Motown: The Soul of America
We all love and appreciate music that contains inviting rhythm, beautiful beats, and the kind of catchy lyrics that stays stuck in your head for days. Music that really touches the soul. All these components are relevant in modern music culture, but have you ever wondered where modern pop and R&B music took inspiration? That’s where Motown comes in.
Motown was founded and established in the year 1959 by ex boxer, Berry Gordy Jr. in the booming city of Detroit. Gordy was very familiar with music, and after failing at keeping a jazz record store, he realized the business of it all was not in what kind of music he thought was good, but in what others thought was good, or in simpler words, what was popular at the time. This is when he shifted his attention from jazz to the true money maker, pop and/or R&B music.
Berry Gordy Jr. had a very clear vision of how he wanted Motown to run. Gordy admired the Brill Building style that originated in the New York music scene. He was inspired and encouraged to follow this structure from Detroit and that is what he did and it ended up being very successful. Not only was Motown Black owned but it was also completely and fully centered around Black individuals. Motown gave Black artists a gateway to success and paved a path for their stories to be heard for the first time, unfiltered. This was huge for the time being, especially considering the amount of success and the legacy that Motown has left behind.
Gordy wanted to be sure that he was able to secure the biggest audience possible for him and his performers. By wanting this, he needed to appeal to all demographics, including and especially white people. He needed to consider, from a business viewpoint, who had the extra money to spend recreationally on things such as music and how he could appeal to this audience. Of course, this kind of mindset would receive some backlash such as claims of selling out, white-washing Black music, and especially a life long comparison to Stax music.
Part of Gordy’s vision for Motown was the idea of perfect etiquette. He wanted his artists to all be on the same “White House” level of presentable and have precise, polished manners that they may not have had or known about prior to Motown. Motown shaped it’s artist to fit in and be accepted by all. Similar to how Chuck Berry appealed to white audiences, Motown wanted the same for it’s artists. This etiquette was developed through special charm schools with specific instructors, choreographers, and lessons, such as chewing food with your mouth closed.
Gordy also used Motown as a manager, and managed the careers of the artists involved including gigs and music release dates. They also included a fixed studio band, The Funk Brothers. All of which demonstrates how Gordy had complete and total control over Motown, which had complete and total control over the artists.
Not only did Motown leave behind a long lasting legacy, but it inspired many artists and music styles that are relevant today. Motown is so important because it shined a light on so many talented Black individuals that may have never been discovered otherwise during this time period. It paved a path of extreme success for mostly poor, working class Black people and opened the doorway for this to continue to happen down the line.
Another incredible musical trend that stemmed from Motown was the concept of boy/girl groups. Some early examples of this are The Temptations and The Supremes. This idea of a musical group would eventually be popularized and develop across genres and decades, such as Boys II Men, NSYNC, The Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, and even One Direction. As we can see, Motown not only released hits, but also successfully set trends that still hold true today.
We can see that Motown is a genre of it’s own. From the very start, Motown was rooted in greatness, inspiration, and determination that ultimately led to its success and to the success of many artists. Motown had a significant impact on music, artists, and trends that are still used today. It birthed many incredible singers and musicians that are still widely known, played, and loved. It also opened the door of success and inspiration for talented Black individuals that needed to be heard. On that note, I will continue to spread the talent and leave you with one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists who just so happened to be a very big part of Motown.
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