Songfacts®:

• This song is a tribute to the Motown sound and features one of their flagship artists, The Temptations, who still had two original members: Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. They were still touring and making music (they released an album called Milestone the same year this song was released), but were best remembered for their '60s hits like "My Girl" and "Get Ready."
• "The Motown Song" was written and originally recorded by Larry John McNally, who had a minor hit in 1981 with "Just Like Paradise." His version was released in 1986 on the soundtrack to a movie called Quicksilver, starring Kevin Bacon.
  
  "I don't think there ever was or will ever be a contribution to popular music like what came out of The Motown Studios in Detroit," McNally told Songfacts. "I had the image of speakers in the window echoing music through the streets and that was the beginning of 'The Motown Song.' At the time I had combined it with a romantic ballad called 'Angel' that was very moody and slow. I have it on reel-to-reel tape somewhere with Michael Ruff playing gorgeous piano and Andre Fischer from Rufus playing a funky groove. It became evident that the speakers in the window part of the song was the one to chase so I split the song into two songs. It seemed like I had something. I dragged that 24-track reel all over LA trying out different vocal parts and guitar licks and the song came together. It got me my record deal with Atlantic though I never liked that version nor the one on the Quicksilver soundtrack."
  
  "In 1990 Rod Stewart's A&R man was looking for two or three hits for a Rod album in progress," he added. "They dug up my song and took no chances on making a hit record out of it."
• The song is fitting for Stewart, who is a big Motown fan. He covered some soul classics from the '60s, but they usually weren't from Motown artists. Among them: "Twistin' The Night Away" (Sam Cooke), "This Old Heart Of Mine" (The Isley Brothers) and "People Get Ready" (The Impressions).
• Stewart was 46 when this song was released, but he was still making hits, mostly with more adult-leaning songs that appealed to his cohort. "The Motown Song" went to #10 in the US and UK; his previous single, also from the Vagabond Heart album, was "Rhythm Of My Heart," which was even more successful, going to #5 in the US and #3 in the UK. Interestingly, both are covers of songs first released in 1986. Stewart is a very capable songwriter but was willing to record songs by other writers and often got excellent results when he did.
• The music video is animated with a mix of live-action and cartoon Rod Stewart. It was directed by Derek Hayes, who also made the videos for Elton John's "Club At The End Of The Street" and Madonna's "Dear Jessie." Animated versions of Elton and Madonna appear in the video, as do Michael Jackson, The Supremes, Sinéad O'Connor, Vanilla Ice, and of course, The Temptations.
• The Temptations sing on this track, but they're not mentioned in the lyric. The only Motown act that does show up in the lyric is The Miracles, Smokey Robinson's group.