You picked the five greatest Motown albums from a shortlist of twenty. Then, we asked you to select just one from the five — just one, to be hailed as the supreme achievement from the best-known, most celebrated record company in the world, and its extraordinary roster of talent.
We know it was tough. But who have you crowned as the champion? So without further ado, the winner is…
MARVIN GAYE – WHAT’S GOING ON
Marvin’s masterwork reveals something fresh with every hearing, just like the jazz of Miles, and his messages from 45 years ago lose none of their power.
What’s Going On spent 53 weeks on the Billboard pop best-sellers, an achievement only topped by the 61 chart weeks of Marvin’s Let’s Get It On. The three single releases from What’s Going On ran up a total of 36 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 during 1971. One for the ages and a well deserved champion.
“The biggest result of What’s Going On…had to do with my own freedom. I’d earned it, and no one could take it away from me. Now I could do whatever I wanted” – Marvin Gaye, quoted in Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye by David Ritz
“Berry Gordy did not want a protest record. To BG, Marvin was the company’s sex symbol, a ladies’ man. But Marvin was steadfast about changing. Thank God” – Smokey Robinson, quoted in liner notes for the 2001 deluxe edition of What’s Going On.
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