Hitsville USA: The 20 greatest Motown singles

 

By Hashim Hathaway | msn.com

Six decades of the best from Hitsville, U.S.A.

In January 1959, a little-known songwriter named Berry Gordy took $800 he scrounged together from family — along with meager royalties he earned writing "Lonely Teardrops" for Jackie Wilson — to found Tamla Records, better known as Motown Records. Some 60-plus years later, Motown stands as a piece of living history — a flashpoint where African-American recording artists would find mainstream success.

These include names like Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder and Rick James, along with a multitude of others. To celebrate the superior soul straight outta Hitsville, U.S.A., we share our list of the 20 best Motown singles ever made.