There are, of course, many different genres of music. As well as many famous record labels on which said music has been released. As best I can tell, though, only one has ever been both. A label that became a genre.

No one has ever been at a party where somebody hollered, “Hey, ya got any Sony?” or “I wanna dance to a little RCA!” But you damn sure have heard the call of “Put on some Motown!” And probably have your whole life.

Unlike any other record company in history, Motown, the label, transformed and then morphed seamlessly into Motown, the music genre. How? Because of “The Motown Sound,” the company’s immediately recognizable blend of soul and pop. It was often referred to as their “trademark” sound, though that was never formally true in a legal sense. Am I going to attempt to describe it? No, you already know exactly what it is. That’s the trademark.

Here we’re going to explore a few conspicuous things you might not have been aware of about the distinctive label/genre of Motown, illuminate a few semi-related items, and then coinciding with all that, we’ll take on the seemingly impossible task of reviewing the incredible performers roster and naming Motown’s 5 All-Time Greatest Groups. Yes, just five! So let’s hit a six stroke roll – the intro and drum fill for seemingly all Motown tunes – and get it going.

Starting with this factoid:

  • The name Motown, a portmanteau of “motor” and “town,” became the nickname for the city of Detroit – where the label originated and the Hitsville U.S.A. studio was located – only after the existence of the record company. Bet you didn’t know that Detroit wasn’t known as “Motown” before there was Motown.

Then, from a more historical perspective, there’s this:

  • Motown played a vital role in the racial integration of popular music, as a black-owned label that achieved crossover success with white audiences. Smokey Robinson, a critically important figure in Motown’s history as prolific songwriter/hitmaker, one-time company vice president, as well as leader of his namesake band (we’ll get to more on that later), had this to say about Motown’s larger cultural impact: “I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands.”

And one more, about the niche songwriting origins:

  • There were significant contributions by Smokey Robinson, as cited above, as well as others like Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong, and the Motown majordomo himself, Berry Gordy. But the lion’s share of all Motown recordings were created by the triumphant trio of Holland-Dozier-Holland (Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland), who composed over 200 Motown songs (and as many as 400 in all). Eddie Holland wrote the lyrics, Lamont Dozier primarily focused on melodies, and Brian Holland handled the production, in a hit-after-hit process that suitably enough was often compared to an automobile assembly line.

Alright, time to hit the music and get started with the countdown of some of the incredible artists. Let’s put on some Motown!

They did have their share of One-Hit (but still important) Wonders, such as Barrett Strong’s ‘Money (That’s What I Want),’ widely considered to be Motown’s very first hit song, ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way,’ the best known Thelma Houston version (following by a year the original recording of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes), and The Contours with ‘Do You Love Me,’ a tune revived (and thus partially ruined) by the convulsing image of Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing.

The Marvelettes were one of the first successful Motown acts (and its initial all-female one) with their chart-topping 1961 single ‘Please Mr. Postman,’ but then endured a five year drought until ‘Don’t Mess with Bill.’ Edwin Starr found success with “Twenty Five Miles’ and a #1 smash in ‘War,’ but those occupied a period (1969-70) beyond Motown’s glory era. The Isley Brothers were a Motown band but only briefly, for their 1966 hit ‘This Old Heart of Mine,’ which came just after giving a 21-year-old Jimi Hendrix his start as the band’s guitarist. The same is true with The Spinners, who had a moderate Motown hit with ‘It’s A Shame,’ before scoring all their biggest triumphs after signing with Atlantic Records. The Commodores did have a series of hits on the Motown label, but I don’t think anyone would really consider them a “Motown band.” Okay, none of those are really near the “greatest” mark, so moving on.

Renowned tenor saxophonist Junior Walker (his awesome real name, Autry DeWalt Mixon – more related to that to come) led Jr. Walker & the All Stars through an array of soul-shaking Motown hits such as ‘Shotgun,’ ‘(I’m a) Road Runner,’ ‘Shake and Fingerpop,’ and the indelible ballad ‘What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)’ – not to mention groovy remakes of Motown catalog favorites ‘Come See About Me’ and ‘How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)’). But, I don’t know, a band fronted by a horn player doesn’t seem to lend itself to a Motown best-of analysis. Martha & the Vandellas had a stream of classics right in the Motown wheelhouse such as ‘Heat Wave,’ ‘Quicksand,’ ‘Dancing in the Street,’ ‘Nowhere to Run,’ and ‘Jimmy Mack.’ Man, I can almost see the dance floor hopping for those sorority house standards. Still, the Vandellas don’t quite rise to an all-time type level for me. Alright, alright, at least we’re narrowing things down here.

Well then, here’s a true great: Gladys Knight & The Pips. They recorded a string of classics for Motown between 1967-1973 like ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine,’ ‘If I Were Your Woman,’ ‘The Nitty Gritty,’ and ‘Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).’ But then Gladys and the Pips were leaving, leaving on a midnight move to Buddah Records (woo wooo), where they produced roughly half of their best known tunes including ‘Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me,‘ ‘I’ve Got to Use My Imagination’ and their signature song ‘Midnight Train to Georgia.’ And don’t look now, I’m afraid we’ve got roughly the same issue with pop music’s original boy band, The Jackson 5, who followed up an epic 5-year run at Motown by moving on to Epic Records, where the latter half – overlapping Michael’s peerless solo period – of their output occurred. Sorry, but split label careers are just not going to cut it for this list.

We’ve eliminated a lot but now we’re really getting down to some heavyweights, a couple of true legends, instantly recognizable by just their first names: Marvin and Stevie. There’s a reason Marvin Gaye earned the nickname the “Prince of Motown”; his string of blockbusters both as a solo artist as well as through a succession of incomparable duet works (with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, and most famously, Tammi Terrell) helped shape the sound and image of the landmark label Motown would become. Stevie Wonder, for his part, is only one of the most consequential artists in popular music history, whose career – starting as 12-year-old “Little Stevie Wonder” and extending through a four decade catalog of sublime superiority – all took place exclusively with Motown. And yet…Well, and yet, I just can’t escape the idea that the whole Motown movement, its identity, really its whole ideal, was based on the idea of groups. Choreographed dance steps, coordinating outfits, and a synthesized sensibility. Unity. Maybe that’s it, in a word. So I’m being a subjective stickler and declining to include Marvin and Stevie. Plus, if you scroll back about seven paragraphs up, you’ll see where we had determined to name the greatest Motown groups of all time (always remember to read the fine print).

So where does that leave us? For starters, needing to mention one more extremely key Motown detail:

  • During its entire Detroit glory era, from inception in 1959 until the company moved to L.A. in 1972, with very limited exceptions, the history-altering recordings of Motown basically used the same musicians for all the songs. Why don’t you let that sink in for a second before moving on.

Having established that, we’re now ready, at last, for the actual list (if you even remember what the hell we had started out doing in the first place). Here they are, So Much Great Music’s Top 5 All-Time Greatest Motown Groups.

5. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

Smokey’s velvety smooth high tenor soared across Motown’s first ever million-selling record and through dozens of Top 40 hits, with a plaintive, emotional delivery once described as “beautifully impossible.’

8 Miraculous Tracks

    • ‘Tears of A Clown’
    • ‘Shop Around’
    • ‘I Second That Emotion’
    • ‘The Tracks of My Tears’
    • ‘You’ve Really Got A Hold on Me’
    • ‘Ooh Baby Baby’
    • ‘Going to a Go-Go’
    • ‘Mickey’s Monkey’

4. Diana Ross & The Supremes

Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and the indomitable Diana Ross weren’t simply Motown’s most acclaimed all-girl group, they were the label’s most commercially successful act…period. Charting a slew of #1 singles while garbed in glamorous sequined gowns, their incredible rise is considered the most significant breakthrough for the mainstream advancement of future black artists.

11 Supreme Songs

    • ‘Where Did Our Love Go’
    • ‘Baby Love’
    • ‘Come See About Me’
    • ‘Stop! In The Name of Love’
    • ‘Back in My Arms Again’
    • ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’
    • ‘Someday We’ll Be Together’
    • ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’
    • ‘Love Child’
    • ‘My World is Empty Without You’
    • ‘I Hear a Symphony’

3. The Temptations

With Eddie Kendricks’ flying falsetto, David Ruffin’s growling tenor, Paul Williams booming baritone, and Melvin Franklin’s earth-quaking bass (and later, Dennis Edwards’ gospel-hewn shouts), the lineup was essentially an all-star team of vocalists. And following the harmonious elegance of their mid-60’s “classic” era, The Temptations became the first Motown act to win a Grammy (incredibly, not until 1969) while bridging the label’s sound into the gritty Pyschedelic Soul of the seventies.

12 Tempting Tunes

    • ‘My Girl’
    • ‘Ain’t Too Proud to Beg’
    • ‘I Wish It Would Rain’
    • ‘I Can’t Get Next to You’
    • ‘Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today)’
    • ‘Cloud Nine’
    • ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)’
    • ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’
    • ‘The Way You Do the Things You Do’
    • ‘(I Know) I’m Losing You’
    • ‘Get Ready’
    • ‘Psychedelic Shack’

2. The Four Tops

It’s likely most observers would not place them above the preceding three entries, but I’m putting The Four Tops here for one reason, which comes in two parts: Levi Stubbs. He was, of course, the legendary lead vocalist, who possessed a thundering, rutted baritone that, to me, best encompasses everything this glorious label-turned-genre symbolized and achieved. Stubbs is, quite simply, one of my favorite musical voices of any variety, ever. And, in considered addition to that, he’s also got one of the best real names – not created stage names, that’s a whole other story – of any musician ever. To honor the top Four Top, here’s my Top 4:

I know, that’s quite a list (and holy hell, I just found out Levi Stubbs’ original last name was actually Stubbles – that might be even better!)

Top 10 of The Tops

    • ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)’
    • ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’
    • ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’
    • ‘Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)’
    • ‘It’s The Same Old Song’
    • ‘Bernadette’
    • ‘Ask The Lonely’
    • ‘Standing in the Shadows of Love’
    • ‘I’ll Turn to Stone’
    • ‘Are You Man Enough?’

1. The Funk Brothers

The whaaat?! The Top Motown Group of All-Time is…one you’ve never heard of? Allow me to explain. As was noted earlier, a collective of musicians incredibly played basically all of Motown’s music (you surely noted that all the famous names we’ve just appraised are singers). These were those dudes. They were the Motown house band, masterful session players who made the musical magic happen, creating the template, foundation and engine of The Motown Sound that made history. The Funk Brothers played on more #1 records than The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and The Beach Boys had combined. I think that qualifies them to top this list.

There is no definitive, undisputed list of the members of the group; 13 were identified by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and were profiled in the 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown. But I’m going to single out one, bassist James Jamerson – the breadth, command, and prowess of whose work is almost staggering – with my newly-coined title of MMVP (Motown Most Valuable Player). It’s difficult to imagine the entirety of the immeasurable and world-changing Motown catalog without the contributions of this one individual.

Alas, given their unusual status there is no applicable song to feature as by The Funk Brothers. So to close we’ll revert back to our technical runners-up, but highest-ranking performers, The Four Tops. I guess you could say if you need someone to reliably demonstrate music history’s only record label unique enough to have become its own genre, reach out, they’ll be there.

And if you’re looking for a broader taste of the incomparable Levi Stubbs and the greatness of The Four Tops, here’s the new SMGM playlist “The Tops of The Four Tops” – 20 top tracks (plus a bonus duet with The Supremes).