Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Rick James releases Superfreak in 1981 and it features backing vocals by The Temptations (Melvin is his uncle) and it became a #1 in the Dance charts while stopping at #16 in Top-100. It got nominated for a Grammy and became Rick's signature song. Rick passed away in 2004. Today the song is maybe better known us MC Hammers U can't touch this. .....   MC Hammer sampled it heavily in 1990's U can't touch this (US #8, UK #3), and it has been sampled to countless songs ever since: Jay Z, Gucci Mane , GZA/Genius, Disiz La Peste and Banda Uó for example. It's been covered in various genres by Beatfreaks (UK #7), Big Daddy, Mordred

The Temptations would take this song to #1 and win three Grammys in 1973 with it, but it was originally recorded by another Motown group: The Undisputed Truth in 1971. Their  original version only went to #63, and pretty much forgotten these days as the Temps made it theirs so well.  Anyways, this is a real weird single track as even the single mix almost 7 minutes long, and the album one over 12 minutes! It also has four different lead vocalists and the instruments keep changing and variating.  It would also be The Temptations fourth #1 and also the last. In UK this went to #14.    Countless cover versions have been recorded and performed throughout the decades, including Bill "Wolf" Wolfer with backing vocals by Michael Jackson, Issac Hayes with Soul II Soul's Charlotte Kelly,   Seal , Was (Not Was) , George Michael , Craig David and many others. Run-D.M-C sampled it to their Papa Crazy as did Montenegrin Eurovision star Knez in Autom...

It's time to move on from the Motown Golden era, the 1960's to the 1970's. The Temptations had a clearly anti-Vietnam war song War on their album that was becoming very popular. However Motown didn't want to alienate their more conservative fans and re-recorded it with Edwin Starr for the single release, after he volunteered for it as no one seemed to be willing to risk it.  The result is yet another #1 hit for Motown and one of the most known protest songs ever recorded.   Frankie Goes to Hollywood has it on their debut album in 1984,   Bruce Springsteen took the song back to top10 (#8) in 1986. Black Stone Cherry covered the song last year. 

Motown loved - besides recording the same hits by various artists - to pair their star acts and one of the most succesful and obvious pairing was that of their best selling female and male groups: The Supremes and The Temptations. The Supremes by now had become Diana Ross & The Supremes underlining Diana's Queen like status in the music business and inside Motown. I'm gonna make you love me features some most urgent falsetto vocals ever and is so full of passion and need you believe every word. Outstanding in every way! It peaked at #2 (behind another Motown act, Marvin Gaye's Grapewine btw) and #3 in the UK in late 1968. Curiously they never performed it live together..... Diana sung it with Stevie Wonder , The Temps did it alone,  The song was originally recorded and #88 hit by Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne's sister, Cissy's niece and Whitney's cousin, btw) in 1966. It was also offered to Dusty Springfield who passed it on to her backing singer...

Smokey Robinson was one of the most important Motown songwriters and producers and his career continues even today. In 1962 he scored with his The Miracles and self penned song a #8 US hit, that has become a real movie favorite, it has been on a dozen movie soundtracks!  The song has been covered dozens of times by various singers: The Beatles , The Supremes , The Temptations , The Zombies , The Jackson 5, Mickey Gilley , Mike and the Mechanics, Cyndi Lauper, Phil Collins and even Smokey himself in Sesame Street

In 1964 Motown was already becoming a label that scored #1 hits regularly. Smokey Robinson penned and produced My guy was one of them for Mary Wells in May, and The Temptations of course released their own answer to it, My girl that went to #1 the next year. How cool is that? Whoopi Goldberg took My God to Sister act and Macaulay Culkin named his film by it.  This blogger loves both of these timeless classics  Cover version by Petula Clark , Amii Stewart & Johnny Bristol , Sister Sledge , Aretha Franklin , Whoopi Goldberg , Otis Redding , The Rolling Stones , Mamas & Papas , The Whispers