See, at Motown, we were not just business partners or stable mates or anything like that we were actually friends and family. I knew these people intimately вЂ“ they were my brothers and sisters we were growing up right there at Motown together. I used to try and craft words that I thought they said well. When you were writing for other singers, did you think about what might suit them, or were you just following your own muse? If I can write a song, and if I can say вЂI love youвЂ™ differently than itвЂ™s ever been said, IвЂ™m gonna try and do that. You admired proper songwriters like Gershwin and Bacharach but were working to a more pop format. You always wanted your songs to be different. When I write a song, I hope a song thatвЂ™s going to last forever. You must be so proud that these songs have enjoyed an eternal appeal? All I had to do вЂ“ for the first time in many, many, many, many years вЂ“ was just go into the studio and sing. Randy let them do their version and then produce it in their manner. It makes the album quite personal then it comes from a place of genuine respect.Д®xactly, and thatвЂ™s the beauty of it: it comes from them. So the songs that you hear on this record by these people are their favourite Smokey Robinson songs. It did not have to be one that I had sung, but just one that I had written. So Randy was hired by the record company to do that, and he contacted the people who are singing on this record and asked them what was their favourite Smokey Robinson song. Randy Jackson, of American Idol fame, is the producer of the record, and the idea to do this record was actually conceived by my managers вЂ“ they thought that it would be good for me to re-record some of my popular songs with other artists. I canвЂ™t take credit for the songs or the record like that. In revisiting some of your most popular songs for this new album, did you rediscover anything during the recording? In such esteemed company, Clash didnвЂ™t hesitate in joining the party. Not only did his intuitive and emotive songwriting provide the human race with those songs on which his honeyed voice glowed (вЂYouвЂ™ve Really Got A Hold On MeвЂ™, вЂThe Tracks Of My TearsвЂ™, вЂTears Of A ClownвЂ™), he also gifted carefully crafted gems to friends вЂ“ вЂMy GirlвЂ™ and вЂGet ReadyвЂ™ for The Temptations, for example, or вЂWhoвЂ™s LovinвЂ™ YouвЂ™ for The Jackson 5.Д¬oming almost 60 years after his first hit, a new album, вЂSmokey & FriendsвЂ™ teams Robinson up with some famous fans (including Elton John, John Legend and Mary J Blige) whoвЂ™ve lined up to pay their respects to their favourite Smokey-penned songs. One of MotownвЂ™s first superstars with The Miracles, Smokey rose to become vice president of the label that defined young America in the вЂ™60s and вЂ™70s. Most likely itвЂ™s a combination of these things, but the icing on top of this soft, sweet cake is the fact that this warm-hearted and welcoming soul is responsible for some of the worldвЂ™s favourite love songs, instilled with such triumphant emotion that, to paraphrase the extolling of ABCвЂ™s Martin Fry, when Smokey sings, you forget everything. Maybe itвЂ™s the unfailing manners and humility that finds him repeating his interviewerвЂ™s name throughout our conversation to let you know you have his full attention, or signing the photographerвЂ™s diary with the words, вЂњYouвЂ™re beautiful.вЂќ Perhaps itвЂ™s those deep green eyes, so warm, vivid and enticing. ItвЂ™s hard to explain exactly what makes Smokey RobinsonВ so magnetic.

Smokey a quiet storm full album