The Motown Top 250 Countdown (#235-231) & This Week's Statistics

Hello, my friends, old and new! I have been largely absent this week - sorry about that. It's summer - and I'm more likely to go swimming or lazily enjoy the weather than writing stories. However, it is time for the continuation of our Motown countdown. We are still counting down the lower positions, but you will find both great songs, as well as big hits.

At #235 we find one of Motown's biggest superstars, The Temptations. Did I say Motown's? Scratch that, the Temptations are one of the most successful groups in music history, no matter the record label. Richard Street was a member of The Temptations when they were still called The Distants, but left the group before they exploded into the music scene. He returned in 1969 as a backup replacement for the ailing Paul Williams. In 1971 Richard Street officially took Williams' place. The song at #235, Hey Girl (I Like Your Style) is the only hit by The Temptations to have Richard Street singing solo lead. The 1973 song is smooth as ice-cream and just as sweet. One of the coolest "bedroom songs", the single peaked at #2 on the US R&B chart and at #35 on the Hot 100.

The song was written and produced by Norman Whitfield, who, after the immense success of Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, stopped working with Barrett Strong, and began writing the Temptations' material on his own. The success of Papa... led Whitfield to create more elongated, operatic pieces, including the Top 10 hit Masterpiece (1973) and several of the tracks on the resulting Masterpiece album. Hey Girl, at 4 minutes and 36 seconds, was the album's shortest song. Tensions developed between Whitfield and the group, who found Whitfield arrogant and difficult to work with, and the group citing his habitual tardiness, his emphasis of the instrumental tracks at the expense of their vocals on many of his productions, and the declining singles and albums sales as other sources of conflict, sought to change producers. Otis Williams complained about Whitfield's actions and the Temptations' stagnant sales to Berry Gordy; as a result, the group was reassigned to Jeffrey Bowen, co-producer of the In a Mellow Mood album in 1967. This led to a rapid decline of the group's chart fortunes.

Shortly afterwards, Whitfield left Motown, and in 1975 established Whitfield Records, taking the Undisputed Truth and Willie Hutch with him, along with Rose Royce. Whitfield's departure struck a blow to Motown, but that was nothing compared to the impact of another high-profile departure from the company: that of the Jackson Five. But that's a story for another day... This is Hey Girl (I Like Your Style):

This is from a performance on the TV show Soul Train:

The Commodores were so much more than the smooth ballads most people remember them for. Their funky stuff was just as good, such as the song at #234, the instrumental title track from the band's debut album, which became a staple at American sporting events, and is similarly featured in many films, including Boogie Nights and Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Machine Gun was released in 1974 and peaked at #7 on the US R&B chart, at #22 on the Hot 100, and at #20 in the UK and Canada. Here it is:

Again, this is from a performance on the TV show Soul Train:

Syreeta Wright had the distinction of almost replacing Diana Ross in the Supremes. When Diana Ross left the Supremes in early 1970, Motown boss Berry Gordy considered replacing her with Wright but offered the place in the group to Jean Terrell. According to several sources, Gordy then changed his mind and tried to replace Terrell with Wright, but this was vetoed by Supreme Mary Wilson.

1970 was also the year that Syreeta got married to Stevie Wonder. They met in 1968, and the two began dating the following year. On the advice of Wonder, Wright became a songwriter. Their first collaboration, It's a Shame, was recorded by The Spinners, in 1969.

Wonder and Wright had marriage troubles and divorced in the summer of 1972, ending their 18-month marriage. Following their divorce, Wonder oversaw the production of Wright's first solo album, Syreeta. Remaining best friends, Wright would continue to provide background vocals and compositions with Wonder for the next two decades.

Syreeta's second album came out in 1974 and was called Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta. The reggae-flavored Your Kiss Is Sweet was written by Stevie and Syreeta and was quite a hit in the UK, peaking at #12. It is the song at #233 on our countdown:

This is live in London, in 1989:

The song was covered in Icelandic, as Búkolla, in 1977 by Bjork on her debut album Bjork:

We have just mentioned the post-Diana Supremes. Well, here they are, at #232. Nathan Jones is an unusual entry among the Supremes' singles repertoire for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that all three members of the group (Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong) sing the song's lead vocal in unison. It was one of the more successful 1970s singles, peaking at #5 in the UK, at #8 on the US R&B chart, at #16 on the Hot 100, and at #15 in Canada. Here it is:

Finally for today, at #231, is the aforementioned Diana Ross, in a duet with Marvin Gaye. The two of them recorded the very successful album Diana & Marvin in 1973. You're a Special Part of Me was one of the few originals featured on their famed album and was among the most successful of the songs the Motown label mates made, reaching #4 on the US R&B chart and #12 on the Hot 100.

Lionel Richie was present at the recording session. He said that Diana and Marvin didn't record their vocals together. The reason was that Marvin was smoking weed throughout the sessions. Diana was pregnant with her daughter Rhonda and wasn't having any of that. This is the song:

Now, let's continue with last week's statistics; there was a fall in the weekly number of visits but it was expected - since there were no new stories. The United States, Australia, and Brazil were the week's winning countries, while France, the United Kingdom, and Russia suffered minor losses. The other major players kept their percentages more or less stable.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. the United Kingdom

3. Greece

4. Canada

5. Australia

6. Germany

7. Brazil

8. France

9. Italy

10. Cyprus

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Aland Islands, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, FYR Of Macedonia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 28.7%

2. France = 22.6%

3. the United Kingdom = 12.9%

4. Greece = 6.7%

5. Russia = 2.5%

6. Germany = 1.8%

7. Canada = 1.6%

8. Italy = 1.2%

9. Turkey = 0.95%

10. Cyprus = 0.87%

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

The Motown Top 250 Countdown (#240-236) & This Week's Statistics

Hello, my friends, old and new! It's time for the continuation of the Motown countdown. We are still counting down the lower positions, but you will find both great songs, as well as big hits.

At #240 we find one of Motown's biggest superstars, the late, great, Marvin Gaye, with one of his many fine songs in the mid-1960s, Baby Don't You Do It (1964). It was a #27 hit on the Hot 100 and a #14 hit on the US R&B chart. Written by Motown's star songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, this song discusses a man who is at a standstill with his girlfriend, who he feels is neglecting his love stating "Don't break my heart/...I've tried to do my best". This is the original studio version:

A stage favorite of The Who from the 1964/65 era, this Marvin Gaye classic was perhaps an unusual choice for revival for Lifehouse. Played at the Young Vic and in the concert act for the remainder of 1971, this version was recorded at the Record Plant, New York on March 16, 1971. Leslie West (of Mountain) guested on lead guitar:

The song was also a favorite of the Band, being a regular concert staple of theirs. More importantly, the song appeared in one of the best music documentaries of all-time, Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz. If you haven't seen it, you should. This is the excerpt in question:

At #239 is another song written by Holland–Dozier–Holland. (I'm A) Road Runner was recorded by Jr. Walker & The All-Stars, it was released as a single in 1966 and reached the top twenty in both the US and the UK. Walker plays the distinctive tenor saxophone solo, backed by Mike Terry on baritone saxophone with Willie Woods on guitar. During production of the record, it was discovered that Walker could play the song only in two keys. So Walker sang in a key that he couldn't play, and after being recorded, the saxophone track was sped up to match.

The pictorial single sleeve used a running bird similar to the Road Runner cartoon character. Here it is:

Fleetwood Mac recorded the song with Dave Walker on lead vocals for their 1973 album Penguin:

James Taylor performed his version, in September 1976, in episode 1, season 2 of Saturday Night Live. Taylor also included the song on his 2008 album Covers:

Frank Wilson was one of Motown's busiest songwriters and record producers. His portfolio includes, among others, Stevie Wonder's Castles In The Sand, Brenda Holloway's You've Made Me So Very Happy, The Temptations' All I Need, Marvin Gaye's Chained, Diana Ross & the Supremes' Love Child, and The Four Tops' Still Water (Love).

Talk to a serious Motown 45s collector, and they'll bring up Frank Wilson's Do I Love You (Indeed I Do), the only single Wilson released before moving into songwriting and producing at Motown Records. According to the BBC, there are only two known copies left on Earth - Berry Gordy reportedly destroyed the rest. The record was discovered after being played in Britain's Northern Soul nightclubs in the 1970s. One copy fetched an astounding £25,742 at auction in 2009. This is the song, our #238:

Chris Clark also recorded for Motown. Clark became famous in England as the "white negress" (a nickname meant as a compliment), because the six-foot platinum blonde, blue-eyed soul singer toured with fellow Motown artists, who were predominantly black. Clark recorded a great cover version of the song:

At #237 is the theme from a successful movie, Franco Zeffirelli's Endless Love (1981). The film starred Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt. The film's theme song, a duet between Motown's most successful female act, Diana Ross, with the Commodores' frontman, Lionel Richie, who also wrote the song, was a huge US #1, spending 9 weeks at the top of the Hot 100. It was also a #1 hit in Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. It peaked at #7 in the UK:

A cover of the song by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey was released in 1994 and peaked at #2 in the US. The song was also a success outside the US, reaching the top of the chart in New Zealand (for five weeks) and the top five in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands:

Finally for today, at #236, we find a song by the post-Diana Ross Supremes. Automatically Sunshine is a song written by Smokey Robinson and was released by The Supremes as the second single from their popular album Floy Joy in 1972. Mary Wilson and Jean Terrell shared lead vocals on this sexy number which should have charted higher - it peaked at #37 on the US Hot 100 and at #21 on the US R&B chart. It did make the top 10 in the UK though:

An American bossa nova/pop musical duo composed of Bill DeMain and Molly Felder, Swan Dive, covered the song in the 2000s:

Now, let's continue with last week's statistics; the pattern continues; after a rise, there is a fall. So it was this week, with a 3.5% drop over last week's visits. The second installment of the Motown countdown was less visited than the first - and the second part of the 1979 Oscars was also less visited than the first, which is strange, as it included a lot more information. The United States and Canada were the week's winning countries, while France and Turkey suffered minor losses. I'm happy to welcome Vietnam 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. the United Kingdom

3. Greece

4. Canada

5. Germany

6. France

7. Spain

8. Australia

9. Brazil

10. Vietnam

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Aruba, Austria, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, French Polynesia, FYR Of Macedonia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 28.5%

2. France = 22.8%

3. the United Kingdom = 13.0%

4. Greece = 6.7%

5. Russia = 2.6%

6. Germany = 1.8%

7. Canada = 1.6%

8. Italy = 1.2%

9. Turkey = 0.95%

10. Cyprus = 0.87%

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