Motown Festival

I got the inspiration for this mix when I heard Michael McDonald sing 'Ain't no mountain high enough' in a restaurant a few weeks ago. It made me think of the classic Motown sound, although it is not the best version of the song. One of the tracks I selected is 'I'm gonna give you respect' by G.C. Cameron. He was the original singer of the (Detroit) Spinners and provided the lead vocals on the group's first major hit, 'It's A Shame'. When The Spinners left Motown to become far more succesful at Atlantic, G.C. was contractually and personally bound to Motown (he was married to Berry Gordy's sister Gwen). He stayed for the remainder of the 1970s with the label, but never received the material or promotion his great voice deserved.

I selected 'The night' by the very great Frankie Valli as well. It is a pity that the song was left out in the musical 'The Jersey Boys', because I think it is his best song. The bassline is magnificent and Frankie sings about something terrible that is going to happen in the night in an almost paranoid way. He recorded the track for Motown in 1972, but it was never released as a single in the United States and Frankie Valli left the famous music factory soon by lack of success. But by the mid-seventies 'The night' was successfully picked up by the British northern soul scene and at the same time 'My eyes adored you' became a big hit on the new Private Stock label in the United States (a song that Frankie Valli had bought back from Motown). Motown wanted to earn some money from this sudden and unexpected success and came up with the album 'Inside you' with Frankie Valli recordings from his Motown days, like 'The night'. The song also appears on the soundtrack of the movie Northern Soul.

The track by Sunlight Square is from a brand new compilation album called 'Soul Lounge 11', which is quite good (just like the previous 10 editions)!

Tracklist:

Marvin Gaye – I Met A Little Girl [Professor Eddy’s Downtempo Rework] (2009)
Michael McDonald – Ain't No Mountain High Enough (2003)
Jermaine Jackson – You Like Me, Don’t You (1981)
Michael Lovesmith – Baby I Will [Northern Rascal Extension 2014] (1983)
R. Dean Taylor – Gotta See Jane (1968)
The Contours – Danger, Heartbreak Dead Ahead (1964)
The Good Girls – Just Call Me [John's Backdoor Boogie Remix Edit] (1992)
Johnny Gill – Rub You The Right Way (1990)
The Jackson 5 – Dancing Machine (1973)
The Originals – Down To Love Town (1976)
Patrice Holloway – Those DJ Shows (1964)
Brenda Holloway – Who You Gonna Run To (1964)
Edwin Starr – Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S) (1968)
Shalamar – Uptown Festival (1977)
Commodores – Girl, I Think The World About You (1976)
Diana Ross – Tenderness (1980)
Gladys Knight ‎& The Pips – If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love (1960s)
Smokey Robinson – Being With You (1981)
Fankie Valli – The Night (1972)
The Supremes – Come Together [Beatles Mash-up] (1970)
G.C. Cameron – I’m Gonna Give You Respect (1974)
Sunlight Square – Nowhere To Run (2011)

Motown Festival by Professor Eddy on Mixcloud