MUSICAL DECADES - 1960s - Motown

This week I'd like to take you back to the 1960s. Motown is an American record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The name, a combination of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit, also known as the Motor City, for its automobile industry.

Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label which achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the USA) were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.

During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a small record company: 79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969.

Berry Gordy's first signed act was the Matadors, who immediately changed their name to the Miracles. Their first release, "Got a Job", was an answer record to the Silhouettes' "Get a Job." Miracles lead singer William "Smokey" Robinson became the vice president of the company (and later named his daughter "Tamla" and his son "Berry").

The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American rhythm and blues vocal group and one of the most important and influential groups in pop, rock and roll, and R&B music history. Referred to as Motown's "soul supergroup", in all, the group had over fifty charted hits by the time they disbanded in 1978.

"Shop Around", the Miracles' first #1 R&B hit, peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It was Tamla Records' first million-selling record.

The Marvelettes were an American all-girl group who achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They were the first major successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful girl group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first#1 singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well.

Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, and the Four Tops, Wells was said to have been part of the change in black music onto radio stations and record shelves of mainstream America, "bridging the color lines in music at the time."

With a string of hit singles composed mainly by Smokey Robinson, including "The One Who Really Loves You"", "Two Lovers" (1962), the Grammy-nominated "You Beat Me to the Punch" (1962) and her signature hit, "My Guy" (1964), she became recognized as "The Queen of Motown" until her departure from the company in 1964, at the height of her popularity. She was one of Motown's first singing superstars.

"My Guy" became the biggest hit ever for Wells and reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The song led the Cashbox magazine R&B chart for seven weeks.

The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and are, to date, America's most successful vocal group with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity, and it is said that their success made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success.

In the spring of 1964, the Supremes recorded the single "Where Did Our Love Go". The song was originally intended by the main production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, for the Marvelettes, who rejected it. Although the Supremes disliked the song, the producers coerced them into recording it. In August 1964, while the Supremes toured as part of Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars, "Where Did Our Love Go" reached #1 on the US pop charts, much to the surprise and delight of the group. It was also their first song to appear on the UK pop charts, where it reached #3.

Big Hair Alert!

The Temptations are an American vocal group known for their success with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. Known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and flashy wardrobe, the group was highly influential to the evolution of R&B and soul music. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are one of the most successful groups in music history.

Over the course of their career, the Temptations have released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles, and their material has earned them three Grammy Awards. The Temptations were the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award—for "Cloud Nine" in 1969.

This ends Musical Decades for this week. Thanks for listening and I hope to see you here next time.

(The information used in this post is from Wikipedia.)

Dominique "Nik" Petersen is an aficionado of "oldies" music and the author of Dr. Hook and Me:  A Fan's Journal/Scrapbook. Read about it and her other books at the website:

www.nikdesignsgraphics.com