Trivia / Motown

• Breakthrough Hit: "Shop Around" by The Miracles in 1960.
• Executive Meddling: Berry Gordy was obsessed with quality control,^note During one particularly brutal session in which The Funk Brothers were forced to record fifty seven takes of the same song, the band actually snuck out when Gordy wasn't looking and hid in a local funeral parlor. and attempted to veto the release of such singles as "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and "What's Going On" because he thought they wouldn't cross over well enough. Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder both ended up threatening to stop recording for the label unless their demands for more creative control were met.
• Milestone Celebration: The page quote comes from Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, an NBC television special that aired in May 1983 to commemorate the label's 25th anniversary. While it reunited many of their best acts for some heartwarming moments, it's best known nowadays for featuring Michael Jackson's first moonwalk. It even got briefly featured in NBC's 75th anniversary special in 2002 as one of the network's defining moments.
• Production Posse:
  • The Funk Brothers, a rotating ensemble of 10+ exceptionally skilled session musicians, responsible for creating the label's distinct sound by playing on nearly all of Motown's best and most popular singles from its beginning to when Gordy moved it to LA. The documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, chronicles the group's entire history, intercut with an all-star tribute concert with the (as of 2002) surviving members and a host of R&B superstars.
  • Also applies to the various writing/production teams, like Brian Holland—Lamont Dozier—Eddie Holland, Norman Whitfield—Barrett Strong, and The Corporation (Fonce Mizell—Freddie Perren—Deke Richards—Berry Gordy).

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