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Motown Moments

The Tamla Motown record label is fifty years old in 2009. What are the great Motown Moments? And which of them would YOU like to have been at? What Motown Memories do you treasure?

Mary Fox asked the question on her soul music show - what are your favourite Motown memories and moments? Here are just a few of their suggestions!
And if you have others, please use the form at the bottom of this page to make your comment too…

Moments

My earliest soul/Motown memory is when I was 10years old, rooting through my Mum’s cupboard looking for the Christmas presents.

I came across an old reel to reel tape player and managed to plug it in and work it. I was the tape monitor in our French class at school, so I knew how to press the play lever.

The sound that came out of it completely blew me away, it was the dum-duddle-um-duddle-um-duddle-um Hah!! part from the Four Tops ‘Reach Out’. My mum was just a young woman of 26 at the time and had been recording the Motown stars from live TV performances some years earlier. I have around 30 reels of absolute gems and treasures, many of which I am sure were live recordings from live transmissions and not available anymore.

I got into the music big time and into the Northern Soul scene, sneaking into the Wigan Casino on bus trips from Newcastle, even though I as just a kid of 14/15 or so.

As a man of 45 now (and a Vicar) I still ride around on my Vespa scooter with the same parka I had since I was 16 complete with some war wounds from those heady days. – from Anthony in Blackpool

The song I would sing if I had a voice would have to be Gladys Knight – If I Were Your Woman, and as long as I could hold auditions for my very own Pips and I had a vast array of elegant sequinned gowns all in pink of course. As a trio I think Joan, Pat and I could torture the Velvelettes ‘These Things Will Keep Me Loving You’ – from Anne

I would love to have sat in on a jam session in the snake pit at Hitsville USA in Detroit. Listening to the ‘Funk Brothers’ the backing band of all the gems that came out of Mr. B Gordy’s establishment - from Dave Case in Ormskirk

I would liked to have been at one of the ‘Motown Revues’ just think of all that talent on one stage. I heard Martha Reeves now a local politician over in Detroit is campaigning to have statues of the famous artists etc. put up around Detroit – from Stef at Leek Soul Club.

Re: 50 years of Motown. Phew that’s a hard one, I would have liked to have met Earl Van Dyke (organ) and Mike Terry (sax) and all the Hitsville house band (Funk Bros.) that gave us all that fantastic sound.

last updated: 09/03/2009 at 10:52
created: 09/03/2009

Have Your Say

Your Motown Moment?

HerMan(Allan from Sheffield.)
Motown entered my life in a big way in 1966 when I bought,on import a copy of,"A Whole Lot Of Shakin'Going On In my Heart,(Since I Met You Girl)"Tamla 54134,I was just about 13 at the time and as a result of finding this track in a small shop in London while on an away day with my local football team,you could say my love of the label started.

Ivan Stax
Hi Elmo,Re: James Jamerson footage in standing in the shadows of motown dvd, I think you'll find that there only still pix of the great man. 'Though I shall double check.

elmo
Motown & Northern soul is my life, my first memories of the motown sound is when i was knee high to a cricket, thats because i am only small!! in the early sixties, when the Temps had made, the girls alright with me, this sound was a classic as far as i was concerned, the Four Tops had made at this time sounds like, shake me wake me, ask the lonely, all of great standards, the one that realy sticks in my mind from the early sixties is Stevie Wonders Angie Girl, there are many classics like these i dont think there is enough space on this page to put them on there is so many. Motown Music is world class and there will never be another sound like it, it will live on for as long as any other sound that may be around and even longer. I can not express how much i love this music. Can i just say reading some of the comments there is a part where Ivan Stax says there is no footage of James Jamerson of the funk brothers, the funk brothers made a dvd called standing in the shadows i think there is footage on there of the great man. long live the sound of motown and soul!!

sue from stafford
it was the year 1969 when i was first introduced to motown i was 13 at the time the older more cool guys at school all loved the motown sound and when we went to our youth club discos it was allways played and danced to i love to dance and allways have and nothing gets me on the floor quicker than a motown track i would hunt out all the records i could from any where i could and eventually my dad started to give me pocket money of 50p per week and that would buy me one 45rpm record each week so i eventually built up my collection i would have pictures on my bedroom wall and my school rough book (and school hymn book ) along with my bag would be covered in all of these wonderfull artists names !! and now in 3 weeks time i shall be going to detroit to see "HITSVILLE U.S.A." who would have thought back in 1969 i would ever get to see it for real not me !

Ray Jay
I was 15 years old in 1965. I was in the Chemy Lab at school in Glossop at at lunchtime where we used to listen to music. Someone played Cool Jerk by THE CAPITOLS that was it, I was hooked.Then The Twisted Wheel. The Torch.Seeing all the great artists in the flesh. It really was a magic time which I will always hold precious the faces the fashion the scooters and above all else the MUSIC.

Ivan Stax
Meeting Marvin Gaye,backstage at the Liverpool Empire Oct 76. I could hardly speak (in shock).I still have the programme, signed by "The Great Man Himself". would have loved to meet the worlds greatest bass player, the late James Jamerson, who holds the record for playing on more No 1 hits than anyone. Sadly there is not even a video/filmed footage of him.

Rob (Cadiz)
My brother introduced me to Motown aged 11 and ive never stopped listening to it since. I would have loved to hang out with Marvin or the Temps for a couple of days while they were on the road and at their peak....now that would have been something to tell your grand kids.

Sarah Gray
For me, it has to be as a seventeen year old, seeing Edwin Starr live at our local nightclub, Ronelles in Cambridge. It was the 25th anniversary of Motown and it was a fabulous night, which culminated in Edwin Starr giving up on his backing track, singing acapella (not sure I've spelt that right), the atmosphere was electric, it made all the hairs on my arms stand on end and I can recall the feeling to this day. I even got his autograph on a twelve inch of "Soul Singer". Definitely one of my most prized posessions

Paul(Nantwich)
Going back to 1984 i would liked to have been there at the 25th anniversary when ( if my memory serves me right)the TEMPTATIONS & FOUR TOPS appeared & sang together live for the very 1st time oh what memories

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