Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 40, Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me (1971)




"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" was the second single from Marvin Gaye's album, What's Going On. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one of popular music's most poignant anthems of sorrow regarding the environment. Led by Gaye playing piano, strings conducted by Paul Riser and David Van De Pitte, multi-tracking vocals from Gaye and The Andantes, multiple background instruments provided by The Funk Brothers and a leading sax solo by Wild Bill Moore, the song rose to number 4 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart and number one for two weeks on the R&B Singles charts on August 14 through to August 27, 1971.

The distinctive percussive sound heard on the track was a wood block struck by a rubber mallet, drenched in studio reverb.

How cool can you get .....

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 39, Martha & The Vandellas - Heat Wave (1963)



"Heat Wave" was one of many songs written and produced by the Holland–Dozier–Holland songwriting and producing team. It was the second hit collaboration between Martha & the Vandellas and the team, with the first being "Come and Get These Memories".

Produced and composed with a gospel backbeat, jazz overtones and, doo-wop call and responsive vocals, "Heat Wave" was one of the first songs to exemplify the style of music later termed as the "Motown Sound". The single was a breakthrough hit, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at number 1 on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. It also garnered the group's only Grammy Award nomination for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording for 1964, making the Vandellas the first Motown group ever to receive a Grammy Award nomination.

Amazingly good for its' time .....

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

It's very good and of course not actually about the weather

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 38, The Miracles - Ooo Baby Baby




Written by Robinson and fellow Miracle Pete Moore and produced by Robinson, "Ooo Baby Baby" was a number 4 hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart and reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A slow, remorseful number, "Ooo Baby Baby" features Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson lamenting the fact that he cheated on his woman, and begging for her to overlook his mistakes and please forgive him. The song's highly emotional feel is supported by the Miracles' tight background vocal harmonies, arranged by Miracles member and song co-author Pete Moore, and a lush orchestral string arrangement that accents The Funk Brothers band's instrumental track.

This song is so charged with emotion that I feel like crying myself .....

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 37, Stevie Wonder - Uptight (1965)




"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is one of Stevie Wonder's most popular early singlesand was the first Stevie Wonder hit single to be co-written by the artist.

A notable success, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in early 1966, at the same time reaching the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks. It also garnered Wonder his first two career Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

The single was a watershed in Wonder's career for several reasons. Aside from the US number-one "Fingertips" (1963), only two of Wonder's singles, "Workout, Stevie, Workout" (1963) and "Hey Harmonica Man" (1964) had both peaked inside of the top forty of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #33 and #29 on that chart respectively. And despite receiving a modicum of chart success, the then 15-year-old Wonder was in danger of being let go. In addition, Wonder's voice had begun to change, and Motown CEO Berry Gordy was worried that he would no longer be a commercially viable artist.

As it turned out, however, producer Clarence Paul found it easier to work with Wonder's now-mature tenor voice, and Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby set about writing a new song for the artist, based upon an instrumental riff Wonder had devised. Apparently, Stevie Wonder had also sought something based on the driving beat of the Rolling Stones's "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", after playing several dates with the Stones on tour and being impressed with the British band.

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At 36, Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston - It Takes Two (1965)




Produced by Weston's then-husband, longtime Gaye collaborator William "Mickey" Stevenson, and co-written by Stevenson and Sylvia Moy, "It Takes Two" centered on a romantic lyric that depicted many things in life (dreams, love, wishes, etc.) being better with two people instead of one. The single became Gaye's most successful duet single to date, later outperformed by Gaye's duets with Tammi Terrell.[citation needed]

Gaye and Weston's duet peaked at #14 on the Billboard Pop charts and #4 on Billboard′s Soul Singles chart in January 1967. "It Takes Two" was also Gaye's first major hit in the UK, where it peaked at #16 on the British singles charts in the spring of that same year.

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 35, The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak for You) (1966)




"This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" was a hit for the The Isley Brothers during their brief tenure on Motown's Tamla label before they left in 1969 to restart their own T-Neck label.

The song was originally intended for The Supremes (who later recorded their own version for their 1966 album The Supremes A' Go-Go).

Another classic .....

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 34, Eddie Holland - Leaving Here (1963)




"Leaving Here" is a song written by Motown songwriters Holland–Dozier–Holland at the beginning of the partnership. Although it was originally released as a single by H-D-H lyricist Eddie Holland, it is notable for being recorded by diverse other artists

In 1965, The Birds (with an "i" and Ronnie Wood) recorded a cover version of "Leaving Here" which inspired heavy metal band Motörhead to produce their debut single with a cover of the song twelve years later (1977).

The Who recorded the song in the studio twice in 1965, and once for BBC Radio, but none of these recordings were released officially for decades; the 1985 compilation Who's Missing and the 1998 remaster of the Odds & Sods compilation album both included the song, though the latter states it is a previously unreleased version.

There are many others.

ETA I didn't know this song and I wasn't sure about it at first but it's grown on me .....

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 33, The Temptations - Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) (1971)




"Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" was released on the Gordy (Motown) label, and produced by Norman Whitfield, becoming the third Temptations song to reach number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

It is one of the Temptations' signature songs, notable for recalling the sound of the group's 1960s recordings. It is also the final Temptations single to feature founding members Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. During the process of recording and releasing the single, Kendricks left the group to begin a solo career, while the ailing Williams was forced to retire from the act for health reasons.

Smooth .....

Re: A Tamla Motown Hot 100

At 32, Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On (1973)



In an article for Rolling Stone magazine (December, 1973), music critic Jon Landau wrote of the song:

True .....

"Let's Get It On" became Gaye's most successful single for Motown and one of his most well-known songs.