The Motown Top 250 Countdown (#129-121) & This Week's Statistics

Hello, my friends, old and new! It's the weekend, which means it's time for our Motown countdown.

Brenda Holloway

Position #129 is occupied by an unlikely #1 hit: I'm Still Waiting (released on July 1971) continued the vein of sophisticated soul as heard on Diana Ross' breakthrough solo hit Ain't No Mountain High Enough. However, it was only a modest success in the US, reaching #63 on the Hot 100 singles chart and #40 on the R&B chart.

Although it was initially intended only as an album track, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Tony Blackburn featured it heavily on his morning programme and persuaded EMI - which at the time issued all Tamla Motown material in the UK - to release it as a single. It reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in August 1971; this prompted a retitling in the UK of the album Surrender as I'm Still Waiting.

The song, written and produced by Deke Richards, spoke of a girl forever waiting for her first love to return. I must admit that the hook's lyrics (see below) always manage to bring a lump to my throat:

"Ooh, little girl
Please don't wait for me
Wait patiently for love
Someday will surely come
And I'm still waiting"

This is a live version at the 30th Anniversary Tour 1994, at Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands:

Courtney Pine and Carroll Thompson had a minor UK hit single with the song in July 1990:

Chinese diva Faye Wong also covered the song (named as 又继续等), with Cantonese lyrics:

At #128 we find With You I'm Born Again by Billy Preston & Syreeta Wright. The song was first heard on the soundtrack of the motion picture Fast Break (1979) and was written by Carol Connors and David Shire.

Motown executive Suzanne de Passe chose Wright as Preston's partner for the two duets that had been written for the film, and each singer also had a solo number to cut for the soundtrack album as well. Connors recalled, "Billy and Syreeta were originally not very fond of the idea of recording together - they each wanted to do their own thing, but this worked out extremely well for both of them." The reluctant pair were surprised by the success of With You I'm Born Again. "Though both liked the song, they never dreamed of it being a hit single."

But radio airplay and record sales almost never happened. The Fast Break soundtrack was released in early 1979 when disco still permeated the airwaves, and the other of the duo's recordings from the album, the dance tune Go for It, was chosen as the single that would be issued to promote the album. That selection barely made a dent in the charts, spending one week on the Disco singles chart at #80 in Billboard magazine and "bubbling under" the Hot 100 for one week at #108.

The film did not get much attention, either, and Preston described their next effort to give With You I'm Born Again more exposure, explaining that "after the film didn't do very well, the [soundtrack] album didn't sell well. We pulled it off that album and put it on mine." Preston's album, Late at Night, came out later in 1979, but even with that reissue of the song, Preston insisted that "we still didn't think of it as a single." It did, however, begin to get airplay in the European market and was finally released as a single at the end of the year.

Another hurdle the song had to overcome was the fact that its title did not click with some record buyers. "Connors says her only regret about With You I'm Born Again is that she didn't title it 'Come Bring Me Your Softness'. 'Berry Gordy called me to let me know we had a monster hit on our hands but that early on many people were going into record stores asking for "Come Bring Me Your Softness", and some record sales were lost as a result.'" The fact that the phrase "born again" is often associated with Christianity may have also been confusing, and Connors admitted, "Many thought the song had religious overtones, but Robert Culp and I were lovers at the time, and that's the way we felt about one another. Culp was the inspiration." The singers also felt the song could be interpreted in a religious context as well as being a romantic love song. Preston explained, "When we saw [Fast Break], we understood it was a romantic song. But I think of it as religious because God is love, so it all inter-relates."

With You I'm Born Again debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue of the magazine dated December 8, 1979, and peaked at #4 over the course of 29 weeks. The following week marked its first appearance on the UK singles chart and on Billboard's list of the 50 most popular Adult Contemporary songs in the US, and both chart runs resulted in a #2 showing. It was Preston's biggest hit in five years and the biggest pop hit of Wright's career.

Here are Billy and Syreeta:

These are Mariah Carey & John Legend performing the song at Live Save The Music, 2005:

Vannesa Williams and George Benson also covered the song:

Lea Michele and Cory Monteith covered the song in the TV show Glee (Season 2, Episode 4):

Both Diana Ross and Billy Preston have been presented in detail by this blog. Read all about them by clicking on their names: Diana Ross - Billy Preston

At #127 is a song that I love much more than the previous one, You Haven't Done Nothin'. The song became Stevie Wonder's fourth #1 pop hit and his tenth #1 soul hit in the US, in 1974. It was possibly Wonder's angriest political statement and was aimed squarely at President Richard Nixon, who resigned two days after the record's release. The Jackson Five sing the words "Doo da wop!" repeatedly in the chorus, when Wonder sings "Jackson 5, join along with me, say". The song also features a thick clavinet track and an early appearance of the drum machine. This is it:

Here is Stevie performing for American TV:

In 2007, Joe Cocker recorded the song:

This is Canadian jazz singer, Nikki Yanofsky, performing the song at the closing concert of the 2009 Montreal Jazz Festival:

The Who's Roger Daltrey covered the song in 2018:

Both The Jackson Five and The Who have been presented in detail by this blog. Read all about them by clicking on their names: The Jackson Five - The Who

Some of the songs featured on this countdown are not original versions. Such is the case of the song at #126. These Eyes is one of the best and most successful singles by the Canadian rock band The Guess Who. The song was co-written by the group's lead guitarist Randy Bachman and lead singer Burton Cummings. It was first released as a single in their native Canada, where its chart success (#7), along with the influence of CKLW-AM Windsor's radio station music director Rosalie Trombley, helped land them a US distribution deal with RCA Records.

It was then released in the US In March 1969, and became a breakthrough success for the group, as it would be their first single to reach the top ten, peaking at #6, and would eventually be certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies.

Among the many cover versions released over the years, Junior Walker & the All-Stars' version reached #3 on the R&B Singles Chart and #16 on the Hot 100 in October 1969. This is the version that appears on our countdown, at #126:

This is Jr. Walker & The All-Stars on the American TV show Soul Train on December 4, 1971:

This is the original by The Guess Who:

There were many reggae cover versions of the song, Alton Ellis releasing his own in 1970:

The song was also featured in the 2007 American comedy film Superbad where it is sung by Michael Cera:

This is a cover by Angie Stone, in 2016:

At #125 we find Lionel Richie and his song Stuck On You. It was the fourth single released from his second studio album Can't Slow Down- released on May 1, 1984, by Motown, and achieved chart success, particularly in the US and the UK, where it peaked at #3 and #12, respectively. The song differs from Richie's other compositions, as it displays a country-pop influence rather than R&B. As such, the single's cover photo shows Richie wearing a cowboy hat, and indeed, Stuck on You peaked at #24 on the country chart. It also reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, Richie's seventh chart-topper. Here it is:

This is a live version of the song:

In 2003, Stuck on You was covered by American band 3T, which featured the three sons of Tito Jackson. It achieved success in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, where it was a top ten hit. This is it:

Another cover was performed by the British reggae singer, Trevor Walters, in 1984 (only 3 months after the original). This version was Walters biggest hit in his home country peaking inside the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. In fact, it was so successful that it peaked higher than Richie's original. Here it is:

There is no song at #124 because there are two songs tied for #123. First, let's talk about Brenda Holloway and When I'm Gone. It is a song written by Smokey Robinson and a single he produced twice, one for early Motown star Mary Wells and the other for fellow Motown vocalist Brenda Holloway. Holloway's version became a hit while Wells' was aborted after the singer left the label in 1964.

When I'm Gone was produced under a beat similar to Mary Wells' big hit, My Guy though this song included hand claps. The song was one of the last records Mary Wells recorded while at Motown. Fresh from the success of My Guy and with her contract expiring the year of My Guy and its success, Wells decided to terminate it, complaining of Gordy refusing to give her the royalties she earned during her successful tenure at the label. She argued that her contract was invalid because she'd signed with the company at the age of seventeen. Due to the underage clause, Motown allowed Wells' contract to expire. (Had Wells not exited Motown, When I'm Gone would have been her next release. The singer then headed to 20th Century Fox Records after being offered a $500,000 contract that also offered Wells to do movies.

Meanwhile, Motown's latest new signed artist, Brenda Holloway, was releasing her first single, Every Little Bit Hurts, which shot to #13 on the US Hot 100. After Wells departed, Motown eventually convinced Holloway to record some of Wells' songs, partially due to the fact that Gordy felt Holloway was the next Mary though both singers' vocals differed from each other: Wells' deep, smoky contralto vocal contrasted with Holloway's lighter soprano.

Released as a single in 1965, Holloway's version reached #25 on the Hot 100 and #12 on the R&B chart. Here it is:

Here is Brenda Holloway performing on TV, on the Shebang Show, in 1967:

This is Mary Wells' version:

The other song at #123 is a true classic. I Wish is one of Stevie Wonder's best and most successful song. What is brilliant about it is that although the song is a nostalgic look at childhood, the melody is tight and the beat is funky, nothing saccharine about it, which cannot be said about many songs dealing with this subject. There is nothing melancholy about Stevie's wish to return to the past - the mood is celebratory.

It was the first single off his masterpiece of an album, Songs in the Key of Life (1976). It was a smash - a #1 hit on the US Hot 100 and R&B chart, as well as in Canada - and a top 5 hit in the UK, Netherlands, and Ireland. This is it:

This is a live version at Hyde Park, in 2016:

Will Smith sampled I Wish for his 1999 hit Wild Wild West:

The great songs continue - at #122 we find Bernadette (1967) by The Four Tops. Despite calling the titular Bernadette "the soul to me" and placing her high above, this is far from a love song - and more like a dramatic look into the psyche of a very jealous guy who thinks everyone, including his friends, is out to steal his girl.

The passion in frontman Levi Stubbs' vocals is palpable - he totally sells it.

The song was written by Holland–Dozier–Holland and reached #4 on the Hot 100 - The Four Tops' final top 10 hit of the 1960s. It was a #3 R&B hit and peaked at #8 in the UK. The song is notable for its false ending, where the instruments drop out and the background singers hold a chord. Lead singer Levi Stubbs then shouts "Bernadette!" and the song resumes, ending in a fade-out. Critic Maury Dean described the effectiveness of Stubb's shout of "Bernadette!" as being the key ingredient in getting listeners to buy the record, Here it is:

Here they are, live in Miami, in 2004:

Finally for today, at #121, is the man who wrote the song we've heard at #123, Smokey Robinson, with his hit of 1987, One Heartbeat. Unusually, for such a prolific songwriter, the song wasn't written by Robinson but by musician Brian Ray along with one-time Tommy Tutone keyboardist Steve LeGassick.

The single peaked at #10 on the Hot 100, #3 on the R&B chart, and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was also heard in the opening credits of the 1987 romantic comedy film, Cross My Heart starring Martin Short and Annette O'Toole. This is it:

Smokey Robinson returned the favor, by appearing on the co-composer Brian Ray's own version of the song. Here it is:

Now, let's continue with our statistics; interesting things are happening in this week's Top 10. Russia, Australia, and India had an impressive week, while the other major players more or less held their own, although the four neighbors, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey had a rather subdued presence: which led to the main event of the all-time - Turkey has been replaced by the very active Australia at #10. If the current trend continues, Australia may move even higher up during the next 2-3 months.

As far as stories are concerned, it seems that lately, the stories about movies are doing much better than the stories about music. The Motown countdown, in particular, is not doing very well. It's a pity - because the music is great. I guess people choose what they choose...

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. Russia

3. the United Kingdom

4. Australia

5. Canada

6. Germany

7. India

8. France

9. Spain

10. Greece

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zambia. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 32.2%

2. France = 18.0%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.5%

4. Greece = 8.4%

5. Russia = 2.3%

6. Canada = 1.8%

7. Germany = 1.8%

8. Italy = 0.98%

9. Cyprus = 0.90%

10. Australia = 0.76%

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