At 24, Stevie Wonder - Living For The City (1973)
“Living for the City”, from Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions album, reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the R&B chart - Stevie played all the instruments on the song It was one of the first soul music songs to deal explicitly with systemic racism and to use everyday sounds of the street like traffic, voices and sirens which were combined with the music recorded in the studio.
At 23, The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (1969)
Originally considered for Gladys Knight & the Pips and later for Diana Ross, as “I Wanna Be Free”, “I Want You Back” explores the theme of a lover who decides that he was too hasty in dropping his partner. An unusual aspect about “I Want You Back” was that its main lead vocal was performed by a tween, Michael Jackson.
“I Want You Back” was the first Jackson 5 single to be released by Motown and the first song written and produced by The Corporation, a team comprising Motown chief Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonso Mizell, and Deke Richards. It also is the first of four Jackson 5 number-ones released in a row (the others being “ABC” – 1970, “The Love You Save” – 1970, and “I’ll Be There” – 1970) and the first Jackson 5 song recorded in Los Angeles, California; the quintet had previously been recording Bobby Taylor-produced remakes of other artists’ hits, including “Who’s Lovin’ You”, the B-side to “I Want You Back”, at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, Michigan. From late 1969 and on, nearly all of the Jackson 5’s recordings were done in Los Angeles when the majority of recordings for other artists on the label were done in Detroit.
Although Gladys Knight had been the first to mention the Jacksons to Berry Gordy, and Bobby Taylor brought the Jackson brothers to Motown, Motown credited Diana Ross with discovering them. This was done not only to help promote the Jackson 5, but also to help ease Ross’ transition into a solo career, which she began in 1970 soon after the Jackson 5 became a success.
At the risk of being repetetive, Michael Jackson just belts it out - natural, effortless, and untrained - gifted.
:shock:
At 22, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (1966)
This song was written by Ashford and Simpson prior to joining Motown. British soul singer Dusty Springfield wanted to record the song but the duo declined, hoping it would give them access to the Detroit-based label. As Valerie Simpson later recalled, “We played that song for her (Springfield) but wouldn’t give it to her, because we wanted to hold that back. We felt like that could be our entry to Motown. Nick called it the ‘golden egg’.” Dusty recorded a similar verse melody in ‘I’m Gonna Leave You’ on Dusty.
The original 1967 version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was a top twenty hit. According to record producers, Terrell was a little nervous and intimidated during the recording sessions because she did not rehearse the lyrics. Terrell recorded her vocals alone with producers Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, who added Gaye’s vocal at a later date. “Ain’t No Mountain” peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard pop charts, and went to number three on the R&B charts.
This original version of “Ain’t No Mountain”, produced by Fuqua and Bristol, was a care-free, danceable, and romantic love song that became the signature duet between Gaye and Terrell. Its success led to a string of more Ashford/Simpson penned duets (including “You’re All I Need to Get By”, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”, and “Your Precious Love”).
“We played that song for her (Springfield) but wouldn’t give it to her, because we wanted to hold that back. …”
That wasn’t very nice. 
That’s what I thought … and Dusty, being shy, would not have made a fuss … 
At 21, The Miracles - You Really Got A Hold On Me (1962)
“You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me” was written by Smokey Robinson while in New York in 1962 on business for Motown; he heard Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me”, which was in the charts at the time, and — influenced by it — wrote the song in his hotel room.
The song was recorded in Motown’s Studio A on October 16, 1962 with Robinson on lead vocals, and Miracles’ second tenor Bobby Rogers on harmony co-lead. Robinson was the producer, and he had Eddie Willis and Miracle Marv Tarplin share the guitar parts.
The song was released on the Tamla label on November 9, 1962 as the B side to “Happy Landing”. “Happy Landing” charted regionally; however, the nation’s DJs flipped the record over, because they liked “Hold On Me” better. With “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” as the A side, the single reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart, peaking at number eight, and was a number one smash on the Billboard R&B singles chart during the winter of 1962-63. The Miracles’ original version was the group’s second single to sell over a million copies, after “Shop Around”.
At 20, The Temptations - I Wish It Would Rain (1967)
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The song is one of the most melancholy in the Temptations repertoire, with lead singer David Ruffin delivering, in a pained voice, the story of a heartbroken man who wants to hide his sorrow. Accompanying Ruffin’s mourning vocal are the vocals of his bandmates (Eddie Kendricks, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, and Otis Williams) alongside the subdued instrumentation of The Funk Brothers studio band. Producer Norman Whitfield devised much of the musical structure of the song, with former Motown artist Barrett Strong composing the song’s signature piano intro on a piano with only ten working keys. Motown staff writer Rodger Penzabene provided the song’s lyrics.
More so than a number of other Motown songs, there is real sentiment and pain behind the song’s words. Lyricist Penzabene had just found out his wife was cheating on him with another man. Unable to deal with the pain and unable to stop loving his wife, Penzabene expressed his pain in the lyrics of this song and its follow-up on the Temptations’ release schedule, “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)”. The distraught Penzabene committed suicide on New Year’s Eve 1967, a week after the single’s release.
Blimey … How sad can a song get … 
You really got a hold on me
Another covered by the Beatles.
They seem to have been influenced by Motown quite a lot.
At 19, Four Tops - Bernadette (1967)
This song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was The Four Tops’s final Top 10 hit of the 1960s. It also reached #8 in the UK on its first release.
The Four Tops kicked off 1967 with the dramatic Top Ten smash “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” which was followed by the Top Five “Bernadette.” “7-Rooms of Gloom” and “You Keep Running Away” reached the Top 20, but toward the end of the year, Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown over a financial dispute, which didn’t bode well for the Four Tops’ impressive hit streak. Their next two hits, 1968’s “Walk Away Renee” and “If I Were a Carpenter,” were both covers of well-known recent songs (by the Left Banke and Tim Hardin, respectively), and while both made the Top 20, they heralded a rough couple of years when top-drawer material was in short supply.
At 18, The Temptations - Ain’t Too Proud To Beg (1966)
“Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Chart, and was a number-one hit on the Billboard R&B charts for eight non-consecutive weeks. The song’s success, in the wake of the relative underperformance of the previous Temptations single, “Get Ready”, resulted in Norman Whitfield replacing Smokey Robinson, producer of “Get Ready”, as The Temptations’ main producer.
Much of the song’s success, according to the Temptations themselves, is due to Whitfield’s production, which was leaner and hit harder than Robinson’s smoother style, and also to David Ruffin’s pained lead vocal. Whitfield’s tactic of having Ruffin record above his register worked well enough that Whitfield went on to use it on later Temptations records such as “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep” and “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, and also did the same to Marvin Gaye when he recorded his now-famous version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”.
:cool2:
At 17, The Miracles - Shop Around (1960)
“Shop Around” was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960, reaching number one on the Billboard R&B chart , number one on the Cash Box Magazine Top 100 Pop Chart, and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was The Miracles first million-selling hit record, and the first-million-selling hit for the Motown Record Corporation.
The single was the first Motown record to be released in the UK, on Decca Records’ London label.
Looking at that picture, I was surprised to see a girl in the group.On further investigation I’ve discovered that she became Mrs Smokey Robinson and his “My Girl” is dedicated to her.All news to me.
Indeed … Claudette is “The First Lady of Motown” … 
Claudette replaced her brother, Emerson “Sonny” Rogers, in the group after he was drafted into the U.S. Army. She married Smokey in 1959 but plans to raise a family failed due to the rigours of touring - Claudette had seven miscarriages. She retired from the group and subsequently had two children but is now divorced from Smokey.
At 16, The Temptations - My Girl (1964)
“My Girl”, written and produced by the Miracles members Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, was the first Temptations single to feature David Ruffin on lead vocals and became the Temptations’ first U.S. number-one single, making them major stars. Before ‘My Girl’, the group had scored just one placing in the US singles Top 20. After ‘My Girl’, they scored a further 23.
At 15, The Contours - Do You Love Me (1962)
Berry Gordy wrote “Do You Love Me” with the intention that The Temptations, who had no Top 40 hits to their name yet, would record it. After spending some time looking for the Temptations, Gordy ran into the Contours in the hallway. Wanting to record and release “Do You Love Me” as soon as possible, Gordy decided to let them record his “sure-fire hit” instead of the Temptations. The Contours, who were in danger of being dropped from the label after their first two singles failed to chart, were elated at Gordy’s offer.
“Do You Love Me,” the fifth release on Gordy Records, became a notably successful dance record, selling over a million copies, but none of the Contours’ future singles lived up to the success of “Do You Love Me”, although its success won the group a headlining position on Motown’s very first Motor Town Revue tour.
Like many American R&B songs of the 1960s, “Do You Love Me?” was covered by a number of British Invasion groups. Three British groups who recorded their own versions of the song were Brian Poole and the Tremeloes (who hit number one with it in the UK Singles Chart after learning it from Liverpool’s Faron’s Flamingos), the Dave Clark Five, and The Hollies on their 1964 album Stay with the Hollies.
Sadly, I remember the Brian Poole and the Tremeloes version only too well … 
At 14, The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin’ On (1966)
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was the first single taken from the Supremes’ 1967 album The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland. The song became the group’s eighth number 1 single when it topped the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart for two weeks in the United States. It peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.
Although I like the Supremes song, in this instance the later version by the lovely Kim Wilde is my preference … 
At 13, The Marvelettes - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (1966)
“The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game” was written and produced by Smokey Robinson. The Marvelettes single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and at number two on the Billboard soul chart.
At 12, Brenda Holloway - Every Little Bit Hurts (1964)
Brenda Holloway had recorded the song a couple of years before signing with Motown and was reluctant to record it again but was, luckily, persuaded. “Every Little Bit Hurts” became a big hit peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
NOTE The “Stateside” label in the video is from the UK record issuing company (owned by EMI).
At 11, Edwin Starr - War (1970)
“War” is a counterculture-era soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969. Whitfield first produced the song – an obvious anti-Vietnam War protest – with The Temptations as the original vocalists. After Motown began receiving repeated requests to release “War” as a single, Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist, with the label deciding to withhold the Temptations’ version from single release so as not to alienate their more conservative fans. Starr’s version of “War” was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970 and is the most successful and well-known record of his career.
At 10, The Supremes – Stop! In The Name Of Love (1965)
“Stop! In the Name of Love” reached the number one position on the Billboard pop singles chart and number seven in the UK.
The Supremes’ choreography for this song involved one hand on the hip and the other outstretched in a “stop” gesture. Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin of The Temptations taught the girls the routine backstage in London, before the Supremes’ first televised performance of the single on the Ready Steady Go! special “The Sound of Motown,” hosted by Motown enthusiast Dusty Springfield.
