I'm Coming From sometimes get overlooked, they are both really great records too.

yeah, the syreeta is great. i have that one already. unfortunately, it doesn't have what i think may be her best uptempo song -- the one featured in that indie-film junebug. haven't found that available online recently (i had it, too, at one point, but lost it in a hard-drive crash).

Eddie Kendricks - My People...Hold On is one of the great Motown releases for me.

(the album, not just the track of the same name)

I know and love "I'm going left" from the Syreeta album, should probably check out the whole thing.

I just found the opening credits to Junebug on You Tube, I've never heard of that film or song before. It's a great song, so catchy. The only other album I've heard of hers is the first self titled album but I just didn't rate it at all. I remember AMG gave most of her other albums pretty poor marks so I didn't bother investigating any further.

Eddie Kendricks - My People...Hold On is one of the great Motown releases for me.

― seandalai, Monday, November 29, 2010 7:41 PM (4 minutes ago)

Yeah that's the one that has been on my wishlist for a while. I really want to get hold of the Keep On truckin' Boxset that came out a few years ago. It's his first four albums over two CD's. It was a limited edition set so it's quite expensive these days.

I have noticed a number of Motown albums are available on Spotify although currently not possible to buy anywhere else. El DeBarge's solo debut, for instance, and I believe some Commodores albums currently otherwise not available as well.

The same also goes for some other R&B acts, such as Kool & The Gang, the bulk of whose album discography seems to be available on Spotify but not anywhere else.

I suppose the new BBR brand that is part of the Cherry Red family may change this soon though - they are already rapidly reissuing R&B-ish albums from the 70s.

I often get wound up about how badly Motown handles their back catalogue. The Commodores albums are impossible to get, a few of them have never made it on CD at all. Some of The Temptations albums are out of print too. Even that Syreeta album is ridiculously expensive now.

I did notice that there have been a few reissues this year. The Miracles City Of Angels came out at last and now they are doing some of the Smokey Robinson albums.

One of the albums I'm most looking forward to next year is the second Marvelettes box set covering their late 60's period. The Sophisticated Soul and self titled albums are both so good and need to be heard by more people.

Yeah that's the one that has been on my wishlist for a while. I really want to get hold of the Keep On truckin' Boxset that came out a few years ago. It's his first four albums over two CD's. It was a limited edition set so it's quite expensive these days.

I got this cheapish from a guy on eBay, it looks like he still has some: http://cgi.ebay.com/TEMPTATIONS-EDDIE-KENDRICKS-Motown-BEST-2-CD-NEW-D2845-/380281813739

X-Post: Basically, Motown have never taken the album format seriously at all (the cohesive Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye albums in the 70s were their own work, largely against the wishes of Berry Gordy) and I guess that reflects in the way they are treating their albums back catalogue to this day.

I got this cheapish from a guy on eBay, it looks like he still has some: http://cgi.ebay.com/TEMPTATIONS-EDDIE-KENDRICKS-Motown-BEST-2-CD-NEW-D2845-/380281813739

― seandalai, Monday, November 29, 2010 8:05 PM (8 minutes ago)

Thanks so much for pointing that out, it didn't come up on ebay.co.uk even under International sellers. I just ordered it straight away.