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?

Meanwhile, the has-been quest for relevance continues unabated.

Joni Mitchell announced Friday that she will join her friend Neil Young in pulling her music off of Spotify.

Mitchell, 78, said in a statement posted to her website, “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
— Los Angeles Times, 1/28/22

With the political tantrums being led by has-beens like Neil Young and now Joni Mitchell, depriving the public of hearing their music on Spotify, we’re being made to believe this is a moral sacrifice that will also deprive millions of music lovers of their important contributions.

For some unknown reason, several outlets are reporting a strong spike in internet searches for “Who is Neil Young?” With little information about this unknown character available, and with all memory of the man’s existence having been erased from America’s collective memory for decades, many are still being left guessing.
— Babylon Bee, 1/27/22

Let’s be real when it comes to platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, etc. They are just websites. Like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and the rest, they are solely dependent on the content provided by users. Without content providers, they are just empty servers. The music streaming companies make their money off monthly subscriptions (NOT per unit sales) so like the record companies of old, those running them offer artists the lure of fame, exposure, and compensating peanuts in return.

While offering podcaster Joe Rogan $100 million because he brings in coveted demographic subscribers, artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell really won’t be missed which is why Spotify is more than willing to say sayonara to musicians most of today’s consumers don’t know exist.

Spotify, depending on where you look, has between 150-190 million subscribers and at roughly $130 annually per, that’s some serious income to stream music and blabbermouth content they didn’t create.

So, how much will this principled oldhead musician revolt cost?

Spotify complied with the request, which ultimately came from Warner Brothers, Young’s label. Though the loss of Young’s music likely represents a small percentage of overall streams on Spotify, Young pointed out that “Spotify represents 60% of the streaming of my music to listeners around the world.” For Young and his fans, the hit was palpable, and his fans are apparently taking their frustrations out on Spotify. The hashtag #SpotifyDeleted trended on Twitter yesterday, and fans seem to have inundated customer support with so many messages that Spotify has had to take it offline at times.
— ARS Technica, 1/28/22

In the grand scheme of things, this won’t hurt either side a whole helluva lot, which is why the initial connection was made between today’s streaming services and yesterday’s record companies. Ultimately, they screw the artist.

In a tweet sent late Thursday, and later pinned to the top of the official Apple Music Twitter account, Apple called its platform “the home of Neil Young.” Some Apple Music users also reported seeing Young’s albums and playlists promoted front and center in the Apple Music “browse” section with the banner “We Love Neil.”
— CNN, 1/28/22

On Friday, Young announced a special deal with Amazon Music, giving new subscribers four months free of the streamer. The move by the 76-year-old music icon comes two days after he demanded that Spotify pull his tracks off its service in protest of Spotify’s failure to curb COVID misinformation in “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
— Yahoo! Entertainment, 1/28/22

So Apple and Amazon will offer Young twice the chump change Spotify paid in royalties. That’s mighty big of them. Neil had better hope those on social media who’ve just discovered him via his newfound, yet superficial relevance, don’t find out what he really thinks of them, and with all the talk of Spotify tanking because of Neil Young, it looks like they’ll survive the #CancelSpotify hissy fit by those who couldn’t tell you who Neil Young was a couple of weeks ago.

Considering Neil Young and Joni Mitchell’s songs may come up in an obscure oldies playlist, it’s not looking like they’re really taking one for the team in the name of medical clarity.

So ignore the attention-relevance-seeking bloviating from artists whose music older people haven’t intentionally opted to hear since before the ’80s. The Spotifys of the world won’t have their back because there’s really nothing for either side to lose.