MUSIC-US: Motown Celebrates 40 Years of Soul Music

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

NEW YORK, Feb 17 1998 (IPS) - Black-owned record companies, featuring everything from dance music to rap, may be commonplace today but the newer labels, like Bad Boy, Uptown and Death Row, owe their existence to the founding 40 years ago of what remains the archtype of soul music: Motown Records.

Motown, founded in 1958 by former boxer Berry Gordy, has changed dramatically since its 1960s heyday, when the company’s soul stars – from Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross or the Vandellas and the Temptations – provided the soundtracks for the civil rights era.

In recent years, the company has gone from being a black-owned independent firm based in Detroit (‘Motor Town’ or ‘Motown’ because of its fame as the headquarters of the U.S. automobile industry) to a Hollywood-based affiliate of the MCA-Universal conglomerate.

Motown’s music itself has shifted from the propulsive, beat- crazy music of the Supremes and Four Tops to the more laid- back 1990s soul sound of new groups like Boyz II Men. For all that, the company – which never passes up a chance to repackage its old stars – is willing to bring back memories of its glory days, when Gordy employed business savvy, a stable of songwriters and in-house musicians and a full-fledged talent school to turn his young singers into the image and voice of Black America.

This month, Motown is presenting a four-hour television special (on the ABC network) and is kicking off plans to re-release collections of hits by its best-known stars, from Gaye and Ross to Michael Jackson.

For the first time, some of the people in the background of Motown’s success – like choreographer Cholly Atkins, who made sure that groups like the Temptations always accompanied their vocals with dance steps, and Maxine Powell, who taught the young singers how to comport themselves gracefully – are coming to the fore to demonstrate how the company sold not just music, but image.

The image Motown sold was of exuberant, articulate go-getters – filled with a youthful idealism that fit in well with the optimism of the early civil-rights era. The label’s two slogans, ‘Hitsville USA’ and ‘The Sound of Young America’, were in tune with the music’s giddy spirit.

Yet at the same time, Berry Gordy was also a shrewd capitalist, who wouldn’t dream of rocking the boat by including explicit political messages – Gaye fought with him to release his 1971 political masterpiece, ‘What’s Going On’ – and who could ruin the careers of artists who strayed from Motown.

Indeed, Motown’s history is littered as much with discarded or embittered old stars, such as singers Mary Wells and the Supremes’ talented but unphotogenic Florence Ballard, as of superstars like Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, both of whom were discovered as children.

Nor does Motown pay as much attention to background musicians, such as the late, jazz-trained bassist James Jamerson, who developed much of the company’s trademark sound, as to the singers. Songwriters like Lamont Dozier jumped ship, complaining of unfair deals from Gordy.

By the 1980s, Motown had lost many of its most distinctive talents – including stars like Gaye, Jackson and Temptation singers David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks – and sounded similar to the generic, often bland soul companies that were started in its wake.

Despite its decline, Motown still boasts reliable mainstays like Stevie Wonder, and continues to epitomise success for African Americans in entertainment. Now, many up-and-coming rap labels, such as the New York-based Bad Boy Records, are clearly borrowing from the four-decade-old Motown recipe to ensure the success of their stars.

Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, the young producer/rapper and head of Bad Boy, has reportedly asked Berry Gordy for advice, and seems to have picked up quite a few of the Motown founder’s skills. His rap label belies its tough ‘gangsta’ image by offering stars who dance a few steps, are trained to handle interviews and public engagements, and are backed by a reliable stable of songwriters and producers.

Like Motown, too, Bad Boy’s stars, such as rappers Mase and the Lox and singing groups Total and 112, exude the confident and businesslike attitude of young strivers.

However, Bad Boy’s success also shows how much times have changed since Berry Gordy started Motown: The rap label could very well be the new sound of young America, but its songs of street crime, betrayal and death are a far cry from Motown standards like the Supremes’ ‘Baby Love’ or the Temptations’ ‘My Girl’. Looking at the grim subject matter of most modern pop, the title of another Motown hit comes to mind: ‘Where Did Our Love Go?’