Time Life is releasing a 10-CD set of Motown's most popular music to commemorate it's 50th anniversary. The Motown Sound, which originated in Detroit, was the best thing to come out of that town until the White Stripes came along. Some may disagree.

Anyway, the set includes music from talented entertainers that ended up with all kinds of fucked-up stories. Rick James became a crackhead and allegedly he and his wife held a woman captive and forced her to perform sex acts while the three of them smoked crack for six days; Marvin Gaye got killed by his daddy; and Michael Jackson is stuck in some sort of alternate man/boy world that only makes sense to him.

It's a shame because these cats put out some important music that was fresh at the time and influenced every generation of R&B artists to come. Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and my personal fave, Lionel Richie, all sing songs with a sincerity that makes people want to keep listening to them. Plus, for many of us, this music has been around longer than we have, and may be relevant long after we've gone.