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June 4, 2000 - When you hear the familiar beat of Motown music, what do you see? The Supremes in their sequined gowns, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder? Or do you remember a song you couldn't wait for the radio DJ to play? Maybe "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" or "Just My Imagination." It's hard to pick a favorite Motown tune because there are so many of them, but one has made NPR's list of the hundred most significant American musical works of the 20th century. Elizabeth Blair has the story of "My Girl," written by Smokey Robinson for The Temptations and the venerable Detroit institution Motown Records.

"My Girl" was just one of the big-selling products that came out of the Motown factory. Gordy acknowledges that the foundation of Motown was built on the same principles he'd learned while making cars on the Lincoln Mercury assembly line in Detroit. He even called the house that served as Motown's first office, Hitsville, USA, an unsubtle reminder to writers, producers and artists that nothing less was acceptable.

On Friday mornings, Gordy would assemble his team for a listening session to decide which songs were worthy of release. In 1994, he told NPR that sometimes, to measure a song's potential, he would ask them one question.

"Well, if you had one dollar and you were hungry, would you buy this record or would you buy a hot dog? And usually they would always pick the hot dog. But how long they took always told us how great the record was."

Robinson always kept in mind who he was writing for when he tackled a song. In the case of The Temptations, Smokey Robinson was writing for five Southern men: tenor Eddie Kendricks and baritone Paul Williams from Birmingham, Alabama; tenor Otis Williams from Texarkana, Texas; bass Melvin Franklin from Montgomery, Alabama; and baritone David Ruffin from Whynot, Mississippi. On stage, they wore clean-cut stylish outfits and they danced smooth and polished steps as precise as their harmonies. In an interview with NPR in 1994, tenor Otis Williams said the late Paul Williams came up with the idea to choreograph their concerts.

"Him being such a showman himself, he said, 'Now, fellas, we just can't stand there. We have to dance and move and sell sex 'cause the women like that.' And so that's how we started being noted for our choreography."

Eddie Kendricks sang lead on a number of the group's early hits. But Smokey Robinson sensed that if he wrote a song, the right song, for heartthrob David Ruffin, he'd be launching a new star.

"David Ruffin, I knew, was like this sleeping giant in this group because he had this — it's sort of like a mellow gruff-sounding voice." Robinson says. "And all I needed was the right song for his voice, and I felt like I would have a smash hit record. So I sat down at the piano to write a song for David Ruffin's voice. So I wanted to make it something that he could belt out, but yet make it melodic and sweet."

In late 1964, "My Girl" was recorded. Within a month of its release, it shot to number one on both the Pop and R&B charts.

For the next six years, The Temptations continued to record chart climbers, but now the songs, mostly by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, were more political, reflecting the racial tensions of the late 1960s and early '70s. And there were changes beginning in 1968 with the departure of the charismatic David Ruffin. Over the years, many members of the group have come and gone, but the name The Temptations remains and still today draws a crowd. In 1994, Otis Williams, the group's last surviving original member, was asked if one song spans out among The Temptations' 40 years of infectious harmonies.

"I automatically would have to say 'My Girl.' 'My Girl' is so universal that we could not — we tried years ago not to do 'My Girl' in the show. We would never do that again. We got cussed out, almost ran off the stage, so it has such a universal appeal."

Universal appeal that is so great, Smokey Robinson still uses "My Girl" in his own performances as the final song in a medley of hits he wrote for The Temptations.