Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Motown turns 50, but the party's far from over
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
Yahoo! Search
Search:
Sign InNew User? Sign Up
News Home -
Help
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Asia Pacific
World
Search
Search:
Motown turns 50, but the party's far from over
By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and JEFF KAROUB,Associated Press Writers AP - Saturday, September 5
DETROIT - On Jan. 12, 1959, Elvis Presley was in the Army. The Beatles were a little-known group called The Quarrymen casting about for gigs in Liverpool. The nascent rock 'n' roll world was a few weeks away from "the day the music died" _ when a single-engine plane crash claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.
ADVERTISEMENT
It's also the day a boxer, assembly line worker and songwriter named Berry Gordy Jr. used an $800 family loan to start a record company in Detroit.
Fifty years later, Motown Records Corp. and its stable of largely African-American artists have become synonymous with the musical, social and cultural fabric of America. The company spawned household names, signature grooves and anthems for the boulevard and bedroom alike that transcended geography and race.
And time.
Motown may be 50 years old, but it isn't any less relevant with current hitmakers _ from Taylor Swift to Coldplay _ citing the label's signature "sound" as an influence.
Would there be a Beyonce or Mariah Carey had Diana Ross, Martha Reeves and Gladys Knight not come first?
How about Kanye West and Justin Timberlake? What would have become of their musical careers had Motown not blazed a trail with the likes of Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and The Four Tops?
"There were just so many amazing artists that came through. It was such a surge," said singer-songwriter Jewel, whose recently released collection of original lullabies includes Motown influences. "And it really informed The Beatles' melodies. So much of what pop music and popular culture became. I recommend everybody go back and look at those melodies and see where they find them today, because they're resurfacing and being remixed, basically, into new pop songs."
From its founding in 1959 to a much-debated move to Los Angeles 13 years later, what has become known as "classic Motown" created a once-in-a-lifetime sound that was local and global, black and white, gritty and gorgeous, commercial and creative, Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"I Heard it Through the Grapevine." "My Girl." "The Tears of a Clown."
Like the two-sided singles the Motown factory churned out 24 hours a day, seven days a week at Studio A inside the Hitsville, U.S.A., building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Motown Records in the 1960s stood out from the musical pack _ and still does today _ because of its ability to tune the tension between two opposing forces.
The Associated Press, on the occasion of Motown's 50th, invited both Motown greats and heavyweights from the worlds of music and beyond to discuss how the legendary Detroit musical movement's sound, style, savvy and sensuality have stood the test of time.
___
GETTING STARTED:
"The thing that struck me was how ferociously determined he had to be to borrow that 800 bucks and start with nothing." _ Bill Clinton, former U.S. president
___
The tale of the $800 loan has become the stuff of legend.
Gordy worked at a Ford Motor Co. plant and wrote songs when he could, all the while dreaming of owning and running his own record company.
The loan from his family's savings club allowed him to make that happen.
He had the vision and the seed money, but next Gordy needed the talent _ the singers, songwriters and musicians.
He didn't have far to look.
Detroit alone produced many of the creative wizards who gave Motown its initial burst.
Robinson and the Miracles attended high school together, while Ross and future Supremes Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard grew up in the city's housing projects.
Gordy plucked from Detroit's flourishing nightclub scene a group of supremely talented jazz musicians who would become the label's house band, the Funk Brothers. Strings, winds and brass came from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and other classical outlets.
And the prolific songwriting trio known as Holland-Dozier-Holland _ Lamont Dozier and the Holland brothers, Brian and Eddie _ also were local hires.
The talent was there. Now what?
Gordy sought to incorporate some of the same principles from the auto factory floor and bring them to bear in the studio on West Grand.
He wanted it to be a place where everybody had a role, but the best ideas would win.
"Berry Gordy made sure everything they put out was 100 percent fierce, 100 percent listenable," said R&B singer Patti LaBelle, who was not a Motown artist but rose alongside it in the 1960s.
"Then, you know if you ... put on a Motown record, you were going to hear something with substance."
___
MUSICIANSHIP/CREATIVITY
"Berry Gordy _ people think of him as an entrepreneur, but he's a songwriter at heart, which makes total sense. You have a songwriter here and amazing songs. A guy has the brilliance to understand that it starts with great songs." _ Anita Baker, R&B singer
___
Of course, it started with songs, but even that came with a competition more common to commerce than art.
Gordy knew cooperation was crucial but rivalries among singers as well as songwriting teams would be the best way to get a record out the door and onto the top of the charts.
"If (songwriter) Norman Whitfield had a No. 1 hit on The Temptations, Holland-Dozier-Holland would say, `Shoot, we gotta get a No. 1 with The Four Tops. Come on in here, Tops,'" recalled Abdul "Duke" Fakir, the lone surviving original member of The Four Tops, which signed with Motown in 1963 and produced 20 top 40 hits during the next decade.
"I'd say, `Yeah man, you'd better hurry up, man. I got a bet with The Temptations we're gonna have one in the next two weeks.' We would just push and push and push."
Fakir says there was a relentlessness on all levels of the recording process.
"Nothing was done generically. I've been to a lot of sessions outside of Motown where the session is very generic, very laid-back ... very professional, and there's no guts and blood," he said. "But here, everything was done with passion."
In 1965, during his label's ascendancy, Gordy said passion helped spur Motown to greatness.
"I talked about this one night over dinner with Smokey and Diana Ross," he told AP at the time. "We thought back about the neighborhoods we were in ... and we came up with a six-word definition: rats, roaches, struggle, talent, guts, love."
Motown left nothing to chance: A "quality control" committee met weekly to review the latest sonic offerings. Gordy was the final arbiter, but posed this question: Would you buy the record or a sandwich if you were down to your last dollar?
Don Felder, former guitarist for the Eagles and co-writer of their hit "Hotel California," says the results rarely failed.
"I don't know if anybody ever sat down and looked at the percentages of acts that Berry actually signed, recorded and released and the percentages of hits versus failures. But his track record has just been astronomical. ... He has just, in my opinion, the ears of a genius."
___
SOUND/RECORDING:
"You had naturally gifted engineers and producers that didn't let that technical expertise interfere with that rawness. ... Somehow the ... engineer/producers, thank God, either admittedly or just instinctually saw when these guys started jamming it just sounded good." _ Ted Nugent, rock guitarist and singer
___
Gordy may have been blessed with an unparalleled ability to recognize hits, but many say those great songs probably would've been a bit more ordinary if not for Studio A.
It didn't look like anything special _ certainly by today's standards of digitized recording _ but the sounds it produced were.
"You didn't have Pro Tools. It was perfectly imperfect," said country star Wynonna Judd. "You had a lot of people who were sweaty and tired and who were singing from their toenails. ... If you can't cop it live, get off the porch."
A square, smallish room, Studio A was accessed by descending a small flight of stairs. Its below-ground standing earned it the nickname "The Snake Pit."
There, artists, writers, producers, engineers _ anybody associated with music-making _ gathered to record.
For 13 years, nearly every Motown hit was cut in Studio A and the adjacent control room.
The Funk Brothers set up shop _ James Jamerson on bass, Benny Benjamin on drums and so on _ and the singers did their thing, all face-to-face in the same room.
"The studio itself is its own beast. It can take away or it can add to the sounds you're making with your instruments," said pop singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw. "Some rooms are dead. You play a note, and the sound disappears.
"Some rooms they ring too much. Acoustically, they're just too active. But some of them, they just have good sound. The (Motown) recordings I've heard come out of that room. I listen to those recordings all the time, and I think: `Why does that room sound so good?' There's something to be said for it."
DeGraw liked the Motown recording approach so much that he rereleased his 2003 hit album "Chariot" a year later in a "stripped" format.
"I was really using that Motown ... sound as a template," he said. "I was thinking about those records and the rawness of those records."
The "sound" itself was a blend of traditional gospel, jazz, R&B and pop that had crossover appeal for audiences of all ages and races.
___
SOCIAL CHANGE/RACE:
"It was the first, I think, black record company that was able to make the transition ... and was not only for the black music audience but also for a world music audience. I think that's what Motown represented." _ Danny Glover, actor and activist
___
When Motown was born, as Robinson tells it, songs produced by African-American artists automatically were categorized as R&B, while a similar sound coming from a white artist would have been classified as pop.
But Gordy would have none of it. He set out to make music for all people, not "black music for black people" as had been the standard. While certain African-American artists had found a wider audience in the jazz and early rock-and-roll eras, Gordy took it a step further by pushing a sound that gained universal appeal and helped break down racial barriers in music.
His belief was that quality music would find its way into the ears of all, regardless of race.
"I think that's why it was so successful as a social tool, because it wasn't race-specific," DeGraw said. "It was just great music.
"And it allowed people to look past those typical lines. ... People could hear music like that in a time when people were looking at each other strangely, wondering what their motivations were, and they could go: `Hey man, OK, no one's holding a grudge. It just sounds good. Let's enjoy ourselves.'"
For Baker, Motown's barrier-busting ways hit home.
"I remember `The Ed Sullivan Show.' ... I'm a little kid. Every Sunday, Ed Sullivan comes on. And you get to see all of these artists from around the world. But Diana Ross and The Supremes come on. And I saw myself. Do you understand? I saw me," she said. "I saw a little black girl. ... I saw myself in a way I had never seen it before."
Motown billed itself as the "sound of young America," and it was that demographic that found itself at the center of the growing civil rights movement. Rosa Parks was arrested in Alabama a few years before Motown's founding, but the movement gained steam at the same time Motown did.
"Back in the '60s, when we were weren't allowed to do or go certain places, our music crept into people's homes ... into their bathrooms, their bedrooms, their living rooms, their kitchens, their cars," Fakir said. "We spurred marriages and poor little crib babies ... 'cause parents were playing (our) music. ... That's how our legacy is going to be carried on."
____
LEGACY:
"That sound is just as alive today. And that sound still stands up. ... Everybody in the whole wide world has been influenced by Detroit and the Motown sound." _ Dolly Parton, country singer, songwriter and actress
___
Motown was groundbreaking in many ways _ from its signature sound and lengthy list of high-profile artists to the unique way it created and recorded music _ but what's harder to pin down is what's kept the sound alive all these years.
"You hear (Motown) in almost everything," said Wilson, one-third of The Supremes. "I think Motown music, the Motown sound, is the model, the template that people use today in the music, and yes, you can hear it."
For many artists, it's inevitable that they would tread over some of the same ground because of the music's quality and distinctiveness.
"You can't get within sniffing distance of music, whether as a performer or listener, without being definitively impacted by these gods of thunder from Motown," said Nugent, the "Motor City Madman" who as a teenager played in a band that opened for The Supremes at Cobo Hall in Detroit.
Swift, a country singer-songwriter, admits it: She's one of the those whose sound is influenced by Motown. The 19-year-old, who has entered the realm of superstardom after back-to-back multi-platinum albums, says she and her father listened to his Motown greatest hits CD on the way to school.
"From an early age I had a bunch of different musical influences, but Motown I was just always so fascinated by the chord progression and how the lyrics and the melodies are so simple but they made you feel so much. I think that's the art of Motown," Swift said.
Another of the music world's hottest young acts, the Jonas Brothers, couldn't hide their glee at performing on this year's Grammy Awards telecast with Wonder, saying beforehand both they and their father grew up on the Motown legend's songs.
Not only did Motown bridge racial and generational gaps, but it also succeeded in crossing cultures.
Beatles manager Brian Epstein promoted Motown revues in the United Kingdom, which were popular with fans and stars alike. Fakir recalls being at a party with The Beatles, where the Fab Four peppered The Four Tops with questions about how they sang their harmonies and achieved other elements of their sound.
Motown even penetrated the Iron Curtain.
"I was in Russia some years ago before the walls came down. And we couldn't hardly get into Russia at that time _ the Cold War," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson. "All night long they played The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson. So the joy of Motown has been infectious around the world."
___
CODA:
"Let's just say it's a collision of grit and beauty. They're raw records. ... But they're beautifully crafted. They're wonderful to listen to, on every level." _ Don Was, record producer and musician
___
Another global sensation, the late Michael Jackson, also got his start at Motown as a member of The Jackson 5.
Gordy, at Jackson's memorial service in July, talked about the 10-year-old prodigy he signed, calling him "the greatest entertainer that ever lived."
Jackson and his brothers became instant teen sensation, but his stratospheric success came post-Motown in his adult years; he and his brothers left the label in the mid-1970s.
The Jackson 5 were one of the first acts to come up as Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Most agree Motown's own California adventure has had its moments, but they don't match what happened in its hometown.
The Jackson 5, Gaye, Robinson, Ross and Wonder made the transition to L.A. and had chart-topping success, as did acts ranging from The Commodores to Rick James. Despite the plentiful hits among them, the sound was being challenged by newer grooves, and Motown lacked the deep roster it once had.
But by 1988, Gordy was ready to move on, selling Motown Records to MCA and a private equity firm. It was sold to PolyGram in the 1990s and now is held by Universal, where current acts include Lil' Wayne, Erykah Badu and Nelly.
Regardless of its present physical location, Motown is a Detroit creation, and that struggling Midwestern metropolis always will identify itself with the music.
"I'm glad they started in Detroit, and I hope that given the troubles they've got in Detroit now I hope they'll find some new version of Motown _ maybe in clean energy or something _ and 50 years from now somebody will be interviewed about that because Detroit gave America a great gift there," Clinton said.
Gordy and Robinson don't get back to Detroit all that often these days, but they were front and center at Hitsville on a crisp day this past March.
Contestants on the smash Fox singing competition "American Idol" came to Studio A to film segments for the show.
"I called it `Motown,' rather than `Motor City,' because there was more warmth here," Gordy told reporters that day. "The town was just beautiful. ... I may have left Detroit but wherever I go I carry Detroit with me. They know that's a Detroiter."
Robinson said the building that now houses the Motown Historical Museum was where "his real life began."
But the music that Robinson and scores more churned out of the cramped, sweaty confines of Studio A between 1959 to 1972 belong no more to them than the world.
"You can't ever know why something becomes timeless, whether it's the Jacksons, anybody. Beethoven _ we don't know," said Leonard Slatkin, music director of the Detroit Symphony.
"Maybe it's a simple thing: It's infectious. ... Something about this music _ I don't think of as being from the '60s or '70s anymore when I listen to it. It seems very fresh and new."
___
AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York contributed to this report.
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Sign in to recommend this article »
0 users recommend
Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle
No prosecution for guard in Conn. model scuffleAP - 1 hour 23 minutes ago
Motown vignettes: Clinton, Judd, others talk musicAP - Saturday, September 5
Motown turns 50, but the party's far from overAP - Saturday, September 5
Beatles playing for keeps with "Rock Band" gameReuters - Saturday, September 5
Audigier won't make Jackson's home a public spaceAP - Saturday, September 5
Most Popular – Entertainment
Viewed
Poignant final farewell as Jackson laid to rest
Chappaquiddick 'haunts me,' Kennedy said
World heading for climate 'abyss': UN chief
First baby born from new egg-screening technique
US unemployment hits 9.7%, job losses narrow further
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service
- Community
- Intellectual Property Rights Policy
- Help
Other News on Saturday, 5 September 2009 U.S., Israel on collision course over settlements
Merkel juggernaut rumbling toward victory: polls
Got a dream but no cash? The Internet can help
US unemployment hits 9.7%, job losses narrow further
Israeli plan for settlement building angers US
Iraq sends thousands more police to Syrian border
W.House denounces Israeli settlement plans
Azerbaijan puts opposition bloggers on trial
Turkey says Georgia to free tanker captain
Iraq sends anti-militant police to Syrian border
Canadian firm predicts victory in Microsoft patent case
Iran cleric says "time to export the revolution"
French soldier killed in Afghanistan: Sarkozy
Samsung: LED TV sales to grow at least five fold in '10
Britain, US defend Afghanistan strategy
Samsung: LED TV sales to grow at least five fold in '10
Ala. man dies when hit by train for second time
Court to give same-day audio in Clinton movie case
Charter boats in Gulf accused of breaking laws
Montana mom pleads guilty, drove son to break-ins
Got a dream but no cash? The Internet can help
| Technology
|
Cops: Calif. corrections worker held wife captive
Motorola to sink or swim on Android phones
| Technology
|
Philly DA hopeful dons monitoring bracelet
Mobile technology may help city dwellers hitch ride
| Technology
|
Tahoe kidnap case prompts look at other cold cases
Five dead in latest unrest in far-west China
Big chunk of space junk misses space station
Police: Texas grandma made bomb threat to school
Pacquiao aiming to conquer political ring
Press watchdog condemns 'mounting crackdown' in Vietnam
Glaxo's cancer vaccine inches toward approval
Five dead in protests in restive Chinese city
Security guards a source of insecurity in China
Five dead in protests in China's Urumqi: official
Army: 5 militants killed in northwest Pakistan
Vietnam arrests blogger in crackdown on critics
Air India aborts takeoff after fire, but none hurt
Indonesian quake toll at 64, dozens still missing
G20 seek to bridge splits over bankers' bonuses
China to raise foreign fund limits to one bln dlrs
PSA Peugeot Citroen eyes Mitsubishi tie up: press report
Toyota says hybrid sales reach two-million mark
Coca-Cola to invest $200 million in Vietnam
Trade ministers agree in India to restart talks
No redemption for this 'Bad Lieutenant'
Dexter author offers latest tale of murder
| Entertainment
|
British author Keith Waterhouse dies at 80
Statues draw attention to plight of Kenya's lions
Germany's birth rate stagnates
French director heads film festival jury
Fox adds on-air tweets to `Fringe' reruns
Robbie Williams charts route back to the top
Afghans mourn dead under outcry of NATO bombing
WTO ruling says Airbus gained from subsidies: sources
Calm returns to China city, but ethnic ire simmers
| International
|
Google's investors look for next big thing
Tackling wider air pollution would speed climate action: UN
Madonna lights Sabbath candles with Israel PM
Arrest made in Salvador murder of French filmmaker
Mobile technology may help city dwellers hitch ride
IMF chief welcomes EU boost ahead of G20 meeting
U.S., Israel on collision course over settlements
Motorola to sink or swim on Android phones
Irish warning as EU treaty support slips
Israel OK for new settler homes outrages Palestinians
Iran dismisses bomb studies intelligence as forged
| International
|
Graphic British car crash warning prove YouTube hit
US unemployment hits 9.7%, job losses narrow further
Colombians protest in streets over Chavez actions
| International
|
Yemen blames northern rebels for breaking truce
| International
|
Fujii tipped as Japan finance minister: report
| International
|
Motorola to sink or swim on Android phones
Google's investors look for next big thing
| Technology
|
Rampaging elephants kill farmer in Indonesia
US, SKorea envoys discuss NKorean nuclear claim
Deputies breaking for cup of joe spot suspects
US, SKorea in top-level talks on NKorea
Chinese city quiet after protests left 5 dead
Firefighters remembered as murder case picks up
Top Islamic militant arrested in Philippines: police
Sisters of 9/11 activist widow walk similar path
NY researchers breeding rare native ladybugs
Asia Celsius
Bush official can be sued by 'terror' witness: court
Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region
SEC report shows repeated bungling of Madoff probe
Experts see no construction at NKorea nuclear site
Australia rise from Ashes with opening ODI win
Officials: CIA chief Panetta staying put
Cal governor announces $100,000 reward in wildfire
Gibbs: Squabble over Obama's speech 'silly season'
Film festival opens in Deauville
Cage, Mendes bring Hollywood to Venice
Pakistan central bank buys 37.5 bln rupees of govt paper
Coke says to double Vietnam investment
No prosecution for guard in Conn. model scuffle
Trade chiefs say tough work ahead to clinch Doha deal
Basra alcohol ban triggers fear among Christians
Beatles playing for keeps with Rock Band game
| Entertainment
|
Motown vignettes: Clinton, Judd, others talk music
Motown turns 50, but the party's far from over
Beatles playing for keeps with "Rock Band" game
Audigier won't make Jackson's home a public space
Guests for the Sunday TV news shows
Amnesty urges Sudan to withdraw charges in 'trouser trial'
Thousands around world rally against Hugo Chavez
Complications increase in Spector imprisonment
Iran dismisses bomb studies intelligence as forged
Russia kills man 'planning Moscow suicide attack'
G20 close to striking deal on bankers' bonuses: source
NATO seeks to calm Afghans after deadly air strike
| International
|
Ex-U.S. soldier gets life in prison for Iraqi assault
Mastermind of Ingush leader attack killed: reports
G20 close to agreement on bankers' bonuses: source
Afghanistan postpones latest vote result release
Pakistani troops kill 43 militants in Khyber strikes
| International
|
Palestinian teen killed in Gaza shooting
| International
|
Nigeria rebels want clear plans for those who disarm
| International
|
Implats strike still on, union to meet workers Monday
| International
|
Chavez to visit gas-rich Turkmenistan
| International
|
Madagascar opposition reject Rajoelina's unity govt
| International
|
Bangladesh ex-finance minister dies in road crash
Pakistan: 37 suspected militants killed in Khyber
US, SKorea envoys discuss NKorean nuclear claim
Pakistan: 30 suspected militants killed in Khyber
Pakistani court resumes trial of Mumbai suspects
WHO seeks funds for displaced in Philippines
Mobile technology may help city dwellers hitch ride
| Technology
|
Time to act on health care, Dem negotiator says
Power broker choice has postelection Japan nervous
Fla. boaters urged to look out for missing robot
Myanmar: Explosives plant found near China border
NATO investigates airstrike on hijacked tankers
Airplane trade ruling may reflect old truths
Dems signal resistance to Afghan troop increase
Man who called 911 charged with mobile home deaths
After first year, Smithsonian chief has big ideas
Police in U.S. arrest man over trailer killings
Pakistan sells 14.4 bln rupees of Islamic bond
Hopes fade for missing after Indonesia quake
Australia 'secretly supported' ETimor independence
Filmmaker Herzog is up against himself in Venice
| Entertainment
|
Airlines rachet up prevention to target swine flu
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights