Motown Appreciation Thread!

Motown is an American record company. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. on January 12, 1959, in Detroit, Michigan, as Tamla Records. The company's record label "Motown" was formed in September 1959 and the company was incorporated as "Motown Record Corporation" on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become 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.



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 distinctly unique, making it impossible for white performers to replicate its sound. The "real" Motown Sound became more favorable than the altered 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 "What's 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' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg".



Many of Motown's 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 & 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 they'd say, 'Aha, they use more bass. Or they use more drums.' Bullsh*t. 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, they'd get the Motown sound. Listen, the Motown sound to me is not an audible sound. It's spiritual, and it comes from the people that make it happen. What other people didn't 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."

After the songwriting trio Holland–Dozier–Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty-payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the company's top producer, turning out hits for The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Rare Earth. 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 Gaye's What's Going On (1971),Let's Get it On (1973) and I Want You (1976) and Stevie Wonder's Music of My Mind (1972), Talking Book (1972),Innervisions (1973),Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) .

Artist development was a major part of Motown's operations instituted by Berry Gordy. 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.

 

Never heard of them.

 

One of my favorites from the 70's.

 

Great label especially up to 1972. After that I don't think it really knew what to do. So much of the sound and style was left in Detroit.

 

They found some sunshine in California with "The Corporation".

 

I never listened to Motown the same way after I saw Standing In The Shadows of Motown. It breathed new life into songs I've heard a thousand times!

 

Some of the best music ever made.

 

I agree. I wish they were shown more love on this board.

 

Mono single mixes rule. Loud, compressed and non "audiophile", they are the most important single mixes in rock. It's too bad that they are so hard to find.

 

Look no further than this awesome box set (IMHO, one of the very best!):

 

I'm not surprised. They had a hit or two but things didn't really go as planned. One thing that really shot them in the foot was Berry's overly-permissive contracts. Whenever someone wanted to leave, he'd let them. As a result, when the Supremes didn't take off, they wanted out and Berry let them go without a fight. Cadet picked them up and that's when their hit parade really started. Things were sadly different for David Ruffin. He decided one day to leave the hitless Temptations...and Berry let him. He started disco music for Casablanca and lost all R&B credibility. Worse yet, Motown never really got involved with publishing and all rights belonged to the artists; not at all what was happening back then. Add to that all outsourced A&R and management and Motown was doomed from the start.

Ed

 

Not only loud and compressed, but decidedly on the trebly side-just the way Bill Inglot thinks everything ahould sound. No wonder he did such a great job on the Hitsville USA box!

Oh, and I love '60s Motown!

 

Smokey's vocals

 

Why care so much? Enjoy it yourself.

 

Just want everyone to enjoy this beautiful music too. The more the merrier.

 

Please go deeper, Johnny. I dare you...LOL!!

Ed

 

@Nostaljack It's a shame that this single flopped!

 

I'm in. One of my absolute favorite labels since the mid-sixties when I first heard Supremes and Four Tops. As a collector I want all issues, but that may prove too hard. Still slowly picking up the US and UK originals and enjoying every second of them.

Favorite name so far - Smokey Robinson.

Favorite track - "Tears Of A Clown"



A couple of Motown albums from my collection. Love them all

http://monolover.blogspot.se/search?q=(TÖMÖ*)

 

Ladies and gentlemen.... The soul of Motown:

 

There are plenty. They don't necessarily post on this site. Trying to convince people to like music is futile.

 

Haven't tried yet.

 

It's just amazing how many great songs same from Motown. It's almost impossible to pick one favorite but right at this moment, I choose this one. "Baby I Need Your Loving" by the Four Tops. Just beautiful!

 

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/poll-the-greatest-motown-single.457408/