"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). 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"
"Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. 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 significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the"
"Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. 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 significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the"
"for African-American owned label, Motown Records. Motown would mastermind several major girl groups, including Martha and the Vandellas, the Velvelettes, and the Supremes. Other songwriters and producers in the US and UK quickly recognized the potential of this new approach and recruited existing acts (or, in some cases, created new ones) to record their songs in a girl-group style. Phil Spector recruited the Crystals, the Blossoms, and the Ronettes, while Goffin and King penned two hit songs for the Cookies. Phil Spector made a huge impact on the ubiquity of the girl group, as well as bringing fame and notoriety"
"became a major influence on surf, as well as the chart-topping girl groups including The Angels and The Shangri-Las, only some of whom were white. In 1959, Berry Gordy founded Motown Records, the first record label to primarily feature African-American artists aimed at achieving crossover success. The label developed an innovative—and commercially successful—style of soul music with distinctive pop elements. Its early roster included The Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Supremes, and others. Black divas such as Aretha Franklin became '60s crossover stars. In the UK, British blues became a gradually mainstream phenomenon, returning to"
"book of the same name. The Motown Sound played an important role in the crossover appeal with popular music, since it was the first African American owned record label to primarily feature African-American artists. Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in 1972 to pursue film production, but the company has since returned to Detroit. Aretha Franklin, another Detroit R&B star, carried the Motown Sound; however, she did not record with Berry's Motown Label. Local artists and bands rose to prominence in the 1960s and 70s including: the MC5, The Stooges, Bob Seger, Amboy Dukes featuring Ted Nugent, Mitch Ryder and"
"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. 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"
"Motown Record Corporation of Detroit, Michigan became highly successful during the early and mid-1960s by releasing soul recordings with heavy pop influences to make them palatable to white audiences, allowing black artists to more easily cross over to white audiences. Pure soul was popularized by Otis Redding and the other artists of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee. By the late 1960s, Atlantic recording artist Aretha Franklin had emerged as the most popular female soul star in the country. Also by this time, soul had splintered into several genres, influenced by psychedelic rock and other styles. The social and political ferment"
"wanted to get away from Motown and have a good life. But it helped a lot of people, like Luther Vandross and the Mary Jane Girls, and a lot of different artists, to be able to get out of their contracts."" She left Motown as the label's most successful white solo act. Contacted by Epic Records in the fall of 1982, after expressing dismay over her Motown contract, Teena Marie signed a worldwide deal with the Columbia Records subsidiary that also allowed her to establish her own publishing company, Midnight Magnet. Epic released the concept album ""Robbery"", which featured the"
"down Universal Motown Republic Group. Universal Motown Records 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 rock artists on the label (along with its sub-labels) as well. In 2005, Motown Records was merged with the urban artists on Universal Records to create Universal Motown Records, headed by former CEO of Elektra Records Sylvia Rhone, and placed under the newly created umbrella division of Universal Motown Republic Group. Motown Records"
"(Little Stevie Wonder). Oriole released nineteen Motown releases on their black and white Oriole American label, while seven albums appeared on the normal black and yellow Oriole label. The company was known as Tamla Motown outside the US, and these were some of its rarest releases. The Oriole record company had two record pressing factories, one situated in Aston Clinton and the other in Colnbrook. It lasted until 21 September 1964, when it was bought by CBS, parent of the American Columbia Records, who were looking to set up their own manufacturing facility in the UK. The result ended the"
"Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., born November 28, 1929) is an American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and its subsidiaries, which was the highest-earning African-American business for decades. Berry Gordy III (also known as Berry Gordy Jr.) was born on November 28, 1929 in Detroit, to the middle-class family of Berry Gordy II (also known as Berry Gordy Sr.), who had relocated to Detroit from Oconee in Washington County, Georgia, in 1922. The first Berry Gordy was"
"had produced more than 100 top ten and number-one singles on various ""Billboard"" charts and had become the most successful black business company ever. By founding Motown Records, Gordy became the first African-American owner of a major recording label. He retired from being president of Motown Records in 1973 and from Motown Industries in 1988; he sold Motown's interest for $61 million to MCA Records and Boston Ventures. Gordy was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his musical achievements the same year he sold Motown. Robert Louis Gordy (July 15, 1931 – ) is best known"
"Motown in 1967 and later sued the label over disputes about royalties. She and her then-husband William ""Mickey"" Stevenson (former A&R head at Motown) both went to MGM Records. Weston cut a couple of singles for MGM, ""I Got What You Need,"" and ""Nobody,"" which went largely unnoticed due to lack of airplay and promotion. She made an album for the label, ""This Is America,"" which included her popular version of the Black National Anthem, ""Lift Every Voice and Sing"". This was released as a single and featured in the movie Wattstax. All the money from the single was donated"
"Motown was absorbed into the Universal Music Group. 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"
"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"
"legendary record label. Berry Gordy, Jr. founded Motown Records which rose to prominence during the 1960s and early 1970s with acts such as Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Diana Ross & The Supremes, the Jackson 5, Martha and the Vandellas, The Spinners, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Marvelettes, The Elgins, The Monitors, The Velvelettes and Marvin Gaye. Artists were backed by in-house vocalists The Andantes and The Funk Brothers, the Motown house band that was featured in Paul Justman's 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, based on Allan Slutsky's"
"established for him and formed Tamla Records in January of that year. The label didn't become national until later that year after the success of Barrett Strong's ""Money (That's What I Want)"", and the label changed its name to Motown Records in December. Its first national release was The Miracles' ""Way Over There"". After 1964, Motown became one of the most successful recording labels in the business and ""The Motown Sound"", partially cultivated by Gordy, began to dominate popular music and pop culture. Gordy soon developed Motown Industries in 1968, which developed television specials and variety shows. By 1973, Motown"
"Universal Motown Records 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 rock artists on the label (along with its sub-labels) as well. In 2005, Motown Records was merged with the urban artists on Universal Records to create Universal Motown Records, headed by former CEO of Elektra Records Sylvia Rhone, and placed under the newly created umbrella division of Universal Motown Republic Group. Motown Records began celebrating its fiftieth anniversary"
"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."
"had claimed, that ""Dancing in the Street"" was a call to riot. To Reeves, the query was patently absurd. 'My Lord, it was a party song,' she remarked in retrospect"" (Smith 221). While Berry Gordy had created the Black Forum label to preserve black thought and creative writing, he kept the Motown record label and the popular hits it produced from being too political. ""Berry Gordy Jr. was extremely wary about affiliating his business with any organization of movement that might negatively influence his company's commercial success"" (Smith 230). ""Motown records had a distinct role to play in the city's"
"mod band The Small Faces, whose sound was heavily influenced by the Stax label's house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Blue-eyed soul singer Chris Clark became the first white singer to have an R&B hit with Motown Records in 1966. In 1969, Kiki Dee became the first British artist to sign and record with Motown. Some British rock groups of the 1960s—such as the Spencer Davis Group, the Animals, the Rolling Stones (""My Girl""), and the Who (""Heat Wave"")—covered Motown and rhythm and blues tracks. In 1967, Jerry Lee Lewis, whose latter days at Sun Records (1961–63) had been"
"1988. In his 17 years at Motown, Miller has been credited with being a key to the success of numerous artists, including Rick James, DeBarge and the Commodores. He also worked with Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross. After the sale of Motown, Miller worked for a decade at RCA Records. He was the senior vice president of black, jazz and progressive music at RCA, where he was credited with rejuvenating the label’s black music division. He discovered and developed SWV, Me Phi Me and Stacy Earl. He also helped develop to the rap genre, working with DJ Jazzy"
"The Motown sound often includes hand clapping, a powerful bassline, violins and bells. Motown Records' house band was The Funk Brothers. AllMusic cites Motown as the pioneering label of pop-soul, a style of soul music with raw vocals, but polished production and toned-down subject matter intended for pop radio and crossover success. Artists of this style included Diana Ross, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, and Billy Preston. Popular during the 1960s, the style became glossier during the 1970s and led to disco. The terms ""deep soul"" and ""southern soul"" generally refer to a driving, energetic soul style combining R&B's energy"
"and roll. It was owned by Jack and Devora Brown, a husband and wife business team who would operate the label with help from their son, Sheldon Brown. The label's biggest stars included John Lee Hooker, Nolan Strong, Andre Williams and Nathaniel Mayer. The label would release more than 800 vinyl records before stopping original releases in the 1970s. While Fortune never made it to Motown's height of fame, artists like the late Nolan Strong proved to be influential. In his autobiography, Smokey Robinson named Strong as one of his biggest and earliest influences. Andre Williams and Nathaniel Mayer both"
"Motown's famed Studio A in Hitsville U.S.A. with the Funk Brothers, Motown's in-house band, but the results remained unreleased. By April 1971 Beck had completed the line-up of this new group with guitarist/vocalist Bobby Tench, keyboard player Max Middleton and bassist Clive Chaman. The new band performed as ""the Jeff Beck Group"" but had a substantially different sound from the first line-up. ""Rough and Ready"" (October 1971), the first album they recorded, on which Beck wrote or co-wrote six of the album's seven tracks (the exception being written by Middleton), included elements of soul, rhythm-and-blues and jazz, foreshadowing the direction"
"with Motown songwriter and record producer Jeffrey Bowen; they later married. Bowen was involved in setting up Invictus Records with Holland, Dozier and Holland, and Copeland signed a contract with the newly-formed company in 1969. According to Copeland, ""their plan was to create another Diana Ross – only white this time."" Bowen began producing records for the label, and Copeland became one of the label's first performers (and one of a minority of white artists on the soul-focused label) as a member of the newly signed group The New Play. They released a single ""A Gift of Me"" / ""The"
"Hall Center for the Performing Arts and the Gem Theatre and Century Club. In 1959, Berry Gordy founded Motown Records, one of the first black-owned record labels. Over the next decade, a number of top artists, including The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, signed with the label. The Second Baptist Church once served as ""station"" for the Underground Railroad. A monument to the Underground Railroad was erected in 2001 at Hart Plaza downtown. The Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan-African Orthodox Christian Church was founded in 1953 by the Rev. Albert B. Cleage. One of"
"the ""Natural Resources"" album. For their next project, Motown decided to recruit the hotly new hit-making producers for the label: The Corporation, to help them with producing their new album. Among the first singles they worked on was a Jackson 5-styled funky dance record titled ""Bless You"". Featuring Martha and the Vandellas members, it also included additional harmony singing parts by The Andantes, who coincidentally were also going through their final years with the company. Released in the fall of 1971, ""Bless You"" briefly brought the group back to modest success on the ""Billboard"" Hot 100 where it reached number"
"its distribution deal with the company terminated, and began releasing its product through PolyGram. PolyGram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later. In 1994, Busby was replaced by Andre Harrell, 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. By 1998, Motown had added stars such as 702, Brian McKnight, and Erykah Badu to its roster. In December 1998, PolyGram was acquired by Seagram, and"
"album, ""Now That's What I Call Motown"", was released on the Universal Motown label. The series was re-issued by the budget label Spectrum, starting in 1997. The clear differences between the two releases are the logos on the disc and cover: the original release has the Tamla Motown logo; the re-release has the Motown logo. After its success in the UK, Motown went on to release variants of the compilation format in other counties such as the United States and Australia. There were also various releases on the same type of platform, such as ""Motown Chartbusters"", ""150 Hits of Gold"""
"students wanted me to play Spooky Tooth 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 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 (which began a US distribution deal with the label in 1983) and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61"
"show up, and Londin substituted. As young men, Larrie Londin and his bassist brother Lonnie aka Eugene Bunten were members of The Headliners, the first white act to be signed to a Motown record label. In 1965, two singles were released by the Headliners. During his time at Motown, Londin commenced his career as a session drummer, following a heart attack suffered by Funk Brothers session drummer Benny Benjamin. Motown owner Berry Gordy asked Londin to play at various sessions, rather than cancel them, due to Benjamin's health challenges. Londin played drums on recordings by The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The"