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Jan 9, 2019 · With The Supremes, Berry Gordy hails members of the Motown house band, left, and his Holland-Dozier-Holland hitmakers in 1965
Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American -owned label that achieved crossover success.
Apr 24, 2024 · Motown, recording company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr., in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., in January 1959 that became one of the most successful Black-owned businesses and one of the most influential independent record companies in American history.
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- "Stop! In the Name Of Love," The Supremes. There's probably no better example of the classic Supremes song than this monster hit, which took the girl-group genre and brought it out of the realm of bubblegum.
- "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)," The Four Tops. The Motown sound most folks think of when you say the name, a straight four-on-the-floor backed by piano, call-and-response vocals, and elaborate production.
- "The Tears of a Clown," Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. A great example of the way Motown worked horns into their mix, emphatic and rhythmic and propulsive.
- "I Was Made to Love Her," Stevie Wonder. Motown, like the blues, could somehow get either joy or heartbreak out of its sound without changing anything but the lyrics.
Aug 16, 2012 · Motown had always diversified beyond the soul music that made it famous, putting out pop vocalists and country artists alongside its more famous artists, even if it didn’t push them that hard.
Jul 10, 2017 · Berry Gordy sold Motown in 1988 when the label began to lose money, and the story of one of the greatest record labels the world has known was over. However, the music left behind will ensure that the Motown story never really ends, remaining as popular today as it has ever been.
While civil rights protesters in the 1960s and ’70s voiced Black demands for full equality, it was Motown’s music that brought African American voices and faces into homes across the nation, introducing baby boomers and their parents to Black culture.
