MOTOWN ON THE TAMI SHOW

Motown's slogan was "The Sound Of Young America." I think that classic Motown records still make people feel young, but here are some videos from when their music really did appeal to young folks (and it's a glimpse of when the artists themselves were still young!). Check out these performances by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross and The Supremes (I couldn't find any videos online of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles from The TAMI show, but they played also).

SMOKEY, DYLAN, LEGEND PAY TRIBUTE TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

In honor of Black History Month (February), The White House is hosting "A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement" on February 11 at 8 pm ET. President Barack Obama and The First Lady will be there and performers include Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, and more, with Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah hosting (c'mon, Queen, you're not gonna do "U.N.I.T.Y."?).

MORE ON SMOKEY ROBINSON

Today, on OutQ, I spoke a bit about Smokey Robinson, but I don't think I did him justice. He's been covered by so many artists, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan called him "America's greatest living poet," and here's a list of songs that he's written: "Who's Loving You," "You've Really Got A Hold On Me," "Oo Baby Baby," "The Tracks Of My Tears," "Going To A Go Go," "(Come 'Round Here) I'm The One You Need," "I Second That Emotion," "The Tears Of A Clown," "My Guy," "My Girl," "The Way You Do The Things You Do," "Get Ready," "Still Water (Love)" and "Ain't That Peculiar," to name a few.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: AMERICAN LEGENDS

Tomorrow on OutQ, I'll be talking about new albums from some true American legends.

Smokey Robinson just released Time Flies When You're Having Fun. Smokey may be the greatest songwriter of all time, and has nothing to prove to anyone. And on this album, he doesn't really try. It's laid back, and he's having a good time.

John Fogerty just released The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. It's all covers, plus a remake of one of his older solo songs, "Change In The Weather." It's fun, but not as classic as his last album, Revival.

My favorite album of the year is Bob Dylan's Together Through Life. I'm a bit nervous about trying to play it, though, as Larry Flick is not a Dylan fan. But "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" is kind of funky, hopefully that will go over OK.

Levon Helm isn't in the same league as Smokey, Dylan and Fogerty as a songwriter - he is more of a singer. Back in the days of The Band, Robbie Robertson wrote all the songs (although Levon contests the songwriting credits). But he is a legend, and he is an incredible singer (and a great drummer too). I love his Electric Dirt album. "When I Go Away" may be my favorite song of the year. I thought it was a cover of an older song: in fact, it was written by his guitarist (and former Dylan guitarist) Larry Campbell.

MOTOWN'S 50 MOST POPULAR SONGS

Motown has been celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Motown's story is such an astonishing one. The artist roster is unmatched. Smokey. Stevie. The Supremes. Marvin. The Tops. The Temps. What can you really say about Motown that hasn't been said? Anyway, Motown took a poll on their website to find out what their most popular songs were for a collection called Motown 50 Fanthology, which comes out September 1. The Temptations' "My Girl" took first place, followed by Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," and then "Let's Get It On." The Temps were at #4 with "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles were at #5 with "The Tracks Of My Tears." I was fortunate enough to interview Smokey about Motown's history last summer and some of the excerpts of it can be seen inthe below video. It was one of the major honors of my life to sit and talk with the man about the history of Motown.

SMOKEY ROBINSON'S NEW ALBUM

Smokey Robinson releases a new album, Time Flies When You're Having Fun this month. It has collaborations with Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and india.arie, and features a cover of "Don't Know Why" (made famous by Norah Jones). I got to interview Smokey last year and it was an honor and a privilege. I hope to get the chance again.

ROCK HALL ANNOUNCES PRESENTERS FOR THIS YEAR'S INDUCTION CEREMONY.

This year's list of presenters includes Flea (Metallica), Eminem (Run-D.M.C.), Jimmy Page (Jeff Beck), Ron Wood (Bobby Womack), Smokey Robinson (Little Anthony & The Imperials), Paul Schaffer (Spooner Oldham) and Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg of The E Street Band (Bill Black and D.J. Fontana of Elvis Presley's band). They haven't come up with a presenter for Wanda Jackson yet. 

I think Flea is a weird choice for Metallica: it seems like he's just paying them back for performing at his Silverlake Conservatory benefit concert last year. I know The Red Hot Chili Peppers signed to Metallica's management a few years ago because they respected the way Metallica has handled their career; on the other hand, I thought that Flea was always kind of anti-metal and macho stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Flea and the Chili Peppers, I just think it's a weird choice.  I would have gone with Dave Grohl, or Jerry Cantrell or someone a bit more metal. 

Eminem was sort of obvious for Run-D.M.C., but I would have gone with LL Cool J or Chuck D or The Beastie Boys or Q-Tip or Mos Def. But I know Eminem is a huge hip-hop fan, he'll probably come up with a cool speech. 

Jimmy Page is a great choice for Jeff Beck: I think it would be bad-ass if they reprised "Beck's Bolero" with John Paul Jones on bass and Zak Starkey on drums (filling in for Keith Moon). What would be even cooler would be if Ron Wood and Rod Stewart did they honors for Jeff, but I guess Rod would worry that that would only fuel the Faces rumors even more. 

Max and Gary were a good choice: I guess there's a chance that Bruce Springsteen will show up and the trio will do some Elvis covers. Anyway, the ceremony will air live on Fuse on April 4, I look forward to seeing it. 

WHEN SMOKEY SINGS

The word "genius" is often misused. You know when it isn't overused?  When it is used to describe Smokey Robinson. 

I had the opportunity - and privilege - to interview the man yesterday, and it was one of the great experiences of my professional career. This guy's catalog of songs is really unbelievable, he has written songs that people will be listening to for as long as people are listening to music. He was one of the five guys in the room with Berry Gordy when Motown was founded; Smokey was the VP during all the years that he was also a star, producer and staff writer.

He remembers things that happened over 40 years ago with total clarity, and despite the fact that he is one of the most covered and most admired songwriters of all time, he is still grateful and graceful when discussing the songs and people who he has discussed probably thousands of times over the decades. Thank you Smokey, for being so cool. But more than that, thanks for the music. 

(When I find out how and where the interview will be used, I'll post the info).