My top 10 documentaries @3 - Twenty Feet From Stardom

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So there are a lot of documentaries around about race and prejudice in America that make the top 50 lists but for me they are revered for the message rather than the content, rarely subtle, often polemics and not up for arguments. This one is also about race but mellowed with great 50s & 60s music and some incredible talent, talent that was not always appreciated or respected, making it a far greater movie experience on race, no Malcolm X brutha's shouting at white folks here baby! The 20 feet bit is the world of the great black backing singers of the day, mostly stuck behind white female lead singers back in the same day. Many white run record companies only wanted white singers up front and not unknown for the superior black singers to record the LP version of a song but still put out and credited as a white singers voice. This film won the Oscar because it’s joyous, angry, sad and entertaining all at once as the mostly black backing singers featuring get to tell their story in the movie and so recognition. Darlene Love, Judith Hill, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer and Táta Vega feature heavily here and some of the best backing singers of the time, some going on to have solo careers, some happy to stay in the background as racism receded in the industry whilst others just withered away. A fantastic soundtrack of soul and blues music and vibe of the times is an exhilarating experience and you root for the girls denied their moment. The Music industry was mostly run by Jews in the big cities on the East and West Coast of America but there were black producers to. Someone would fight for their artists to get a fair pay day but others would fleece the artists dry, which meant even less for the backing singers. But ultimately the film puts a wrong right and we get to celebrate those gorgeous black ladies in the background banging out some great tunes in lung bursting Motown euphoria.