Genres: Oldies

Perhaps the most important record label in history, Motown gave us a wealth of smooth and funky soul hits. From The Temptations to The Supremes to Marvin Gaye and beyond, these are the classic songs from Hitsville, U.S.A.

From the end of the '50s to the start of the '60s, the kids kicked off their shoes and started shaking all over the place. These were the sounds they moved to, back in the days when doo wop and R&B were just another way of saying "rock & roll."

Teen longing, sweet harmonies and walls of sound, from the songwriters at the Brill Building to Motown's hit factory.

Characterized by its lush vocal harmonies, "doomph, doomph" bass lines, group snapping, and high falsetto, doo-wop was one of the most popular musical styles of the '50s and '60s.

All of the greatest, uptempo songs from Motown's 1964-1971 Golden Age. Digitally remastered from the mono master tapes, listen to these classics the way they were meant to be heard.

In L.A. circa 1966, young producers and songwriters looked to the increasingly complex work of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Inspired by his harmonies and lyrical themes, a new generation of groups created a gently psychedelic brand of easy listening.

Northern Soul is the British label given to a specific sound: the heavy-hitting backbeat and lush production epitomized by Motown's glorious mid '60s heyday. These are the songs energized Northerners would dance to all night long.

These songs hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart in the 1960s. Since 1958, the Hot 100 has been America's barometer of song popularity.

In late '50s Britain, the young Beatles consumed a surprisingly eclectic mix of styles, including early rock & roll, pop, jazz, blues, folk, country & western, and swing. Here are the songs that inspired the 20th century's most influential band.

From Liverpool to London and Cardiff to Cork, U.K. artists were all the rage during the British Invasion's mid-'60s peak. From raw rock & roll to parent-friendly pop, these acts brought Swinging London to the rest of the globe.

In the early 1960s, young fashionable Londoners, or "mods," danced all night to the uptempo sounds of African-American soul, Jamaican ska, and British rock & roll. Put on your sharpest suit and celebrate the original mod scene's best songs.

Inspired by the classic beach party movies of the 1960s, this collection of surf rock, pop, and doo-wop music is perfect for riding waves or doing the twist by a beach-side bonfire.

Don't fight it, feel it! In the 1960s, gospel music met secular lyrics describing the black experience in America, and soul music was born. '60s soul singers demanded respect, begged for love, and told it like it was, changing popular music forever.

Roy Orbison pioneered a new brand of rock & roll in the early 1960s with his distinctive baritone voice and orchestral arrangements. Listen to songs by The Big O and his greatest influences, contemporaries, and followers.

Get down with these soul and R&B classics -- most of which are about food -- at your next barbecue.

A retrospective of Chicago's legendary Chess Records, America's greatest blues label. Chess was the home of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James, Little Walter, and many more.

Soulful renditions of your favorite Christmas songs performed by Motown artists.

A collection of classics and lesser-known gems from the beginning of rock & roll, with an emphasis on country-leaning "hillbilly rock," or rockabilly

With their penchant for twang and aversion to lyrics, these 1950s and '60s acts -- some fleeting, some lasting -- all reveled in the rock instrumental.

The islands call with this mix of hip-swaying Hawaiian classics, contemporary singers, and tunes for ukelele or slack-key guitar for that luau state of mind.

As rock & roll entered its second decade, these artists brought new vocal, lyrical and musical complexity while retaining a youthful spark. The result was rock even the Mad Men generation enjoyed.