Analysis: Can T Forget The Motor City: Why Leaving Detroit Ruining Motown
“Can’t Forget the Motor City”:
Why Leaving Detroit Ruined Motown
Dylan Morris
TASP 2005
Mark Clague and Derek Vaillant
5 August 2005
Morris 1
In 1959, Berry Gordy, Jr., a 30-year-old songwriter and entrepreneur, started a record company in Detroit. He called it Tamla Records. The company had an auspicious debut. Within the year, it had released a major hit: Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s
What I Want)” climbed to number two on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues charts. In
1960, it had its first number one R&B hit—the Miracles’ “Shop Around,” which also hit number two on the Pop charts. In 1961, Gordy renamed his prosperous enterprise. He called it the Motown Record Company, after Detroit—“Motor Town.” Motown also had its first number one Pop …show more content…
But with the question of authenticity, reality is not the issue. Perception is.
Motown might have been commercial, but it felt familial, a sort of Mom and Pop record company. It might have engineered its songs, but the skill of the songwriters and producers was such that it sounded natural. Indeed, as journalist Susan Whitall points out: “Hearing Marvin Gaye sing ‘You 're a Wonderful One,’ it may not seem possible that such music didn 't just spin effortlessly out of his mouth.”15 Motown came across as authentic. That meant it effectively was.
Indeed, Motown was in some ways true to its roots. While charges of civic apathy made against Motown are not wholly unwarranted, Motown did make certain efforts to give back to its community. How could it not? A local company staffed by locals and featuring artists with local roots that casts itself as a family operation is …show more content…
Susan Whitall, “Motown songwriters are back in the groove,” The Detroit News
Online, 2 August 2005. <http://www.detnews.com/2005/events/0508/02/E01266342.htm> (2 August 2005).
15
Whitall.
14
Morris 9
But Motown was not only marketing to black Detroit. Rather, as Abrams points out, the company was “trying to open those doors to get the classier bookings. Get them off the Chitlin ' Circuit—the black entertainment circuit…any record company wants to do that.”16 It was trying to sell itself to white audiences. It was trying to create crossover music. This was ambitious. As explained above, white buyers tended only to buy black music if it was performed by white artists. Motown’s solution to this was to “whiten” its artists. The artists’ hair was straightened. The artists attended charm school where they learned how to present themselves to upper class white society. The artists were booked at white venues, the classier the better. From the Motown outlook, the Supremes at the
Copacabana was a triumph.17 Abrams explains the attempt to appeal to whites:
Just classing up the acts and going for a classier image—making them more palatable to whites—not losing the blacks, but just knowing that
Why Leaving Detroit Ruined Motown
Dylan Morris
TASP 2005
Mark Clague and Derek Vaillant
5 August 2005
Morris 1
In 1959, Berry Gordy, Jr., a 30-year-old songwriter and entrepreneur, started a record company in Detroit. He called it Tamla Records. The company had an auspicious debut. Within the year, it had released a major hit: Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s
What I Want)” climbed to number two on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues charts. In
1960, it had its first number one R&B hit—the Miracles’ “Shop Around,” which also hit number two on the Pop charts. In 1961, Gordy renamed his prosperous enterprise. He called it the Motown Record Company, after Detroit—“Motor Town.” Motown also had its first number one Pop …show more content…
But with the question of authenticity, reality is not the issue. Perception is.
Motown might have been commercial, but it felt familial, a sort of Mom and Pop record company. It might have engineered its songs, but the skill of the songwriters and producers was such that it sounded natural. Indeed, as journalist Susan Whitall points out: “Hearing Marvin Gaye sing ‘You 're a Wonderful One,’ it may not seem possible that such music didn 't just spin effortlessly out of his mouth.”15 Motown came across as authentic. That meant it effectively was.
Indeed, Motown was in some ways true to its roots. While charges of civic apathy made against Motown are not wholly unwarranted, Motown did make certain efforts to give back to its community. How could it not? A local company staffed by locals and featuring artists with local roots that casts itself as a family operation is …show more content…
Susan Whitall, “Motown songwriters are back in the groove,” The Detroit News
Online, 2 August 2005. <http://www.detnews.com/2005/events/0508/02/E01266342.htm> (2 August 2005).
15
Whitall.
14
Morris 9
But Motown was not only marketing to black Detroit. Rather, as Abrams points out, the company was “trying to open those doors to get the classier bookings. Get them off the Chitlin ' Circuit—the black entertainment circuit…any record company wants to do that.”16 It was trying to sell itself to white audiences. It was trying to create crossover music. This was ambitious. As explained above, white buyers tended only to buy black music if it was performed by white artists. Motown’s solution to this was to “whiten” its artists. The artists’ hair was straightened. The artists attended charm school where they learned how to present themselves to upper class white society. The artists were booked at white venues, the classier the better. From the Motown outlook, the Supremes at the
Copacabana was a triumph.17 Abrams explains the attempt to appeal to whites:
Just classing up the acts and going for a classier image—making them more palatable to whites—not losing the blacks, but just knowing that