Indelible, transcendent, angelic voices haunted by demons, an enterprise that failed its workers professionally and/or personally, often successful despite itself, all while navigating the troubled waters of race.

If Motown isn't a microcosm of America, then what other enterprise could be?

I saw the ads for Motown's 50th on the subway last night on my way home. It had a pic of Marvin Gaye singing with lyrics from "What's Going On" That's great that Motown has made it this far in the game. Time will tell what the next 50 will be like.

namepeace said:

Wow, that is it in a nutshell!

Motown was much more than a successful record label, it was an identity, a symbol, an icon, etc.

namepeace said:

it is true! excuse me to be truly follower of the voices that they express the pure, the race, the honor of having root;and in that sense, respect deeply Motown and the one that she symbolizes in the history of the music. Lament just that the company and the label, today, don't hear the beautiful voices that perspire the grandparents' blood, as she did in the past. And if I speak in the Mica Paris, or of Regina Belle, it is because I feel that they are part of that imaginary one that all have of the sound of Motown, contemporary in the time in that it is produced as it is obviate.... the publishers are more than a business, it is true; here I hear these wonderful voices and I accept the impossibility of an institution as it is Motown to pick all of the echoes that are heard in the world... and knowing about that, I accept your words in my heart, for they be true. I just want here to leave the names of some lost voices and that, for me, they are also a symbol that crosses the dimension of a company: they are the spirit of a race, and for that, they are of the world. Thank you for your words: I understood well that you say.

I'd like to show a little love for my favorite cousin Valerie George who was signed to Motown in 1996.

This saw this ad on the subway very early this morning.



Cool stuff.

purplecam said:

Thanks for that.

Happy 50th to Motown! There will never be another label like it.

RICK^ lol
[Edited 1/20/09 11:52am]

The Classic Motown website have podcasts celebrating Motown 50. The first is with Smokey & the second will be with Berry Gordy. It would have been cool if they had podcasts of Motown music from the vault too.
[Edited 1/22/09 14:03pm]

^^^^
Rick Pic.

Sweeeeet!

Now, Motown. Where are his remasters and expanded stuff? you want some help in that vault in NY?

seems like the staff in there needs expanding. cause they're slow as hell.

This thread is superb. I have always loved Motown Music and delving into the creators. Timmy your bios are incredible, its clearly obvious you know Motown and all these talented artists that made it legendary and yes people still dig all those classic songs today. Motown music has inspired countless artists and look at the racial barriers it helped tear down. A lot of people first discovered and had their first forays into the rich tapestry of African American musical talent with their first 45 by a Motown artist. Motown was the creator of instantly danceable and catchy well written pop and soul songs.
I frst really got into it in early 1995 by purchasing both of the Hitsville USA boxed Cd sets (Long case with 4cds and the booklets, 1959-1971 and 1971-1992) and just realised how many great songs came off that label.
The only gripe I will add though, is Berry may have exposed all those artists and got them famous but he was very exploitative of them and a lot of them never got the true payment and respect they deserved and then the ones who died tragically young, in poverty, depression, drugs and all the others. Ones like Florence Ballard, David Ruffin, Paul Williams, MARVIN GAYE, Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell. The only real winners of it I can think besides Berry Gordy would be Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and maybe Stevie Wonder.

Huggiebear said:

Thanks for the beautiful comments, Huggiebear.

Timmy you have done a wonderful job with this thread. For such a young cat only being 24 years old you are so incredibly knowledgable with such a deep appreciation for all of the soul greats, I love reading your posts

rubyred69 said:

Thanx, Ruby, I do my best.

GOAT thread ive seen on a site in a while! Kudos! Very in depth!

Great thread. Nothing much left to say.
Very thorough job Timmy-san.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Thanks, tA!

did anyone buy motown 50 items or re-releases?
i have bought a motown top 100 5 disc set last year and a vinyl re-release of stevie wonders music of my mind

motownlover said:

I've not been happy with the releases so far in the UK, the 'definitive' 18track compilations for the most part suck, not bad if you're just starting to collect i suppose. those and the chartbusters volumes are just £4 a pop at hmv uk.

But i want remasters with extra tracks and unreleased vault stuff. like the Martha and D.R.A.T.S lost and found. they were great releases. More like that would make me

Walmart has a lot of new and old Motown releases on sale.

I saw the new "LOVE" compilations selling for $7 each.

I was tempted to pick up the Jackson 5 one but decided against it since I already own the songs.

Nice packaging though. Very stylish.

OK, I got more of some of that biographies for Motown, I'm sorry bboy & LBC but I'm gonna write the biographies of Michael and Jermaine, don't be mad.



THE JACKSON 2: JERMAINE & MICHAEL



JERMAINE JACKSON
Full Name: Jermaine LuJuane Jackson
Birth Date: December 11, 1954
Birth Place: Gary, Indiana

As the bassist and one-time vocal leader of the Jackson 5, Jermaine Jackson went on to have the third most-successful solo career of any member of one of music's most prominent recording families.

Born in Gary, IN, Jermaine was the fourth of a family of nine siblings. In 1964, after his father, steel mill worker Joseph discovered Jackson and his brothers Jackie & Tito displaying musical talent, the trio formed The Jackson Brothers under "Papa Joe's" guidance. Within three years, younger brothers Marlon and Michael joined, with Michael first playing percussion eventually singing his own lead vocals on some songs and dancing alongside his three elder brothers. The inclusion of Marlon and Michael eventually led to the Jackson Brothers changing their name to The Jackson Five. Jermaine for a time was actually the unofficial lead singer of the group though the Jacksons' father never made anyone an official lead vocalist as Jackie and Tito sung also. Nonetheless Jermaine and Michael switched lead vocals from 1967 onwards.

In 1968, the Jackson Five signed with Motown and with the group's early multi-lead arrangements, found success with their first four number-one hits "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There". Jermaine played a pivotal role alongside Michael in all four number-one hits. Jermaine began popular during this time as a teen idol. After the arrival of Right On magazine, Jermaine & Michael both competed for Jackson 5 fans' hearts.

In 1972, the same year Motown gave Michael a solo contract, Jermaine also signed one as did Jackie. That year, Jermaine put out his first single, "That's How Love Goes", which became a modest hit upon its release reaching #46 on the pop chart and number-seven on the R&B chart. His second single, a cover of Shep & the Limelites' "Daddy's Home" hit the pop top ten peaking at number nine. Jermaine continued to share leads with his brothers until sometime around the mid-1970s.

In December 1973, Jermaine upset fans of the Jackson 5 when the 19-year-old married Hazel Gordy, the 20-year-old daughter of Motown CEO Berry Gordy. The marriage was said to be the crutch that came between Jermaine and his family when in May of 1975, Joseph Jackson announced that the Jackson 5 would leave Motown. Jermaine insisted on staying in Motown and this led to tension between Jermaine and Joseph with Joseph saying Jackson's "blood run through his veins, not Berry Gordy's". Jermaine wouldn't sing with his brothers again until 1983. In the meantime, Jermaine waited until 1976's My Name is Jermaine to release his follow-up to his first album, Jermaine. The album flopped as did several singles Jackson released though some of the songs such as "Let's Be Young Tonight" and "Castles of Sand", which was later sampled by Jay-Z for his song, "Somehow, Someway", made the R&B charts. Jackson's solo career didn't take off until 1980 when his Stevie Wonder-composed and produced funk-dance single, "Let's Get Serious", hit number-one on the R&B chart and peaked at number-eight on the pop chart marking his first big success in seven years and earned him a Grammy nomination.

In 1982, Jackson recorded the top twenty pop-rocker "Let Me Tickle Your Fancy", which featured new wave group Devo. During his time in Motown, Jackson also became a producer for acts such as Switch, which featured Bobby DeBarge and James Ingram's brother Phillip Ingram sharing lead vocals between each other. Jackson produced the group's three Motown albums under the Gordy imprint and also wrote Switch singles such as "I Wanna Be Closer" and "Love Over and Over Again". Jackson was also responsible for signing the DeBarge group, which featured the younger siblings of Switch leader Bobby's and also had a hand in their first album, The DeBarges though the group went on to modest pop and R&B fame without Jackson's guidance. By 1983, Jackson asked to be let go of his Motown tenure and signed with Arista Records. The same year, he reunited with Michael, Jackie, Tito, Marlon and baby brother Randy as "The Jacksons" first on the Motown 25 special, and later the following year with an album and a successful U.S. tour. In 1984, Jackson scored two hit singles off his Jermaine Jackson album. The singles, "Dynamite" and "Do What You Do", became some of Jackson's acclaimed solo hits. However, after this year, Jackson's music career began to falter as younger brother Michael's rose.

Jackson's career as a musician has been reportedly at a standstill since the failure of his 1991 album, You Said. Since then, he has become the "unofficial spokesman" for his family and has also participated in several reality shows currently placing second place in a Celebrity Big Brother competition.



MICHAEL JACKSON
Full Name: Michael Joseph Jackson
Birth Date: August 29, 1958
Birth Place: Gary, Indiana

As one of the world's most renowned and revered pop stars of his time, Michael Jackson was destined for stardom at an early age. Singing publicly since age five, Jackson eventually joined his older brothers as a percussionist. By 1967, he had become a singer and dancer with the group and the group changed its name to The Jackson Five. As one of the main lead singers of the group, after Motown signed the Jackson Five in 1968, Jackson would be used for the majority of the group's hit singles.

In 1971, Jackson released his first single, the Hal Davis-produced "Got to Be There", which reached the top five of the pop chart. His follow-up, 1972's "Rockin' Robin", peaked at number-two and his first album, also titled Got to Be There also became a big hit. The album also included the Leon Ware and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross composition, "I Wanna Be Where You Are", which also became a top 40 hit. Jackson's success as a solo artist with the Motown label eventually peaked when Jackson released the Bill Black composition, "Ben".

The single, which was ironically a song dedicated to a rat, was issued off the film of the same name based on a boy who befriends what turns out to be a killer rat. Despite the unusual plot of the film and the saccharine yet heartfelt tone of Jackson's song, the single eventually peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Golden Globe award while the song's writers were given an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Jackson performed at the ceremony becoming one of the youngest performers on the show at 14. Michael released his second album, also titled Ben though the album had little to do with the film in an ironic twist.

After 1972, Jackson's solo success in Motown tampered off as Jackson 5 touring schedules led to several delays. 1973's Music & Me was mostly forgotten about as was 1975's Forever, Michael, but Jackson recorded some fine material in the label including his cover of Stevie Wonder's "With a Child's Heart", "Morning Glow" and his cover of Jackie Wilson's "Doggin' Around". Jackson did find some renewed success in 1975 with the singles "We're Almost There" and "Just a Little Bit of You", the latter single becoming Michael's first top forty pop hit in nearly three years and was written by Motown's prominent songwriting siblings Brian & Eddie Holland of the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland team of the sixties. Michael's solo career in Motown is often looked on as "part of the Jackson 5 franchise" as was Jackie's and Jermaine's albums. Despite this, Jackson's Motown solo singles have added to his already permanent legacy that he began to leave an imprint on following his Epic Records solo debut, 1979's Off the Wall. In many ways, Off the Wall (which was the first to feature four top ten singles off one album) and 1982's hugely-successful Thriller (which remains the biggest-selling album of all time) took blueprints from his old label's plan to bring consistent hits with a successful crossover pop-R&B formula.

Ironically enough, Michael's Motown contributions didn't end after 1975. In 1978, he was involved in the Motown-associated production of The Wiz (though the soundtrack was released on MCA Records) which featured his former label mate Diana Ross. In 1984, both Michael and Jermaine were prominently featured singing background to new wavish R&B one-hit wonder, Rockwell (Berry Gordy's son) on his hit "Somebody's Watching Me" (#1 R&B, #2 pop). On Eddie Murphy's Motown release as a singer, Love's Alright, Jackson was featured on the now-lampooned duet "Whatzupwitu", which flopped. Michael's Motown solo fame helped to play a part in Jackson getting inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2001 and was the catalyst to his 30th anniversary performances at Madison Square Garden.

THE WRITERS AND PRODUCERS:



BERRY GORDY
Important Songs: Shop Around, Money, Do You Love Me, Shotgun (producer), You've Made Me So Very Happy, I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, Mama's Pearl (as member of The Corporation)



SMOKEY ROBINSON
Important Songs: Shop Around, The One Who Really Loves You, You Beat Me to the Punch, Two Lovers, My Guy, My Girl, The Way You Do the Things You Do, Tracks of My Tears, Ooo Baby Baby, Don't Mess With Bill, My Baby Must Be a Magician, Still Water (Love)



MICKEY STEVENSON
Full Name: William "Mickey" Stevenson
Important Songs: Come to Me (as producer), You've Got What It Takes (producer), Jamie, Beechwood 4-5789, Stubborn Kind of Fellow, Hitch Hike, Pride & Joy, Dancing in the Street, Wild One, It Takes Two
Other Important Roles: Forming the Funk Brothers, forming a short partnership with singer Marvin Gaye (the duo co-wrote some songs together)



HOLLAND-DOZIER-HOLLAND
Members: Eddie Holland, Jr., Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland
Formed: 1962 in Detroit, Michigan
Disbanded: 1974

Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team made up of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian Holland and Edward Holland, Jr.. The trio wrote and arranged many of the songs making up the Motown sound that dominated American popular music in the 1960s. During their tenure at Motown Records from 1962–1967, Dozier and Brian Holland were the composers/producers for each song, and Eddie Holland wrote the lyrics and arranged the vocals. When the trio left Motown, they continued to work as a production team (with Eddie Holland being added to the producer credits), and as a songwriting team until about 1974. In 1990, the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

History

The trio came together at Motown Records. Eddie Holland, in fact, had been working with Motown founder Berry Gordy prior to that label being formed; his 1958 Mercury single "You" was one of the earliest Gordy productions. Later, Eddie Holland had a career as a Motown recording artist, scoring a US top 30 hit in 1961 with "Jamie".

Eddie's brother Brian Holland was a Motown staff songwriter who also tasted success in 1961, being a co-composer of The Marvelettes' US #1 "Please Mr. Postman". Dozier had been a recording artist for a few different labels in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the Anna label (owned by Berry Gordy's sister) and Motown subsidiary Mel-o-dy.

The three came together to create material for themselves and other artists, but soon found they preferred being writer/producers to being performers. (especially Eddie, who suffered from stage fright and retired from performing in 1964.) They ended up writing and producing dozens and dozens of songs recorded by artists on contract to Motown Records, including 25 Number 1 hit singles such as "(Love is Like a) Heat Wave" for Martha & the Vandellas and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" for Marvin Gaye. Their most celebrated productions were probably the singles they created for The Four Tops and The Supremes, including a string of five consecutive US #1 singles for The Supremes, beginning with 1964's "Where Did Our Love Go".

In 1967, H-D-H entered a dispute with the founder and head of Motown Records, Berry Gordy Jr., over profit sharing and royalties. Eddie Holland had the others stage a work slowdown, and by early 1968 the trio had left the label. They started their own labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records, which were only mildly successful. Motown sued for breach of contract, and H-D-H countersued. The subsequent litigation was one of the longest legal battles in music industry history. Because of the lawsuit, H-D-H were forced to give composer credits on their earliest Invictus/Hot Wax recordings to the team of "Wayne/Dunbar". The lawsuit was settled in 1977 with H-D-H paying Motown a mere several thousand dollars in damages.[citation needed]

Dozier left Holland-Dozier-Holland Productions, Inc. (HDHP) during the early 1970s to resume his career as a solo performing artist. From the mid-1970s onwards, HDHP, with Harold Beatty replacing Dozier, wrote and produced songs for a number of artists. Curiously, HDHP worked on material for Motown artists, including the Supremes and Michael Jackson, even while its litigation against Motown Records was still pending. Lamont Dozier commented in 2008, "The lawsuit was just our way of taking care of business that needed to be taken care of -just like Berry Gordy had to take care of his business which resulted in the lawsuit. Business is business, love is love."

Lamont Dozier has his own production company and continues to work as a solo artist, producer and recording artist, while the Holland Brothers own HDH Records and Productions (without any participation from Lamont Dozier), which issues recordings from the Invictus and Hot Wax catalogs as well as new material.

Musical theatre

For a "one-time only reunion", the three have composed the score for the musical production of The First Wives Club, based on the novel by Olivia Goldsmith and a later hit film, which will include original tunes and some of their hit songs. The new musical is being be produced by Paul Lambert and Jonas Neilson and is scheduled to premiere in July 2009.

Important Songs:
Leaving Here (Eddie Holland)
Come and Get These Memories (Martha and the Vandellas)
(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (Martha and the Vandellas)
Mickey's Monkey (The Miracles)
When the Love Light Starts Shining Through His Eyes (The Supremes)
Can I Get a Witness (Marvin Gaye)
Where Did Our Love Go (The Supremes)
Baby Love (The Supremes)
Come See About Me (The Supremes)
Baby I Need Your Loving (The Four Tops)
You're a Wonderful One (Marvin Gaye)
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) (Marvin Gaye and Junior Walker & the All-Stars)
Ask the Lonely (The Four Tops)
Stop! In the Name of Love (The Supremes)
Nowhere to Run (Martha and the Vandellas)
I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) (The Four Tops)
Back In My Arms Again (The Supremes)
It's the Same Old Song (The Four Tops)
I Hear a Symphony (The Supremes)
Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While) (Kim Weston)
Darling Baby (The Elgins)
(I'm a) Roadrunner (Junior Walker & the All-Stars)
This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) (The Isley Brothers)
Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over) (The Four Tops)
Reach Out I'll Be There (The Four Tops)
Standing in the Shadows of Love (The Four Tops)
You Can't Hurry Love (The Supremes)
You Keep Me Hangin' On (The Supremes)
(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need (The Miracles)
Heaven Must Have Sent You (The Elgins)
Love Is Here and Now You're Gone (The Supremes)
Jimmy Mack (Martha and the Vandellas)
Bernadette (The Four Tops)
7-Rooms of Gloom (The Four Tops)
The Happening (The Supremes)
Reflections (Diana Ross & the Supremes)
Forever Came Today (Diana Ross & the Supremes; the Jackson 5)
Just a Little Bit of You (Michael Jackson)
--->This is all their Motown hits



MARVIN GAYE (1939-1984)
Important Songs (as songwriter and/or producer): Beechwood 4-5789, Stubborn Kind of Fellow, Hitch Hike, Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home), Pride & Joy, Dancing in the Street, Pretty Little Baby, If This World Were Mine, Baby I'm for Real, The Bells, We Can Make It Baby, What's Going On, Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology), Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), I Love You Secretly, Let's Get It On, Come Get to This, Distant Lover, Just to Keep You Satisfied, I Want You, Got to Give It Up



ASHFORD & SIMPSON
Members: Nicholas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Formed: 1964 in New York City, New York

Nickolas Ashford (born May 4, 1942, in Fairfield, South Carolina) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946 in The Bronx, New York) are a successful husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists. They met in the choir of Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined another aspiring artist, Joshie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good"), Maxine Brown ("One Step At A Time"), as well as the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio's songs "Let's Go Get Stoned" gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966. Ashford & Simpson then joined Holland/Dozier/Holland at Motown where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need To Get By", "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" and "Remember Me". As performers, Ashford and Simpson's best-known song is "Solid" (1984 US and 1985 UK).

History

The duo essentially had two careers: one as a successful writing and producing team and the other as singers and performers themselves. They started their career in the 1960s, writing for artists such as:

* Ray Charles ("Let's Go Get Stoned" and "'I Don't Need No Doctor")
* The 5th Dimension ("California Soul")
* Aretha Franklin ("Cry Like A Baby")

Joining the Motown staff in 1966, they wrote and/or produced all but one of the late 1960s singles Marvin Gaye recorded with Tammi Terrell, including hits such as the original version of:

* "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
* "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"
* "Your Precious Love"
* "You're All I Need to Get By"

Other Motown artists that Ashford & Simpson worked with included:

* Diana Ross
o "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)"
o "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
o "Remember Me"
o "Surrender"
o "The Boss"
o "It's My House"

* Gladys Knight & The Pips
o "Didn't You Know You'd Have To Cry Sometime"
o "The Landlord"
o "Bourgie, Bourgie"
o "Taste Of Bitter Love"

* Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
o "Who's Gonna Take The Blame"

* The Marvelettes
o "Destination:Anywhere"

* The Supremes
o "Some Things You Never Get Used To"

* The Dynamic Superiors
o "Shoe, Shoe Shine"

Other artists with whom they had hits were:

Teddy Pendergrass ("Is It Still Good To You") The Brothers Johnson ("Ride-O-Rocket") Chaka Khan, both on her own ("I'm Every Woman" and "Clouds," ) and with Rufus ("Keep It Comin'" and "Ain't Nothin' But a Maybe" )

In 1978, they were featured as vocalists, along with Chaka Khan, on the hit single "Stuff Like That" from Quincy Jones' Sounds...And Stuff Like That album and contributed to the writing of the soundtrack to The Wiz.

Simpson appeared (with Melba Moorman) as part of the "Blood, Sweat & Tears Soul Chorus" on the band's Al Kooper led debut, Child Is Father to the Man.

According to Marvin Gaye in the book "Divided Soul," Simpson did most of the vocals on the last album he did with Tammi Terrell, "Easy," as a way of Tammi's family to have additional income.

Ashford & Simpson's career as artists actually began in 1964, when they recorded "I'll Find You" as "Valerie & Nick." This was followed by several obscure singles Ashford recorded on the Glover, Verve and ABC labels such as "It Ain't Like That", (later recorded by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas), "California Soul" and "Dead End Kids" backed by his own version of "Let's Go Get Stoned," which the duo wrote with their early collaborator Joshie Jo Armstead. After concentrating on working with other artists, Simpson was the featured soloist on the songs "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "What's Going On" on the Quincy Jones albums Gula Matari in 1970 and its follow-up, Smackwater Jack. Simpson subsequently recorded two excellent solo LPs for Motown: Valerie Simpson Exposed in 1971, and, the following year, the album Valerie Simpson, which included the single "Silly Wasn't I," which was sampled on 50 Cent's "Best Friend", from the movie Get Rich or Die Tryin'. The song was also sampled by 9th Wonder on Murs's "Silly Girl" in the album Murray's Revenge. Ashford & Simpson left Motown in 1973, after the albums Simpson recorded for the label received poor promotion and the company refused to release an album of the two of them recording a collection of their most famous songs for other artists. They first came to national prominence when they were featured singing selections from Simpson's solo albums on the PBS TV show Soul!, hosted by Ellis Haizlip in 1971.

Around this time, they got married, and in 1973, they resumed their career as a duo with the Warner Brothers album Gimme Something Real. This was followed by the hit singles, "Don't Cost You Nothin'," in 1977, "It Seems To Hang On" in 1978, "Is it Still Good to Ya" in 1978, "Found A Cure" in 1979, "Street Corner" in 1982, and their biggest hit, "Solid", which they recorded in 1984. They recorded the album Been Found with poet Maya Angelou in 1996. (A complete list of their albums can be found in the discography listed below.)

On his own, Ashford produced, along with Frank Wilson, the mammoth hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me", which was recorded by Diana Ross & the Supremes in collaboration with the Temptations in 1968. He also appeared in the movie New Jack City (1991), as Reverend Oates, an ordained minister who was part of Nino Brown's entourage.

Simpson's brothers were in the record business as well: Raymond Simpson replaced Victor Willis in the Village People and their brother Jimmy Simpson, produced the group G.Q., (who had big hits with "Disco Nights" and "I Do Love You"), and was in great demand as a mixing engineer during the disco era.

In recent times, Ashford & Simpson have recorded and toured sporadically and in 1996, they opened the restaurant and live entertainment venue Sugar Bar in New York City, which has an open mic on Thursday nights where performers have included Queen Latifah and Felicia Collins. Around this time, they were also featured disc jockeys on New York's KISS-FM radio station.

On August 16th, 2006, Playbill Online reported that they are writing the score for a musical based on E. Lynn Harris's novel Invisible Life.

In January 2007, they, along with Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sidney Poitier, director Spike Lee and comedian Chris Tucker, accompanied Oprah Winfrey when she opened up the school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa.

The duo continues to write and score today. They are given credit for their writing talents on the Amy Winehouse 2007 CD "Back to Black" for the single "Tears Dry On Their Own". The track is based on Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown classic hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". They have started performing their live act in intimate spaces such as Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and the Rrazz Room in San Francisco.



THE CORPORATION
Important Songs: I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, Mama's Pearl, Sugar Daddy, Bless You

The Corporation was a collection of songwriters and record producers assembled in 1969 by Motown label head Berry Gordy to create hit records for the label's new act, The Jackson 5.

The four members of The Corporation - Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, and Alphonzo Mizell - were responsible for the writing, production, and arranging of the Jackson 5 number-one hit singles "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save"; as well as for later Jackson 5 singles such as "Mama's Pearl" and "Maybe Tomorrow". Like a previous production team, "The Clan", that was pulled together to create the singles "Love Child" and "I'm Livin' in Shame" for Diana Ross & the Supremes, The Corporation was intended as a replacement of sorts for Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had left the label in late 1967 to start Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records.

Gordy created The Corporation because he did not want any more "back room superstars", which the Holland-Dozier-Holland team had become. The group members were never billed individually on the original Jackson 5 releases they worked on; even the songwriters' credit was listed as "The Corporation" (always spelled with the trademark symbol at the end). The Corporation disbanded in 1972, after Hal Davis had assumed creative control of the Jackson 5's output. After its disbanding, Motown would credit Gordy, Mizell, Richards, and Perren individually on compilation releases containing Corporation-created Jackson 5 material.



WILLIE HUTCH (1944-2005)
Important Songs: I'll Be There, Never Can Say Goodbye (as arranger), Got to Be There (arranger), Try It, You'll Like It, Sweet Harmony (as producer), Mr. Fix-It Man



NORMAN WHITFIELD (1940-2008) & BARRETT STRONG
Formed: 1967
Disbanded: 1972
Important Songs: I Wish It Would Rain, You're My Everything, I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You), I Heard It through the Grapevine, Too Busy Thinking About My Baby, That's the Way Love Is, Friendship Train, You Need Love Like I Do, The Nitty Gritty, Cloud Nine, I Can't Get Next to You, Runaway Child, Running Wild, I Just Want to Celebrate, (I Know) I'm Losing You, Ball of Confusion, War, Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On, Stop the War Now, Smiling Faces Sometimes, Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), Papa Was a Rolling Stone



PAMELA SAWYER & GLORIA JONES
Important Songs: If I Were Your Woman, My Mistake (Was to Love You), Love Child, Love Hangover, and Love Child



RICK JAMES (1948-2004)
Important Songs (as songwriter and/or producer): You & I, Super Freak, Give It to Me Baby, All Night Long, Standing on the Top, Ebony Eyes, I'm a Sucka for Love, I Need Your Loving, In My House



LIONEL RICHIE
Important Songs (as songwriter): Brick House, Three Times a Lady, Still, Sail On, Endless Love, Truly, Lady, All Night Long (All Night), Hello, Missing You, Say You, Say Me



STEVIE WONDER
Important Songs (as songwriter and/or producer): Uptight, My Cherie Amour, Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), Tears of a Clown, It's a Shame, Superstition, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Higher Ground, Living for the City, You Haven't Done Nothin', Boogie On Reggae Woman, I Wish, Sir Duke, Let's Get Serious, That Girl, etc.



IVY JO HUNTER
Important Songs: Ask the Lonely, Dancing in the Street, I'll Keep Holding On, Can You Jerk Like Me, You

Several of Motown's biggest hits -- "Ask the Lonely," "Dancing in the Street" "I'll Keep Holding," and "Can You Jerk Like Me" -- were co-written by George Ivy Hunter a.k.a. Ivy Jo. A private person, little is known about the mysterious but prolific Motown songwriter/producer/singer. He was raised in Detroit, Michigan and his musical gifts showed early, in elementary school he played with the Detroit Symphony and the Detroit City Orchestra, excelling on the trumpet, the Euphonia, and keyboards. He attended Cass Technical High School where he took tough courses like economics, and at 15 wrote his first song for a group called the Velveteers which helped them win an amateur contest.

After high school he joined the Army, when his duty was over, he returned home seeking work, and decided to become a singer. And sang he did, first at the 20 Grand then Phelp's Lounge where he befriended Motown writer/producer Hank Cosby who directed the talented young man to Motown's A & R Director, William "Mickey" Stevenson. Hunter auditioned as a singer, who wrote his own songs, but Mickey saw potential in Ivy Jo as a co-writer. He played on quite a few sessions before Earl Van Dyke took over on keyboards. His first collaboration with Stevenson was "Sweet Thing" by the Spinners; the two went on to write classic after classic, but never got the notoriety that other Motown writers and producers received. For the Temptations Ivy contributed to "Born to Love," "Just Another Lonely Night," "Sorry Is a Sorry Word," and "It's a Lonely World Without Your Love." The Spinners benefitted from "I'll Always Love You," and "Truly Yours"; how about "You," Marvin Gaye, "Yesterday Dreams," the Four Tops, "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead," the Marvelettes, "My Baby Loves Me," Martha & the Vandellas, and "Got to Have You Back," the Isley Brothers.

All the while Hunter was cutting solo tracks at Motown, but they never released anything until "I Remember You (Dedicated to Beverly)" b/w "Sorry Is a Sorry Word," March of 1970. A second 45 "I Still Love You" b/w "I Can Feel the Pain," surfaced two months later, neither did anything. Motown released Ivy Jo Is In This Bag on its VIP label the same year.

Ivy Jo got around, he contributed to a multitude of projects around the Motor City, even played keyboards on the Funkadelic's "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" He co-produced a sizzling album for Wee Gee (William Howard) the then ex-lead singer of the Dramatics; contributing the classic "Hold on to Your Dreams," later done by Staple Singers, and the soulful "You've Been a Part Of Me." Other Hunter compositions include "Loving Country," the Supremes, "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever," the Four Tops, and "Seek and You Shall Find," the Isley Brothers, and Marvin Gaye. He collaborated with Ian Levine on "Footsteps Keep Following Me," by Francis Nero. Ivy Jo's still pumping out the sounds, and resides in Southfield, Michigan.

Ivy Jo Hunter (born George Ivy Hunter and often confused with blues singer Ivory Joe Hunter) was a soul musician and rock and roll pioneer, a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label.

Raised in Detroit, Michigan, he was trained in orchestral music-- primarily trumpet and keyboards. After a stint in the United States Army, Hunter began performing as a singer in the proto-soul venues around Detroit, where he was discovered by Motown's first A&R man, William "Mickey" Stevenson. With Stevenson, Hunter became a principal in the Motown Records house band and began to write some of the most significant hits of the early Motown years. Hunter produced and wrote songs for Motown artists like The Marvelettes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye, for whom he produced the Top 40 hit single "You" in 1968. As a vocalist he recorded a great deal of material with Motown during the sixties including demos of his own compositions, but nothing was released until 1970. In 1970, Motown issued an Ivy Jo single on their soon to be discontinued VIP label entitled 'I Remember When (Dedicated to Beverly)'. The following year another single on VIP was issued entitled 'I'd Still love You'. An album was also planned with the title 'Ivy Jo is in this Bag', but was shelved. Shortly after this he left Motown.

With Marvin Gaye and William Stevenson, he cowrote the smash Martha and the Vandellas hit "Dancing in the Street" which, in the fall of 1964, provided an American counterpart to the British Invasion. He continued to write, produce, serve as session musician and perform throughout the 1960s. In 1970, he contributed to Funkadelic's "Mommy, What's A Funkadelic?" on that band's eponymous first album.



JANIE BRADFORD
Important Songs: Money, Your Old Standby, Too Busy Thinking About My Baby, All the Love I've Got, Time Changes Things, Contract on Love, Hip City II

Creativity, ingenuity and perseverance were the qualities of the early pioneers of The Motown Sound. Janie Bradford is one of those people. This Missouri-born, Detroit transplant was influenced early in life by diverse musical styles, including both country music and gospel. It is no surprise that she befan her professional songwriting career as a teenager. Some would call it fate, but those who know this dynamo well, say that fate had nothing to do with it. Who else would tell record mogul Berry Gordy, “If you can write a song, so can I!”

With that unusual initiation into the Motown family, Ms. Bradford has become a prominent part of the company’s legendary history. First, two songs which she co-authored with Gordy, were included on Jackie Wilson’t album, “Lonely Teardrops.” Then came another collaboration, co-authored with Berry Gordy, the mega-smash, “Money (That’s What I Want)”, a song which has been recorded over two hundred times, by artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Barrett Strong (the original!), Muddy Waters, The Supremes, The Flying Lizzards, Waylon Jennings and on and on.

The hits kept coming: “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” on Marvin Gaye, “Your Old Stand-by” for Mary Well, “All The Love I’ve Got,” for the Marvelettes, “Time Changes Things,” The Supremes, “Contract of Love,” Stevie Wonder, “Hip City Part II” on Junior Walker and many others.

Janie’s administrative involvement with the company continued to grow and she was soon named Director of Writer’s Relations. She worked with the company for 20 years before starting a far reaching business of her own. Janie has been honored by BMI with a certificate of Achievement for “Money” and “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby.” The late Jack the Rapper presented her with the Vidian Carter Award to recognize her contributions and longevity in Black Radio.

Although she still writes, within the confines of her Beverly Hills Offices, she also manages her own publishing company, Mountain Goat Music, and publishes Entertainment Connection Magazine, as well as founding and producing the Heroes and Legends Awards, which is in it’s fourteenth consecutive year. It is an organization that was created to aid young people in the community achieve their dreams of a career in the performing arts. Through the HAL Awards Scholarship Program, Ms. Bradford has granted over thirty students with scholarships to attend the Performing Arts school of their choice.

“I believe if you have an idea, a dream, you can’t just think about it, you have to go out and do it. And don’t let anything get in your way. If the elevator stops, take the stairs.”



SYLVIA MOY (in the middle)
Important Songs: My Cherie Amour, Honey Chile, This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You), Uptight, Everything's Alright

Sylvia Moy is an acclaimed former Motown songwriter and record producer, notable for being the first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts. According to Berry Gordy's auto-biography "To Be Loved" Moy was directly responsible for the label keeping Stevie Wonder. Gordy wrote that, after Stevie's voice began to change as a result of puberty, he was going to drop him from the label. It was then that Moy went to Berry and asked "if she could come up with a hit for Stevie would he reconsider"; he agreed and the rest is history. Among the hit singles Moy wrote and/or produced while at Motown are "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" by The Isley Brothers, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and "My Cherie Amour" by Stevie Wonder and "Honey Chile" and "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" by Martha and the Vandellas among others. She was recently inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame alongside fellow Motown songwriter and producer Henry Cosby. Sylvia continues to write and produce at her studio in Detroit.

RICHARD MORRIS (MOTOWN)
Important Songs: Honey Chile, Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone, (We've Got) Honey Love

FRANK WILSON
Important Songs: All I Need, I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (as producer), Chained, Love Child, I'm Livin' in Shame, Up the Ladder to the Roof, Everybody's Got the Right to Love, Still Water (Love), Stoned Love, It's the Way Nature Planned It, Nathan Jones, Touch, Girl You Need a Change of Mind, Keep on Truckin', Boogie Down, Goin' Down to Love Town, It Must Be Love, 'Cause I Love You

Frank Wilson is an African American former songwriter and record producer for Motown Records. He joined the company in 1965, working with Brenda Holloway. He went on to write and produce hit records for Brenda Holloway, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Eddie Kendricks, and more. Wilson also tried his hand at being a recording artist himself, recording the single “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" for release on the Motown subsidiary label 'Soul.' Supposedly 250 demo 45s were pressed, but by that time Frank Wilson decided he would rather focus on producing and had the demos trashed. Somehow at least two known copies survived, one of which fetched £15,000 (aprox. $28,000.00). Because of the scarcity of the original single and the high quality of the music (it was one of the most popular records in the Northern soul movement), it has been championed as one of the rarest and most valuable records in history (along with other "impossible to find" records by such acts as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and the Five Sharps).

Wilson left Motown in 1976 and became a born-again Christian. He is now a minister, traveling and writing books with his wife Bunny Wilson, and is also involved in the production of gospel music as well.



HENRY "HANK" COSBY
Birth Date: May 12, 1928
Birth Place: Detroit, Michigan
Death Date: January 22, 2002 (cardiac bypass surgery)
Death Place: Royal Oak, Michigan
Important Songs: Uptight, Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Do-Da-Day, My Cherie Amour, Yester-You, Yester-Me, Yesterday, I Don't Know Why I Love You, I Should Be Proud
Other Roles: Playing in the Funk Brothers as a saxophonist

Henry "Hank" Cosby (May 12, 1928, Detroit, Michigan – January 22, 2002, Detroit, Michigan) was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records. Although he worked with many of the label's artists, from The Supremes to The Temptations, Cosby is best known for helming many of Stevie Wonder's early hits, including "My Cherie Amour", "I Was Made to Love Her", and "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". Cosby was also a prominent member of Motown's Funk Brothers studio band, playing many of the familiar saxophone hooks on the label's hits.

He died aged 73 on January 22, 2002 at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, after complications from a cardiac bypass surgery.[1] His name is written on an honorary South Tower Construction beam of the hospital.

In 2006, Cosby was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

CLARENCE PAUL (1928-1995)
Important Songs: Fingertips, Until You Come Back to Me, Hitch Hike

Clarence Paul or "CP" was a songwriter and record producer for Detroit's Motown label. Born Clarence Otto Pauling March 19, 1928, he was the brother of legendary "5" Royales guitarist Lowman Pauling Jr. Their father was a coal miner in Bluefield, West Virginia, where the brothers listened to country music on the town's only radio station. Lowman Pauling Sr. later moved his family to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the brothers would form the gospel group, the Royal Sons Quintet, later to become the "5" Royales. Paul dropped the "ing" from his last name after moving to Detroit in the 1950s so he would not to be confused with his older brother. At Motown he gained fame as Stevie Wonder's mentor and main producer during Stevie's teenage years, and came up with Wonder as his last name. Paul also produced early Temptations records in the mode of the "5" Royales, and wrote/co-wrote such hits as "Until you come back to me" originally for Stevie Wonder and later given to Aretha Franklin who made it a hit, also "Hitch Hike" for Marvin Gaye, etc. Paul retired to Las Vegas however upon a return trip to California, Paul died at Cedar's Sinai in Los Angeles May 6th 1995. He was 67. He is survived by his daughter Alexis, 4 other living children (2 girls/2 boys) and one dead child (the oldest son, Darryl).



JOHNNY BRISTOL
Full Name: John William Bristol
Birth Date: February 3, 1939
Birth Place: Morganton, North Carolina
Death Date: March 21, 2004 (natural causes)
Death Place: Brighton Township, Michigan
Important Songs (as songwriter and/or producer): Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Your Precious Love, If I Could Build My Whole World Around You, Twenty Five Miles, My Whole World Ended the Moment You Left Me, These Things Will Keep Me Loving You, I Don't Wanna Do Wrong, Daddy Could Swear, I Declare, What Does It Take to Win Your Love, These Eyes, Gotta Hold On to This Feeling, Someday We'll Be Together, Walk in the Night, That's How Love Goes, I Can't Stand to See You Cry

Johnny Bristol (born John William Bristol, February 3, 1939 - March 21, 2004), was an African American musician, most famous as a songwriter and record producer for the Motown label in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was a native of Morganton, North Carolina.

Motown producer

Bristol first came to local fame in the Detroit area as a member of the soul duo 'Johnny & Jackey' with Jackey Beavers, an associate Bristol met while in the U.S. Air Force. The pair recorded two singles in 1959 for Anna Records, a label owned by Gwen Gordy (Berry Gordy's sister) and Billy Davis and four 45's for Gwen Gordy and Harvey Fuqua's Tri-Phi label, none of which were successes beyond the Midwestern United States.

In the mid 1960s, Tri-Phi was absorbed by Motown, and Bristol began working with Fuqua as a songwriter and producer. Among Fuqua and Bristol's successes as producers were hit singles such as Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1967), "Your Precious Love" (1967), and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (1968); Edwin Starr's "Twenty-Five Miles" (1969); and David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" (1969). Bristol flourished at Motown working with some of the label's best selling acts. His producer and/or writer credits included: The Velvelettes "These Things Keep Me Loving You" (1973); Gladys Knight & the Pips' "I Don't Want To Do Wrong" (1971) and "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare" (1972); and with Jr. Walker & the All Stars, who charted with a number of Bristol written songs including "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" (1969), "These Eyes" (1969), "Gotta Hold On To This Feeling" (1970) and "Walk in the Night" (1972). One of his last successes was Jermaine Jackson's first solo record "That's How Love Goes" (1972).

Notably, Bristol was the producer and co-writer of the final singles for both Diana Ross & the Supremes and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, before each group lost its namesake lead singer. While the Miracles' "We've Come Too Far to End It Now" (1972) was an original, the Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together" (1969) was a cover version of a Johnny & Jackey single from 1961. Bristol is the male voice on the Supremes' version of "Someday We'll Be Together," singing response to Diana Ross' lead vocal (Ross actually recorded the song with session singers replacing the other two Supremes).

Producer and solo performer

In 1973, Bristol left Motown joining first with CBS as a producer. He worked with a number of emerging singers that included Randy Crawford, for whom Bristol wrote "Caught in Love's Triangle", as well as production duties on established performers including Nancy Wilson, Johnny Mathis and Boz Scaggs. Now in his early 30s he was anxious to resume his own recording career, and when CBS/Columbia showed little enthusiasm he signed a recording contract with MGM.

At MGM, Bristol recorded two successful albums and charted with several singles, notably "Hang On in There Baby" (1974, #8 U.S. Pop #3 UK), "You and I" (1974, #20 U.S. R&B), and "Leave My World" (1975, #23 U.S. R&B). He also recorded the original version of "Love Me for a Reason", later a hit for The Osmonds. Bristol then recorded two albums for Atlantic Bristol's Creme (1976) and Strangers (1980). One track from the Atlantic period "Strangers in the Dark Corners" has become a popular track on the European rare soul scene. He maintained a parallel role as a producer during this period working mainly for artists signed to Columbia Records. Amongst those with whom he worked was Boz Scaggs, and Bristol can be credited with creating Scaggs' blue-eyed soul sound for the Slow Dancer album (1974). Bristol also produced Tom Jones' 1975 album, Memories Don't Leave Like People Do, which included five covers of Bristol's songs, including the title track. He continue to be held in high regard as a producer and some of the notable acts with whom he worked included: The Jackson Sisters, Tavares and Margie Joseph. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best New Artist; ultimately losing out to Marvin Hamlisch.

Bristol's main market was in Europe by the early 1980s. His duet with Amii Stewart on a medley of "My Guy - My Girl" reached #39 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980. A deal for Ariola/Hansa saw him score with club hits "Love No Longer Has a Hold on Me" and "Take Me Down". An accompanying album failed to consolidate his status, and it would be eight years before a new product by Bristol would appear, with a 12" single "I'm Just a Musician" for Hansa. An affiliation in 1989 with the UK record label Motorcity Records was brief, but did result in the release of one of Bristol's most popular releases, "Man Up in the Sky", and a cover of the Bristol penned "What Does it Take to Win Your Love", originally a hit for Jr. Walker & the All Stars.

Johnny Bristol's last releases were a 12" single in 1991 for Whichway Records, "Come to Me", and an album Life & Love released for the Japanese market in 1993. The latter included a duet of Earth, Wind & Fire's "That's The Way I Feel About You" with his daughter Shanna J. Bristol. The album receive a U.S. release three years later under the title Come To Me.

Bristol died in his Brighton Township, Michigan home on 21 March 2004, of natural causes, at the age of sixty-five.

A comprehensive article on his career is contained in issue 51 of the music magazine, In The Basement.



HARVEY FUQUA
Important Songs: Someday We'll Be Together, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, That's What Girls Are Made of, Your Precious Love, If I Could Build My Whole World Around, What Does It Take to Win Your Love



LEON WARE
Important Songs: I Wanna Be Where You Are, I Want You, After the Dance, Inside My Love

Leon Ware (born 6 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan) is a soul music singer, songwriter and producer who found his biggest success crafting the hit album, I Want You, for friend and Motown icon Marvin Gaye in 1976. Ware also is notable for writing the Top 5 R&B single, "I Wanna Be Where You Are", for a young Michael Jackson in 1972, and creating the Body Heat album along with Quincy Jones. He also contributed Maxwell on his debut set Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.

During the 1970s and 1980 Ware released six albums under his name on different labels with moderate success, but his work is highly acclaimed by other musicians, such as Jay Kay from Jamiroquai. In 1977, Ware produced an album for Italian singer Lara Saint Paul and her LASAPA label titled Saffo Music that is rare and sought out by collectors today.

He is also famous for his collaborations in the 1990s, for instance with Maxwell on the single "Sumthin' Sumthin'", Omar and Steve Spacek in 2005. During the last years he started recording on his own again. His albums Love's Drippin' and A Kiss In The Sand are sold over his homepage. His latest set Moon Ride was released on Stax in August 2008.

Ware has also produced for other acts including Diana Ross' younger brother Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, Minnie Riperton and others. He wrote several songs for George Clinton's group The Parliaments.

OTHER WRITERS & PRODUCERS FOR MOTOWN
Marv Tarplin (Ain't That Peculiar, I'll Be Doggone, One More Heartache, Baby Come Close, Cruisin', The Tracks of My Tears, Going to a Go-Go, I Like It Like That, My Girl Has Gone, The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage, Being With You)

Bobby Rogers (The Way You Do the Things You Do, My Baby, What Love Has Joined Together, First I Look at the Purse, One More Heartache, Going to a Go-Go)

Ronnie White (My Girl, Ain't That Peculiar, You Beat Me to the Punch, Don't Look Back)

Billy Griffin (Love Machine)

Pete Moore (It's Growing, Since I Lost My Baby, I'll Be Doggone, Ain't That Peculiar, Ooo Baby Baby, The Tracks of My Tears, Going to a Go-Go, Love Machine)

The Stover Brothers - Eddie & Kenneth (The Bells, We Can Make It Baby, Let's Get It On (the rough first draft), You're the Man, Just to Keep You Satisfied, Lovin', Livin', Givin')

Arthur "T-Boy" Ross (I Wanna Be Where You Are, I Want You)

Hal Davis ("I'll Be There", "Dancing Machine", "Can I")

Terry "Buzzy" Johnson (Baby, Baby Don't Cry, Here I Go Again, Malinda)

Gwen Gordy Fuqua (Distant Lover, You Can't Turn Me Off In the Middle of Turning Me On)

Anna Gordy Gaye (Baby I'm for Real, The Bells, Just to Keep You Satisfied)

R. Dean Taylor (There's a Ghost in My House, I'll Turn to Stone, All I Need, I'm Living in Shame, Indiana Wants Me, Love Child, Just Look What You've Done)

Brenda & Patricia Holloway (You've Made Me So Very Happy)

Bobby Taylor (Does Your Mama Know About Me, I've Been Changed, the bulk of Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5)

Roger Penzabene (I Wish It Would Rain, You're My Everything, I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)

Jeffrey Bowen (Shakey Ground, Happy People)

Syreeta Wright (It's a Shame, If You Really Love Me, Blame It on the Sun, Looking for Another Love)

The DeBarges (El, Bunny, Randy, Marty and James) (I Like It, All This Love, Stay With Me, A Dream)
----

OK, this covers the bulk of the songwriters and producers in the Motown circle, if you feel someone's missing, let me know, lol!

Did H-D-H do anything worthwhile as a team after they left Motown?

midnightmover said:

They formed Hot Wax and Invictus Records and produced hits for Freda Payne and Chairman of the Board and signed Honey Cone who released the number-one hit "Want Ads". They also worked with Dionne Warwick on an album for Warner Bros and had her record it in Detroit but the album flopped. When Lamont Dozier left to revive his singing career in 1974, Brian & Eddie Holland, still in litigation with Motown over royalty disputes, returned to the label and worked on songs for Michael Jackson and The Supremes (now insisting at this time of Scherrie Payne, Susaye Greene and the only original member, Mary Wilson). Lamont went on to write hits with Phil Collins, co-writing Phil's 1988 hit "Two Hearts" and they co-wrote "Loco in Acapulco" for The Four Tops, that song went top ten in the UK and was the last Four Tops single to do so. That pretty much sums it up.

Timmy84 said:

Yeah, but what I want to know is, was the work they did as a trio afterwards any good? I'm just wondering whether they still created magic without the Funk Brothers and the Motown environment to stimulate them.

midnightmover said:

If you want my opinion? It was good but NOT as good as their Motown stuff, even they'll admit it. I rather hear 10 Supremes/Vandellas tracks than anything by Freda Payne though I love "Band of Gold". Rumor was that song was written in the 1960s for the Supremes but they turned it down.

Timmy84 said:

That's a shame. It seems like there was something about that environment that brought the best out in people.

midnightmover said:

The Motown of the sixties was an unmistakable sound.

Motown shines with gold record

By Marcel Anders on Saturday, January 31, 2009

Motown Records turned 50 this month – the very label that made legends out of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross.
Emirates Business chats with founder Berry Gordy, 79, about all things Hitsville [the birthplace of Motwon Records in Michigan, US] as he spills the beans on why he turned down Jackson at first, why Wonder was nothing but a nuisance and why he sold the company in 1988.

When was your last visit to Motown's Hitsville home on Detroit's West Grand Boulevard?

The last time I was at West Grand was during Levi Stubbs' funeral, in October. I spoke at his funeral. Levi Stubbs was one of the great singers of all time, and I enjoyed his music so much.

What's it like going back there?

I'm very proud of the Hitsville Museum, but I'm not anxious to go there because it's an out-of-body experience. People walk through the house I lived in and say: 'This is where his baby was, this is his stove, this is the kitchen'. It couldn't be me. I'm way too young to be the person who lived in that little room and ate on that kitchen table, which is a foot long. I'm too young for a museum.

What made it so creative? Was it because everything was part of the community?

Yes, that was part of it. We lived there and it was all fun and we were all enthusiastic and passionate. And it was not only my home, but it was everybody else's home that worked in Motown – all the artists. Whenever they came off the road, they wouldn't go home; they always came to the studio, because it was going around the clock, everybody was recording. Many times people couldn't get in the studio because there was so much action going on there.

Producer-songwriters Brian and Eddie Holland said it was the biggest boys' club.

Oh yes, it was home to everybody. It was the second family to everybody and the first to many. Never before in history has a company had that much closeness and success. And I don't think it will happen again.

Was there competition between the writers, producers, and artists?

It was built on competition. I started it out that way. Everybody competed with everybody. And people said it wouldn't work because they all competed against me.

Whenever they beat me, they were happy and I was unhappy. We usually voted and Smokey Robinson and I had the biggest rivalry; I hated him because he won almost every time and I had better songs than he did. But people knew they could vote against me, and because I was the boss, they took advantage of me and made Smokey's songs better than mine. So he got the releases and I didn't. That's why he is more popular and I'm the better writer (laughs).

Love and relationships were the formula for hit records?

And the truth. About the song and the situation. Take Smokey's Tracks Of My Tears which had you visualising a person crying; everything was visual and truthful. I was the first songwriter to do that, and when others came along, they were good too. All because I chose artists who had integrity and character; just because a person was talented did not mean I would sign them. Handling success was an integral part. And because we were confident we could get hit records, Motown artists had longevity.

Was it like going back to school?

I created a "cycle of success" where I would tell the artist where they featured on the cycle. A hit record was a part of it, but where they got money and used it for something else was another part.

Brian and Eddie once said what they dealt with lyrically is still part of every soap opera today. Would you agree?

I don't know exactly. I agree their lyrics were some of the greatest, yet underrated. Yet, aside from writing skills, their coaching and production skills were great. They coached Diana Ross and The Supremes. But some notes were too high for singers like Marvin Gaye or Diana.

Most of the producers at Motown were new people. Rick James and Nick and Valerie Simpson were single-handedly responsible for making Diana Ross' solo career work. And Norman Whitfield is probably one of the most underrated producers I know.

So did you turn down Michael Jackson?

That is correct. When Michael was offered to me by Suzanne de Passe [current CEO of De Passe Entertainment Group, then Creative Assistant to Gordy], I did not want him because he was part of a kids' group. I'd been with Stevie Wonder, who had also been part of a kids' group and had an entourage with him all the time – a strict teacher, a tutor, his mother, producer Clarence Paul and a whole group of people. Plus, he was a blind singer who wasn't making any money and I had to pay for all those people. So I was not happy with him, nor with his mother, who was even more demanding than he was.

So when Suzanne said, "Well, I got this kids' group", I said, "No, I don't want to hear anything." And she said: "Just listen to them."

And when I saw, such great choreography, Michael was just a star. He was doing splits and dancing like James Brown and cute as he could be. So I said: "Ok, I'm hooked."

It was amazing. Michael was very smart as a producer and an incredible performer.

Will we see you at the Jackson 5 reunion?

I heard about it. I haven't been in touch with them, but I think it would be great.

As an Afro-American label, how was Motown successful amid racial tensions?

I think it was successful because my first three albums didn't have black faces on there. But we had a huge global fan following. When Baby Love came out, it was a hit around the world; so was Martha & The Vandellas' Dancing In The Street.

Did you face any trouble in America?

We had trouble in the south with black artists going there because the white people wanted to see them but couldn't get into the place and the blacks couldn't dance…

Smokey and the artists were practically activists, because they went through the south and were shot at with guns. This is why the 50th anniversary is important, not for me, but for those who fought and died for Motown. Stevie got into a major accident in the south and he almost died. That's why I put our music up there with Dr Martin Luther King – he was preaching the same thing: Black man, white man coming together.

Is Motown the blueprint of shows like American Idol? Did people really queue up just to get auditioned?

Oh yes. In Detroit we were the big game. But we only accepted one out of every 20.

You've been a boxer, a composer, a worker at car plants in Detroit. What was it like being 20 and successful?

I never felt overwhelmed because I was too busy. If I didn't have artists to control and stop them from doing bad things, I'd had probably been doing bad things myself. But I'm really a teacher. I taught artists to believe in themselves, I taught them not to sell their dreams cheap. Less than one per cent of people in the world ever reach their full potential. And there are reasons why others don't. Everybody is a star, they just have to be directed in a proper way.

Were you hurt by the way you were portrayed in the movie Dream Girls – as the big hustler and gangster?

Of course! That's not who I am. I've never had any affiliations with organised crime. And for a simple reason: I'm not stupid. I don't need those people or the money. Of course I've been questioned by the FBI – simply because they found my success suspicious. But they could never harm me because there was no connection. I am living proof that you can make money the legal way if you play it smart.

Are you officially retired since selling the company in 1988?

Not officially. The stakeholders in the company are Universal, Universal Music and EMI, who got the publishing. They are partners with me in preserving and protecting the Motown legacy.

What do you think of the state of the music industry these days?

I understand their problems but I'm not sure they do. The industry is in turmoil because people don't pay to download music and it's not fair to the creative people. Technology should be used as a weapon.

Also, we never cared about the economics. I was not smart in business until I realised I would go under if I didn't. But if I were young, I would ask: "What's the challenge and how do we overcome it?"

Driving through Detroit these days must be heartbreaking?

It is, except for the fact that they knew this some time ago. As a kid, I had heard that General Motors was not doing business right. And I would say: "Well, how can they stay in business?" They were too big to fail, ever. But 40 years later, they're now at a point where they can't continue. So that's true in every business.

New releases cash in

Motown marks its big anniversary with a year-long series of new releases, including a set of podcasts featuring intimate conversations with its musicians. First up is an interview with Smokey Robinson reflecting on Motown's early days, his relationship with founder Berry Gordy and the label's impact on American culture.

Fresh episodes will debut biweekly, including those with Gordy; the late Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops; the Temptations' Otis Williams and the late Melvin Franklin; Stevie Wonder; Levi Stubbs; Diana Ross; Marvin Gaye; and the Jackson 5.

The label is cashing in with Motown: The Complete No1s, a 200-song, 10-CD box set and the 25-track CD, NOW That's What I Call Motown!. The podcasts are available on iTunes and at classic.motown.com. (Keith J Fernandez)
[Edited 1/31/09 15:57pm]

Calling Out Around the World: Motown Turns 50

By PopMatters Staff

Edited by Zeth Lundy and Christian John Wikane and Produced by Zeth Lundy and Sarah Zupko

The first thing you see is a map of Michigan, cushioned by a half-sphere of blue. An orange star bursts through the grey terrain of route numbers, city junctures, and Lake Erie. That star represents Detroit, home to a certain “Hitsville USA”. Sprawled across the map, the word “MOTOWN” is colored by shades of red, orange, yellow, and green. This illustration is not only an icon, it signifies the greatest legacy any single record label has ever left in popular music.

How quickly 50 years pass when a soul-infused Camelot is being created. It was that many years ago that a man named Berry Gordy introduced “The Sound of Young America” to a worldwide audience. The impact of this sound cannot be underestimated. Motown (or Tamla-Motown, as UK audiences know the label) produced some of the most heralded icons to emerge from the rock ‘n’ roll era: Smokey, Marvin, Diana, Stevie, and a certain self-styled “King of Pop”. The biggest hits are recognizable in mere seconds—the handclaps on “Where Did Our Love Go”, the bassline of “My Girl”, the softly strummed guitar on “The Tracks of My Tears”—and summon a distinct soundtrack to a half century of history, both personal and global.

The birth of Motown in 1959 paralleled the Civil Rights movement. Not insignificantly, the label bridged black and white audiences during the social upheaval of the 1960s. Gordy had a vision that his artists would appeal to as large and inclusive an audience as possible. Though the spectacle of Gaye at the Copacabana might have bewildered the most ardent soul music fans, Gordy succeeded in erasing the lines between “race music” and black and white audiences. The Temptations and the Supremes battled out the British Invasion on the pop charts while performing the unique choreography of Cholly Atkins for an audience glued to their suburban television screens watching The Ed Sullivan Show. The sound of young America became the sound of all America.

Search the back covers of Motown LPs from the ‘60s and you’re likely to see “The Motown Sound” printed in black typeface. What is the Motown Sound? It’s a question that even confounded label founder Gordy on the Motown 25 (1983) special. To contemporary listeners, the Motown Sound—at its purest—reflects the first ten years of the label, before the Detroit-based company relocated to Los Angeles. It was an era when, as Gordy famously said, “rats, roaches, soul, guts, and love” were the foundation of the label. The prolific William “Smokey” Robinson, Jr. and the writing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland furnished an arsenal of hits, the Funk Brothers tirelessly laid down tracks, and acts like Martha Reeves and the Vandellas blared from transistors on front-porch stoops and convertible car radios alike.

Of course, Motown has long ceased to be the independent operation it once was, due to a series of lucrative sales to label conglomerates beginning in the 1980s. “Hitsville USA”, which housed the label’s original Detroit headquarters at 2648 West Grand Blvd., is now a museum. The fate of Motown artists and groups is divided. Sadly, many have died while most have faded into obscurity and only a handful still pack concert halls. Stevie Wonder is the sole Motown artist who’s remained with the label since the 1960s.

Yet, the music of Motown remains gloriously alive and relevant. It is a testament to Gordy that no matter where you live or what generation you belong to, “The Motown Sound” figures somehow in your life, whether it’s the sweet sound of Mary Wells, the raspy growl of Edwin Starr, or Amy Winehouse borrowing the original track of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. To its credit, Universal continues to excavate the golden vaults of the label and burnish forgotten tracks and unreleased gems.

As Motown celebrates its golden anniversary this year, PopMatters submit its choices for our favorite Motown singles of all time, a difficult task to be sure. We present the best of the best on our Top 25 list. We also suggest a few choice “Bonus Tracks” of lesser known work by some of the label’s biggest stars, as well as acts who flew just beneath the radar. A series of essays explore Motown’s significance as a political, cultural, and musical force whose reverberations have traveled across the vinyl grooves of 45-rpm singles and into megabytes stored on MP3 playlists.

While you reminisce about these songs, consider that someone is hearing the Marvelettes, Rick James, Gladys Knight & the Pips, or the Commodores for the first time. There is joy in remembering and there is joy in discovery. There may even be joy inside your tears (to paraphrase Steve Wonder) as you listen to these voices. Happy Golden Anniversary, Motown! The orange star of Detroit shines brighter than ever.

—Christian John Wikane
[Edited 1/31/09 17:17pm]