I am sort of a Motown guru, but there's some stuff I either don't know or forgot about..I have some questions and I was hoping you all my have answers to them..its gonna take a MOTOWN junkie for this:

Did The Temptations and Diana Ross and The Supremes ever sing "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" on live television?

What ever happen to Jimmy Ruffin? David Ruffin's brother..is he dead or alive?

When and where was the very first MOTORTOWN REVUE at?

Did Bobby Taylor ever get credit for discovering The Jackson 5?

Gladys Knight mentioned that Miss Ross had her and The Pips pulled off the road with her and The Supremes because they were to good and the crowds enjoyed them more, is that true or false?

Whatever happen to Anna Gordy Gaye? Is is true that Marvin fathered their child by one of her and Berry's nieces?

Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross? Romance, Affair, or Friendship?

Why did Holland-Dozier-HOlland leave the Motown machine?

Which one of The Four Tops had a long affair with Mary Wilson?

Do you think a lot of the Motown Sound was gone when Berry decided to go to L.A.?

there are more,but they are slipping my mind!!!

All you have to do is ask Timmy84. He's the human Motown Encyclopedia around here.

fred12 said:

I am sort of a Motown guru, but there's some stuff I either don't know or forgot about..I have some questions and I was hoping you all my have answers to them..its gonna take a MOTOWN junkie for this:

Did The Temptations and Diana Ross and The Supremes ever sing "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" on live television?

What ever happen to Jimmy Ruffin? David Ruffin's brother..is he dead or alive?

When and where was the very first MOTORTOWN REVUE at?

Did Bobby Taylor ever get credit for discovering The Jackson 5?

Gladys Knight mentioned that Miss Ross had her and The Pips pulled off the road with her and The Supremes because they were to good and the crowds enjoyed them more, is that true or false?

Whatever happen to Anna Gordy Gaye? Is is true that Marvin fathered their child by one of her and Berry's nieces?

Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross? Romance, Affair, or Friendship?

Why did Holland-Dozier-HOlland leave the Motown machine?

Which one of The Four Tops had a long affair with Mary Wilson?

Do you think a lot of the Motown Sound was gone when Berry decided to go to L.A.?

there are more,but they are slipping my mind!!!

1. As far as I know, no. Diana sung it with Stevie but that's the only live performance she ever gave with that one.
2. Jimmy is alive and well and living and performing in England. He even has a radio show in England. I think he lives in Manchester. He has a massive UK fan base.
3. The first Motortown Revue took place around October of 1962. And it started at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., which was a special occasion for one of its stars on the bill (Marvin Gaye).
4. Yeah he got it later on. Michael even mentioned Bobby's name around 1980.
5. As far as I know from Gladys' account, that's how it happened. The Supremes' side of the argument has been silent.
6. Anna Gordy Gaye is living in Los Angeles with her niece Denise. That's still a rumor that Marvin fathered Denise's baby (Marvin III). In fact, it could be said that Marvin didn't conceive with Denise despite that rumor that Marvin did it on Anna's and Berry's word. But Denise did have Marvin III and Marvin and Anna adopted him as their own. I know what they say about sons not looking like their fathers but come on haha
7. I'm gonna say friendship. They've known each other since Smoke was 11 and Diana was 8. A lot of the relationships Diana was rumored to be in was just that: a rumor. She did date Eddie Kendricks, that's a fact. But Smokey? No.
8. They left due to money issues with Motown, they felt they weren't paid proper enough for all the hits they gave that company.
9. Abdul "Duke" Fakir was Mary's man for a minute but she was also dating Tom Jones around that same time!
10. Yeah. I hate to say this but nothing in the J5's music screamed to me "The Motown Sound". Same with the Commodores, Rick James, DeBarge, etc. The Motown Sound was mostly bred in Detroit. Sure there was some freedoms (some hits were recorded in either New York or Los Angeles) but for the most part the Motown Sound was a Detroit thing.

----

Hope that helps.

[Edited 4/2/13 6:28am]

TD3 said:

Could it also be argued the "Motown sound" changed because of the defections, and the sign of the times? 'Bout time Motown moved to L.A., the music scene had taken a more ominous tone. (iMHO)

HDH leaving Motown in 1968 definitely did a lot to bring an end to the "Motown Sound". Same can be said with Smokey Robinson's diminishing role in the label (partially because he was on his VP trip then). Of course, it became "ominous" though. I mean, Marvin, Stevie and the Norman Whitfield-produced Temptations were clear signs of that.

[Edited 4/2/13 12:16pm]

SuperSoulFighter said:

I don't really have an awful lot to add to what Tim said except that George Clinton tried to join the Motown gang and said: Matching suits? We couldn't even get our socks to match! Guess we were Funkadelic in our minds before we even knew it. [Edited 4/2/13 15:26pm] [Edited 4/2/13 15:28pm]

Haha, George did give some of his songs to Motown artists. I know Gladys Knight and the J5 recorded covers of Funkadelic. Martha Reeves actually tried to get the Parliaments signed to Motown to no avail. Shortly after that they became Funkadelic. Martha is rumored to be one of the spoken vocalists on the title track of "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow".

SuperSoulFighter said:

Didn't know about Martha. Yeah, we learn some stuff here! But yes, I did know Geeorge wrote some stuff for Motown. But, hey, now that we're on the subject, after leaving Motown, H-D-H moved on to the Invictus label which also had some of the early P-Funk records. I never really heared much of that. There were acts like Chairmen of the Board. Anybody here knows anything about that? Or whatever happened to Ruth Copeland? I've got her first LP which is a bit of a Kate Bush avant-la-lettre with a Funkadelic background...if that makes sense to anyone...

The Honey Cone was on their Hot Wax imprint.

Did any of you see the My Brother Marvin play by his sister. Its been trashed by Marvin's ex's and other family members because it depicts the "familial demons" that were apparently always beneath the surface with Marvin and his dad, namely cross dressing and homosexuality, both supposedly contributing to the fatal argument btwn Marvin and his dad. Is it true that Marvin added the "e" to his name cause of his insecurity. I recall seeing that in a Jet Mag years ago. Also something to the effect that he feared he'd "turn gay" or something

Were Diana and Marvin really that close?

missfee said:

All you have to do is ask Timmy84. He's the human Motown Encyclopedia around here.

That was my first thought. He would put me to shame when it comes

to Motown history.

datdude said:

Did any of you see the My Brother Marvin play by his sister. Its been trashed by Marvin's ex's and other family members because it depicts the "familial demons" that were apparently always beneath the surface with Marvin and his dad, namely cross dressing and homosexuality, both supposedly contributing to the fatal argument btwn Marvin and his dad. Is it true that Marvin added the "e" to his name cause of his insecurity. I recall seeing that in a Jet Mag years ago. Also something to the effect that he feared he'd "turn gay" or something

I know JET indicated Marvin's fears but it was really more like he didn't wanna turn into his dad (who wasn't gay but was just a crossdressing alcoholic who had multiple relationships with other women, even had a son from an extramarital affair). He added the "e" for multiple reasons, one was "it sounded more professional". It also meant distance from his father's namesake and to stop people from gossiping because they use to poke fun at his last name ("Gay"). I don't know what Zeola is indicating with that "what really went on". Her mama pretty much told what the fuck happened! So I understand why Janis (and Marvin's three children) are upset.

scriptgirl said:

Were Diana and Marvin really that close?

They were friends.

Timmy84 said:

SuperSoulFighter said:

I don't really have an awful lot to add to what Tim said except that George Clinton tried to join the Motown gang and said: Matching suits? We couldn't even get our socks to match! Guess we were Funkadelic in our minds before we even knew it. [Edited 4/2/13 15:26pm] [Edited 4/2/13 15:28pm]

Haha, George did give some of his songs to Motown artists. I know Gladys Knight and the J5 recorded covers of Funkadelic. Martha Reeves actually tried to get the Parliaments signed to Motown to no avail. Shortly after that they became Funkadelic. Martha is rumored to be one of the spoken vocalists on the title track of "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow".

George wrote Can't Shake It Loose on the Supremes Love Child album.

I remember seeing this on my mom's album when i was in high school

and my first reaction was

Then i learned about his history with Motown.

Did Mary Wilson actually date the She's A Lady Tom Jones?

phunkdaddy said:

Timmy84 said:

Haha, George did give some of his songs to Motown artists. I know Gladys Knight and the J5 recorded covers of Funkadelic. Martha Reeves actually tried to get the Parliaments signed to Motown to no avail. Shortly after that they became Funkadelic. Martha is rumored to be one of the spoken vocalists on the title track of "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow".

George wrote Can't Shake It Loose on the Supremes Love Child album.

I remember seeing this on my mom's album when i was in high school

and my first reaction was

Then i learned about his history with Motown.

Did Mary Wilson actually date the She's A Lady Tom Jones?

Yep!

daPrettyman said:

So that's the second performance hahaha... didn't know they did this on Sullivan...

[Edited 4/3/13 6:56am]

Timmy84 said:

daPrettyman said:

So that's the second performance hahaha... didn't know they did this on Sullivan...

[Edited 4/3/13 6:56am]

Also was Florence Ballard really working on a book before she died?

SimpleSoul said:

Timmy84 said:

So that's the second performance hahaha... didn't know they did this on Sullivan...

[Edited 4/3/13 6:56am]

Also was Florence Ballard really working on a book before she died?

Yeah. She was also talking to record labels about a possible record deal too. From what I read, she did begin to write the book and died in the middle of it. Thomas Chapman (her widower) allegedly kept rights to it.

Timmy84 said:

SimpleSoul said:

Also was Florence Ballard really working on a book before she died?

Yeah. She was also talking to record labels about a possible record deal too. From what I read, she did begin to write the book and died in the middle of it. Thomas Chapman (her widower) allegedly kept rights to it.

I don't know if it's the same thing, but this book was released in 2008. It's based on interviews the author did with Flo not long before she died.

MickyDolenz said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah. She was also talking to record labels about a possible record deal too. From what I read, she did begin to write the book and died in the middle of it. Thomas Chapman (her widower) allegedly kept rights to it.

I don't know if it's the same thing, but this book was released in 2008. It's based on interviews the author did with Flo not long before she died.

It was a different book. As far as I know, she did give out her life story up to date prior to her death.