For example in Rolling Stone’s “200 Greatest Singers of All Time”, they cited Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Sam Cooke, Billie Holiday, Mariah Carey, Ray Charles, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Otis Redding and Al Green. I assume their criteria included overall popularity via record sales. Not sure why Michael Jackson, Little Richard, Smokey Robinson or B.B. King weren’t prominent on that list, while including too many with debatable “talent”.

I would look at it using a different metric.

Of all of the record companies back in the day, only one had singers who were unique, could do more than just hit the notes, weren’t signed just for looks and powerful voices with natural vibrato was mandatory: Motown.

Given the important releases over their run, I would ask if singers deemed influential based on popularity and sales would have been signed by Motown?

ABSOLUTELY

Steve Perry, Tina Turner, Elton John, George Michael, Billy Ocean, Bobby Caldwell, Shirley Bassey, Lou Gramm, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, George Benson, Ann Wilson, and Roberta Flack

Singers with power, natural vibrato, a distinctive style and sound.

BTW – Wouldn’t it have been interesting had James Brown and Peter Wolf been able to team up?

DEBATABLE

Freddie Mercury, Dan Hartman, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Mick Hucknall, Roy Orbison, Annie Lennox, Patsy Cline, David Clayton-Thomas, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, Tom Jones, Toni Tennille, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Brad Delp, Richard Marx and Bonnie Tyler

Some of these singers had a distinctive sound and could definitely hit the notes; some had forced vibrato but were they good enough to make it past Motown’s Artist and Repertoire Department just to give Berry Gordy a listen? Debatable.

MAYBE…

Tracy Chapman, Darius Rucker, Kenny Loggins, J.T. Taylor, Melissa Etheridge, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, Olivia Newton-John, Robert Palmer, Alicia Keys, Bonnie Raitt, Cat Stevens, Steve Miller, Adele, Gregg Allman, Don Henley, Carole King, Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, Bob Seger, Michael Bolton, Barbra Streisand, Rick Astley, Tammy Wynette, Hank Williams, Carrie Underwood, Joe Cocker, Peter Cetera, Jackson Browne, Lady Gaga, Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, Chris Isaak, and Huey Lewis

Distinctive sounds but would they be good enough if having to survive a sing-off against Aretha Franklin or Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder? Maybe.

On another note, you think Ozzy Osbourne would have been signed after an audition for Motown…?

PROBABLY NOT

David Bowie, Taylor Swift, Glenn Danzig, Billie Eilish, Lou Reed, John Mellencamp, Gwen Stefani, Karen Carpenter, Roger Daltry, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Iggy Pop, Sonny Bono and Cher, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Dolly Parton, Fiona Apple, Chris Martin, Selena Gomez, Lana Del Rey, Debbie Harry, David Hasselhoff, Steven Tyler, Willie Nelson, Kurt Cobain, Robert Plant, Nancy Sinatra, Stevie Nicks, Kid Rock, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Billy Idol, Mick Jagger, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Rick Springfield, Belinda Carlisle, Jimi Hendrix, Axl Rose, Pat Benatar, Elvis Costello, George Thorogood, Daryl Hall, Glenn Frey, Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar, Ric Ocasek, Neil Young, Madonna and Joan Jett

Some of these artists were product aided by MTV visuals. A lack of actual talent was tolerated as long as sales came in to support record company overhead. Some could hit the notes as that’s all that could really be asked for, could scream in pitch, but were they great “singers”? Nope.

And don’t get me started on actors and actresses who “sing” because their agents won’t risk their jobs telling them the ugly truth.

John Travolta, Nicole Kidman, Kevin Bacon, Johnny Depp, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, Val Kilmer, and Christian Bale….

The IMDB post neglected to mention Michelle Pfeiffer also co-starred in “Grease 2”, possibly at the request of Michelle herself.

Today’s soft-singing, breathers probably wouldn’t have even considered a Motown audition for obvious reasons including having fragile egos that would’ve been dashed by restrained laughter as they were leaving the room.

And when it comes to boy, girl and vocal group bands, one could argue The Jackson 5, The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, just to name a few, set the standard. Do you think The Backstreet Boys, Osmonds, *NSYNC, Partridge Family, Monkees, Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child or BTS were as unique?

And for those of you who may take this is as a race hit piece, Rare Earth, R. Dean Taylor, Chris Clark, William Goldstein and Charlene were Motown signings.

Again, some had distinctive sounds but good enough to satisfy Motown Records customers who had clear expectations for vocal talent? Probably not.

Finally, any list of greatest singers will not include rap “artists”.

What does that tell ya?

We don’t know if Terry Crews was sexually accosted by a fat, ugly, powerful heterosexual male, but while we have our suspicions on who that aggressor is, chances are it’s not someone who prefers women over men and that leads to a very interesting case made by the late author/producer/director Michael Crichton. He not only wrote best-selling novels that successfully made the leap onto the screen but prior graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, received his MD from Harvard Medical School and many of his stories referred to the ethics surrounding a given topic.

One of his more negatively-received adaptations was the 1994 movie “Disclosure” which explored the topic of an executive who sexually abused a subordinate. The movie was considered controversial because of the highly-implausible premise that the abuser was woman and the abused was a man.

Just what was Crichton really telling us and why did it strike a nerve enough to earn that standard progressive, deflective dismissal?

At that point in time, Michael Crichton was more than just a Hollywood insider. He rode among the rich and powerful and one could argue “Disclosure” was his way of speaking out like many women today are being applauded for. Without naming names, he may have been trying to out powerful, predatory women. They’re out there and like the Harvey Weinstein scandal, he knew he couldn’t count on the media to alert the public that this abusive behavior even exists.

Just wait for that first male to air the dirty laundry. The abuser may be a woman or some version of LGBTQ so let’s see just how ahead-of-his-time Michael Crichton really was.

12/5/11: Recent Charges of Sexual Abuse of Children in Hollywood Just Tip of Iceberg, Experts Say
9/5/14: Dear media: Women can be sexual predators too
8/21/15: Molestation Scandal: Hollywood’s Child Sex Abuse Coverup – Child Stars Like Cory Haim Victimized
5/22/16: Elijah Wood: ‘Hollywood in the grip of child abuse scandal similar to Jimmy Savile’
6/9/16: Noah Galvin Drops a Bombshell Accusation Against Director Bryan Singer

As that and much more was largely blown off by the media and those now “woke”, fast forward to post-Harvey Weinstein revelations and obvious hypocrisy…

10/20/17:

Former child actor Blaise Godbe Lipman, 28, says agent Tyler Grasham assaulted him 10 years ago when he was seeking representation. “Tyler Grasham, under the pretense of a business meeting regarding potential agency representation at APA Agency, fed me alcohol while I was underage and sexually assaulted me,” he wrote Monday on Facebook.
— Deadline

Previously, Deadline reported that Grasham had been suspended from the agency, which was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct from former actor Blaise Godbe Lipman and television editor Lucas Ozarowski. A prominent client of Grasham’s, Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard, fired him Friday as well.
— The Advocate

10/21/17:

GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) held its annual Respect Awards in the ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire on Friday night, where the Harvey Weinstein scandal prompted many out gay actors to speak openly about inappropriate behavior they had experienced with Hollywood power players.
— Variety

10/23/17

Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, whose last documentary The Hunting Ground focused on sexual assault on college campuses, announced today that their next film, currently titled The Untitled Sexual Assault Documentary. The Weinstein Co.’s Radius division distributed The Hunting Ground.
— Hollywood Reporter

10/24/17:

Actor Kevin Sorbo alleges that he was sexually harassed by the late Italian fashion magnate Gianni Versace when he was working as a model decades ago.

“All of a sudden, his hand goes up my leg,” says Sorbo. “Dude, you know I’m straight?” he told Versace. “This is why I like you. You’re not a girly man. You are a man’s man,” Versace told Sorbo, according to his recollection.
— Hollywood Reporter

10/25/17:

How about a powerful woman who IS gay?

Comedian and daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is receiving some backlash from fans after a joke about Katy Perry was taken as sexist. The star courted outrage on Wednesday after dedicating a tweet to the “Roar” singer on her birthday.

“Happy birthday, @KatyPerry! It’s time to bring out the big balloons!” the star wrote over an image of her gawking, mouth agape, at Perry’s breasts.
— Fox News

It’s not like this is the first example of the sanctimonious Ellen laughing about the same “balloons” a man would be crucified for today.

10/29/17:

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, actor Anthony Rapp is publicly alleging for the first time that in 1986, Kevin Spacey befriended Rapp while they both performed on Broadway shows, invited Rapp over to his apartment for a party, and, at the end of the night, picked Rapp up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him, making a sexual advance. According to public records, Spacey was 26. Rapp was 14.
— BuzzFeed

10/31/17:

Andy Dick has been dropped from the independent feature film Raising Buchanan following accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct on set. The Hollywood Reporter was not able to reach any of the alleged victims, however, two sources detailed Dick’s inappropriate behavior, which included groping people’s genitals, unwanted kissing/licking and sexual propositions of at least four members of the production. “I don’t grope people anymore. I don’t expose myself anymore,” he said by telephone. “I do understand that the temperature in the world right now is delicate.”
— Hollywood Reporter, 10/31/17

After all of the loud noise, belatedly being made about sexually abusive men on poor, innocent, unsuspecting women who (in many cases) accepted a check for their silence, compare that to the relative silence when women and gays are the aggressors.