Ever Wonder How Many Top 10 Singles Motown Had?
by Best Classic Bands Contributors
Longtime music industry writer, editor and executive Adam White authored the sensational 2016 book, Motown: The Sound of Young America (via Thames and Hudson), with Barney Ales, who for years was the influential label’s #2 to its founder Berry Gordy, Jr.
White regular writes for his West Grand Blog and he has allowed Best Classic Bands to publish this exclusive excerpt from his July 2024 article, “Motown’s Top 10 Achievers.”
Exactly how many Top 10 hits has Motown had?
Of course, it’s what’s in the grooves that counts, but there’s a statistic currently doing the rounds which deserves to be corrected, clarified or validated—namely, that this most celebrated of record companies scored 110 Top 10 hits in the U.S. during its heyday.
Motown’s Wikipedia entry identifies that total for Top 10 titles from 1961-1971. It is not sourced, but one assumes that the tally is taken from the Billboard Hot 100 for the period.
Berry Gordy Jr. in 1964
The trouble is that by my count, the figure should be 106 (I know, I know: this seems like nitpicking, but…). So what better moment to tabulate those hits precisely, while at the same time ranking the artists by their individual totals?
This accounting covers the period from Tamla’s 1959 debut (although the firm’s first Top 10 pop hit didn’t occur until 1961) through to 1988, the year when Berry Gordy sold Motown Records. A couple of titles show up twice under different acts because they are duets (Diana Ross & the Supremes & the Temptations, Diana Ross & Lionel Richie) but are only counted once each for the purpose of this tally. Also, Stevie Wonder’s duet with Paul McCartney (“Ebony And Ivory”) is excluded because it wasn’t released by Motown. Also excluded are Marv Johnson’s two Top 10 entries, co-written and produced by Gordy, but by then, he had signed the singer to United Artists Records.
Wonder leads the Top 10 count, with 26. He also registers the longest stretch of such hits, from 1963 to 1986—although if you combine Smokey Robinson’s group and solo successes, his Top 10 pop career runs even longer, from 1961 to 1987.
Diana Ross, too, can be heard on 26 Top 10 tracks between 1964-1981: with the Supremes, 18, and as a solo superstar, eight (including “Endless Love”). Lionel Richie has 22 hits under his belt, nine with the Commodores, 12 on his own, and one with Ross. The Supremes have the most Number Ones: 12. Motown’s best year for Top 10 triumphs on the Billboard Hot 100 is 1970, with a total of 16 – seven of which went to Number One.
Read White’s complete story, including a complete tabulation of the songs that reached the Top 10, organized by artist from the most down to the more than one dozen—including Bruce Willis (!)—acts who earned “just” one.
White’s book, Motown: The Sound of Young America, is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here. A deluxe 2019 audio collection, Motown: The Complete No. 1’s, is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
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1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationGreat book. Terrific graphics of every(?) release. Very cool picture of Stevie Wonder sitting outside Motown on a curb playing his harmonica.