Motown Records set unmatched standard for modern pop music

Helping to heal a wounded nation

Often, the best in music can counter the worst of times. That’s certainly true of the 1960s, a decade which, from beginning to end, was rife with turmoil in the form of war, assassinations, protests and riots.

Just before the dawn of the decade, a 29-year-old man named Berry Gordy founded Tamla records with an $800 loan from his family’s collective savings. By the following year, Gordy would merge this business into the Motown Records Corp. It was an independent empire that in time would seal its name into music immortality. Gordy introduced legends like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and so many other acts that would help to soothe and refresh a tense nation.

Glorious melodies and killer hooks

Motown’s classic catalog is ubiquitous. It forms a blueprint for modern soul and pop greatness, from girl groups to hit singer-songwriters and is sampled on countless hip-hop and dance anthems covered by acts of every genre. The “Motown Sound” is unmistakable for its glorious melodies and killer hooks. The name itself is a nod to its original headquarters–Detroit “The Motor City.” Gordy actually worked briefly on the assembly line at the Lincoln-Mercury plant there.

Before Motown, Gordy had signed deals for two singles by a rising R&B group called The Miracles. Times were tough and money was tight. A fresh-faced Smokey Robinson received only $3.19 for his efforts and, reportedly, told Gordy: “You might as well start your own record label; I don’t think you could do any worse than this.” The Miracles would become Motown’s first million-selling act with the 1960 hit “Shop Around.” The first of scores of Motown number-one singles was delivered by a teen girl group, The Marvelettes, with “Please Mr. Postman” (1961).

“I wanted songs for Blacks, Whites, Jews and Gentiles,” Gordy said years ago. “I wanted everybody to enjoy my music.” Gordy loosely described the Motown Sound as “rats, roaches, soul, guts and love.”

Every detail at Motown–from writing, recording, stage presence and marketing–was fine-tuned. In addition to Robinson, Motown had the good fortune of excellent lyricists from Holland-Dozier-Holland (“Heat Wave,” “Where Did Our Love Go?”, “Stop In The Name of Love,” “Baby Love”) to a more sublime penmanship from Ashford and Simpson (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “You’re All I Need To Get By”). Gordy even sent his acts to a finishing school, operated by a school teacher named Maxine Powell and a choreographer (Cholly Atkins) to provide his stable of artists a distinct level of poise when performing live.

An assembly line of hits

“It was a beautiful feeling, when we were so full of hate and anger and everybody was full of unrest,” said singer Martha Reeves. “We saw people actually join together, get out of their cars  and dance to a song” (the 1964 smash “Dancing In The Street” by Martha and the Vandellas).  The Motown Sound was a very big influence in the civil rights movement. It was not that we marched or paraded; we just promoted it through love.”

Motown operated as an “assembly line” of hit records with quick turnarounds from one group to the next, one song to the next. None of this success would have been possible without the Funk Brothers. Composed of 13 musicians steeped in everything from jazz, blues, swing and classical, early members based in Detroit included bandleader Joe Hunter, Earl Van Dyke (keyboards), James Jamerson (bass guitar), Benny “Papa Zita” Benjamin (drums), Mike Terry (baritone saxophone) and Robert White on electric guitar. In 2007, the Funk Brothers were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame Museum.

By the early 1960s, many of the top names from the 1950s such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis had begun to fade from the charts. Yet, there were formidable new acts at home and abroad for Motown to contend with, among these The Beach Boys, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Bob Dylan, The Monkees, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and The Mamas and the Papas. Atlantic Records and its subsidiary label Stax Records had a powerful stable of artists such as Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. This competition was strengthened by the “British Invasion” with The Beatles,The Rolling Stones, Peter and Gordon, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Dusty Springfield, Chad and Jeremy, etc.

‘The Sound of Young America’

Motown didn’t miss a beat at the record store. “The Sound of Young America” was the key to why the label’s spirit was so groundbreaking and by that point, Motown’s global status had become certified in the hearts of young people around the world who delighted in the upbeat music and thought-provoking lyrics. Here are some of the favorite artists we know and love who helped to bring the nation through some of its darkest and most trying times:

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles had a string of hit records that lasted for at least a dozen years. These include “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” (1963), “The Tracks of My Tears” (1965), “Going To A Go-Go” (1965) and the groups first No. 1 single “The Tears of a Clown” (1970). Other hit singles included “Mickey’s Monkey” (1963), “Ooh Baby Baby” (1964) and “I Second That Emotion” (1967). Robinson, one of the music industry’s preeminent songwriters, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Robinson’s band members, The Miracles, were inducted in 2012.

Stevie Wonder was a 12-year-old prodigy and broke onto the national scene with his harmonica-infused No. 1 single “Finger Tips Part II” (1963). A multi-instrumentalist who was blind from birth, Wonder would release a series of albums through the 1970s. His hit singles included “Contract On Love” (1962), “Uptight (Everything’s Alright” (1965), “I Was Made To Love Her” (1967), “For Once In My Life” (1968), “My Cherie Amour” (1969) and “Signed, Sealed & Delivered (1970). By the 1970s–starting with his 14th album “Music of My Mind”–Stevie Wonder unleashed what critics have called “the greatest creative run” in the history of pop music. His 1976 masterpiece “Songs From The Key of Life” was certified diamond in the U.S. for sales of more than 10 million copies. Stevie Wonder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

The all-time favorite girl group

The Supremes were the most successful group or artist in Motown’s history at least by one measure–12 Billboard No. 1 singles. The trio’s run of hits started with “Where Did Our Love Go” (1964) along with “Come See About Me” of the same year. Other hits included “I Hear A Symphony” (1965), “The Happening” (1967) and a combined release with The Temptations “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” from 1968. Other songs include “Baby Love” (1964), “Back In My Arms Again” (1965), “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (1966) and “Love Child” (1968). The Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Marvin Gaye was a session drummer on a number of Motown’s initial hits. His solo career began in the early 1960s with a series of albums that largely covered jazz and pop standards. Gaye scored his first original Top 10 single with “Pride and Joy” (1963). He later found success in the mid-1960s through a series of duet albums with female Motown singers, most prominently with Tammi Terrell. Among his many hits from this period include “Can I Get A Witness” (1963), “You’re A Wonderful One” (1964), “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” (1965), “Ain’t That Peculiar“ (1965), “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (duet with Tammi Terrell, 1967) and “It Takes Two” (duet with Kim Weston, 1967). Gaye’s 1971 protest album “What’s Going On” is widely considered one of the greatest LPs of all time. Marvin Gaye was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

The Temptations had arguably the best harmony in pop music. The quintet was noted for many hits and a tight dancer choreography and have cycled through a large number of band members since they first hit the pop charts in the mid 1960s. “My Girl” (1964) remains a pop music standard. Other hits from this period included “The Way You Do The Things You Do” (1963), “Since I Lost My Baby” (1964), “Get Ready” (1965), “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg (1966), “I Wish It Would Rain” (1967), “Cloud Nine” (1968) and “I Can’t Get Next To You” (1969). The Temptations were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

The Four Tops, led by singer Levi Stubbs, signed with Motown Records in 1963 and, one year later, had a breakthrough hit in “Baby I Need Your Loving.” The group had its best-selling hit (No. 1 on the billboard chart) with “Reach Out, I’ll be There” (1966). Other hits included “It’s The Same Old Song” (1965), “Ask The Lonely” (1965), “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” (1965), “Shake Me, Wake Me (When It’s Over)” (1966) and “Bernadette” (1967). The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Five brothers from Gary, Ind.

Five brothers from Gary, Ind.—led by an 11-year-old named Michael Jackson—took the music industry by storm in 1969 when they signed with Motown Records. In short order, the Jackson 5 became the first act in pop music history to reach No. 1 with their first four singles that year: “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save” and “I’ll Be There.” The Jackson 5 heyday with Motown took place from the early to mid-1970s with an impressive list of hit songs both as a group and Michael as a solo artist. Among these were: “Moma’s Pearl” (1970), “Never Can Say Goodbye” (1970), “Got To Be There” (solo release by Michael Jackson, 1972), “Ben” (solo release by Michael Jackson, 1972), “Dancing Machine” (1973), “Life Of The Party” (1973) and “Just A Little Bit Of You” (solo release by Michael Jackson, 1975). The Jackson 5 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Michael Jackson was inducted in 2001.