The Motown Top 250 Countdown (#245-241) & This Week's Statistics

Hello, my friends, old and new! I wasn't sure whether today's subject should be the second part of the 1979 Oscars or the continuation of the Motown countdown. In the end, tradition won out, so, the Oscars will be our next story.

The period between the mid-60s to the mid-70s was the time that R&B or Soul music managed to cross over to the mainstream. There were four African-American women who led the charge: the Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin; the Pop Diva, Diana Ross; Bacharach's muse, Dionne Warwick; and the warmest voice of them all, Gladys Knight.

Gladys and her backing vocalists, the Pips, which were her brother and cousins, didn't hit their peak while in Motown. It was on Buddah Records that they released their best material - and enjoyed their biggest chart success. As much as I would like to, I cannot include the Buddah classics. However, their Motown songs were not to be underestimated. Many were very good and a few were great. At #245 is Didn't You Know (You'd Have to Cry Sometime), one of their lesser hits, but a solid Soul offering nonetheless. It was released in 1969 and peaked at #11 on the US R&B chart, but only at #63 on the Hot 100. Here it is:

From an almost-flop in 1969 we teleport 25 years later to one of the biggest hits of all-time. Boyz II Men were the last Motown superstars before the company was sold. Their brand of smooth Soul was immensely popular at the time. I'll Make Love to You was written by Babyface and was the lead single from their second album, II.

The single was a massive commercial success. It held the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, from August 27 to November 26, 1994. At the time, the song tied a record for the most weeks at number one that had been set by Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You in late 1992 and early 1993. Boyz II Men would later break their own record in 1996 with One Sweet Day, a collaboration with Mariah Carey, which remained at number one on the Hot 100 for 16 weeks beginning in December 1995. I'll Make Love to You also topped the US R&B and adult contemporary charts for nine and three weeks, respectively, in 1994. It sold 1,627,000 copies domestically, earning a platinum certification.

The single was also a #1 hit in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as a top 10 hit in most of Europe. In our countdown it's at #244:

Rick James began his musical career in his teen years in various bands and groups before entering the U.S. Navy to avoid being drafted in the early 1960s. In 1965, James deserted to Toronto, Canada, where he formed the rock band the Mynah Birds, who eventually signed a recording deal with Motown Records in 1966. James's career with the group halted after military authorities discovered his whereabouts and eventually convicted James on a one-year prison term related to the draft charges. After being released, James moved to California where he started a variety of rock and funk groups in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

After forming the Stone City Band in his hometown of Buffalo in 1977, James finally found success as a recording artist after signing with Motown's Gordy Records, releasing the album, Come Get It!, in April 1978, where the hits You & I and Mary Jane, were released, helping the album go platinum and selling over two million records. The former is found at #243 on our countdown. You & I spent two weeks at number one on the US R&B charts and reached #13 on the Hot 100, as well as peaking at #3 on the Disco chart. Here it is:

This is the extended version:

The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) was chronologically the first Motown vocal group to achieve superstar status. Not only were they having smash hits since 1960, Smokey Robinson was also a songwriting genius who wrote most of the group's classic hits, as well as classic hits for other acts, such as My Guy for Mary Wells, My Girl for the Temptations, I'll Be Doggone and Ain't That Peculiar for Marvin Gaye, and many others.

Unlike most Miracles songs, which were written and produced by the group themselves, (Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need (the song at #242 on our countdown) was written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team Holland–Dozier–Holland. It was released as a single in 1966, peaking at #4 on the US R&B charts, #17 on the Hot 100, and #13 in the UK. It was the final Miracles single released before lead singer Smokey Robinson was given star billing on all of the group's subsequent 45's. This is it:

The original Monitors lineup only released one album in 1968, which collected three years' worth of songs that Richard Street, Warren Harris, and Sandra and John Fagin recorded for the label. This foursome had a certain magic together, as the swing of Time Is Passin' By suggests, but Street would go on to replace Paul Williams in the Temptations during the 1970s, and a new Monitors lineup would come together in the 1980s. The original group never found success at Motown, but fame shouldn't have passed them by. Here is the song - at #241 on our countdown:

Now, let's continue with last week's statistics; the pattern continues; after a fall there is a rise. So it was this week, with an impressive 28% rise over last week's visits. The Oscars were hugely popular, but the Motown countdown also had a good beginning. The United States and Australia were the week's winning countries, while France suffered losses - yet again. Spain and Brazil also did well - and I'm happy to welcome Chile in the top 10 for the first time. The other major players kept their percentages more or less stable.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. Greece

3. the United Kingdom

4. Australia

5. France

6. Canada

7. Spain

8. Brazil

9. Germany

10. Chile

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, French Polynesia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 28.3%

2. France = 23.0%

3. the United Kingdom = 13.0%

4. Greece = 6.7%

5. Russia = 2.6%

6. Germany = 1.8%

7. Canada = 1.5%

8. Italy = 1.2%

9. Turkey = 0.97%

10. Cyprus = 0.88%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!