Detroit's Motown holiday music history

• We still enjoy these classic songs decades later.

Motown prioritized seasonal tracks nearly from its inception. Here are some highlights of Motown holiday history:

• Artists Marvin Gaye, the Miracles and Kim Weston recorded holiday songs in 1962. The first Christmas album, "Christmas with the Miracles," came out in 1963, according to the history website Classic Motown.
• The Supremes' "Merry Christmas" came in 1965, while Stevie Wonder released his first Christmas song collection, "Someday at Christmas," in 1967 — as a teenager. The namesake song of Wonder's album (included in Axios Detroit's holiday playlist) became the label's most-covered Christmas song, according to Classic Motown.

Also, Motown hosted a popular annual holiday concert series at the Fox Theatre featuring top stars, according to Free Press archives. The "Motor Town Revue" in 1966, for example, included the Temptations, Wonder and Martha and the Vandellas, with $2 admission.

The label released "Merry Christmas from Motown" in 1968 with hits from Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Jackson 5.

• The Jackson 5 eventually got their own Christmas album, too.
• The Temptations' holiday albums are 1970's "The Temptations' Christmas Card" and 1980's "Give Love at Christmas."

Go deeper: Our local holiday music playlist