A long time ago (January 12, 1959), a company was founded by a young African-American songwriter who used an $800 loan from his family to create an establishment that would allow for minorities to be able to express their unbelievable talents to not just their home town, but the entire world. That young man was named Berry Gordy, and after naming the company Motown due to the fact that he grew up in Detroit, which was frequently referred to as “Motor City”, and replacing city with town as a tribute to the warm, soulful people he was surrounded by growing up, he led Motown to becoming a global phenomenon, recruiting young, unknown talent and giving them the chance and resources to become superstars. 1960s America was defined by increasing racial tensions, which often culminated in race riots. Gordy’s self-made ‘rags to riches’ story is a positive example among the typically bleak and unjust stories of African-Americans. Equally, his continual signing of black artists offered others a path out of such drudgery. The images of empowered, talented black artists like Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder contradicted the culturally sustained inferior African-American.
https://www.motownmuseum.org/about-the-museum/
http://manchesterhistorian.com/2015/motown-its-true-impact-on-the-civil-rights-movement/
https://www.motownmuseum.org/about-the-museum/
http://manchesterhistorian.com/2015/motown-its-true-impact-on-the-civil-rights-movement/
Diana Ross- Diane Earnestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. Developing a reputation as an accomplished performer, Ross began singing in a group called the Primettes with her friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Barbara Martin as a teenager. Martin eventually dropped out, but the remaining members of the group went on to become the internationally successful 1960s R&B and pop trio, the Supremes (later named Diana Ross and the Supremes).
After signing on to Motown Records by famed producer and label founder Berry Gordy, in 1961 the Supremes scored their first #1 hit with "Where Did Our Love Go?". The trio then broke multiple music records by having a streak of four additional singles reach the top of the charts—"Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Back in My Arms Again"—thus becoming the first U.S. group ever to have five songs in a row reach #1.
Throughout it's existence, the group scored a monumental 12 #1 hits, including "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love", "The Happening", "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together". They thus established a phenomenal record for themselves, becoming the American vocal group with the most Billboard chart toppers in history.
http://www.biography.com/people/diana-ross-9464240
After signing on to Motown Records by famed producer and label founder Berry Gordy, in 1961 the Supremes scored their first #1 hit with "Where Did Our Love Go?". The trio then broke multiple music records by having a streak of four additional singles reach the top of the charts—"Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Back in My Arms Again"—thus becoming the first U.S. group ever to have five songs in a row reach #1.
Throughout it's existence, the group scored a monumental 12 #1 hits, including "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love", "The Happening", "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together". They thus established a phenomenal record for themselves, becoming the American vocal group with the most Billboard chart toppers in history.
http://www.biography.com/people/diana-ross-9464240
Smokey Robinson- Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Robinson founded a group caled The Miracles while he was still in high school. The group was Berry Gordy’s first vocal group, and it was at Robinson’s suggestion that Gordy started the Motown Record dynasty. Their single of Robinson’s “Shop Around” became Motown’s first #1 hit on the R&B singles chart. In the years following, Robinson continued to pen hits for the group including “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Ooo Baby Baby,” “The Tracks of My Tears,” “Going to a Go-Go,” “More Love,” “Tears of a Clown” (which he co-wrote with Stevie Wonder), and “I Second That Emotion.”
The Miracles dominated the R&B scene throughout the 1960’s and early 70’s and Robinson became Vice President of Motown Records, serving multiple roles as in-house producer, talent scout and songwriter.
In addition to writing hits for the Miracles, Robinson wrote and produced hits for other Motown greats including The Temptations, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, Marvin Gaye and others. “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “My Girl,” “Get Ready,” “You Beat Me to the Punch,” “Don’t Mess with Bill,” “Ain’t That Peculiar,” and “My Guy” are just a few of his songwriting triumphs during those years.
http://www.smokeyrobinson.com/bio/
The Miracles dominated the R&B scene throughout the 1960’s and early 70’s and Robinson became Vice President of Motown Records, serving multiple roles as in-house producer, talent scout and songwriter.
In addition to writing hits for the Miracles, Robinson wrote and produced hits for other Motown greats including The Temptations, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, Marvin Gaye and others. “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “My Girl,” “Get Ready,” “You Beat Me to the Punch,” “Don’t Mess with Bill,” “Ain’t That Peculiar,” and “My Guy” are just a few of his songwriting triumphs during those years.
http://www.smokeyrobinson.com/bio/
Marvin Gaye's first certified hit under his own name wouldn't come until 1962, but his early years at Motown were full of behind-the-scenes successes. He had served as a session drummer for Motown legends such as Little Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Marvelettes and Martha and the Vandellas. Showing his stripes as Motown's renaissance man, Gaye went on to break into the Top 40 for the first time on his own in 1962 with his solo single "Hitch Hike."
Throughout the 1960s, Gaye would go on to show his immense range, churning out solo dance hits and romantic duets with hit-makers such as Diana Ross and Mary Wells. "Can I Get a Witness" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" were some of Gaye's biggest hits of the period, the latter achieving its place as Motown's best-selling single of the 1960s.
For three years, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell wowed the country with their soaring duet performances of songs like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You." Unfortunately, their reign as the Royal Couple of R&B ended when Terrell succumbed to a brain tumor in 1970. His beloved partner's death ushered in a dark period for the singer, who swore never to partner with another female vocalist and threatened to abandon the stage for good.
http://www.biography.com/people/marvin-gaye-9307988
Throughout the 1960s, Gaye would go on to show his immense range, churning out solo dance hits and romantic duets with hit-makers such as Diana Ross and Mary Wells. "Can I Get a Witness" and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" were some of Gaye's biggest hits of the period, the latter achieving its place as Motown's best-selling single of the 1960s.
For three years, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell wowed the country with their soaring duet performances of songs like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You." Unfortunately, their reign as the Royal Couple of R&B ended when Terrell succumbed to a brain tumor in 1970. His beloved partner's death ushered in a dark period for the singer, who swore never to partner with another female vocalist and threatened to abandon the stage for good.
http://www.biography.com/people/marvin-gaye-9307988
Born on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder made his recording debut at age 11, becoming a 1960s force to be reckoned via chart hits such as "Fingertips, Pt. 2," "I Was Made to Love Her" and "My Cherie Amour." Over the next decade, Wonder had a wide array of No. 1 songs on the pop and R&B charts, including "Superstition," "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," "Higher Ground," "Boogie on Reggae Woman," "Sir Duke" and "I Wish" from the albums Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life.
Wonder continued to churn out hits into the 1980s, including "I Just Called to Say I Love You," the Paul McCartney duet "Ebony and Ivory" and "Part-Time Lover." He was solidified as a musical legend once he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and has continued to record and tour.
http://www.biography.com/people/stevie-wonder-9536078
Wonder continued to churn out hits into the 1980s, including "I Just Called to Say I Love You," the Paul McCartney duet "Ebony and Ivory" and "Part-Time Lover." He was solidified as a musical legend once he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and has continued to record and tour.
http://www.biography.com/people/stevie-wonder-9536078
The Temptations' initial five-man lineup upon being formed in Detroit in 1961 as a merger of two local vocal groups, the Primes and the Distants. Baritone Otis Williams, Elbridge (aka El, or Al) Byrant, and bass vocalist Melvin Franklin were longtime veterans of the Detroit music scene when they joined together in the Distants, who in 1959 recorded the single "Come On" for the local Northern label. Around the same time, the Primes, a trio comprised of tenor Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams (no relation to Otis), and Kell Osborne, relocated to the Motor City from their native Alabama; they quickly found success locally, and their manager even put together a girl group counterpart dubbed the Primettes (Later, three of the Primettes -- Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard -- formed the Supremes). Thanks to their fine-tuned choreography -- and even finer harmonies -- the Temptations had become the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s; one of Motown's most elastic acts, they tackled both lush pop and politically charged funk with equal flair, and weathered a steady stream of changes in both personnel and consumer tastes with a rare type of dignity and grace.
www://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-temptations-mn0000569685/biography
www://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-temptations-mn0000569685/biography
The Four Tops were products of Detroit's North End. Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir sang together in a group while attending Pershing High School. Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton were childhood friends and had attended Northern High together in Detroit. It was while singing at a friends birthday party in 1954 that they found they were good at it. They began practicing the next day and soon began calling themselves the Four Aims. Roquel "Billy" Davis, who was Larry Payton's cousin, sometimes sang with the group as the fifth Aim and was later to be Berry Gordy's songwriting partner, sent a demo tape to Chess Records in Chicago. They were sent a bus ticket and invited to Chicago to audition. It seemed that Chess was more interested in Davis' writing skill than the group. However Davis' persistence ended up with their being signed to Chess Records in 1956. They then changed their name to the Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers. They only recorded one single with Chess "Kiss Me Baby' which flopped. They then went to Red Top and Riverside before they were signed by John Hammond to Columbia in 1960 where they recorded "Ain't That Love." This was the first of a string of supper club style flops that lasted for seven years on a number of labels. All the while, they were performing in top clubs. The Four Tops toured with the Billy Eckstine revue in the early '60s. By 1964, they had signed with old friend Berry Gordy's Motown Records. Gordy had them record "Breaking Through" for his experimental Workshop Jazz subsidiary. Later that year they were finally directed toward contemporary soul. Under the wing of Motown's top production and recording team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Four Tops were launched with "Baby I Need Your Loving," which went to #11 in 1964. Over the next eight years The Four Tops appeared on the charts almost thirty times, and Levi Stubbs became an international star and became an influence on singers from the Sixties to the present time. The Four Top's 1965 hits included "Ask the Lonely", "Same Old Song", and "I Can't Help Myself". "Reach Out and I'll Be There" hit #1 in October, 1966, followed by "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (#6) in 1967.
One of Motown's most consistent hitmakers and its longest lived lineup (40 years), the Four Tops were the most stable and consistent vocal groups to emerge from Motown Records in the '60s, charting with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs' rough hewn lead vocals.
http://www.history-of-rock.com/four_tops.htm
One of Motown's most consistent hitmakers and its longest lived lineup (40 years), the Four Tops were the most stable and consistent vocal groups to emerge from Motown Records in the '60s, charting with scores of upbeat love songs featuring Levi Stubbs' rough hewn lead vocals.
http://www.history-of-rock.com/four_tops.htm
Originally, the Jackson 5 were composed of brothers Jackie (born Sigmund Jackson), Tito (guitar), Jermaine (bass), Marlon, and Michael (lead vocals). By all accounts, the Jackson family's upbringing in Gary, IN, was strict; their mother Katherine was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and their father Joe was a stern, temperamental disciplinarian. Allowed few outside interests, the boys gravitated to music, which was in their blood -- prior to his job as a crane operator for a steel company, Joe had played guitar in an R&B group called the Falcons. One night, Joe discovered that Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine had been playing his treasured old guitar without permission; though initially furious, he quickly discovered that his sons had genuine talent, and began to conceive of a family singing group that might eventually get them out of their tough working-class life in Gary. The eldest three sons began performing around the area together in 1962, teamed with two cousins (Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer), who were replaced by Marlon and five-year-old Michael. Supervised by Joe, who became their manager and began working only part-time, the group practiced and rehearsed often, and improved as dancers, singers, and instrumentalists at a rapid rate. In particular, Michael proved himself a dynamic performer, eventually replacing Jermaine as the featured lead vocalist, and establishing himself as a nimble dancer, able to mimic talents such as James Brown. At first, the group was known as Ripples & Waves Plus Michael, then the Jackson Brothers, and finally the Jackson 5.
In 1966, the Jackson 5 won an important local talent competition with a Michael-led rendition of the Temptations' "My Girl." Their father, who had been chauffeuring them to out-of-state performances, also booked their first paid professional gigs that year. In 1967, the group won an amateur talent competition at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater, where they earned an influential fan in Gladys Knight (perhaps the first person to recommend the group to Motown). At the end of the year, the Jackson 5 made their first studio recordings for the small Gary-based Steeltown label, and their single "Big Boy" became something of a local hit. Championed again to Motown by Bobby Taylor, a member of the Vancouvers who'd seen the group in Chicago, and Diana Ross, the Jackson 5 finally got a chance to audition for the label in the summer of 1968. Desperately needing new blood, an impressed Berry Gordy signed the group and flew them out to his new headquarters in Los Angeles, where he and his assistants groomed them to be the label's next breakout stars. Having lost his famed Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, Gordy formed a new partnership with Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, and Deke Richards dubbed the Corporation, which set about crafting material for the group.
In August 1969, shortly before Michael turned 11, the Jackson 5 opened for Diana Ross at the L.A. Forum, and in December, they issued their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. On October 7, 1969, the Jackson 5 released their first single, "I Want You Back," a Corporation composition that had originally been intended for Gladys Knight. It was an instant smash, hitting number one on both the pop and R&B charts. So did their next two singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save", which solidified what was referred to as the group's bubblegum-soul sound and certified them as pop sensations. Their third Album was released before year's end, spawning the hit ballad "I'll Be There," which not only proved that the group (and lead singer Michael) were more mature and versatile than their bright, bouncy initial singles let on, but also made them the first group in pop history to have their first four singles hit number one. It also became the best-selling single in Motown history, spending a stellar five weeks at number one. And it had still been less than a year since the group's national debut.
The Jackson 5 were one of the biggest phenomenons in pop music during the early '70s, and they were also the last great group to come out of the Motown hitmaking machine before Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder shifted the label's focus to more individual visions. The Jackson 5's infectious brand of funky pop-soul was a definite departure from the typically smooth, elegant Motown sound, as befitting the group's youth and the dawn of a new decade. That youth, coupled with the merchandising juggernaut that sprang up behind them, inevitably got them tagged a bubblegum group. But they were far more talented musically than that label would suggest, especially lead singer Michael, and their material, while sunny and upbeat, didn't pander to its audience. Solo careers and overexposure gradually weakened the Jackson 5, but their best music still holds up surprisingly well as some of the most vibrant mainstream pop/R&B of its era.
http://www.mtv.com/artists/the-jackson-5-1/biography/
In 1966, the Jackson 5 won an important local talent competition with a Michael-led rendition of the Temptations' "My Girl." Their father, who had been chauffeuring them to out-of-state performances, also booked their first paid professional gigs that year. In 1967, the group won an amateur talent competition at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater, where they earned an influential fan in Gladys Knight (perhaps the first person to recommend the group to Motown). At the end of the year, the Jackson 5 made their first studio recordings for the small Gary-based Steeltown label, and their single "Big Boy" became something of a local hit. Championed again to Motown by Bobby Taylor, a member of the Vancouvers who'd seen the group in Chicago, and Diana Ross, the Jackson 5 finally got a chance to audition for the label in the summer of 1968. Desperately needing new blood, an impressed Berry Gordy signed the group and flew them out to his new headquarters in Los Angeles, where he and his assistants groomed them to be the label's next breakout stars. Having lost his famed Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, Gordy formed a new partnership with Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, and Deke Richards dubbed the Corporation, which set about crafting material for the group.
In August 1969, shortly before Michael turned 11, the Jackson 5 opened for Diana Ross at the L.A. Forum, and in December, they issued their debut album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5. On October 7, 1969, the Jackson 5 released their first single, "I Want You Back," a Corporation composition that had originally been intended for Gladys Knight. It was an instant smash, hitting number one on both the pop and R&B charts. So did their next two singles, "ABC" and "The Love You Save", which solidified what was referred to as the group's bubblegum-soul sound and certified them as pop sensations. Their third Album was released before year's end, spawning the hit ballad "I'll Be There," which not only proved that the group (and lead singer Michael) were more mature and versatile than their bright, bouncy initial singles let on, but also made them the first group in pop history to have their first four singles hit number one. It also became the best-selling single in Motown history, spending a stellar five weeks at number one. And it had still been less than a year since the group's national debut.
The Jackson 5 were one of the biggest phenomenons in pop music during the early '70s, and they were also the last great group to come out of the Motown hitmaking machine before Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder shifted the label's focus to more individual visions. The Jackson 5's infectious brand of funky pop-soul was a definite departure from the typically smooth, elegant Motown sound, as befitting the group's youth and the dawn of a new decade. That youth, coupled with the merchandising juggernaut that sprang up behind them, inevitably got them tagged a bubblegum group. But they were far more talented musically than that label would suggest, especially lead singer Michael, and their material, while sunny and upbeat, didn't pander to its audience. Solo careers and overexposure gradually weakened the Jackson 5, but their best music still holds up surprisingly well as some of the most vibrant mainstream pop/R&B of its era.
http://www.mtv.com/artists/the-jackson-5-1/biography/