Hitsville U.S.A.

What I am about to say may upset a few people. But, you know what, I do not care.

Ready for it?

Here it is:

Motown is the single greatest musical genre to have ever existed in the history of ever.

EVER.

You can argue for other genres like Brit Pop, Punk, Rap, Big Band, Metal, etc. But, none of those genres have done or can do what Motown did.

Motown united people. It brought together blacks and whites, at a time when civil rights and racial tension was at an all-time high. It gave a white kid in St. Louis something in common with a black kid in Detroit. Sure, they could have many differences socially and economically, but when that new Temptations song came on, they sang the same lyrics, did the same dance and shared the same joy.

That is what the Motown sound was capable of. And that is what the Motown sound did. It broke down social barriers, and it built new ones. For people of all walks of life.

And what other genre has been so good at what it did, that its headquarters was called "Hitsville"?

Wait, that is still Motown.

I just realized, that I have not even gotten to the artists yet.

The Supremes
The Spinners
The Temptations
The Jackson 5
Tammi Terrell
The Velvettes
Jr. Walker and the All-Stars
The Miracles
The Marvelettes
The Elgins
The Contours
Gladys Knight & The Pips
Smokey Robinson
Stevie Wonder
Marvin Gaye

And those are just off of the top of my head.

If there was a musical line-up that you could compare to Murderers Row (The 1927 New York Yankee line-up that had Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig) it is Motown. Because no matter who was batting for Motown, you knew they were going to have a hit.

And if there was ever a greater manager (producer) than Berry Gordy. Please, tell me right now.

The man had an ear sent down from the Greek Gods. And a mind like Einstein for the music business.

I challenge you to find a Motown song that is not good. Find a song that does not evoke some emotion out of you. I dare you to not start singing along to "My Girl" when it comes on the radio.

It is impossible.

Motown is the perfect Summer and Party music.

Motown is the perfect ANYTIME music.

Put on some Stevie Wonder and people will dance. Oh, people will dance.

Play some Spinners and your parents and grandparents will start to tell you stories about Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s, and they will tell you how life and music was better back then. And guess what, IT WAS.

If you are with your lady-friend or significant other, put on some Marvin or Smokey and I can at least guarantee that you might get a kiss. If not, at least you can bask in your awkward "turn down" with some good music.

Let me leave you with this:

I am nineteen years old. Far, far, far too young to have experienced the original boom of Motown in Detroit.

But, I am writing this.

So what I said earlier about Motown united races, was in retrospect a small portion of what Motown did in the long run.

It united generations.