Happy anniversary, Motown Records! Motown is an American record company. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. on January 12, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, as Tamla Records, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. The name, a blending of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label which achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a small record company: 79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. Gordy relocated Motown to Los Angeles in 1972, and there it remained an independent company until June 28, 1988, when Gordy sold the company to MCA and Boston Ventures (which took over full ownership of Motown in 1991). Motown was then sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records successor, Universal Music Group, when it acquired PolyGram in 1999. Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City. From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam; subsequently Motown relocated back to Los Angeles to operate under the Capitol Music Group. History Berry Gordy got his start as a songwriter for local Detroit acts such as Jackie Wilson and the Matadors. Wilsons single Lonely Teardrops, written by Gordy, became a huge success; but Gordy did not feel he made as much money as he deserved from this and other singles he wrote for Wilson. He realized that the more lucrative end of the business was in producing records and owning the publishing. In 1959, Billy Davis and Berry Gordys sisters Gwen and Anna started Anna Records. Davis and Gwen Gordy wanted Berry to be the company president, but Berry wanted to strike out on his own. On January 12, 1959, he started Tamla Records, with an $800 loan from his family and from royalties earned writing for Jackie Wilson. Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the popular song by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy and the Bachelor also starring Reynolds. When he found the name was already in use, he decided on Tamla instead. Tamlas first release, in the Detroit area, was Marv Johnsons Come to Me in 1959 (released nationally on United Artists). Its first hit was Barrett Strongs Money (Thats What I Want) (1959), which made it to number 2 on the Billboard R&B charts (released nationally on Anna Records). Gordys first signed act was The Matadors, who changed their name to the Miracles when Gordy signed them. (They were not the Matadors who recorded for Sue.) Their first release, Got a Job, was an answer record to the Silhouettes Get a Job (issued on George Goldners End Records). The Miracles first, minor hit was their fourth single, 1959s Bad Girl, released in Detroit as the debut record on the Motown imprint, and nationally on the Chess label. (Most early Motown singles were released through other labels, such as End, Fury, Gone and Chess.) Miracles lead singer William Smokey Robinson became the vice president of the company (and later named his daughter Tamla and his son Berry). Many of Gordys family members, including his father Berry, Sr., brothers Robert and George, and sister Esther, were given key roles in the company. By the middle of the decade, Gwen and Anna Gordy had joined the label in administrative positions as well. West Grand Boulevard Also in 1959, Gordy purchased the property that would become Motowns Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio and the Gordys moved into the second floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses: Hitsville U.S.A. 1959 – (lower) administrative office, tape library, control room, Studio A. (upper) Gordy living quarter (1959–62), artists and repertoire (1962–72) Jobete Publishing Office 1961 – sales, billing, collections, shipping, & public relations Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprise 1962 – offices for Berry Gordy Jr. and Esther Gordy Edwards Finance Department 1965 – royalty & pay roll Artist Personal Development 1966 – Harvey Fuqua (head of artist development and producer of stage performances), Maxine Powell (grooming, poise, and social graces), Maurice King (vocal coach, musical director and arranger), Cholly Atkins (house choreography), and rehearsal studios Two Homes for Administrative Offices 1966 – sales & marketing, traveling & traffic, and mixing & mastering. ITMI Office (International Talent Management Inc.) 1966 – management Motown hired over 450 employees and grossed income of $20 million by the end of 1966. Detroit: 1959–1972 Early Tamla/Motown artists included Mable John, Eddie Holland and Mary Wells. Shop Around, the Miracles first number 1 R&B hit, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It was Tamlas first million-selling record. On April 14, 1960, Motown and Tamla Records merged into a new company called Motown Record Corporation. A year later, the Marvelettes scored Tamlas first US number-one pop hit, Please Mr. Postman. By the mid-1960s, the label, with the help of songwriters and producers such as Robinson, A&R chief William Mickey Stevenson, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Norman Whitfield, was a major force in the music industry. From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits. Top artists on the Motown label during that period included Diana Ross & the Supremes, the Four Tops, and the Jackson 5, while Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Marvelettes, and the Miracles released hits on the Tamla label. The company operated several labels in addition to the Tamla and Motown imprints. A third label, which Gordy named after himself (though it was originally called Miracle) featured the Temptations, the Contours, and Martha and the Vandellas. A fourth, V.I.P., released recordings by the Velvelettes, the Spinners, the Monitors, and Chris Clark. A fifth label, Soul, featured Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Jimmy Ruffin, Shorty Long, the Originals, and Gladys Knight & the Pips (who had found success before joining Motown, as The Pips on Vee-Jay). Many more Motown-owned labels released recordings in other genres, including Workshop Jazz (jazz), Mel-o-dy (country, although it was originally an R&B label), and Rare Earth (rock). Under the slogan The Sound of Young America, Motowns acts were enjoying widespread popularity among black and white audiences alike. Smokey Robinson said of Motowns cultural impact: Into the 60s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize the impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and the kids were dancing together and holding hands. In 1967 Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as Motown Mansion in Detroits Boston-Edison Historic District as his home, leaving his previous home to his sister Anna and then husband Marvin Gaye (where photos for the cover of his album Whats Going On were taken). In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Interstate 75, and moved Motowns Detroit offices there (the Donovan building was demolished in January 2006 to provide parking spaces for Super Bowl XL). In the same year Gordy purchased Golden World Records, and its recording studio became Studio B to Hitsvilles Studio A. In Britain, Motowns records were released on various labels: at first London (only the Miracles Shop Around/Whos Lovin You and Aint It Baby), then Fontana (Please Mr. Postman by the Marvelettes was one of four) and then Oriole American (Fingertips by Little Stevie Wonder was one of many). In 1963, Motown signed with EMIs Stateside label (Where Did Our Love Go by the Supremes and My Guy by Mary Wells were Motowns first British top-20 hits), and finally EMI created the Tamla Motown label (Stop! In the Name of Love by the Supremes was the first Tamla Motown label release in March 1965). Los Angeles: 1972–1998 After the songwriting trio Holland–Dozier–Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty-payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the companys top producer, turning out hits for The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. In the meantime Berry Gordy established Motown Productions, a television subsidiary which produced TV specials for the Motown artists, including TCB with Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations, Diana! with Diana Ross, and Goin Back to Indiana with the Jackson 5. The company loosened its production rules, allowing some of its longtime artists the opportunity to write and produce more of their own material. This resulted in the recordings of successful and critically acclaimed albums such as Marvin Gayes Whats Going On (1971) and Lets Get it On (1973), and Stevie Wonders Music of My Mind (1972), Talking Book (1972), and Innervisions (1973). Motown had established branch offices in both New York City and Los Angeles during the mid-1960s, and by 1969 had begun gradually moving more of its operations to Los Angeles. The company moved all of its operations to Los Angeles in June 1972, with a number of artists, among them Martha Reeves, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Motowns Funk Brothers studio band, either staying behind in Detroit or leaving the company for other reasons. By re-locating, Motown aimed chiefly to branch out into the motion-picture industry, and Motown Productions got its start in film by turning out two hit-vehicles for Diana Ross: the Billie Holiday biographical film Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and Mahogany (1975). Other Motown films would include Scott Joplin (1977), Thank God Its Friday (1978), The Wiz (1978) and The Last Dragon (1985). Ewart Abner, who had been associated with Motown since the 1960s, became its president in 1973. Despite losing Holland–Dozier–Holland, Norman Whitfield, and some of its other hitmakers by 1975, Motown still had a number of successful artists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Rick James, Teena Marie, the Dazz Band and DeBarge. By the mid-1980s Motown had started losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to MCA Records and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million. In 1989, Gordy sold the Motown Productions TV/film operations to Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, who renamed the company de Passe Entertainment and continues to run it as of 2012. During the 1990s Motown was home to successful recording artists such as Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill, although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil. MCA appointed a revolving door of executives to run the company, beginning with Berry Gordys immediate successor, Jheryl Busby. Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motowns product adequate attention or promotion. In 1991, Motown sued MCA to have its distribution deal with the company terminated, and began releasing its product through PolyGram. PolyGram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later. In 1994, Busby was replaced by Andre Harrell, the entrepreneur behind Uptown Records. Harrell served as Motowns CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient. Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGrams Mercury Records group, assumed control of Motown, and George Jackson served as president. Final years of the Motown label: 1999–2005 By 1998, Motown had added stars such as 702, Brian McKnight, and Erykah Badu to its roster. In December 1998, PolyGram was acquired by Seagram, and Motown was absorbed into the Universal Music Group. Ironically, Seagram had purchased Motown’s former parent MCA in 1995, as such Motown was in effect reunited with many of its MCA corporate siblings (Seagram had, in fact, hoped to build a media empire around Universal, and started by purchasing PolyGram). Universal briefly considered shuttering the floundering label, but instead decided to restructure it. Kedar Massenburg, a producer for Erykah Badu, became the head of the label, and oversaw successful recordings from Badu, McKnight, Michael McDonald, and new Motown artist India.Arie. Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations had remained with the label since its early days, although all except Wonder recorded for other labels for several years. Ross left Motown for RCA Records from 1981 to 1988, but returned in 1989 and stayed until 2002. Robinson left the label in the early 1990s, and the Temptations left a second time in 2004. Wonder is, today, the only artist from Motowns early period still on the label. Q-Tip was the final artist on the label, releasing The Renaissance. Universal Motown: 2005–2011 In 2005, Massenburg was replaced by Sylvia Rhone, former CEO of Elektra Records. Motown was merged with Universal Records to create the Universal Motown Records and placed under the newly created umbrella division of Universal Motown Republic Group. Motown began celebrating its fiftieth anniversary (January 12, 2009) in late 2008, including the release of a The Complete No. 1s box set containing Motown number-one hits from Billboard′s pop, R&B, and disco charts, reissues of classic-era Motown albums on CD, and other planned events, which were released in collaboration with Universal Music Groups catalog division Universal Music Enterprises. Relaunch: 2011–present As of summer of 2011, Universal Motown has been separated from Universal Motown Republic Group, has reverted to the original Motown brand, has hired Ethiopia Habtemariam as its Senior Vice President, and is now operated under the The Island Def Jam Music Group. Artists from Universal Motown have been transferred to the newly revitalized Motown label. On January 25, 2012, it was announced that Ne-Yo would join the Motown label both as an artist as well as the new Senior Vice President of A&R. On April 1, 2014, it was announced that Island Def Jam will no longer be running following the resignation of CEO Barry Weiss. In a press release sent out by Universal Music Group, the label will now be reorganizing Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Motown Records all as separate entities. Motown would then begin serving as a subsidiary of Capitol Records. Motown Sound Motown specialized in a type of soul music it referred to with the trademark The Motown Sound. Crafted with an ear towards pop appeal, the Motown Sound typically used tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass-guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call-and-response singing style that originated in gospel music. Pop production techniques such as the use of orchestral string sections, charted horn sections, and carefully arranged background vocals were also used. Complex arrangements and elaborate, melismatic vocal riffs were avoided. Motown producers believed steadfastly in the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid). Despite the growth of popular music being written and performed by black artists, the songs would not become popular or recognized unless the music was being performed by white performers. However, the Motown Sound became so distinctly unique, making it impossible for white performers to replicate its sound. The real Motown Sound became more favorable than the altered, watered-down renditions. The Motown production process has been described as factory-like. The Hitsville studios remained open and active 22 hours a day, and artists would often go on tour for weeks, come back to Detroit to record as many songs as possible, and then promptly go on tour again. Berry Gordy held quality control meetings every Friday morning, and used veto power to ensure that only the very best material and performances would be released. The test was that every new release needed to fit into a sequence of the top five selling pop singles of the week. Several tracks that later became critical and commercial favorites were initially rejected by Gordy; the two most notable being the Marvin Gaye songs I Heard It Through the Grapevine and Whats Going On. In several cases, producers would re-work tracks in hopes of eventually getting them approved at a later Friday morning meeting, as producer Norman Whitfield did with I Heard It Through the Grapevine and The Temptations Aint Too Proud to Beg. Many of Motowns best-known songs, including all the early hits for the Supremes, were written by the songwriting trio of Holland–Dozier–Holland (Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland). Other important Motown producers and songwriters included Norman Whitfield, William Mickey Stevenson, Smokey Robinson, Barrett Strong, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Frank Wilson, Pamela Sawyer & Gloria Jones, James Dean & William Weatherspoon, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua, Gil Askey, Stevie Wonder and Gordy himself. The style created by the Motown musicians was a major influence on several non-Motown artists of the mid-1960s, such as Dusty Springfield and the Foundations. In the United Kingdom, the Motown Sound became the basis of the northern soul movement. Smokey Robinson said the Motown Sound had little to do with Detroit: People would listen to it, and theyd say, Aha, they use more bass. Or they use more drums. Bullshit. When we were first successful with it, people were coming from Germany, France, Italy, Mobile, Alabama. From New York, Chicago, California. From everywhere. Just to record in Detroit. They figured it was in the air, that if they came to Detroit and recorded on the freeway, theyd get the Motown sound. Listen, the Motown sound to me is not an audible sound. Its spiritual, and it comes from the people that make it happen. What other people didnt realize is that we just had one studio there, but we recorded in Chicago, Nashville, New York, L.A.—almost every big city. And we still got the sound. The Funk Brothers In addition to the songwriting prowess of the writers and producers, one of the major factors in the widespread appeal of Motowns music was Gordys practice of using a highly select and tight-knit group of studio musicians, collectively known as the Funk Brothers, to record the instrumental or band tracks of a majority of Motown recordings. Among the studio musicians responsible for the Motown Sound were keyboardists Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, and Joe Hunter; guitarists Joe Messina, Robert White, and Eddie Willis; percussionists Eddie Bongo Brown and Jack Ashford; drummers Benny Benjamin, Uriel Jones, and Richard Pistol Allen; and bassists James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt. The bands career and work is chronicled in the 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, which publicised the fact that these musicians played on more number-one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined. Much of the Motown Sound came from the use of overdubbed and duplicated instrumentation. Motown songs regularly featured two drummers instead of one (either overdubbed or in unison), as well as three or four guitar lines. Bassist James Jamerson often played his instrument with only the index finger of his right hand, and created many of the basslines apparent on Motown songs such as You Cant Hurry Love by The Supremes. Artist development Artist development was a major part of Motowns operations. The acts on the Motown label were fastidiously groomed, dressed and choreographed for live performances. Motown artists were advised that their breakthrough into the white popular music market made them ambassadors for other African-American artists seeking broad market acceptance, and that they should think, act, walk and talk like royalty, so as to alter the less-than-dignified image commonly held of black musicians by white Americans in that era. Given that many of the talented young artists had been raised in housing projects and were short on social and dress skills, this Motown department was not only necessary, it created an elegant style of presentation long associated with the label. The artist development department specialized primarily in working with younger, less experienced acts; experienced performers such as Jr. Walker and Marvin Gaye were exempted from artist development classes. Many of the young artists participated in an annual package tour called the Motortown Revue, which was popular, first, on the chitlin circuit, and, later, around the world. The tours gave the younger artists a chance to hone their performance and social skills and learn from the more experienced artists. wikipedia.thetimetube/?lang=en&q=Motown
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 10:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015