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MOTOWN RECORDS By Mary Bada
About the genre • The founder and owner of the Tamla-Motown family record labels, Berry Gordy, Jr., recognised Motown Records as one of the most important independent labels in the early '60s. Assembling an hard-working staff of songwriters, producers, and musicians, Motown Records built one of the most impressive rosters of artist in the history of pop music and became the largest and most successful independent record company in the United State by 1964. • Motown sound went worldwide in the 60’s, and that sound still reproduce today. Motown hits continue to appear in commercials, TV and movies, and remain an influence on today’s biggest pop and R&B stars. • Motown stands for more than just the music: it is a reflection of the hard work in dedicated individuals overcoming incredible obstacles to achieve great success. Berry Gordy Jr. a young African American man, founded Motown records with a loan of $800 from his family. Through determination and support of the Motown family of artist, Gordy forged new grounds for minorities and made “Motown Sound” a world wide phenomenon adored by millions.
Sub Genres Of The Genres • Soul Music Common Instrumentation: hand clapping, the “call and response”, powerful bass line, tambourines, electric bass guitar, orchestral string sections, horn sections; not too many melodic vocal riffs. Soul music also comes under other variety genres such as: Deep soul and southern soul Memphis soul Philadelphia soul Psychedelic soul Blue-eyed soul Neo-soul
History of Motown • Artists like the Temptations, Isley Brothers, Drifters, Mary Wells, Smokey Robinson, Frankie Croker, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, OJays, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, The Jackson Five, Martha and the Vandellas, The Contours, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Womack, Commodores, Stevie Wonder, Lou Rawls, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Sam Cook, Jerry Butler, DeBarge, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and many more... those were just some of the performers who had people singing and dancing all over the world." • "Motown combined elements of blues, gospel, swing and pop with a thumping backbeat for a new dance music that was straight away recognizable. Competing for teen attention primarily against records by the Beatles, who were at the height of their popularity,
The Supremes was a Grammy Award-nominated R&B girl group during the 1960s and 1970s. They were the most successful American vocal group during the sixties. The trio that would become famous as the Supremes -- Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard -- met in the late '50s in Detroit Brewster housing project. Originally known as the Primettes, they were a group of four (Barbara Martin was the fourth member) when they made their first single for the Lupine label in 1960. By the time they debuted for Motown in 1961, they had been renamed the Supremes; Barbara Martin reduced them to a trio when she left after their first single. Diana Ross Ross continued to perform in concerts, in Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos, and at charity functions. Her 1980 single "Upside Down" was her sixteenth number one hit, a record surpassed only by the Beatles. She moved to Connecticut with her three daughters and in 1985 married Norwegian businessman Arne Naess, Jr. In 1989 Ross made a return to Motown with a new album titled Workin' Overtime, and in 1991 she worked with Stevie Wonder (1950–) and other artists to make The Force Behind the Power, a group of modern ballads. In January of 1994, she was highly praised for her role as a mental patient in the ABC television movie Out of Darkness. Diana Ross & The Supremes
Audience/Fans Stereotypically people will say the Audience and fans of Motown are Adults and oldies, but a lot of young people are also fans of Motown who get inspiration from a lot of Motown artist. Motown is very broad and has a lot of fans worldwide not only in America.
Hitsville USA • "Hitsville U.S.A." was the nickname given to Motown Records first headquarters. Located at 2648 West Grand Blvd. in Detroit Michigan Hitsville U.S.A., before was a photographers' studio, then was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959, and converted into both the record label's administrative building and recording studio, which was open 22 hours a day (closing from 8 to 10 AM for maintenance). Following mainstream success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gordy moved the label to Los Angeles and established the Hitsville West studio in Los Angeles California , as a part of his main focus on film production.
Record Labels • Uptown Recordshead Andre Harrell as CEO of the once-powerful black record label founded by Berry Gordy. • Founded in 1995 as Rising Tide Records, the following year its name was changed to Universal Records. • Soul label • Ric Tic the label owned by Ed Wingatehad an impact on the chart seen and Motown bought them out, now with artist such as Rare Earth, Laura Lee, J.J.Barnes, Edwin Starr and the Fantastic Four more hits followed. Edwin Starr had the biggest hits on Gordy with "25 Miles" "War" (sold over 3 million copies) and "My Weakness is You".
Public Perception • Motown records has that soul gentle vibe that captivates the audience and makes it “music friendly”. • Motown records is music that is set out for people from any age from young to old. • Motown totally changed the public's perception of black music, which for years had been kept out of the mainstream. White youths as well as black were fascinated by the rhythmic new sound, though the musicians who produced it were black, and many of the performers were teenagers from Detroit's housing projects and rundown neighbourhoods. Prodding and grooming those raw talents, Gordy transformed them into a roster of dazzling artists who stunned the pop music world.
Competition • There is no other magazine that cover the genre of Motown. However there is one magazine that does cover the concept of Motown which is Mojo magazine has features on classical soul, but it is mainly focused on old 60’s/70’s/80’s/ rock and pop.
Cross Media There are different variety of media that cross the genre of Motown music. London’s heart 106.2 is one of the most popular radio station for playing Motown records following magic fm 105.4. Sky is also another media that shows history about Motown e.g. BBC 1 history of Motown. Motown characteristics has also been showed in a film such as ‘Dream girls’ the smash musical about a late-60s girl group based on Diana Ross and the Supremeswho starred by artist like Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx. Websites such as MySpace also contain some Motown records.
work. Prediction For The Future Laura Izibor is a new UK artist who has been compared to influential soul singers such as Candi Staton, Roberta Flack, and early Aretha Franklin - but stamped with her own unique, refreshing twist – shine . we can see in the video that she has old Motown look. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/music/article2190298.ece Solange Knowles music is described as "The 80’s Best Songs of 2008“. Solange describes her album as 60’s and 70’s Motown records.http://www.rnbmusicblog.com/solange-knowles-i-decided-the-today-show-video/ Janelle Monae has that 60’s unique funky sound. Who has also been described as great artist as Aretha Franklin and Dian Ross with her fabulous track called Violet Stars Happy Hunting.
Raphael Saadiq is a standard holder for what people call 'old school' music, a contemporary artist continuing a time-honored tradition that goes back to the '60s and '70s. From his early days as a member of the groundbreaking '80s group Tony!. Raphael has been compared to late artist Stevie wonder with his amazing voice. I feel that the genre will develop but it want be at its best from the years ago. Artist are going in the right direction trying to bring back the genre and fashion of Motown, if music Artist can keep this up there is a chance the Motown music will come back into the music industry.
