Motown celebrates 50th birthday

Starting in December 2008 and running through 2009, Universal Music will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Motown Records.

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Motown Records, Universal Music is releasing the album Motown 50 on 1st December. With the British nation’s endless love for Motown, Universal Music are inviting the public to vote for their favourite Motown tracks and the album will be compiled purely from the top 50 tracks chosen by them.

Universal Motown are embracing social networking to create this unique compilation album by partnering with Poll The People - www.pollthepeople.com/motown50 the global online polling community - to launch the GREATEST MOTOWN SONGS poll. It will run for 4 weeks from Monday 15th September to determine the ultimate Motown Top 50. People can select their Top 5 Motown songs from the database and their votes are entered into the poll. They will also be connected to other members of the community who match some or all of their Top 5 choices so they can meet like minded people and discover new gems from the legendary Motown catalogue.

RSG has submitted our top 5 – why not vote for yours?

Rather than go for the obvious, we've dug a bit deeper into the Motown vaults and gone for five classic dancers that can still pack dancefloors today.

1. Kim Weston (pictured above) - Helpless
2. The Originals - Suspicion
3. Frances Nero - Keep on loving me
4. Eddie Holland - Leaving Here
5. Chris Clark - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)

Whilst we are on a Motown theme, check out this rare footage, courtesy of YouTube, of the Isley Brothers performing on the TV show 'Ready Steady Go' back in the sixties.