Motown at 50: Yesterday’s soul classics revisited

VV Brown: 'I Want You Back', Jackson 5

I have such good memories of this song. When I was a kid, we had this Jackson 5 video of the life of Michael Jackson. My brother and sisters and I used to practice the moves, the shuffles, the twisting and turning in our living room. We all had afros, too. It's amazing that Jackson was a young boy with such an incredible voice. Such a soulful vocal coming out of a child, it inspired you. There are soul elements to my music; you can't help but have influence from that era, it's so revolutionary and monumental.

Sway: 'Endless Love', Lionel Richie and Diana Ross

It's the track I grew up on. My mum used to play it to me all the time. I used to think it was so soppy, but now I know why my mum loved it so much. As a songwriter, I think it's the perfect song – it's musical, catchy and it actually sounds like they're in love. Listen to it on Valentine's Day and you get a lot of brownie points.

Antony Hegarty (Antony and the Johnsons): 'What's Going On', Marvin Gaye

My favourite Motown song is Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" for obvious reasons. I think it had a lot of clarity and he's articulate.

Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly): 'Superstition', Stevie Wonder

Only a select few artists can make a song so timeless that, regardless of the generation it's played to, it still manages to rouse a riotous response. Although Motown has produced many of these tracks, nothing compares to "Superstition", a song that ignites dance floors, weddings and karaoke bars alike. I recently had the privilege of hearing the original track splits – nine tracks of clavinet and only three mics on the drums, a distorted vocal with lots of bleed; modern producers would be reeling. However, it is testament to Stevie Wonder's production and writing skills that these unorthodox techniques can produce the biggest dancefloor filler of all time.

Master Shortie: 'Easy', The Commodores

The song reminds me of being in my mum's car... The lyrics perfectly reflect the character of the music, "Easy, like Sunday Morning". It's musically rounded, pure simplicity. The melodies are resolved throughout, guiding the listener along as if relaxing at the end of a tough week. A hallmark of a Motown classic is timeless production that never distracts from the song. That's its genius.

Amadou and Mariam: 'Save Me', Aretha Franklin

Amadou: This song reminds me of my youth, going out in Mali, dancing and having fun with my friends. Every time we had a party we used to play this song and it was always on the radio. In Mali everybody used to dance to it. They're good memories. We didn't have Catholic church singing in Mali so Aretha Franklin's approach was new to us.

'ABC', Jackson 5

Mariam: I like the idea of family all playing music together. Family is important to me.

Casey Wescott (Fleet Foxes): 'For Once in My Life', Stevie Wonder

The chords of this song are really great and satisfying to play on the piano. Moreover, its performance is urgent and spirited. Jack Ashford's tambourine arrangement outlines the dynamic shape of the song, James Jamerson's feel/cadence/ note choice is incredible and Stevie Wonder's piano is varied and effervescent.

Juanita Stein (Howling Bells): 'Golden Lady', Stevie Wonder

One of the first truly important moments for me was discovering Stevie Wonder's Innervisions in my father's dusty vinyl collection. The album was religious and politically courageous, with the purest intentions. The song that moved me so was "Golden Lady". A grand love song. Pure joy. Melodic and timeless. A track that will undoubtedly bring me to tears every time.

thecocknbullkid: 'Keep me Hangin' On', The Supremes

I love this song, not least for its brilliant chorus. But its most basic appeal is the lyrics – even now, they're completely relatable. The mark of a truly great song is to take away the production and if the song still stands up then that's a display of brilliant songwriting. This has been covered a few times, but even when reproduced it still sounds like a fantastic pop song.

Paul Smith (Maximo Park): 'The Tracks of My Tears', Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

It's a perfect merge of some very sweet-hearted poetry and very sweet melody. The harmony that's achieved between the words and the melody was a very brave manoeuvre for the mid-Sixties. I've sung the song myself and it's quite unique for its time because the lyrics are so contemporary.

Jackie Leven: 'Spaced Out', The Undisputed Truth

This song by The Undisputed Truth is my favourite Motown track – it has all the sonic magnificence of Motown at its best but you haven't heard it in taxis all over the world until you want to scream. The chorus line: "One shot of your love girl – I'm in between the living and the dead" –is the greatest unknown karaoke line of all time.

Mary Anne Hobbs (Radio 1 DJ): 'Stoned Love', The Supremes

From the second the needle drops, this song just floods me with euphoria. It was written as a plea to the people of the world to end conflict (specifically the Vietnam War). The writer, Kenny Thomas, was a Detroit teenager who'd entered a handful of songs into a local radio talent show, which producer Frank Wilson happened to stumble upon. Frank first heard "Stoned Love" on a guitar with just two strings in Kenny's bedroom, and was so impressed he came back to his house bringing Mary Wilson of The Supremes with him.

Bryn Christopher: 'As', Stevie Wonder

I first heard the cover version, with George Michael and Mary J Blige, when it was released when I was about 12 and loved it. Then a couple of years later I heard the original Stevie Wonder version. It's a very nice little song and his voice is one of the most innovative voices ever. It's something to do with his soul and the fact that he plays the piano and writes all of his lyrics. And even now, it's still a great pop song that anyone can listen to and relate to. I usually listen to it when I'm feeling a bit down, but I'm not in love, so I have to pretend.

The fans' top 10 (and Andy Gill's guide)

1. Marvin Gaye: 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'

Written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, this was originally assigned to The Miracles, before Marvin Gaye cut it in January 1967. Against everyone's best instincts, Berry Gordy refused to release it, grudgingly issuing it only in November 1968 after it attracted radio attention as an album track. It became the biggest hit in the company's history.

2. Martha & The Vandellas: 'Dancing in the Streets'

When its co-author Gaye originally demonstrated "Dancing In The Streets" to Martha Reeves, he used a mellow, romantic delivery. Bumping it up a couple of semitones, she transformed it into one of the Sixties' signature songs, an anthem of the civil rights movement that stressed harmony rather than discord.

3. The Supremes: 'Baby Love'

"Baby Love" was one of the few Motown hits to be completely re-recorded, at Gordy's request. For the second version, Ross added the intro "Oooh-ooh-ooh" hook.

4. The Four Tops: 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch)'

Engineer Harold Taylor recalled people banging on the studio door when The Four Tops were recording this, so excited were they about the mix of the propulsive Holland-Dozier-Holland groove with the Tops' seamless performance.

5. The Velvelettes: 'Needle in a Haystack'

Sixteen-year-old lead singer Cal Gill was too unworldly to understand the "message" that producer Norman Whitfield wanted her to convey in "Needle in a Haystack".

6. The Temptations: 'Get Ready'

Smokey Robinson's production was complicated by having to re-dub Benny Benjamin's drum part, deemed too complex for pop; the re-recorded part nevertheless remains one of his most jaw-dropping performances.

7. The Supremes: 'You Can't Hurry Love'

One of the simplest of all Motown hits: by the time this ends the same eight bars of music have been repeated a dozen times.

8. The Elgins: 'Heaven Must Have Sent You'

Originally intended for The Supremes, "Heaven Must Have Sent You" secured The Elgins their niche in pop history.

9. Martha & The Vandellas: 'Nowhere To Run'

Another Holland-Dozier-Holland innovation – a towing chain, repeatedly dropped on the floor – provides the offbeat percussion hook.

10. Martha & The Vandellas: 'Jimmy Mack'

This languished in the Motown vault for almost three years before being released in 1967, after Reeves complained the company was ignoring her group in favour of The Supremes.

Top 10 as voted in a Universal Motown poll