MOTOWN
A look at how the music of Detroit turned into one of the most lucrative businesses in the world and why it left its home.
BERRY GORDY JR: THE MONOLOGUES
Berry Gordy Jr. is the founder of Motown records. He began the label on January 12, 1959 as Tamla Records (it was actually incorporated as Motown Record Corporation). For a record label of its size, Motown found unprecedented success in its first decade of existence having 79 records reach the Top Ten of the Billboard Top 100 between 1960 and 1969.
But what was it that made Gordy's endeavor different from his contemporaries? What brought him to unfounded success while his competitors, one by one, closed their doors? Fo me, not only were Gordy's immpeccable ear for music and a rich entreprenuerial spirit help him on his path, but it was his understanding of the differences that had developed in the market were the result of social actions and issues which led him to create the Artist Development Department at Motown that truly propelled him forward. This department taught artists how to sit, speak, stand and act no matter what setting they were in and ultimately played a key role in the success of acts such as the Supremes, the Temptations, the Miracles, Stevie Wonder and more. This acknowledgment of differences in his customer base also ended up leading to crossover success which was unseen prior to the foundation of Motown itself.
DOLLAR AND A DREAM:
I started out my life trying to make a buck and trying to do it as quickly as possible. I dropped out of school in the eleventh grade, moved out to California and tried to make it as a boxer, but the draft kind of put that dream to bed. That was in 1950.
I came back to Detroit in 1953 and married my first wife, Thelma Coleman. We started a record store together focusing on Jazz music. I really loved it, and I loved that I was fostering my own interest and passion for music, but we weren’t making nearly enough so I started looking for work at the Lincoln-Mercury plant.
Next thing I know, my family introduces me to this cat named Al Green. No, it wasn’t the singer, but it was a guy who owned this club. The Flame Show Bar it was called. And that’s where I met Jackie.
Now Jackie Wilson and I started making music together. My sister, Gwen, and I wrote this song, “Reet Petite” for her and it did alright here in the states, but across the pond, they LOVED it. So we kept making music together and we didn’t do so bad.
I reinvested all the money I was making from songwriting into producing and slowly started building a little portfolio of sorts of the talents I begun finding. Smokey and the Miracles were my first group. He actually pushed me to ask my family for money to start my own label. And so I did. And they gave me 800 dollars and I started Tamla Records. And, well, we started moving pretty quick.
GREED IS GOOD:
Oooooh when the 60s hit? We were cooking. We were really really cooking. We started with Smokey and The Miracles and then we just started finding more and more talent. Smokey was writing for some of the other artists on our roster and we were making hit after hit after hit and it was just fantastic.
I had to slow things down a little bit though. I started thinking of who we could have working together to make the best music possible and how we could reach the most people with our product. I can’t really explain it, but I could see what the albums we were releasing needed in order to really break through. I mean the look of the artists, the order of the songs, the sound itself, everything. Smokey and I worked together on a lot of that, but I started getting really good at being an EP. At the end of the day though, it was a business and we were trying to make money, though I’d like to think the art itself came first.
This was especially important with our African American artists. We needed to find a way to have them appeal to non-black audiences. So that became another aspect: their public image. So we dressed them and prepped them and told them how to act when they were out and about or doing interviews or what have you, we discussed the different things we could do to create a desire in white people to love our music, our product. Everything was controlled and we knew exactly when to release what and how to go about doing it. That’s when we started really rolling. Everyone was eating up what we were putting out. And that’s when I knew the ends justified the means. We all wanted to make money, and this way, we were making more than we could have even imagined, and we were gaining widespread love and notoriety.
LOOKING BACK:
It has been a dream come true to do what I have done. And I know that is cliché, but I really mean that. We never had any idea that all of this was possible when we first started out. We were just trying to get good music to as many people as we could. It ended up becoming a completely different animal once the hits started churning out, but we pushed our talent to push themselves to make the best work they could…and well, I think our record speaks for itself.
People ask me why I sold the company and to them I say that it was really just because I felt as if I had done what I needed to do; I had crafter people from all walks of life into polished performers and I think every single one of them can attest to the opportunities that Motown has created for them given. I created a legacy, and to say that may sound pompous or arrogant, but I wanted people to be able to see that this was possible. Now it is time for a younger generation to take the lead, and I am still here to help out behind the scenes should they need any advice or consultation.
Still, it’s pretty amazing the more and more I think about it. If you had told me when I took that loan from my family that I would be here today I would have told you to make that into a movie and sell it. It would have just seemed too good to be true. But here I am. A self made man with lots of talented friends who have helped me get to where I am today. I am forever grateful to all of them. Thank You.