From 1/26 Detroit Free Press:

"In an interview that aired on Wednesday's NPR "Morning Edition," Motown singer, songwriter and executive Smokey Robinson called the fictional characters in the film "Dreamgirls" 'very, very, very offensive to me.'

'I am really kind of upset about it ("Dreamgirls") because there's a lot of false information in there, and millions of people are seeing it every day," Robinson said. Specifically addressing the fictional character supposedly inspired by Motown founder Berry Gordy, he noted, 'Nobody was paying us. So he (Gordy) borrowed $800 from his family's fund and started Motown so that we could be paid. And for him to be maligned and made out like this villainous character is very, very, very offensive to me.'

Robinson believes that the film's stars have tarnished their own history. 'Motown is Beyoncé's heritage. Motown is Jamie Foxx's heritage. Motown is Eddie Murphy's heritage ... They're black people. They're young black people. America should be proud of Motown because Motown made a statement all over the world that America could be proud of.'"

Like I said!

Bunch of motheruckers 4get about the "loosely" and focus on the "based"

I love Smokey, but he really needs to get a fuckin grip and take Hollywood with a grain of salt.

He really is out of it if he thinks that people will lose sleep trying to analyze whether Motown was corrupted(which I think it is, for the most part) or not.

It ain't fuckin' deep, its NOT people's everyday life.

He should loosen up for his health's sake.

Granted Motown was a Musical institution, but hell im sure Berry did some dirt to keep the label goin' there's some Detroit Cosa Nostra shit that Smokey wont talk about.

IAintTheOne said:

Smokey didn't go through the same hell as say, The Funk Brothers or other Motown preformers.

Hell, he wrote 1/2 of Motown history, which means that he's exceeding rich.

Berry did rule a black odyssey,,,but its not a secret that he was SHADY on his folks.

It doesn't dismiss Motown in writing history,,,,but it also doesn't hide the fact that he was a shady bastid no matter how Smokey trys to believe the opposite.

Harlepolis said:

shit Smoke was just as shady to, he Ran Tamla for years he actually became part owder of Motown i believe in 65-66

IAintTheOne said:

Thanx for the info I've read about him being Berry's right hand man plenty of times myself.

The "Divided Souls"(Marvin's bio) tells that Marvin was jealous of Smokey's closeness with Berry @ the early 60's.

Your remark kinda explained it, since its a new info to me.

Harlepolis said:

oh Hell yeah... See Motown wasnt always Motown the original Label was called "Anna" which was Berry's sister and later Marvin's wife then Motown became established around 58 and Smokey robinson and the Miracles recorded "Bad Girl" if memory serves me and i might be wrong the 1st single on Tamla was that

IAintTheOne said:

I thought Motown's hit was built on Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops" which was co-written by Berry(and I think Anna too, if I'm not mistaken).

Also, "Money" was their 1st #1 hit(if my memory serves me correctly).

Harlepolis said:

yeah by Barret Strong and Lonely teardrops was on Brunswick a label out of jersey that had some under da table shit too

Does Smokey have a new album out soon?

.

the one thing i wish they did on the film is making Deena's character nasty as HELL since it is merely a "loosely based" project

IAintTheOne said:

Which explains why he's so upset - he got "trashed" without being paid by the makers of the show.

Harlepolis said:

I thought it was The Marvelettes "Please Mr. Postman"

When you're making all the money along with the boss, you're gonna see things through rose-colored glasses. Smokey is a company man to the end and didn't have to go through the struggles of so many of his stablemates. He should just shut the f**k up and enjoy his royalties.

Besides, as was mentioned earlier, it's a freakin' movie, not the story of Motown...

It's funny - cuz, I feel the movie showed the good and the bad of the "Berry" character, and of all the characters. Truth is, Motown was this very controlling environment. On some occasions, The Jackson 5 for example, would go in the studio, create this hit record and owe Motown money for studio time!

Smokey needs to reflect on what it was like for all the artists that weren't at his level in the industry. The Temps, The Tops, the DeBarges, the Vandellas, etc... not everyone made money in the Corporation writing department.

Didn;t motown artists get treated horribly?

funkpill said:

yes but not for Motown but for the pre-Motown label

antichrist said:

Most of them, but check this Mary Wilson (from the Supremes) interview out:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...6-9u3ytyBA

P.S. Watch closely at Florence Ballard's face when Berry Gordy claims that "they weren't beautiful when he first saw them"...

silverchild said:

Wow thanx alot,,,this is a treasure footage.

Flo was sitting there like "The nerve of this smurf lookin' bastard "

silverchild said:

i cant believe he said that

thanks for that clip. I always thought Mary was the hot one!!!

So is the character C.C. loosely suppose 2 be Smokey??

Motown had every opportunity to tell their story but they sitting on all the material, with the success of Ray in the past and now DreamGirls. who's up next Marvin?? Motown will be opening up the vault and letting these stories be told because now the money is their.

Harlepolis said:

Case In Point: Having Diana Ross move up to lead vocalist of The Supreme was Berry's idea to better the group's chances of crossover success. Beside, Florence sounded "too black", according to Berry.

June7 said:

Exactly. Ask acts like The Isley Brothers and Gladys Knight and The Pips about their "glory" days at Motown. In some cases, these acts enjoyed greater (and in The Jacksons' case, as great) success once they left Berry Gordy's restrictive heel.

Duggs said:

Actually, I heard that the ABC network is planning to do a 2-part miniseries based on the life of the Supremes. The true story about Diana
Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Cindy Birdsong will be based on
the Dreamgirl autobiography written by Mary Wilson. Isn't this crazy? I believe it is a rumor, but you never know what will happen sometime this year or early next year.

Also, the guy from Law & Order/Rent will portray Marvin Gaye in a biopic called "Sexuall Healing: The Last Years Of Marvin Gaye" something to that effect.

And another docu-film discussing the early stages of Marvin's life/career.

Najee said:

Epic wooed Michael away from Motown, the brothers were nervous as Michael decided to stray. Of course they followed, all except for Jermaine (Who was promised a big solo career by Berry to stay). Epic gave Michael promises of writing and producing their own music.. which of course they blew off when they came on board. Their first album, Good Times, was a flop - when Michael and Randy were finally allowed to write - we got songs like, Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) and That's What You Get (for Being Polite)... that's when Berry was probably kicking himself in the ass for not recognizing Michael's writing skills...

June7 said:

Actually, The Jacksons' first album on Epic was self-titled, and it did quite well. That album featured "Enjoy Yourself," "Let Me Show You the Way to Go" and "Good Times." It was The Jacksons' second album on Epic, "Goin' Places," that did not do as well.

Berry Gordy's unwillingness to allow The Jacksons to write and produce their own material was the reason why they left. He still was envisioning them as a child act when in reality save for "Dancing Machine" they saw a creative and commercial decline in their material in their latter days on the label. It was the same restrictive thinking that led to The Isley Brothers leaving before they blew up and nearly cost him Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
[Edited 1/27/07 14:44pm]

Najee said:

Yes - I meant that it featured the song, "Good Times" - good catch. But, as far as it doing very well, I honestly don't recall that... It wasn't until the release of Destiny, that they made a serious mark on the charts.

June7 said:

The Jacksons's self-titled album went gold, with "Enjoy Yourself" landing in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. "Show You the Way to Go" was also a top 10 R&B hit. Technically, "The Jacksons" was the group's first gold album, thanks to Motown refusing to allow its sales and financial records to be presented for auditing by the RIAA until 1976.

TonyVanDam said:

how is that evidence of him being a bastard? thats a business and marketing decision..

evidence of his bastardness would be screwing folks of pay...which he did, right?