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The Motown Song

1991 single by Rod Stewart and The Temptations

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ7752455
Source-derived summary

"The Motown Song" is a song performed by British singer Rod Stewart featuring American vocal group the Temptations. The song is from Stewart's 16th studio album, Vagabond Heart (1991). It was written by Larry John McNally and was originally recorded by McNally for the soundtrack to the film Quicksilver in 1986. McNally recorded a new version in 2015 for the compilation I. C. Independent Celebration, Vol. 1 for the German label Birdstone Records.

Released on 3 June 1991 by Warner Bros. Records, the single peaked at number 10 on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, the song was number one on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart on 5 October 1991. It also reached number three on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number one on the RPM 40AC (Adult Contemporary) chart.

Music video

A music video for the song was produced by Animation City, an animation company in London, England, directed by Derek Hayes.

Editorial summary

“The Motown Song” enters the record as 1991 single by Rod Stewart and The Temptations. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Motown, Song and single can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1991, 1986, 2015—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1991. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Motown, Song and single.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“The Motown Song” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Motown, Song and single provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7752455. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991, 1986 and 2015.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Motown Song”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Motown Song primary sources, The Motown Song archive and Motown research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Motown Song”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Motown Song” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.