Mo.town (mo'toun') adj [a trademark for phonograph records, etc. Mo(tor) Town, nickname for Detroit, Mich] designating or of style of rhythm and blues characterized by a strong, even beat.
- Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language
The legend that is Tamla Motown started in 1959 when Ford worker and part-time songwriter
Berry Gordy Jr
borrowed $800 to set up a studio. From his first hit onward - the prophetic
Money (That's What I Want)
- he set out to create a crossover style, targeting his records at white and black consumers alike.
Early Motown hits were pure
formula
. Gordy softened the blue notes of most contemporary black music in favor of a more danceable, poppy beat, with
gospel
-influenced singing and clapping. Prime examples of the early approach featured all-female groups like the
Marvelettes
(
Needle in a Haystack
), the
Supremes
(
Baby Love
) and
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
(
Nowhere to Run
), as well as the all-male
Miracles
(
Tracks of My Tears
), featuring the sophisticated love lyrics of lead singer
Smokey Robinson
. Gordy's "Quality Control Department" scrutinized every beat, playing all recordings through speakers modeled on cheap transistor radios before the final mix.
The Motown organization was an intense, close-knit community:
Marvin Gaye
married Gordy's sister. "Little"
Stevie Wonder
was the baby of the family. It did, however, move with the times, utilizing such innovations as the wah-wah pedal and synthesizer. By the late 1960s its output had acquired a harder sound, crowned by the acid soul productions of Norman Whitfield with the versatile
Temptations
. In 1968 the organization outgrew its premises on Grand Avenue; four years later it abandoned Detroit altogether for LA, to be closer to Hollywood. Befitting the MOR tastes of the 1970s, the top sellers now were the high-society soul of
Diana Ross
and the ballads of the
Commodores
. White artists began to appear on the label: Tom Jones is said to have turned down a contract, though R. Dean Taylor (
Indiana Wants Me
) and the less successful Kiki Dee accepted.
The 1970s saw many top artists, dissatisfied with Gordy's constant intervention, leave the label. The crack songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, responsible for most of the
Four Tops
' hits, stayed in Detroit to produce the seminal
Chairmen of the Board
(
Gimme Just A Little More Time
), along with
Aretha Franklin
and
Jackie Wilson
.
Today Motown is owned by the giant
PolyGram
corporation. Artists on the label include Boyz II Men, Queen Latifah and, to this day, Stevie Wonder.
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