Motown: A history of success

Résumé du document

"Music, Money, Sex and Power." That is how, in four unequivocal words, Gerald L. Posner defines Motown, the record label which transformed the landscape of American popular culture. The personage who embodies this definition is Berry Gordy Junior. His story is the story of Motown: that is why he is sometimes called "Mr. Motown." Gordy chose between the ring and the record business : "I then noticed the fighters were about 23 and looked 50 - the band leaders about 50 and looked 23" and launched Motown in 1959 in the city of Detroit with just an $800 family loan. But is the secret to Motown's success just "music, money, sex and power?" Was Berry Gordy only interested in wealth and women? And is he the only figure who embodied Motown and turned it into a hit factory? I will briefly, as an introduction, give an overview on the creation of the record label and then focus on the major aspects of Motown in order to understand the keys to its success. I chose this subject because for me Motown is not only a huge American cultural exception by the originality of its strategy but also a revolution in the American mass culture.

Extraits

[...] Listen, the Motown sound to me is not an audible sound. It's spiritual, and it comes from the people that make it happen. What other people didn't realize is that we just had one studio there, but we recorded in Chicago, Nashville, New York, L.A.--almost every big city. And we still got the sound. 3. A Factory-like Strategy to Produce Hits One of the major factors in the widespread appeal of Motown's music is also the very strict production process. [...]

[...] Motown: a history of a success Music, Money, Sex, and Power That is how, in four unequivocal words, Gerald L. Posner defines Motown, the record label which transformed the landscape of American popular culture. The personage who embodies this definition is Berry Gordy Junior. His story is the story of Motown: that is why he is sometimes called Mr. Motown Gordy chose between the ring and the record business : I then noticed the fighters were about 23 and looked 50 - the band leaders about 50 and looked 23 and launched Motown in 1959 in the city of Detroit with just an $800 family loan. [...]

[...] Finally the earthy singer hit with 'Heatwave,' 'Dancing in the Street,' and 'Jimmy Mack' party music. She later moved to MCA. The Marvelettes They were a group of 16-year-old teenage girls from Inkster, hit No.1 on the charts with 'Please Mr. Postman.' Smokey Robinson guided the girls' career through the 1960s until they disbanded in 1970. Bibliography Books One Nation Under a Groove: Motown and American Culture, Gerald Lyn Early Motow : Music, Money, Sex, and Power, Gerald L. Posner Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit, Suzanne E. [...]

[...] There were a group of studio musicians who recorded the instrumental on almost every Motown songs. The Motown sound was big because the band was big. Indeed the Funk Brothers included two drummers, three guitarists, four horns, additional keyboards and percussion. These highly select and numerous musicians made the Motown sound They were "the greatest hit machine in the history of pop music." But the Funk Brothers were not only a conveyor belt for the Motown's hit factory's assembly line but also a prodigy on their own. [...]

[...] Eddie Kendricks died of lung cancer in 1992. Some of their hits: 'Shotgun,''The Way You do the Things You Losing You,' Wish It Would Rain,' Can't Get Next To You,' 'My Girl, ' 'Since I lost my Baby,' 'Get Ready,' 'Ain't Too Proud to Beg,' 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone.' Smokey Robinson and the Miracles Smokey Robinson, a pillar of Motown and a vice-president, finally quit in 1991, a few years after the 1988 sale of the company to MCCA and Boston Ventures. [...]