The Kane Gang -- "Motortown"

(Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted October 17, 1987, Peaked #36, 16 Weeks on the Charts)

You might expect a song called "Motortown" to be a salute to the 60s R&B that made Motown records call itself "The Sound of Young America." Instead, it's very much a 1980s-sounding song. While it was obviously influenced by soul (or Northern Soul, since they were English), the song wasn't going to be mistaken for something that came from Berry Gordy's label. Nor was the electronic studio music used on the track going to be compared with The Funk Brothers.

The Kane Gang followed this record up with their version of a song that was originally done by a Motown act, Dennis Edwards of The Temptations. It didn't make the Top 40, though, and they never managed to get another hit in the U.S. after that. Singer Martin Brammer went on to become a songwriter after the band broke up in 1991.