History Creator / Motown

Finally, Motown was famous for the sheer number of hugely successful acts they signed. At one time or another, Music/MarvinGaye, Music/StevieWonder, [[Music/MichaelJackson Michael]] [[Music/TheJacksonFive Jackson]], Music/LionelRichie, Music/BoyzIIMen and Music/RickJames were artists signed to one of Gordy's Motown labels, while famous acts from the glory days of the label like Music/TheTemptations, the Music/FourTops, Music/TheSupremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas quickly became household names.

The early years of the label, and the career of Music/TheSupremes in particular, were the inspiration for the musical and movie ''Theatre/{{Dreamgirls}}''. The long-overlooked contribution of The Funk Brothers is illustrated in the documentary/concert film, ''Film/StandingInTheShadowsOfMotown''.

** Equally, though Gordy cultivated a strong, independent black image for the label, he established a grooming system for his artists which instructed them on how to "properly" look, act, walk, talk, dance, and conduct themselves, partly so as not to alienate the pre-Civil Rights movement white market and the older black market he hoped to entertain. He also tried to incorporate universal themes in the lyrics and images, and was reluctant to allow blatant racial or political statements in Motown music ([[ButNotTooBlack or overtly, militantly black musical styles or imagery]]) for many years.

This American record company had a huge impact on popular music in general and {{Soul}} in particular, so much so that it was revived in 2011 after being closed for six years; it's noted for a number of reasons. First and foremost is the "Motown sound", which was developed primarily by company session group the Funk Brothers; this was characterized by tambourine-accented percussion, melodic bass lines, gospel-influenced call and response singing and lush string arrangements. The Motown sound was highly influential on subsequent artists, especially those of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion.

* BoyBand: The Four Tops, the Temptations and the Jackson 5 are among the earliest examples.

* LeadBassist: James Jamerson, routinely considered one of the best bass players in history whose highly complex and dynamic basslines typically carried the melody.

** It was noted by Berry Gordy, while he worked at a local music store, [[SlobsVersusSnobs that jazz music sold far less than pop music]]. Gordy, keen to make an R&B/pop crossover style that appealed to whites and blacks, with both a sophistication and elegance not usually found in R&B, but not too sophisticated or uncommercial that it would alienate pop audiences ("[[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth Don't Bore Us, Get To The Chorus]]" was reputedly a popular motto of his when auditioning new songs) insisted that the Funk Brothers ''not'' play anything too jazzy. As the Funk Brothers were jazz musicians determined not to become too bored playing formulaic pop-R&B, and as Berry often kept the musicians interested by promising them they could make jazz music at some point and time, the musicians were limited by what they could play, but often did their best to sneak jazz into their accompaniment without Berry losing his patience with them. One might classify the "Motown Sound" as a compromise between the two worlds, to some degree. This, along with the sociopolitically charged/uncompromised lyrical content might explain Gordy's hesitance to allow concept albums like ''[[Music/StevieWonder Music of My Mind]]'' and ''Music/WhatsGoingOn'' to be released. [[note]]Gordy did give jazz another try with the short-lived Workshop Jazz label, which was established in part to give the musicians a chance to decompress by playing their beloved jazz and releasing it under their own names. However, few of the core Funk Brothers got a chance to do so due to the label's shortlivedness; Gordy had once again found out the hard way that jazz didn't sell.[[/note]]
** Equally, though Gordy cultivated a strong, independent black image for the label, he established a grooming system for his artists which instructed them on how to "properly" look, act, walk, talk, dance and conduct themselves, partly so as not to alienate the pre-Civil Rights movement white market and the older black market he hoped to entertain. He also tried to incorporate universal themes in the lyrics and images, and was reluctant to allow blatant racial or political statements in Motown music ([[ButNotTooBlack or overtly, militantly black musical styles or imagery]]) for many years.

* TheRival: Creator/StaxRecords qualified stylistically, because it specialized in tougher, harder-edged soul music in contrast to the more commercial pop sound produced by Motown. Ironically, although Stax specialized in music that sounded more "black" than what Motown offered, the label was actually owned by a white businessman, Jim Stewart, and featured several white musicians, including ace guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, on its recordings (both featured in ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''), not to mention distributing Music/BigStar through its rock subsidiary, Ardent. Creator/AtlanticRecords, a New York-based jazz and blues label (and erstwhile Stax distributor) which eventually released other genres such as [[RockMusic rock]] and [[CountryMusic country]], is another commonly cited rival.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: They inevitably overshadow all other R&B and soul music recorded in TheSixties. This was particularly true when it came to '60s-focused oldies radio stations. At least one station actually used "Motown, Soul and Rock 'n' Roll" as a slogan.

* Music/KatDeLuna +

** Equally, though Gordy identified with a strong, independent black image with the label, he established a grooming system among his artists on how to look, act, walk, talk, dance and conduct themselves properly, partly to not alienate the pre-Civil Rights movement white market or the black market he hoped to entertain. He also tried to incorporate universal themes in the lyrics and images, and was reluctant to allow blatant racial or political statements in Motown music ([[ButNotTooBlack or overtly, militantly black musical styles or imagery]]) for many years.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: They inevitably overshadow all other R&B recorded in TheSixties. This was particularly true when it came to 60s-focused oldies radio stations. At least one station actually used "Motown Soul and Rock 'n' Roll" as a slogan.

* TheRival: Creator/StaxRecords qualified stylistically, because it specialized in tougher, harder-edged soul music in contrast to the more commercial pop sound produced by Motown. Ironically, although Stax specialized in music that sounded more "black" than what Motown offered, the label was actually owned by a white businessman, Jim Stewart, and featured several white musicians, including ace guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, on its recordings (both featured in ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''), not to mention distributing Music/BigStar through its rock subsidiary, Ardent. Creator/AtlanticRecords, a New York-based jazz and blues label (and erstwhile Stax distributor) that eventually released other genres such as [[RockMusic rock]] and [[CountryMusic country]], is another commonly cited rival.