Motown Records is an American
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
owned by the
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. It was founded by
Berry Gordy Jr.
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...
as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958,
and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...](_blank)
, where the label was originally headquartered.
Motown played an important role in the
racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity ...
of
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
as an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
-owned label that achieved
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the most of the
Motown sound
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
, a style of
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
with a mainstream
pop appeal. Motown was the most successful soul music label, with a net worth of $61 million. During the 1960s, Motown achieved 79 records in the top-ten of the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 between 1960 and 1969.
Following the events of the
Detroit Riots of 1967, and the loss of key songwriting/production team
Holland–Dozier–Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. During ...
that year over pay disputes, Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles, California. Motown expanded into film and television production.
It was an independent company until
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
bought it in 1988.
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
purchased the label from MCA in 1993, followed by MCA successor Universal Music Group, which acquired PolyGram in 1999.
Motown spent much of the 2000s headquartered in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
as a part of the UMG subsidiaries
Universal Motown
Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label, and the "urban" half of UMG, although there were some ...
and
Universal Motown Republic Group
Universal Motown Republic Group (UMRG) was an umbrella label founded in 1999 by Universal Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its unit. UMRG was formed in 1999 by pooling together Universal Records, Motown Records, and Republic Records, ...
. From 2011 to 2014, it was a part of
The Island Def Jam Music Group
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...
division of Universal Music.
In 2014, however, UMG announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam, and Motown relocated back to Los Angeles to operate under the
Capitol Music Group
Capitol Music Group (CMG) is an American front line umbrella label distributed by Universal Music Group which oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. It was inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog ( ...
, now operating out of the
Capitol Tower
The Capitol Records Building, also known as the Capitol Records Tower, is a 13-story tower building in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Designed by Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket Associates, it is one of the city's landmarks. Construction began soon afte ...
.
In 2018, Motown was inducted into
Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame is an independent organization whose mission is to educate and to celebrate, preserve, promote, and present rhythm and blues music globally.
History
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame was founded ...
in a ceremony held at the
Charles H. Wright Museum.
In 2021 Motown separated from the
Capitol Music Group
Capitol Music Group (CMG) is an American front line umbrella label distributed by Universal Music Group which oversees handling of record labels assigned to UMG's Capitol Records division. It was inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog ( ...
to become a standalone label once again.
On November 29, 2022,
Ethiopia Habtemariam
Ethiopia Habtemariam (, , ) is the former Chair/CEO of Motown Records. She is Ethiopian-American.
She was born on 24 September 1979 in Berkeley, California. In 1994, at the age of 14, Habtemariam began interning at LaFace Records, a label created ...
announced that she would be stepping down as Chairwoman/CEO of Motown.
History
Beginnings of Motown
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...
's interest in the record business began when he opened a record store called the 3D Record Mart, a shop where he hoped to "educate customers about the beauty of jazz", in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. (The Gordys were an entrepreneurial family.) Although the shop did not last very long, Gordy's interest in the music business did not fade. He frequented Detroit's downtown nightclubs, and in the Flame Show Bar he met bar manager Al Green (not the
famed singer), who owned a music publishing company called Pearl Music and represented Detroit-based musician
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...
. Gordy soon became part of a group of songwriters—with his sister
Gwen Gordy
Gwen Fuqua (born Gwendolyn Gordy; November 26, 1927 – November 8, 1999) was an American businesswoman, songwriter and composer, most notably writing hit songs such as "Lonely Teardrops", " All I Could Do Was Cry" and "Distant Lover". She acqu ...
and
Billy Davis—who wrote songs for Wilson. "
Reet Petite
"Reet Petite (The Sweetest Girl in Town)" (originally subtitled "The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet") is a song written by Berry Gordy, Billy Davis, and Gwen Gordy Fuqua, and made popular by Jackie Wilson. It was his first solo hit after leav ...
" was their first major hit which appeared in November 1957. During the next eighteen months, Gordy helped to write six more Wilson A-sides, including "
Lonely Teardrops
"Lonely Teardrops" is a song written by Berry Gordy Jr., Gwen Gordy Fuqua, Gwen Gordy and Billy Davis (songwriter), Roquel "Billy" Davis, first recorded and released as a single in 1958 by R&B singer Jackie Wilson on the Brunswick Records, Brunsw ...
", a peak-popular hit of 1958. Between 1957 and 1958, Gordy wrote or produced over a hundred sides for various artists, with his siblings Anna, Gwen and Robert, and other collaborators in varying combinations.
In 1957, Gordy met
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
, who at the time was a local seventeen-year-old singer fronting a vocal harmony group called the Matadors. Gordy was interested in the
doo-wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
style that Robinson sang. In 1958, Gordy recorded the group's song "Got a Job" (an answer song to "
Get a Job" by
the Silhouettes
The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/ R&B group, whose single " Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's lyric ...
), and released it as a single by leasing the record to a larger company outside Detroit called
End Records
End Records was a record label founded in 1957 by George Goldner. In 1962 the label was acquired by Morris Levy and incorporated into Roulette Records. Among its more successful recording acts were the Flamingos, the Chantels, and Little Anthony ...
, based in New York. The practice was common at the time for a small-time producer. "Got a Job" was the first single by Robinson's group, now called
the Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...
. Gordy recorded a number of other records by forging a similar arrangement, most significantly with
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
.
[Flory, p. 26.]
In 1958, Gordy wrote and produced "
Come to Me" for
Marv Johnson
Marvin Earl Johnson (October 15, 1938 – May 16, 1993) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and pianist. He was influential in the development of the Motown style of music, primarily for the song " Come to Me," which was the first record iss ...
. Seeing that the song had great crossover potential, Gordy leased it to United Artists for national distribution but also released it locally on his own startup imprint.
Needing $800 to cover his end of the deal, Gordy asked his family to borrow money from a cooperative family savings account.
After some debate, his family agreed, and in January 1959 “Come to Me” was released regionally on Gordy's new Tamla label.
[Flory, p. 27.] Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
popularized by
Debbie Reynolds
Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...
from the 1957 film ''
Tammy and the Bachelor
''Tammy and the Bachelor'' is a 1957 romantic comedy film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Debbie Reynolds as Tambrey "Tammy" Tyree, Walter Brennan as Grandpa Dinwitty and Leslie Nielsen as Peter Brent. It is the first of the four Tammy fi ...
'', in which Reynolds also starred. When he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead. In April 1959, Gordy and his sister Gwen founded Anna Records which released about two dozen singles between 1959 and 1960. The most popular was Barrett Strong's "
Money (That's What I Want)
"Money (That's What I Want)" is a rhythm and blues song written by Tamla founder Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford, which was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise. Barrett Strong recorded it in 1959 as a single for the Tamla label, dist ...
", written by Gordy and a secretary named
Janie Bradford
Janie Bradford (born June 2, 1939 in Charleston, Missouri, United States) is an American songwriter, most known for her tenure with Motown. With Berry Gordy, she co-wrote "Money (That's What I Want)", originally recorded by Barrett Strong, and t ...
, and produced by Gordy.
Many of the songs distributed locally by Anna and Tamla Records were nationally distributed by
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
(sometimes with Anna and Tamla imprints). Gordy's relationship with Chess fostered closer dealings with
Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua (July 27, 1929 – July 6, 2010) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.
Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s. He is notable as one of th ...
, nephew of Charlie Fuqua of
the Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely a ...
. Harvey Fuqua later married Gwen Gordy in 1961.
Gordy looked toward creative self-sufficiency and established the publishing firm Jobete in June 1959 (incorporated in Michigan). He applied for copyrights on more than seventy songs before the end of 1959, including material used for the Miracles and Frances Burnett records, which were leased to Chess and
Coral Records
Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer.
Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head o ...
. The ''
Michigan Chronicle
''The Chronicle'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1936 by John H. Sengstacke, editor of the ''Chicago Defender''. Together with the ''Defender'' and a handful of other African-American newspap ...
'' of Detroit called Gordy an "independent producer of records", as his contributions to the city were beginning to attract notice. By that time, he was the president of Jobete, Tamla, and the music writing company Rayber.
[Flory, p. 29.]
Gordy worked in various Detroit-based studios during this period to produce recordings and demos, but most prominently with
United Sound Systems
United Sound Systems is a recording studio and locally designated historic district in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Many popular music artists over the last seventy years have recorded at the facility, including blues musicians like John Lee ...
which was considered the best studio in town. However, producing at United Sound Systems was financially taxing and not appropriate for every job, so Gordy decided it would be more cost effective to maintain his own facility.
In mid-1959, he purchased a photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard and converted the main floor into a recording studio and office space. Now, rather than shopping his songs to other artists or leasing his recordings to outside companies, Gordy began using the Tamla and Motown imprints to release songs that he wrote and produced. He incorporated Motown Records in April 1960.
Smokey Robinson became the vice president of the company (and later named his daughter "Tamla" and his son "Berry"). Several of
Gordy's 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. Gordy's partner at the time (and wife from 1960 to 1964),
Raynoma Liles, also played a key role in the early days of Motown, leading the company's first session group, The Rayber Voices, and overseeing Jobete.
West Grand Boulevard
As mentioned above, in 1959, Gordy purchased the property that would become Motown's
Hitsville U.S.A.
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purch ...
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 – (ground floor) administrative office, tape library, control room, Studio A; (upper floor) Gordy living quarters (1959–62), artists and repertoire (1962–72)
*Jobete Publishing office, 1961 – sales, billing, collections, shipping, and public relations
*Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprise, 1962 – offices for Berry Gordy Jr. and
Esther Gordy Edwards Esther Gordy Edwards (née Gordy; April 25, 1920 – August 24, 2011) was a staff member and associate of her younger brother Berry Gordy's Motown label during the 1960s. Edwards created the Motown Museum, Hitsville U.S.A., by preserving the label' ...
*Finance department, 1965 – royalties and payroll
*Artist personal development, 1966 –
Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua (July 27, 1929 – July 6, 2010) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.
Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s. He is notable as one of th ...
(head of artist development and producer of stage performances),
Maxine Powell
Maxine Powell (May 30, 1915 – October 14, 2013) was an American etiquette instructor and talent agent. She taught grooming, poise, and social graces to many recording artists at Motown in the 1960s.
Born Maxine Blair in Texarkana, Texas, she wa ...
(instructor in grooming, poise, and social graces for Motown artists), Maurice King (vocal coach, musical director and arranger),
Cholly Atkins
Charles "Cholly" Atkins (born Charles Sylvan Atkinson; September 13, 1913 – April 19, 2003) was an American dancer and vaudeville performer, who later became noted as the house choreographer for the various artists on the Motown label.
Biogr ...
(house choreography), and rehearsal studios
*Two houses for administrative offices, 1966 – sales and marketing, traveling and traffic, and mixing and mastering
*ITMI (International Talent Management Inc.) office, 1966 – management
Motown had hired over 450 employees and had a gross income of $20 million by the end of 1966.
Detroit: 1959–1972
Early Tamla/Motown artists included
Mable John
Mable John (November 3, 1930 – August 25, 2022) was an American blues vocalist and was the first female signed by Berry Gordy to Motown's Tamla label.
Biography
John was born in Bastrop, Louisiana, on November 3, 1930, the eldest of at le ...
,
Eddie Holland
Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", ...
and
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
. "
Shop Around
"Shop Around" is a song originally recorded by the Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla subsidiary label. It was written by Miracles lead singer Smokey Robinson and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy. It became a smash hit in 1960 when originally re ...
", the Miracles' first number 1 R&B hit, peaked at number two on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1960. It was Tamla's 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 Tamla's first US number-one pop hit, "
Please Mr. Postman
"Please Mr. Postman" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by the Marvelettes for the Tamla (Motown) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the ...
".
By the mid-1960s, the company, with the help of songwriters and producers such as Robinson,
A&R chief
William "Mickey" Stevenson,
Brian Holland,
Lamont Dozier, and
Norman Whitfield, had become a major force in the music industry.
From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110
top 10 A top ten list is a list of the ten highest-ranking items of a given category.
Top Ten or Top 10 may also refer to:
Media
*Top 10, a common record chart for the ten most popular songs of the week in the musical chart of a country
*''America's Top ...
hits. Top artists on the Motown label during that period included
the Supremes (initially including
Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
),
the Four Tops, and
the Jackson 5, while
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
,
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
,
the Marvelettes, and
the Miracles
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and most influential groups ...
had 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,
Edwin Starr, and
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown.
An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...
. 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)
Earl Washington Reflections and Earl Washington's All Stars, Mel-o-dy (country, although it was originally an R&B label), and Rare Earth, which featured the band
Rare Earth themselves. Under the slogan "The Sound of Young America", Motown's acts were enjoying widespread popularity among black and white audiences alike.
Smokey Robinson said of Motown's cultural impact:
Into the 1960s, 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 Detroit's
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 ''
What's Going On'' were taken).
In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building on the corner of
Woodward Avenue and
Interstate 75, and moved Motown's 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 Hitsville's "Studio A".
In the United Kingdom, Motown's records were released on various labels: at first
London (only the Miracles' "Shop Around"/"
Who's Lovin' You" and "Ain't 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 EMI's
Stateside label ("
Where Did Our Love Go" by the Supremes and "
My Guy" by Mary Wells were Motown's first British top-20 hits). Eventually, EMI created the Tamla Motown label ("
Stop! In the Name of Love" by the Supremes was the first Tamla Motown release in March 1965).
Los Angeles: 1972–1998
After the songwriting trio
Holland–Dozier–Holland
Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. During ...
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
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
's ''
What's Going On'' (1971) and ''
Let's Get it On'' (1973), and
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
's ''
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 many of the
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
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...
: the
Billie Holiday biographical film ''
Lady Sings the Blues'' (1972), and ''
Mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
'' (1975). Other Motown films would include ''
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...
'' (1977), ''
Thank God It's Friday
Thanks may refer to:
* ''Thank you'' (phrase), a common expression of gratitude
Film and television
* ''Thanks'' (film), a 2011 American film
* ''Thanks'' (TV series), a 1999 American sitcom
Music Albums
* ''Thanks'', by Ivan Neville, 1994
...
'' (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.
By the 1970s, the Motown "hit factory" had become a target of a backlash from some fans of rock music. Record producer
Pete Waterman recalls of this period: "I was a DJ for years and I worked for Motown – the press at the time, papers like ''
NME'', used to call it Toytown. When I DJ'd on the
Poly circuit, the students wanted me to play
Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years.
History
Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members h ...
and
Velvet Underground. Things don't change. Nowadays, of course, Motown is hip."
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
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...
and the
Commodores,
Rick James,
Teena Marie, the
Dazz Band,
Jose Feliciano and
DeBarge. By the mid-1980s, Motown had started losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
(which began a North American distribution deal with the label in 1983) 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
Suzanna Celeste de Passe (born July 19, 1946, 1947 or 1948) (sources differ) is an American businesswoman, television, music and film producer. De Passe serves as the co-chairwoman of de Passe Jones Entertainment, de Passe Jones Entertainment Gr ...
, who renamed the company
de Passe Entertainment and continues to run it . Gordy continued to retain the Jobete music publishing catalog, selling it separately to
EMI Music Publishing in parts between 1997 and 2004. It is currently owned by
Sony Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...
(Sony/ATV until 2021) through the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 (as a leader of the consortium and eventually assigned full ownership in 2018).
During the 1990s, Motown was home to successful recording artists such as
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...
and
Johnny Gill, although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil. MCA appointed a series of executives to run the company, beginning with Berry Gordy's immediate successor,
Jheryl Busby
Jheryl Busby (May 5, 1949 – November 4, 2008) was an American recording company executive who was the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Motown Records.
Biography
Busby grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where he went to ...
. Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motown's 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 N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
. PolyGram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later.
In 1994, Busby was replaced by
Andre Harrell
Andre O’Neal Harrell (September 26, 1960 – May 7, 2020) was an American music executive and multimedia producer. In 1986, recently a rapper, he formed Uptown Records, soon a leader in R&B, rap, and their fusion, "hip hop soul" and " new ...
, the entrepreneur behind
Uptown Records. Harrell served as Motown's CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient. Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGram's 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
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
was acquired by
Seagram, and Motown was absorbed into the
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. Seagram had purchased Motown's former parent MCA in 1995, and Motown was in effect reunited with many of its MCA corporate siblings (Seagram had hoped to build a media empire around Universal, and started by purchasing PolyGram). Universal briefly considered shuttering the 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, while Robinson left Motown in 1991 (although he did return to release
one more album for the label in 1999). The Temptations left for
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
in 1977, but returned in 1980 and eventually left again in 2004. Wonder finally left the label in 2020.
Universal Motown: 2005–2011
In 2005, Massenburg was replaced by
Sylvia Rhone
Sylvia Rhone (born March 11, 1952) is an American music industry executive. Since 2019, she is the chair and CEO of Epic Records, a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
Rhone served previously in senior positions at Vested In Culture, Unive ...
, former CEO of
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
. 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
Universal Motown Republic Group (UMRG) was an umbrella label founded in 1999 by Universal Music Group to oversee the labels assigned to its unit. UMRG was formed in 1999 by pooling together Universal Records, Motown Records, and Republic Records, ...
. Notable artists on Universal Motown included
Drake Bell,
Ryan Leslie,
Melanie Fiona,
Kelly Rowland,
Forever the Sickest Kids,
The Veer Union and
Four Year Strong. Motown celebrated its 50th anniversary on January 12, 2009, and celebrated it in Detroit on November 20, 2009, in a black-tie Gala titled "Live It Again!" The event was hosted by
Sinbad and included
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
,
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
,
the Temptations,
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
and
Kid Rock
Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...
.
Relaunch: 2011–present
In the mid-2011, Universal Motown reverted to the Motown brand after having been separated from Universal Motown Republic Group, hired
Ethiopia Habtemariam
Ethiopia Habtemariam (, , ) is the former Chair/CEO of Motown Records. She is Ethiopian-American.
She was born on 24 September 1979 in Berkeley, California. In 1994, at the age of 14, Habtemariam began interning at LaFace Records, a label created ...
as its Senior Vice President, and operated under
The Island Def Jam Music Group
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...
.
Artists from Universal Motown were 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
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. In late 2018, Motown began celebrating its 60th anniversary by reissuing numerous albums from their catalog.
Motown UK launched in September 2020 under Universal UK's
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
(formerly
Virgin EMI Records) division.
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
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
structures, and a
call-and-response singing style that originated in
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
. In 1971,
Jon Landau wrote in ''
Rolling Stone'' that the sound consisted of songs with simple structures but sophisticated melodies, along with a four-beat drum pattern, regular use of horns and strings, and "a trebly style of mixing that relied heavily on electronic limiting and equalizing (boosting the high range frequencies) to give the overall product a distinctive sound, particularly effective for broadcast over AM radio". 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).
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 rework 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
"Ain't Too Proud to Beg" is a 1966 song and hit single by The Temptations for Motown Records' Gordy label, produced by Norman Whitfield and written by Whitfield and Edward Holland Jr. The song peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Pop Chart, a ...
".
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
Holland–Dozier–Holland was a songwriting and production team consisting of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s. During ...
(
Lamont Dozier and brothers
Brian and
Eddie Holland
Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", ...
). Other important Motown producers and songwriters included
Norman Whitfield,
William "Mickey" Stevenson,
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...
,
Barrett Strong,
Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson,
Frank Wilson,
Pamela Sawyer
Pamela Sawyer is a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
Biography
Sawyer was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She graduated from the University of Rhode Island.
Career
Sawyer was first elected to the House of Representatives ...
&
Gloria Jones, James Dean &
William Weatherspoon William Henry Weatherspoon (February 11, 1936 – July 17, 2005) was an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work for Motown Records in the 1960s. He co-wrote "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", an international hit for ...
,
Johnny Bristol
John William Bristol (February 3, 1939 – March 21, 2004) was an American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina, about which ...
,
Harvey Fuqua
Harvey Fuqua (July 27, 1929 – July 6, 2010) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, record producer, and record label executive.
Fuqua founded the seminal R&B/doo-wop group the Moonglows in the 1950s. He is notable as one of th ...
,
Gil Askey,
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
, 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:
The Funk Brothers
In addition to the songwriting process of the writers and producers, one of the major factors in the widespread appeal of Motown's music was Gordy's 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
Ray Monette
Ray Monette is an American musician born on May 7, 1946.
He started his career as a session musician with Motown. He was also a songwriter and, in 1967 Detroit started a band called The Abstract Reality, who released a 45 rpm single "Love Burns Li ...
,
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
__NOTOC__
Robert Andrew Kreinar (November 26, 1937 – July 16, 2012), known as Bob Babbitt, was a Hungarian-American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972, as well a ...
. The band's 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".
Ashford later played on
Raphael Saadiq's 2008 album ''
The Way I See It
''The Way I See It'' is the third album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on September 16, 2008, by Columbia Records – his first for the label. Prior to signing with Columbia, Saadiq had independ ...
'', whose recording and production were modelled after the Motown Sound.
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 "
Up the Ladder to the Roof" by The Supremes.
Artist development
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 lacked the necessary social and dress experience, 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
Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist (primarily saxophonist and vocalist) who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a sess ...
and
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
were exempt 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
The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...
", 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.
Motown subsidiary labels
In order to avoid accusations of
payola should DJs play too many records from the original Tamla label, Gordy formed Motown Records as a second label in 1960. The two labels featured the same writers, producers and artists.
Many more subsidiary labels were established later under the umbrella of the Motown parent company, including Gordy Records, Soul Records and VIP Records; in reality the Motown Record Corporation controlled all of these labels. Most of the distinctions between Motown labels were largely arbitrary, with the same writers, producers and musicians working on all the major subsidiaries, and artists were often shuffled between labels for internal marketing reasons. All of these records are usually considered to be "Motown" records, regardless of whether they actually appeared on the Motown Records label itself.
Major divisions
* Tamla Records: Established 1959, Tamla was a primary subsidiary for mainstream R&B/soul music. Tamla is the company's original label: Gordy founded Tamla Records several months before establishing the Motown Record Corporation. The label's numbering system was combined with those of Motown and Gordy in 1982, and the label was merged with Motown in 1988. Notable Tamla artists included
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles,
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...
,
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
, and
the Marvelettes. Tamla was briefly re-activated in 1996 as a reggae label, but only released a 12" single by
Cocoa Tea called "New Immigration Law". Tamla also had a sub-label called Penny Records in 1959; artists on that label included Bryan Brent And The Cut Outs, who recorded a single for the label entitled "Vacation Time" b/w "For Eternity" (2201). Tamla Records slogan: ''"The Sound that Makes the World Go 'Round"''.
* Motown Records: Established 1960, Motown was and remains the company's main label for mainstream R&B/soul music (and, today,
hip-hop music as well). The label's numbering system was combined with those of Tamla and Gordy in 1982, and the label (and company) was purchased by
MCA
MCA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars
Aviation
* Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways
* Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...
in 1988. Notable Motown artists have included
Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
,
the Supremes,
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.
Founded as the ...
,
the Jackson 5,
Michael Jackson,
Jermaine Jackson,
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...
,
Commodores,
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...
,
Dazz Band,
Brian McKnight,
98 Degrees, and
Erykah Badu. Motown Records slogan: ''"The Sound of Young America"''.
* Gordy Records: Established 1962, Gordy was also a primary subsidiary for mainstream R&B/soul music. Originally known as ''Miracle Records'' (slogan: ''"If It's a Hit, It's a Miracle"''), the name was changed in 1962 to avoid confusion with the Miracles singing group. The label's numbering system was combined with those of Motown and Tamla in 1982, and the label was merged with Motown in 1988. Notable Gordy artists included
the Temptations,
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown.
An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...
,
the Contours,
Edwin Starr,
Rick James,
The Mary Jane Girls,
Teena Marie,
Switch, and
DeBarge. Gordy Records slogan: ''"It's What's in the Grooves that Counts"''.
* Tamla Motown Records: Motown's non-
US label, established in March 1965 and folded into the regular Motown label in 1976. Distributed by
EMI, Tamla Motown issued the releases on the American Motown labels, using its own numbering system. In some cases, Tamla Motown would issue singles and albums not released in the United States (for example, the singles "
I Second That Emotion" and "
Why (Must We Fall in Love)
"Why (Must We Fall in Love)" is a Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations song released in 1970 as the second single from the album ''Together''. While the album's preceding single, "The Weight" was only released in the US and Canada, "Why ( ...
" by Diana Ross & the Supremes with the Temptations, as well as the successful ''
Motown Chartbusters'' series of albums).
Secondary R&B labels
* Check-Mate Records: Short-lived (1961–1962) R&B/soul subsidiary, purchased from
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
. Notable artists included
David Ruffin and The Del-Phis (later
Martha and the Vandellas
Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown.
An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...
).
* Miracle Records: Short-lived (1961) R&B/soul subsidiary that lasted less than a year. Some pressings featured the infamous tagline, "If it's a hit, it's a Miracle." Renamed Gordy Records in 1962. Notable releases included early recordings by
Jimmy Ruffin and
the Temptations.
* MoWest Records: MoWest was a short-lived (1971–1973; 1976 in UK) subsidiary for R&B/soul artists based on the West Coast. Shut down when the main Motown office moved to Los Angeles. Notable artists included
Lesley Gore
Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), known professionally as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, she recorded the pop music, pop hit "It's My Party (Lesley Gore song), I ...
,
G. C. Cameron
George Curtis Cameron is an American soul and R&B singer who is currently married to singer Linda Dixon Cameron a.k.a. “Lady L.”. Perhaps best known as the lead singer of The Spinners on their 1970 hit " It's a Shame" and for his 1975 hit ...
,
the Sisters Love
The Sisters Love was an American R&B and funk ensemble active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Sisters Love was founded in 1968 by former members of The Raelettes. Several of Ray Charles's backing ensemble quit the band at the same time a ...
,
Syreeta Wright,
the Four Seasons,
Commodores (their first two singles in 1972 and 1973), and Los Angeles DJ
Tom Clay
Tom Clay (born Thomas Clague; August 20, 1929 – November 22, 1995) was an American radio personality and disc jockey.
Clay was born in New York, and in the 1950s he was popular in the Detroit area on WJBK-AM both as a DJ, and for his on ...
. Unlike other Motown releases in the UK that were released by Tamla Motown, MoWest retained its US label design and logo for its UK releases as well. In fact, MoWest lasted longer in the UK up until 1976.
* Motown Yesteryear: a label created in late 1970s and used through the 1980s for the reissues of 7-inch singles from all eras of the company's history, after printing in the initial label has ceased. One Motown Yesteryear single made ''Billboard''′s Top 40 –
the Contours' "Do You Love Me", in 1988, when its inclusion in the film ''
Dirty Dancing'' revived interest.
* Soul Records: Established in 1964, Soul was a R&B/soul subsidiary for releases with less of a
jazz feel and/or more of a
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
feel. Notable Soul artists included
Jr. Walker & the All-Stars,
Shorty Long,
Gladys Knight & the Pips,
the Originals,
the Fantastic Four, and
Jimmy Ruffin. The label was dissolved in 1978. This label has no affiliation with the short-lived S.O.U.L. Records- an early 1990s imprint that was founded by the production team
the Bomb Squad.
* V.I.P. Records: Established in 1964, V.I.P. was an R&B/soul subsidiary. Notable artists included
the Velvelettes,
the Spinners,
the Monitors,
the Elgins and
Chris Clark. V.I.P. also was the outlet for pop records that were leased to Motown by EMI (the distributor of Tamla-Motown in Europe). The label was dissolved in 1974.
* Weed Records: A very short-lived subsidiary. Only one release,
Chris Clark's 1969 ''CC Rides Again'' album, was issued. This release featured the tongue-in-cheek tagline: "Your Favorite Artists Are On Weed". The logo was a parody of the "Snapping Fingers" logo for
Stax Records, but the hand in this case is holding up a peace sign. The name "Weed Records" is now owned by the Tokyo/New York-based ''Weed Records''.
Additional genre labels
Country
* Mel-o-dy Records.: Established in 1962 as a secondary R&B/soul music subsidiary, Mel-o-dy later focused on white
country music artists. Notable Mel-o-dy artists include
Dorsey Burnette. The label was dissolved in 1965.
* Hitsville Records.: Founded as ''Melodyland Records'' in 1974. After the
Melodyland Christian Center
Melodyland Christian Center was a church in Anaheim, California, that was located a short distance east of the Disneyland Resort. The Melodyland Theater and surrounding campus started as a theater in the round and later became an evangelical Christ ...
threatened legal action, the name was changed to Hitsville in 1976. Like Mel-o-dy before it, Hitsville focused on country music. Run by
Mike Curb
Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...
and Ray Ruff, Hitsville's notable artists included
Ronnie Dove,
Pat Boone,
T. G. Sheppard
William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...
and
Jud Strunk. The label was dissolved in 1977. In the UK, Melodyland/Hitsville material was released on MoWest.
* M.C. Records: Operated 1977 to 1978 as a continuation of the Hitsville label. A joint venture between Gordy and
Mike Curb
Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...
. The Mel-o-dy, Hitsville, and M.C. catalogs are now managed by
Mercury Nashville Records.
Hip hop/rap
* Wondirection Records.: A record label owned by
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
, it had one 12-inch dance release, the 10' 35" rap track "The Crown" by
Gary Byrd and the G.B. Experience.
* Mad Sounds Recordings.: Short-lived hip-hop/rap subsidiary label, released five albums in the mid-1990s- including ''
Zig Zag'' by
Tha Mexakinz, ''Trendz'' by Trendz of Culture and ''
Rottin ta da Core
''Rottin ta da Core'' is the first and only studio album by American rap group Rottin Razkals. It was released on March 14, 1995 through Illtown/ Mad Sounds Recordings and was produced by the group's mentors, Naughty by Nature. The album managed ...
'' by
Rottin Razkals.
Jazz
* Workshop Jazz Records.: Motown's
jazz subsidiary, active from 1962 to 1964. Notable Workshop Jazz artists included the George Bohannon Trio,
Earl Washington All Stars, and
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.
Founded as the ...
(whose recordings for the label went unissued for 30 years). The Workshop Jazz catalog is currently managed by
Verve Records.
*
Blaze Records.: A short-lived label featuring a
Jack Ashford instrumental released in September 1969, "Do The Choo-Choo" with b-side "Do The Choo-Choo Pt II" written by L. Chandler, E. Willis, J. Ashford, with label number 1107.
* Mo Jazz Records.: Another jazz label created in the 1990s, this was Motown's most successful jazz imprint. Notable artists included
Norman Brown,
Foley,
Norman Connors, and J. Spencer. It also reissued instrumental albums like
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
's 1968 album ''
Eivets Rednow
''Eivets Rednow'' is an easy listening instrumental album by Stevie Wonder released on the Gordy Records label in 1968. The album was created as a follow-up to the successful easy listening instrumental Single (music), single "Alfie (Burt Bacharac ...
'' and
Grover Washington Jr.
Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.
He wr ...
's CTI/Kudu albums under the Classic Mo Jazz subsidiary. This label (including its roster and catalog) was folded into Verve Records after the PolyGram/Universal merger.
Rock
* Rare Earth Records.: Established in 1969 after the signing of
Rare Earth (after whom the label was named), Rare Earth Records was a subsidiary focusing on rock music by white artists. Notable acts included Rare Earth,
R. Dean Taylor
Richard Dean Taylor (May 11, 1939 – January 7, 2022) was a Canadian musician, most notable as a singer, songwriter, and record producer for Motown during the 1960s and 1970s. According to Jason Ankeny, Taylor was "one of the most underra ...
,
the Pretty Things,
Love Sculpture,
Kiki Dee,
Toe Fat,
The Cats and
Shaun Murphy (both solo and her
collaborations
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Mos ...
with
Meat Loaf). The label also was the subsidiary to house the first white band signed to Motown,
the Rustix.
* Prodigal Records.: Purchased by Motown in 1976, Motown used Prodigal Records as a second rock music subsidiary; a successor label to Rare Earth Records. The Rare Earth band moved over to the label following the Rare Earth label's demise. Pop singer
Charlene's #3 pop single for Motown ''
I've Never Been To Me'' was originally released and charted on this label in 1977 (#97). Prodigal was dissolved in 1978.
* Morocco Records.: Acronym for "MOtown ROCk COmpany". As the name suggests, Morocco was a rock music subsidiary. Active from 1983 to 1984, it was a short-lived attempt to revive the Rare Earth Records concept. Only seven albums were released on the label. Its two most promising acts,
Duke Jupiter
Duke Jupiter was an American rock band from Rochester, New York. They were active in the 1970s and 1980s on Mercury Records, CBS Records, and the Motown subsidiaries Morocco Records and Powerglide Records. They are best known for their hit single ...
and the
black new wave trio
Tiggi Clay
Fizzy Qwick (born February 9, 1953)
is an American singer and songwriter who has recorded in various musical styles ranging from R&B to new wave. Her recordings from the early 1980s have become popular among fans of Northern soul since the ea ...
(via their lead singer,
Fizzy Qwick
Fizzy Qwick (born February 9, 1953)
is an American singer and songwriter who has recorded in various musical styles ranging from R&B to new wave. Her recordings from the early 1980s have become popular among fans of Northern soul since the ea ...
) eventually moved to the parent label.
Other
* Divinity Records.: Short-lived (1962–1963) gospel subsidiary. With five releases by artists- Wright Specials, Gospel Stars, Bernadettes, and
Liz Lands Elizabeth Lands (February 11, 1939 – January 11, 2013) was an American soul singer. Her purported five octave vocal range started her Motown career before Berry Gordy tried to make a name for her in the R&B/Pop market on Gordy Records.
Life and ...
. Label sequence starts at 99004 to 99008, the final recording being "
We Shall Overcome" (for label number 99008) that was recorded in the
Graystone Ballroom, was withdrawn and transferred to GORDY 7023B as the "
I Have A Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...
" speech by Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
* Black Forum Records.: Short-lived (1970–1973)
spoken-word subsidiary that focused mainly on albums featuring progressive political and pro-civil rights speeches/poetry. Black Forum issued recordings by the Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.,
Stokely Carmichael,
Elaine Brown,
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
,
Margaret Danner
Margaret Danner (1915–1984) (Margaret Esse Danner, Margaret Danner Cunningham) was an American poet, editor and cultural activist known for her poetic imagery and her celebration of African heritage and cultural forms.
Early life and Chicago ye ...
, and others.
Rickey Vincent, "Louder Than a Bomb: On The Sounds of Black Power" (review of Pat Thomas, ''Listen, Whitey!: the Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975'')
, ''Los Angeles Review of Books'', October 17, 2012.
* Natural Resources: This label was active from 1972 to 1973 and in 1976 as a minor subsidiary for white artists and instrumental bands. It later served as a label for Motown, Tamla and Gordy reissues and Motown compilation albums in 1978 and 1979.
* Motown Latino Records.: Short-lived (1982) subsidiary for Spanish-language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
Latin American music
The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Romance-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporates African music from enslaved African people who were ...
. Its only artist was Jose Feliciano.
* Gaiee Records.: Only one single was released on this label, in 1975; Valentino's "Gay/Lesbian" anthem "I Was Born This Way
"I Was Born This Way" is a disco song written by Chris Spierer and Bunny Jones. The song was first recorded by Valentino, released in 1975, then by Carl Bean in 1977 (both artists for Motown).
The record was first released on the Motown-distrib ...
", which was later covered by fellow Motown artist Carl Bean in 1977.
Independent labels distributed by Motown
* Biv 10 Records: A hip-hop/R&B label that was founded by Bell Biv Devoe/ New Edition member Michael Bivins. The label operated throughout most of the 1990s. Its roster included Another Bad Creation
Another Bad Creation (sometimes called ABC for short) Overview )))"> allmusic ((( Another Bad Creation > Overview ))) Retrieved November 7, 2007. Demetrius and Marliss ("Red" and "Mark", respectively) Pugh, as well as Adrian "G.A." (General Austi ...
, Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...
, and 702.
* Chisa Records: Motown released output for Chisa, a label owned by Hugh Masekela, from 1969 to 1972 (prior to that, the label was distributed by Vault Records).
* CTI Records: Motown distributed output for CTI Records, a jazz label owned by Creed Taylor
Creed Bane Taylor V (May 13, 1929 – August 22, 2022) was an American record producer, best known for his work with CTI Records, which he founded in 1967. His career also included periods at Bethlehem Records, ABC-Paramount Records (including ...
, from 1974 to 1975. CTI subsidiaries distributed by Motown included Kudu Records, Three Brothers Records, and Salvation Records. With a few exceptions, the bulk of CTI's recordings is now owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
* Ecology Records: A very short-lived label owned by Sammy Davis Jr. and distributed by Motown. Only release: single "In My Own Lifetime"/"I'll Begin Again", by Davis in 1971.
* Gull Records: A UK-based label still in operation, Motown released Gull's output in the US in 1975. Gull had Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
on its roster in 1975, but their LP '' Sad Wings of Destiny'', intended for release by Motown in the US, was issued after the Motown/Gull Deal had fallen through.
* Manticore Records: A record label created by the members of the rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Manticore released albums by ELP and various other Progressive rock artists. Manticore was originally distributed in the U.S. by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
from 1973 to 1975 but switched to Motown distribution until the label folded in 1977.
* Never Broke Again: A record label founded by YoungBoy Never Broke Again. The label releases compilation albums and has its own artists signed to the Motown/NBA imprint.
Miscellaneous labels associated with Motown
* Groovesville Records
* Inferno Records
* IPG Records
* Rayber Records
* Ric-Tic Records
* Rich Records
* Summer Camp Records
* Tabu Records
British (pre-Tamla Motown) labels
* London American Records issued the releases for Motown from 1960 to 1961.
* Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label.
History
Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...
issued the releases for Motown from 1961 to 1962.
* Oriole American Records issued the releases for Motown from 1962 to 1963.
* Stateside Records issued the releases for Motown from 1963 to 1965, when the Tamla Motown label was created.
See also
* Album era
* Hitsville USA
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters and recording studio. The house (formerly a photographers' studio) is located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, near the New Center area. The house was purch ...
* Motown discography This is the discography for Motown as well as its subsidiaries and imprints.
Singles
Number-one singles
This is a list of singles released on one of the various labels owned by Motown that reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United ...
* Music of Detroit
References
Citations
Print sources
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Official Motown Records website
Official Classic Motown website
The Motown Museum
*
What Makes Motown Sound Like Motown?
at Reverb.com, Archive
/small>
The Motown Invasion
2009 BBC Documentary, at YouTube
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1959 establishments in Michigan
African-American music
African-American cultural history
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Companies based in New York City
Companies based in Los Angeles
History of Detroit
Labels distributed by Universal Music Group
Music of Detroit
Music scenes
Pop record labels
Record labels based in California
Record labels based in Michigan
Record labels established in 1959
Rhythm and blues record labels
Soul music record labels
Soul music genres
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