Levi Stubbs Begged To Re-Record His Vocal. They Said No. It Hit #1 For 9 Consecutive Weeks.

Nineteen sixty-five. Motown is running like a machine. Stax is cutting records out of an old movie theater in Memphis. And Chess is about to release a song people will argue over for the next sixty years. Every track on this list is a real, verified, radio-dominating R&B hit from that one single year. And the stories behind them are wilder than you'd think. The most played song on American radio in the entire twentieth century — the ENTIRE century — came from this list. The man who recorded number one at the top of the chart actually hated his vocal so much he begged to re-record it. They never let him. That first reluctant take became the biggest R&B record of the year. Fontella Bass co-wrote Rescue Me herself and spent twenty years fighting to get her name on it. And the now-legendary hand gesture from Stop In The Name Of Love? Invented backstage by two members of The Temptations, minutes before The Supremes went on TV. We're counting down all twelve — with the stories behind the sessions, the accidents, the lawsuits, and the moments that made these songs last sixty years. 00:00 — Intro 00:30 — #12: The Impressions — "People Get Ready" 02:30 — #11: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles — "The Tracks of My Tears" 04:30 — #10: The Righteous Brothers — "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" 06:30 — #9: Marvin Gaye — "I'll Be Doggone" 08:30 — #8: Martha and the Vandellas — "Nowhere to Run" 10:30 — #7: Fontella Bass — "Rescue Me" 12:30 — #6: Jr. Walker & The All Stars — "Shotgun" 14:30 — #5: Wilson Pickett — "In the Midnight Hour" 16:30 — #4: The Supremes — "Stop! In the Name of Love" 18:30 — #3: James Brown — "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" 20:30 — #2: The Temptations — "My Girl" 22:30 — #1: The Four Tops — "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)" Subscribe and tell us in the comments which of these twelve still lives in your rotation today. #1965Music #RnB #SoulMusic #MusicHistory #Motown #Stax #TheTemptations #FourTops #MarvinGaye #TheSupremes #JamesBrown #WilsonPickett #FontellaBass #SmokyRobinson #TheImpressions #CurtisMayfield #MarthaVandellas #RighteousBrothers #JrWalker #ClassicSoul