With so much being written and spoken about the Jacksons, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at what else was going on at Motown during the glory years of the Jackson 5 — 1969-1974.

The Supremes, with a new lineup (Jean Terrell joining Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong), scored a string of major hits, most notably “Up the Ladder to the Roof,” “Stoned Love,” “Nathan Joy” and “Floy Joy.”

Meanwhile, Diana Ross became a superstar solo act, as expected, setting the charts on fire with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” and “Touch Me in the Morning.”

The Temptations were still in their Norman Whitfield/Barrett Strong “psychedelic soul” era, scoring with “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today,),” “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” etc. But they slowed the pace down for “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me).”

Marvin Gaye was introspective, on a spiritual high, and the public was stunned by the brilliance of his “What’s Going On” album. That was in 1971, but in 1974 it was awhole different vibe with the blatant sexuality of “Let’s Get It On.”

Rare Earth, a rockin’ and soulful White band, was hot, especially with their amazing (and lengthy!) rendition of the Temptations’ “Get Ready.”

The Marvelettes had disbanded, and Motown wasn’t showing a lot of interest in Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, who had so many major hits in the ’60s.

Gladys Knight & the Pips enjoyed one soulful hit after another, including “If I Were Your Woman,” “I Don’t Want To Do Wrong” and the extraordinary “Neither One of Us (Wants To Be the First to Say Goodbye).” But the group left Motown in 1973 and subsequently reached new peaks.

Producer/writers Holland-Dozier-Holland leaving Motown was a blow for the Four Tops, but the legendary quartet still managed to reach the Top 10 with “Still Water (Love), “(It’s the Way) Nature Planned It” and their rendition of the ’50s classic “It’s All in the Game.” They parted with Motown in 1972.

Valerie Simpson had a charming hit as a solo act with “Silly Wasn’t I.”

Jr. Walker & the All Stars successfully introduced a sound that was a far cry from the raucous “Shotgun.” They had several Top 10 hits in a row, including “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)?” and “Gotta Hold On
to This Feeling.”

Stevie Wonder, of course, was in the midst of the most explosive and creative period of his amazing career with the intriguing albums “Talking Book,”“Innervisions” and “Fulfillingness’ First Finale.”

And that was after the success of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” which was No. 1 for six weeks. Wonder, like Marvin Gaye, became a megastar. The key was writing their own material and taking control of their careers.

Those were great years for Motown, and much was added to its legacy.

PEOPLE make so many assumptions, based on everything from their own preferences and what they’ve been told to gender and how society has programmed them. While running through a tape from an interview I did
with Laurence Fishburne a number of years ago, I ran across a part that again made me chuckle.

When asked what his interests were outside of acting, he mentioned jazz and reading, and then noted that he was not into sports. When I said wasn’t either, Fishburne’s face literally lit up. He said, “You’re not? Great! All right!”

Fishburne was so enthusiastic and so happy to meet another guy with no sports inclinations.

Jordin Sparks, season six “American Idol” winner, has completed her second album, which will be released before the end of the month.

And speaking of albums, the lively, unique and fun Black Eyed Peas have the most successful album of their career thus far with “The E.N.D.” It sold 304,000 copies in its first week, and hit the No. 1 spot on the national Pop and R&B charts.

Is there such a thing as “communication overload”? Count me in among those who believe there is. E-mail, cell phones, twittering, text messaging, Facebook, MySpace, etc. It’s too much! No one needs to be “in touch” that much.

D’ANGELO hasn’t been heard from in a long time, but it is likely that his new album will be finished and ready for release in the fall. He has put on a lot of weight, so it’s a pretty sure bet he won’t be making any unclothed videos like the one he did for “Untitled (How Does It Feel?)” in 2000.

Brian McKnight is diligently at work on new album. It will feature a duet with Jill Scott and one with Stevie Wonder.

Tina Turner, megastar and queen of rock, can still attract enormous audiences. She recently did a fivenight stint at the O2 Arena in London, attended by 86,458 people.

It was sure tacky for Joseph Jackson to announce the record company he is starting, considering the fact that the reporters were talking to him because of the passing of his son.

But the record company probably will not be successful anyway. Mr. Jackson is out of the loop now and, besides, his cola beverage venture (“Jack-Cola”) failed, as did the scotch he was promoting, and a previous record company, Ivory Tower Records.

No doubt you’ve heard about three Michael Jackson albums, “Number Ones,” “The Essential Michael Jackson” and “Thriller,” selling 100,000 copies within a week of his passing, occupying the Top 3 slots on the national charts. In fact, eight of the Top 10 albums are by him, which is a first. Even in death Jackson is making history.

The groundbreaking stage musical “Hair” is celebrating its 40th anniversary. In addition to introducing songs like “Aquarius,” “Easy To Be Hard,” “Let the Sunshine In” and “Good Morning Starshine,” the long-running
show launched the careers of Melba Moore, Diane Keaton, Ronnie Dyson and others, including Detroit’s own Eddie Robinson.

BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW… that Parliament started out as a stand-up vocal group, much like the Temptations, although they were “the Parliaments.” Their biggest hit was “(I Wanna) Testify.”

MEMORIES: “Don’t Stop the Music” (Yarbrough & Peoples), “Practice What You Preach” (Barry White), “Call Me” (Skyy), “Leaving Me” (the Independents), “Misery” (the Dynamics), “People Get Ready” (the Impressions), “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (the Righteous Brothers), “Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life” (Indeep), “You Give Good Love” (Whitney Houston), “Sweet Baby” (Stanley Clarke and George Duke).

BLESSINGS to Dale Rich, Sheila Cockrel, Karen Dumas, Earline Franklin, Robert Terrell, Claudette Robinson, Brian Spears, Gary Brown, Tony Tsar and Eddie Allen.

WORDS OF THE WEEK: “If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably leads nowhere.”

Let the music play!

(Steve Holsey may be reached at Svh517@aol.com and P.O. Box 02843, Detroit, MI 48202.)