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MOTOWN 50th Anniversary - Michael & The Jackson 5
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Tito and Marlon Jackson to lead Detroit concert
By BRIAN McCOLLUM
Free Press Pop Music Writer
Brothers Tito and Marlon Jackson will lead an Oct. 4 tribute to the Jackson 5 and Motown Records, the Detroit Opera House announced today.
The show will celebrate the group's 40th anniversary and the label's 50th, and will include a segment dedicated to Michael Jackson, their late brother.
Billing themselves as "Tito and Friends," the brothers hope to be joined by other Motown performers, said show publicist Carmen Carter.
Tickets for the Detroit Opera House show are $35-$75 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday via Ticketmaster. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Motown Historical Museum in the name of the Michael Jackson-founded Heal the World Foundation.
The Jackson 5 got their break via Detroit's Motown Records in the late 1960s, landing 17 top 40 hits and setting the stage for Michael Jackson's stratospheric solo career.
"They wanted to come back home, where it all started," said Carter.
http://www.freep.com/article/200909...to-and-Marlon-Jackson-to-lead-Detroit-concert
By BRIAN McCOLLUM
Free Press Pop Music Writer
Brothers Tito and Marlon Jackson will lead an Oct. 4 tribute to the Jackson 5 and Motown Records, the Detroit Opera House announced today.
The show will celebrate the group's 40th anniversary and the label's 50th, and will include a segment dedicated to Michael Jackson, their late brother.
Billing themselves as "Tito and Friends," the brothers hope to be joined by other Motown performers, said show publicist Carmen Carter.
Tickets for the Detroit Opera House show are $35-$75 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday via Ticketmaster. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Motown Historical Museum in the name of the Michael Jackson-founded Heal the World Foundation.
The Jackson 5 got their break via Detroit's Motown Records in the late 1960s, landing 17 top 40 hits and setting the stage for Michael Jackson's stratospheric solo career.
"They wanted to come back home, where it all started," said Carter.
http://www.freep.com/article/200909...to-and-Marlon-Jackson-to-lead-Detroit-concert
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i saw the cd at Chapters :yes:
MsMo
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Motown turns 50, but the party's far from over
By: Jeff Karoub and Mike Householder, AP
FILE - In this June 15, 1981 file photo, Smokey Robinson, left, is joined by
Berry Gordy at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo, file)
DETROIT — On Jan. 12, 1959, Elvis Presley was in the Army. The Beatles were a little-known group called The Quarrymen casting about for gigs in Liverpool. The nascent rock 'n' roll world was a few weeks away from "the day the music died" — when a single-engine plane crash claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.
It's also the day a 29-year-old boxer, assembly line worker and songwriter named Berry Gordy Jr. used an $800 family loan to start a record company in Detroit.
Fifty years later, Motown Records Corp. and its stable of largely African-American artists have become synonymous with the musical, social and cultural fabric of America. The company spawned household names, signature grooves and anthems for the boulevard and bedroom alike that transcended geography and race.
And time.
Motown may be 50 years old, but it isn't any less relevant with current hitmakers — from Taylor Swift to Coldplay — citing the label's signature "sound" as an influence.
Would there be a Beyonce or Mariah Carey had Diana Ross, Martha Reeves and Gladys Knight not come first?
How about Kanye West and Justin Timberlake? What would have become of their musical careers had Motown not blazed a trail with the likes of Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and The Four Tops?
"There were just so many amazing artists that came through. It was such a surge," said singer-songwriter Jewel, whose recently released collection of original lullabies includes Motown influences. "And it really informed The Beatles' melodies. So much of what pop music and popular culture became. I recommend everybody go back and look at those melodies and see where they find them today, because they're resurfacing and being remixed, basically, into new pop songs."
From its founding in 1959 to a much-debated move to Los Angeles 13 years later, what has become known as "classic Motown" created a once-in-a-lifetime sound that was local and global, black and white, gritty and gorgeous, commercial and creative, Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"I Heard it Through the Grapevine." ''My Girl." ''The Tears of a Clown."
Like the two-sided singles the Motown factory churned out 24 hours a day, seven days a week at Studio A inside the Hitsville, U.S.A., building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Motown Records in the 1960s stood out from the musical pack — and still does today — because of its ability to tune the tension between two opposing forces.
The Associated Press, on the occasion of Motown's 50th, invited both Motown greats and heavyweights from the worlds of music and beyond to discuss how the legendary Detroit musical movement's sound, style, savvy and sensuality have stood the test of time.
GETTING STARTED:
"The thing that struck me was how ferociously determined he had to be to borrow that 800 bucks and start with nothing." — Bill Clinton, former U.S. president
The tale of the $800 loan has become the stuff of legend.
Gordy worked at a Ford Motor Co. plant and wrote songs when he could, all the while dreaming of owning and running his own record company.
The loan from his family's savings club allowed him to make that happen.
He had the vision and the seed money, but next Gordy needed the talent — the singers, songwriters and musicians.
He didn't have far to look.
Detroit alone produced many of the creative wizards who gave Motown its initial burst.
Robinson and the Miracles attended high school together, while Ross and future Supremes Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard grew up in the city's housing projects.
Gordy plucked from Detroit's flourishing nightclub scene a group of supremely talented jazz musicians who would become the label's house band, the Funk Brothers. Strings, winds and brass came from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and other classical outlets.
And the prolific songwriting trio known as Holland-Dozier-Holland — Lamont Dozier and the Holland brothers, Brian and Eddie — also were local hires.
The talent was there. Now what?
Gordy sought to incorporate some of the same principles from the auto factory floor and bring them to bear in the studio on West Grand.
He wanted it to be a place where everybody had a role, but the best ideas would win.
"Berry Gordy made sure everything they put out was 100 percent fierce, 100 percent listenable," said R&B singer Patti LaBelle, who was not a Motown artist but rose alongside it in the 1960s.
"Then, you know if you ... put on a Motown record, you were going to hear something with substance."
MUSICIANSHIP/CREATIVITY
"Berry Gordy — people think of him as an entrepreneur, but he's a songwriter at heart, which makes total sense. You have a songwriter here and amazing songs. A guy has the brilliance to understand that it starts with great songs." — Anita Baker, R&B singer
Of course, it started with songs, but even that came with a competition more common to commerce than art.
Gordy knew cooperation was crucial but rivalries among singers as well as songwriting teams would be the best way to get a record out the door and onto the top of the charts.
"If (songwriter) Norman Whitfield had a No. 1 hit on The Temptations, Holland-Dozier-Holland would say, 'Shoot, we gotta get a No. 1 with The Four Tops. Come on in here, Tops,'" recalled Abdul "Duke" Fakir, the lone surviving original member of The Four Tops, which signed with Motown in 1963 and produced 20 top 40 hits during the next decade.
"I'd say, 'Yeah man, you'd better hurry up, man. I got a bet with The Temptations we're gonna have one in the next two weeks.' We would just push and push and push."
Fakir says there was a relentlessness on all levels of the recording process.
"Nothing was done generically. I've been to a lot of sessions outside of Motown where the session is very generic, very laid-back ... very professional, and there's no guts and blood," he said. "But here, everything was done with passion."
In 1965, during his label's ascendancy, Gordy said passion helped spur Motown to greatness.
"I talked about this one night over dinner with Smokey and Diana Ross," he told AP at the time. "We thought back about the neighborhoods we were in ... and we came up with a six-word definition: rats, roaches, struggle, talent, guts, love."
Motown left nothing to chance: A "quality control" committee met weekly to review the latest sonic offerings. Gordy was the final arbiter, but posed this question: Would you buy the record or a sandwich if you were down to your last dollar?
Don Felder, former guitarist for the Eagles and co-writer of their hit "Hotel California," says the results rarely failed.
"I don't know if anybody ever sat down and looked at the percentages of acts that Berry actually signed, recorded and released and the percentages of hits versus failures. But his track record has just been astronomical. ... He has just, in my opinion, the ears of a genius."
SOUND/RECORDING:
"You had naturally gifted engineers and producers that didn't let that technical expertise interfere with that rawness. ... Somehow the ... engineer/producers, thank God, either admittedly or just instinctually saw when these guys started jamming it just sounded good." — Ted Nugent, rock guitarist and singer
Gordy may have been blessed with an unparalleled ability to recognize hits, but many say those great songs probably would've been a bit more ordinary if not for Studio A.
It didn't look like anything special — certainly by today's standards of digitized recording — but the sounds it produced were.
"You didn't have Pro Tools. It was perfectly imperfect," said country star Wynonna Judd. "You had a lot of people who were sweaty and tired and who were singing from their toenails. ... If you can't cop it live, get off the porch."
A square, smallish room, Studio A was accessed by descending a small flight of stairs. Its below-ground standing earned it the nickname "The Snake Pit."
There, artists, writers, producers, engineers — anybody associated with music-making — gathered to record.
For 13 years, nearly every Motown hit was cut in Studio A and the adjacent control room.
The Funk Brothers set up shop — James Jamerson on bass, Benny Benjamin on drums and so on — and the singers did their thing, all face-to-face in the same room.
"The studio itself is its own beast. It can take away or it can add to the sounds you're making with your instruments," said pop singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw. "Some rooms are dead. You play a note, and the sound disappears.
"Some rooms they ring too much. Acoustically, they're just too active. But some of them, they just have good sound. The (Motown) recordings I've heard come out of that room. I listen to those recordings all the time, and I think: 'Why does that room sound so good?' There's something to be said for it."
DeGraw liked the Motown recording approach so much that he rereleased his 2003 hit album "Chariot" a year later in a "stripped" format.
"I was really using that Motown ... sound as a template," he said. "I was thinking about those records and the rawness of those records."
The "sound" itself was a blend of traditional gospel, jazz, R&B and pop that had crossover appeal for audiences of all ages and races.
SOCIAL CHANGE/RACE:
"It was the first, I think, black record company that was able to make the transition ... and was not only for the black music audience but also for a world music audience. I think that's what Motown represented." — Danny Glover, actor and activist
When Motown was born, as Robinson tells it, songs produced by African-American artists automatically were categorized as R&B, while a similar sound coming from a white artist would have been classified as pop.
But Gordy would have none of it. He set out to make music for all people, not "black music for black people" as had been the standard. While certain African-American artists had found a wider audience in the jazz and early rock-and-roll eras, Gordy took it a step further by pushing a sound that gained universal appeal and helped break down racial barriers in music.
His belief was that quality music would find its way into the ears of all, regardless of race.
"I think that's why it was so successful as a social tool, because it wasn't race-specific," DeGraw said. "It was just great music.
"And it allowed people to look past those typical lines. ... People could hear music like that in a time when people were looking at each other strangely, wondering what their motivations were, and they could go: 'Hey man, OK, no one's holding a grudge. It just sounds good. Let's enjoy ourselves.'"
For Baker, Motown's barrier-busting ways hit home.
"I remember 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' ... I'm a little kid. Every Sunday, Ed Sullivan comes on. And you get to see all of these artists from around the world. But Diana Ross and The Supremes come on. And I saw myself. Do you understand? I saw me," she said. "I saw a little black girl. ... I saw myself in a way I had never seen it before."
Motown billed itself as the "sound of young America," and it was that demographic that found itself at the center of the growing civil rights movement. Rosa Parks was arrested in Alabama a few years before Motown's founding, but the movement gained steam at the same time Motown did.
"Back in the '60s, when we weren't allowed to do or go certain places, our music crept into people's homes ... into their bathrooms, their bedrooms, their living rooms, their kitchens, their cars," Fakir said. "We spurred marriages and poor little crib babies ... 'cause parents were playing (our) music. ... That's how our legacy is going to be carried on."
LEGACY:
"That sound is just as alive today. And that sound still stands up. ... Everybody in the whole wide world has been influenced by Detroit and the Motown sound." — Dolly Parton, country singer, songwriter and actress
Motown was groundbreaking in many ways — from its signature sound and lengthy list of high-profile artists to the unique way it created and recorded music — but what's harder to pin down is what's kept the sound alive all these years.
"You hear (Motown) in almost everything," said Wilson, one-third of The Supremes. "I think Motown music, the Motown sound, is the model, the template that people use today in the music, and yes, you can hear it."
For many artists, it's inevitable that they would tread over some of the same ground because of the music's quality and distinctiveness.
"You can't get within sniffing distance of music, whether as a performer or listener, without being definitively impacted by these gods of thunder from Motown," said Nugent, the "Motor City Madman" who as a teenager played in a band that opened for The Supremes at Cobo Hall in Detroit.
Swift, a country singer-songwriter, admits it: She's one of the those whose sound is influenced by Motown. The 19-year-old, who has entered the realm of superstardom after back-to-back multi-platinum albums, says she and her father listened to his Motown greatest hits CD on the way to school.
"From an early age I had a bunch of different musical influences, but Motown I was just always so fascinated by the chord progression and how the lyrics and the melodies are so simple but they made you feel so much. I think that's the art of Motown," Swift said.
Another of the music world's hottest young acts, the Jonas Brothers, couldn't hide their glee at performing on this year's Grammy Awards telecast with Wonder, saying beforehand both they and their father grew up on the Motown legend's songs.
Not only did Motown bridge racial and generational gaps, but it also succeeded in crossing cultures.
Beatles manager Brian Epstein promoted Motown revues in the United Kingdom, which were popular with fans and stars alike. Fakir recalls being at a party with The Beatles, where the Fab Four peppered The Four Tops with questions about how they sang their harmonies and achieved other elements of their sound.
Motown even penetrated the Iron Curtain.
"I was in Russia some years ago before the walls came down. And we couldn't hardly get into Russia at that time — the Cold War," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson. "All night long they played The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson. So the joy of Motown has been infectious around the world."
CODA:
"Let's just say it's a collision of grit and beauty. They're raw records. ... But they're beautifully crafted. They're wonderful to listen to, on every level." — Don Was, record producer and musician
Another global sensation, the late Michael Jackson, also got his start at Motown as a member of The Jackson 5.
Gordy, at Jackson's memorial service in July, talked about the 10-year-old prodigy he signed, calling him "the greatest entertainer that ever lived."
Jackson and his brothers became instant teen sensations, but his stratospheric success came post-Motown in his adult years; he and his brothers left the label in the mid-1970s.
The Jackson 5 were one of the first acts to come up as Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Most agree Motown's own California adventure has had its moments, but they don't match what happened in its hometown.
The Jackson 5, Gaye, Robinson, Ross and Wonder made the transition to L.A. and had chart-topping success, as did acts ranging from The Commodores to Rick James. Despite the plentiful hits among them, the sound was being challenged by newer grooves, and Motown lacked the deep roster it once had.
But by 1988, Gordy was ready to move on, selling Motown Records to MCA and a private equity firm. It was sold to PolyGram in the 1990s and now is held by Universal, where current acts include Lil' Wayne, Erykah Badu and Nelly.
Regardless of its present physical location, Motown is a Detroit creation, and that struggling Midwestern metropolis always will identify itself with the music.
"I'm glad they started in Detroit, and I hope that given the troubles they've got in Detroit now I hope they'll find some new version of Motown — maybe in clean energy or something — and 50 years from now somebody will be interviewed about that because Detroit gave America a great gift there," Clinton said.
Gordy and Robinson don't get back to Detroit all that often these days, but they were front and center at Hitsville on a crisp day this past March.
Contestants on the smash Fox singing competition "American Idol" came to Studio A to film segments for the show.
"I called it 'Motown,' rather than 'Motor City,' because there was more warmth here," Gordy told reporters that day. "The town was just beautiful. ... I may have left Detroit but wherever I go I carry Detroit with me. They know that's a Detroiter."
Robinson said the building that now houses the Motown Historical Museum was where "his real life began."
But the music that Robinson and scores more churned out of the cramped, sweaty confines of Studio A between 1959 to 1972 belong no more to them than the world.
"You can't ever know why something becomes timeless, whether it's the Jacksons, anybody. Beethoven — we don't know," said Leonard Slatkin, music director of the Detroit Symphony.
"Maybe it's a simple thing: It's infectious. ... Something about this music — I don't think of as being from the '60s or '70s anymore when I listen to it. It seems very fresh and new."
AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York contributed to this report.
The Reporter
By: Jeff Karoub and Mike Householder, AP
FILE - In this June 15, 1981 file photo, Smokey Robinson, left, is joined by
Berry Gordy at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo, file)
DETROIT — On Jan. 12, 1959, Elvis Presley was in the Army. The Beatles were a little-known group called The Quarrymen casting about for gigs in Liverpool. The nascent rock 'n' roll world was a few weeks away from "the day the music died" — when a single-engine plane crash claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens.
It's also the day a 29-year-old boxer, assembly line worker and songwriter named Berry Gordy Jr. used an $800 family loan to start a record company in Detroit.
Fifty years later, Motown Records Corp. and its stable of largely African-American artists have become synonymous with the musical, social and cultural fabric of America. The company spawned household names, signature grooves and anthems for the boulevard and bedroom alike that transcended geography and race.
And time.
Motown may be 50 years old, but it isn't any less relevant with current hitmakers — from Taylor Swift to Coldplay — citing the label's signature "sound" as an influence.
Would there be a Beyonce or Mariah Carey had Diana Ross, Martha Reeves and Gladys Knight not come first?
How about Kanye West and Justin Timberlake? What would have become of their musical careers had Motown not blazed a trail with the likes of Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and The Four Tops?
"There were just so many amazing artists that came through. It was such a surge," said singer-songwriter Jewel, whose recently released collection of original lullabies includes Motown influences. "And it really informed The Beatles' melodies. So much of what pop music and popular culture became. I recommend everybody go back and look at those melodies and see where they find them today, because they're resurfacing and being remixed, basically, into new pop songs."
From its founding in 1959 to a much-debated move to Los Angeles 13 years later, what has become known as "classic Motown" created a once-in-a-lifetime sound that was local and global, black and white, gritty and gorgeous, commercial and creative, Saturday night and Sunday morning.
"I Heard it Through the Grapevine." ''My Girl." ''The Tears of a Clown."
Like the two-sided singles the Motown factory churned out 24 hours a day, seven days a week at Studio A inside the Hitsville, U.S.A., building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Motown Records in the 1960s stood out from the musical pack — and still does today — because of its ability to tune the tension between two opposing forces.
The Associated Press, on the occasion of Motown's 50th, invited both Motown greats and heavyweights from the worlds of music and beyond to discuss how the legendary Detroit musical movement's sound, style, savvy and sensuality have stood the test of time.
GETTING STARTED:
"The thing that struck me was how ferociously determined he had to be to borrow that 800 bucks and start with nothing." — Bill Clinton, former U.S. president
The tale of the $800 loan has become the stuff of legend.
Gordy worked at a Ford Motor Co. plant and wrote songs when he could, all the while dreaming of owning and running his own record company.
The loan from his family's savings club allowed him to make that happen.
He had the vision and the seed money, but next Gordy needed the talent — the singers, songwriters and musicians.
He didn't have far to look.
Detroit alone produced many of the creative wizards who gave Motown its initial burst.
Robinson and the Miracles attended high school together, while Ross and future Supremes Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard grew up in the city's housing projects.
Gordy plucked from Detroit's flourishing nightclub scene a group of supremely talented jazz musicians who would become the label's house band, the Funk Brothers. Strings, winds and brass came from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and other classical outlets.
And the prolific songwriting trio known as Holland-Dozier-Holland — Lamont Dozier and the Holland brothers, Brian and Eddie — also were local hires.
The talent was there. Now what?
Gordy sought to incorporate some of the same principles from the auto factory floor and bring them to bear in the studio on West Grand.
He wanted it to be a place where everybody had a role, but the best ideas would win.
"Berry Gordy made sure everything they put out was 100 percent fierce, 100 percent listenable," said R&B singer Patti LaBelle, who was not a Motown artist but rose alongside it in the 1960s.
"Then, you know if you ... put on a Motown record, you were going to hear something with substance."
MUSICIANSHIP/CREATIVITY
"Berry Gordy — people think of him as an entrepreneur, but he's a songwriter at heart, which makes total sense. You have a songwriter here and amazing songs. A guy has the brilliance to understand that it starts with great songs." — Anita Baker, R&B singer
Of course, it started with songs, but even that came with a competition more common to commerce than art.
Gordy knew cooperation was crucial but rivalries among singers as well as songwriting teams would be the best way to get a record out the door and onto the top of the charts.
"If (songwriter) Norman Whitfield had a No. 1 hit on The Temptations, Holland-Dozier-Holland would say, 'Shoot, we gotta get a No. 1 with The Four Tops. Come on in here, Tops,'" recalled Abdul "Duke" Fakir, the lone surviving original member of The Four Tops, which signed with Motown in 1963 and produced 20 top 40 hits during the next decade.
"I'd say, 'Yeah man, you'd better hurry up, man. I got a bet with The Temptations we're gonna have one in the next two weeks.' We would just push and push and push."
Fakir says there was a relentlessness on all levels of the recording process.
"Nothing was done generically. I've been to a lot of sessions outside of Motown where the session is very generic, very laid-back ... very professional, and there's no guts and blood," he said. "But here, everything was done with passion."
In 1965, during his label's ascendancy, Gordy said passion helped spur Motown to greatness.
"I talked about this one night over dinner with Smokey and Diana Ross," he told AP at the time. "We thought back about the neighborhoods we were in ... and we came up with a six-word definition: rats, roaches, struggle, talent, guts, love."
Motown left nothing to chance: A "quality control" committee met weekly to review the latest sonic offerings. Gordy was the final arbiter, but posed this question: Would you buy the record or a sandwich if you were down to your last dollar?
Don Felder, former guitarist for the Eagles and co-writer of their hit "Hotel California," says the results rarely failed.
"I don't know if anybody ever sat down and looked at the percentages of acts that Berry actually signed, recorded and released and the percentages of hits versus failures. But his track record has just been astronomical. ... He has just, in my opinion, the ears of a genius."
SOUND/RECORDING:
"You had naturally gifted engineers and producers that didn't let that technical expertise interfere with that rawness. ... Somehow the ... engineer/producers, thank God, either admittedly or just instinctually saw when these guys started jamming it just sounded good." — Ted Nugent, rock guitarist and singer
Gordy may have been blessed with an unparalleled ability to recognize hits, but many say those great songs probably would've been a bit more ordinary if not for Studio A.
It didn't look like anything special — certainly by today's standards of digitized recording — but the sounds it produced were.
"You didn't have Pro Tools. It was perfectly imperfect," said country star Wynonna Judd. "You had a lot of people who were sweaty and tired and who were singing from their toenails. ... If you can't cop it live, get off the porch."
A square, smallish room, Studio A was accessed by descending a small flight of stairs. Its below-ground standing earned it the nickname "The Snake Pit."
There, artists, writers, producers, engineers — anybody associated with music-making — gathered to record.
For 13 years, nearly every Motown hit was cut in Studio A and the adjacent control room.
The Funk Brothers set up shop — James Jamerson on bass, Benny Benjamin on drums and so on — and the singers did their thing, all face-to-face in the same room.
"The studio itself is its own beast. It can take away or it can add to the sounds you're making with your instruments," said pop singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw. "Some rooms are dead. You play a note, and the sound disappears.
"Some rooms they ring too much. Acoustically, they're just too active. But some of them, they just have good sound. The (Motown) recordings I've heard come out of that room. I listen to those recordings all the time, and I think: 'Why does that room sound so good?' There's something to be said for it."
DeGraw liked the Motown recording approach so much that he rereleased his 2003 hit album "Chariot" a year later in a "stripped" format.
"I was really using that Motown ... sound as a template," he said. "I was thinking about those records and the rawness of those records."
The "sound" itself was a blend of traditional gospel, jazz, R&B and pop that had crossover appeal for audiences of all ages and races.
SOCIAL CHANGE/RACE:
"It was the first, I think, black record company that was able to make the transition ... and was not only for the black music audience but also for a world music audience. I think that's what Motown represented." — Danny Glover, actor and activist
When Motown was born, as Robinson tells it, songs produced by African-American artists automatically were categorized as R&B, while a similar sound coming from a white artist would have been classified as pop.
But Gordy would have none of it. He set out to make music for all people, not "black music for black people" as had been the standard. While certain African-American artists had found a wider audience in the jazz and early rock-and-roll eras, Gordy took it a step further by pushing a sound that gained universal appeal and helped break down racial barriers in music.
His belief was that quality music would find its way into the ears of all, regardless of race.
"I think that's why it was so successful as a social tool, because it wasn't race-specific," DeGraw said. "It was just great music.
"And it allowed people to look past those typical lines. ... People could hear music like that in a time when people were looking at each other strangely, wondering what their motivations were, and they could go: 'Hey man, OK, no one's holding a grudge. It just sounds good. Let's enjoy ourselves.'"
For Baker, Motown's barrier-busting ways hit home.
"I remember 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' ... I'm a little kid. Every Sunday, Ed Sullivan comes on. And you get to see all of these artists from around the world. But Diana Ross and The Supremes come on. And I saw myself. Do you understand? I saw me," she said. "I saw a little black girl. ... I saw myself in a way I had never seen it before."
Motown billed itself as the "sound of young America," and it was that demographic that found itself at the center of the growing civil rights movement. Rosa Parks was arrested in Alabama a few years before Motown's founding, but the movement gained steam at the same time Motown did.
"Back in the '60s, when we weren't allowed to do or go certain places, our music crept into people's homes ... into their bathrooms, their bedrooms, their living rooms, their kitchens, their cars," Fakir said. "We spurred marriages and poor little crib babies ... 'cause parents were playing (our) music. ... That's how our legacy is going to be carried on."
LEGACY:
"That sound is just as alive today. And that sound still stands up. ... Everybody in the whole wide world has been influenced by Detroit and the Motown sound." — Dolly Parton, country singer, songwriter and actress
Motown was groundbreaking in many ways — from its signature sound and lengthy list of high-profile artists to the unique way it created and recorded music — but what's harder to pin down is what's kept the sound alive all these years.
"You hear (Motown) in almost everything," said Wilson, one-third of The Supremes. "I think Motown music, the Motown sound, is the model, the template that people use today in the music, and yes, you can hear it."
For many artists, it's inevitable that they would tread over some of the same ground because of the music's quality and distinctiveness.
"You can't get within sniffing distance of music, whether as a performer or listener, without being definitively impacted by these gods of thunder from Motown," said Nugent, the "Motor City Madman" who as a teenager played in a band that opened for The Supremes at Cobo Hall in Detroit.
Swift, a country singer-songwriter, admits it: She's one of the those whose sound is influenced by Motown. The 19-year-old, who has entered the realm of superstardom after back-to-back multi-platinum albums, says she and her father listened to his Motown greatest hits CD on the way to school.
"From an early age I had a bunch of different musical influences, but Motown I was just always so fascinated by the chord progression and how the lyrics and the melodies are so simple but they made you feel so much. I think that's the art of Motown," Swift said.
Another of the music world's hottest young acts, the Jonas Brothers, couldn't hide their glee at performing on this year's Grammy Awards telecast with Wonder, saying beforehand both they and their father grew up on the Motown legend's songs.
Not only did Motown bridge racial and generational gaps, but it also succeeded in crossing cultures.
Beatles manager Brian Epstein promoted Motown revues in the United Kingdom, which were popular with fans and stars alike. Fakir recalls being at a party with The Beatles, where the Fab Four peppered The Four Tops with questions about how they sang their harmonies and achieved other elements of their sound.
Motown even penetrated the Iron Curtain.
"I was in Russia some years ago before the walls came down. And we couldn't hardly get into Russia at that time — the Cold War," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson. "All night long they played The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson. So the joy of Motown has been infectious around the world."
CODA:
"Let's just say it's a collision of grit and beauty. They're raw records. ... But they're beautifully crafted. They're wonderful to listen to, on every level." — Don Was, record producer and musician
Another global sensation, the late Michael Jackson, also got his start at Motown as a member of The Jackson 5.
Gordy, at Jackson's memorial service in July, talked about the 10-year-old prodigy he signed, calling him "the greatest entertainer that ever lived."
Jackson and his brothers became instant teen sensations, but his stratospheric success came post-Motown in his adult years; he and his brothers left the label in the mid-1970s.
The Jackson 5 were one of the first acts to come up as Motown left Detroit for Los Angeles in the early 1970s. Most agree Motown's own California adventure has had its moments, but they don't match what happened in its hometown.
The Jackson 5, Gaye, Robinson, Ross and Wonder made the transition to L.A. and had chart-topping success, as did acts ranging from The Commodores to Rick James. Despite the plentiful hits among them, the sound was being challenged by newer grooves, and Motown lacked the deep roster it once had.
But by 1988, Gordy was ready to move on, selling Motown Records to MCA and a private equity firm. It was sold to PolyGram in the 1990s and now is held by Universal, where current acts include Lil' Wayne, Erykah Badu and Nelly.
Regardless of its present physical location, Motown is a Detroit creation, and that struggling Midwestern metropolis always will identify itself with the music.
"I'm glad they started in Detroit, and I hope that given the troubles they've got in Detroit now I hope they'll find some new version of Motown — maybe in clean energy or something — and 50 years from now somebody will be interviewed about that because Detroit gave America a great gift there," Clinton said.
Gordy and Robinson don't get back to Detroit all that often these days, but they were front and center at Hitsville on a crisp day this past March.
Contestants on the smash Fox singing competition "American Idol" came to Studio A to film segments for the show.
"I called it 'Motown,' rather than 'Motor City,' because there was more warmth here," Gordy told reporters that day. "The town was just beautiful. ... I may have left Detroit but wherever I go I carry Detroit with me. They know that's a Detroiter."
Robinson said the building that now houses the Motown Historical Museum was where "his real life began."
But the music that Robinson and scores more churned out of the cramped, sweaty confines of Studio A between 1959 to 1972 belong no more to them than the world.
"You can't ever know why something becomes timeless, whether it's the Jacksons, anybody. Beethoven — we don't know," said Leonard Slatkin, music director of the Detroit Symphony.
"Maybe it's a simple thing: It's infectious. ... Something about this music — I don't think of as being from the '60s or '70s anymore when I listen to it. It seems very fresh and new."
AP Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York contributed to this report.
The Reporter
parli123
Proud Member
One day in your life..is my #1
so fitting for Michael. fans.
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
Youll remember one day
so fitting for Michael. fans.
Though you don't need me now
I will stay in your heart
And when things fall apart
Youll remember one day
hopespringseternal
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I'm glad this board is here, I hope even with Michael's death we never loose the fan communities, thanks for the Motown articles.
MsMo
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SingStar: Motown arrives on the PlayStation 3
Celebrating 50 years of Motown, SingStar: Motown will have music lovers grooving and bopping as they sing their way through a great collection of classic tracks from legendary Motown artists.
These classic sounds defined an era and gave us some of the most memorable songs ever. In fact, Motown classic artists have had over 190 number one hits worldwide - and now you get to sing some of these timeless hits yourself. Get the girls together to re-enact the ultimate diva performance of The Supremes with 'Stop! In The Name Of Love'. Guys, make the ladies swoon as you croon along to the smooth sounds of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. And now you can really get your groove on with Wireless SingStar Microphones (sold separately) for an authentic performance reminiscent of the '60s.
Following the hugely successful SingStar: ABBA and SingStar: Queen, the classic artists from SingStar: Motown are the latest global music icons to join the SingStar ranks. The tracklist is packed full of timeless tunes that will have everyone on their feet and singing along later this year.
Features:
David Ruffin - Put A Little Love In Your Heart
Diana Ross & The Supremes - Reflections
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
Lionel Richie - My Destiny
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Jimmy Mack
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston - It Takes Two
Mary Wells - My Guy
Rick James - Super Freak
Smokey Robinson - Being With You
Smokey Robinson And The Miracles - The Tracks Of My Tears
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life
The Commodores - Brick House
The Commodores - Easy
The Contours - Do You Love Me
The Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There
The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)
The Jackson 5 - ABC
The Miracles Love Machine
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
The Temptations - Get Ready
The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
The Velvelettes - Needle In A Haystack
The Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Dancing In The Street
Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine
The Supremes - Stop In The Name Of Love
http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/playstation/games/159666.SingStar-Motown/
Celebrating 50 years of Motown, SingStar: Motown will have music lovers grooving and bopping as they sing their way through a great collection of classic tracks from legendary Motown artists.
These classic sounds defined an era and gave us some of the most memorable songs ever. In fact, Motown classic artists have had over 190 number one hits worldwide - and now you get to sing some of these timeless hits yourself. Get the girls together to re-enact the ultimate diva performance of The Supremes with 'Stop! In The Name Of Love'. Guys, make the ladies swoon as you croon along to the smooth sounds of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. And now you can really get your groove on with Wireless SingStar Microphones (sold separately) for an authentic performance reminiscent of the '60s.
Following the hugely successful SingStar: ABBA and SingStar: Queen, the classic artists from SingStar: Motown are the latest global music icons to join the SingStar ranks. The tracklist is packed full of timeless tunes that will have everyone on their feet and singing along later this year.
Features:
- Motown classic artists have had over 190 number one hits worldwide - and now you get to sing some of these timeless hits yourself.
- These classic sounds defined an era and gave us some of the most memorable songs ever.
- Includes "Heard it Through The Grapevine", "Stop, In The Name Of Love," and many more!
David Ruffin - Put A Little Love In Your Heart
Diana Ross & The Supremes - Reflections
Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted
Lionel Richie - My Destiny
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Jimmy Mack
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston - It Takes Two
Mary Wells - My Guy
Rick James - Super Freak
Smokey Robinson - Being With You
Smokey Robinson And The Miracles - The Tracks Of My Tears
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life
The Commodores - Brick House
The Commodores - Easy
The Contours - Do You Love Me
The Four Tops - Reach Out I'll Be There
The Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)
The Jackson 5 - ABC
The Miracles Love Machine
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
The Temptations - Get Ready
The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
The Velvelettes - Needle In A Haystack
The Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Dancing In The Street
Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine
The Supremes - Stop In The Name Of Love
http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/playstation/games/159666.SingStar-Motown/
MsMo
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Newly Discovered Tracks of the Jackson 5 to Be Released in November and Pay Homage to the King of Pop
Written by Joe Klein with Brett Bumeter
Sunday night, viewers around the world witnessed the televised proof that Michael Jackson is still in the hearts and minds of the entire entertainment industry, if not fans, the world over.
Amid all of the honors and ongoing showers of admiration, has come the announcement that a new collection of previously unreleased material recorded by a pre-teenage Michael Jackson and his luminous brothers was recently discovered in the vaults of Motown Records. At least 11 of the lost Jackson 5 gems are now in the process of being mixed and prepared for an anticipated release this fall.
The find was a series of raw, unmixed multi-track analog tapes, which had, apparently, sat unnoticed in the vaults of the venerable label, now owned by Seagram's Universal Music Group, for decades.
The masters are in the process of being mixed down by another music business legend, fabled recording engineer Russ Terrana, who was Motown's lead engineer for over twenty years from the sixties until Berry Gordy shuttered the Motown Studios in Hollywood in 1988 after selling the company.
It was Terrana who Gordy called upon to remix the original early Jackson 5 hits that were recorded in Los Angeles, after he was not satisfied with original mixes made there. (Russ was still working for the label in its Detroit studios at the time.) The talented engineer went on to become a living legend himself, by record and mixing hundreds of additional Motown hits for the next two decades.
For the last couple of weeks, Terrana is hunkered down in small Scots Valley California recording facility, mixing no less than 11 songs never before heard or released to the public.
With one legendary figure contributing to the art created by other legends, the results can only be historic.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2179409/amid_vma_tributes_are_new_michael_jackson.html
Written by Joe Klein with Brett Bumeter
Sunday night, viewers around the world witnessed the televised proof that Michael Jackson is still in the hearts and minds of the entire entertainment industry, if not fans, the world over.
Amid all of the honors and ongoing showers of admiration, has come the announcement that a new collection of previously unreleased material recorded by a pre-teenage Michael Jackson and his luminous brothers was recently discovered in the vaults of Motown Records. At least 11 of the lost Jackson 5 gems are now in the process of being mixed and prepared for an anticipated release this fall.
The find was a series of raw, unmixed multi-track analog tapes, which had, apparently, sat unnoticed in the vaults of the venerable label, now owned by Seagram's Universal Music Group, for decades.
The masters are in the process of being mixed down by another music business legend, fabled recording engineer Russ Terrana, who was Motown's lead engineer for over twenty years from the sixties until Berry Gordy shuttered the Motown Studios in Hollywood in 1988 after selling the company.
It was Terrana who Gordy called upon to remix the original early Jackson 5 hits that were recorded in Los Angeles, after he was not satisfied with original mixes made there. (Russ was still working for the label in its Detroit studios at the time.) The talented engineer went on to become a living legend himself, by record and mixing hundreds of additional Motown hits for the next two decades.
For the last couple of weeks, Terrana is hunkered down in small Scots Valley California recording facility, mixing no less than 11 songs never before heard or released to the public.
With one legendary figure contributing to the art created by other legends, the results can only be historic.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2179409/amid_vma_tributes_are_new_michael_jackson.html
Misayko
Proud Member
motown and michael belong together
dancemasterman
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the jackson 5 without MJ is like an oreo cookie without the creme. ugghh.
dancemasterman
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okay now that is cool
MsMo
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U R welcome.
:nono: This Thread is not about J5 without MJ so PLEASE don't come up in here with that negative BS :girl_gthooh:
Silouette
Proud Member
Thanks MsMo. All of this sounds great!
Especially, the Oct 4th tribute from Tito & Friends.
I may just have to jump on a train, plane or bus to catch this show.
It'll be the closest thing to MJ as I'll ever get.
Too bad Jackie, Jermaine and Randy isnt participating but
I'm sure Tito and Marlon will do them all proud.
*Resizing siggy now*
Especially, the Oct 4th tribute from Tito & Friends.
I may just have to jump on a train, plane or bus to catch this show.
It'll be the closest thing to MJ as I'll ever get.
Too bad Jackie, Jermaine and Randy isnt participating but
I'm sure Tito and Marlon will do them all proud.
*Resizing siggy now*
MsMo
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Thanks MsMo. All of this sounds great!
Especially, the Oct 4th tribute from Tito & Friends.
I may just have to jump on a train, plane or bus to catch this show.
It'll be the closest thing to MJ as I'll ever get.
Too bad Jackie, Jermaine and Randy isnt participating but
I'm sure Tito and Marlon will do them all proud.
^
U R welcome.
If you do go, have a great time and please share your experience with us here :cheeky:
>>> Yeah, yeah, I know, ultimately, it's just another re-re-re-release...I'm just sharing info:
The Early Years [Barnes & Noble Exclusive]
1 ABC / The Jackson 5
2 Ben / Michael Jackson
3 Dancing Machine / The Jackson 5
4 Dear Michael / Michael Jackson
5 I Want You Back / The Jackson 5
6 I’ll Be There / The Jackson 5
7 Just A Little Bit Of You / Michael Jackson
8 Little Bitty Pretty One / The Jackson 5
9 Mama’s Pearl / The Jackson 5
10 Never Can Say Goodbye / The Jackson 5
- Release Date: 09/08/2009
- Sales Rank: 657
- UPC: 602527147802
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/The-Early-Years/Michael-Jackson/e/602527147802/?cds2Pid=21442
MsMo
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Jackson 5: "I Want You Back, Unreleased Masters"
Allcdcovers
Stunning Vocals By A Young Michael Jackson Heard For The First Time On Single-CD Set Celebrating J5 40th Anniversary
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- There had never been an act like the Jackson 5 before and there will never be another one like it again. Now, on the 40th anniversary of the group's landmark Motown debut - their smash hit "I Want You Back" b/w "Who's Lovin' You" was issued Oct. 7, 1969 - the Jackson 5 is heard like never before.
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters (Motown/UMe), issued Nov. 10, 2009, brings to the public for the first time 12 unreleased recordings that include unique alternate versions of well-known hits as well as near classics and should-have-been-hits by one of the most popular groups of all time.
Preceding the release is the eSingle, "That's How Love Is," releasing exclusively on iTunes on October 6, the eve of the 40th anniversary. It's produced by The Corporation(TM) and mixed exclusively for this release by original Motown engineer Russ Terrana. "That's How Love Is," can be heard on www.jackson5.com.
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters also features Stevie Wonder's "Buttercup," a highly anticipated collaboration announced in 1974 but never released. There are two different studio performances of hits - one, a medley of "I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save," the other an alternate version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" - recorded for TV appearances with Michael's lead laid down for "safety" (he would sing live on the shows) but never heard until now. Other hit alternates: an extended alternate version of the No. 1 hit "Dancing Machine" and the original vocal version of "ABC."
We get to hear, too, amazing unreleased tracks written and produced by the J5's regular producers: The Corporation(TM) ("I Want You Back," "ABC," et al), with two "new" songs, the afore-mentioned, cute and lively "That's How Love Is" and "Love Comes In Different Flavors"; and Hal Davis ("I'll Be There" and many more), represented by the beautiful "Lucky Day," with one of MJ's loveliest vocals.
The J5 recorded prolifically throughout their Motown tenure, especially their first year under the tutelage of Bobby Taylor, who first brought them to Motown and produced two-thirds of their debut album. On this collection we'll hear two soulful, nearly forgotten tracks: "Man's Temptation," a ballad written by Curtis Mayfield - originally performed by Gene Chandler and later covered by Isaac Hayes - featuring Jackie, Jermaine and Michael, whose passionate vocals make the track this new album's "Who's Loving You"; and the funky "Listen I'll Tell You How," a Taylor original.
That's not all. Willie Hutch, co-writer of "I'll Be There," delivered "Love Call," a fast-paced smash that was somehow overlooked back in '71. Johnny Bristol, best known for his work with Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Jr. Walker and the Supremes, co-wrote and produced "I'll Try You'll Try (Maybe We'll All Get By)," a super funky, socially conscious jam.
I Want You Back!, at 12 tracks, mirrors an original Motown album lineup. On this brand new album not only is the music previously unheard, most of the photos in the package are previously unseen. Another bonus for longtime J5 fans: In addition to "That's How Love Is," Russ Terrana mixed two more tracks for this collection.
"The Motown vault is a vast treasure trove, and careful research begun in anticipation of the Jackson 5's 40th anniversary revealed they had recorded dozens of fantastic songs that simply could not have all been released at the time," says Bruce Resnikoff, President/CEO, Universal Music Enterprises. "We are amazed by the quality, and we know the many Michael Jackson fans all over the world will be too. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring these exciting recordings to the public in such a special package."
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters is the J5 rediscovered. Now fans can rediscover the brothers who 40 years ago took the musical world by storm - Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Michael.
The celebration of Motown 50 continues around the globe with events, special programming, exhibits, etc. An irresistible force of social and cultural change, Berry Gordy's legendary Motown Records made its mark not just on the music industry but society at large, with a sound that has become one of the most significant musical accomplishments and stunning success stories of the 20th century. No other record company in history has exerted such an enormous influence on both the style and substance of popular music and culture. That influence is still being felt today, from pop to hip-hop, as Motown celebrates the 50th anniversary of the company's founding. Today, Motown is part of the Universal Music Group, with its classic recorded music catalog managed by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe).
* The single, "That's What Love Is," available now EXCLUSIVELY at iTunes. This is the only track available until the album release. Album available in stores and online November 10, 2009. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=333355452&s=143441
* Pre-order the album at:
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PQ1PDI?tag=ilovethatsong-20
Barnes & Noble
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/I-Want-You-Back-Unreleased-Masters/The-Jackson-5/e/602527222707/?itm=1
Borders
http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=602527222707
* Listen for free to the complete version of the Jackson 5 single, "That's What Love Is" on www.jackson5.com
classic.motown.com
SOURCE Universal Music Enterprises
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...ant-you-back-unreleased-masters-63592167.html
Allcdcovers
Stunning Vocals By A Young Michael Jackson Heard For The First Time On Single-CD Set Celebrating J5 40th Anniversary
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- There had never been an act like the Jackson 5 before and there will never be another one like it again. Now, on the 40th anniversary of the group's landmark Motown debut - their smash hit "I Want You Back" b/w "Who's Lovin' You" was issued Oct. 7, 1969 - the Jackson 5 is heard like never before.
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters (Motown/UMe), issued Nov. 10, 2009, brings to the public for the first time 12 unreleased recordings that include unique alternate versions of well-known hits as well as near classics and should-have-been-hits by one of the most popular groups of all time.
Preceding the release is the eSingle, "That's How Love Is," releasing exclusively on iTunes on October 6, the eve of the 40th anniversary. It's produced by The Corporation(TM) and mixed exclusively for this release by original Motown engineer Russ Terrana. "That's How Love Is," can be heard on www.jackson5.com.
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters also features Stevie Wonder's "Buttercup," a highly anticipated collaboration announced in 1974 but never released. There are two different studio performances of hits - one, a medley of "I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save," the other an alternate version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" - recorded for TV appearances with Michael's lead laid down for "safety" (he would sing live on the shows) but never heard until now. Other hit alternates: an extended alternate version of the No. 1 hit "Dancing Machine" and the original vocal version of "ABC."
We get to hear, too, amazing unreleased tracks written and produced by the J5's regular producers: The Corporation(TM) ("I Want You Back," "ABC," et al), with two "new" songs, the afore-mentioned, cute and lively "That's How Love Is" and "Love Comes In Different Flavors"; and Hal Davis ("I'll Be There" and many more), represented by the beautiful "Lucky Day," with one of MJ's loveliest vocals.
The J5 recorded prolifically throughout their Motown tenure, especially their first year under the tutelage of Bobby Taylor, who first brought them to Motown and produced two-thirds of their debut album. On this collection we'll hear two soulful, nearly forgotten tracks: "Man's Temptation," a ballad written by Curtis Mayfield - originally performed by Gene Chandler and later covered by Isaac Hayes - featuring Jackie, Jermaine and Michael, whose passionate vocals make the track this new album's "Who's Loving You"; and the funky "Listen I'll Tell You How," a Taylor original.
That's not all. Willie Hutch, co-writer of "I'll Be There," delivered "Love Call," a fast-paced smash that was somehow overlooked back in '71. Johnny Bristol, best known for his work with Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Jr. Walker and the Supremes, co-wrote and produced "I'll Try You'll Try (Maybe We'll All Get By)," a super funky, socially conscious jam.
I Want You Back!, at 12 tracks, mirrors an original Motown album lineup. On this brand new album not only is the music previously unheard, most of the photos in the package are previously unseen. Another bonus for longtime J5 fans: In addition to "That's How Love Is," Russ Terrana mixed two more tracks for this collection.
"The Motown vault is a vast treasure trove, and careful research begun in anticipation of the Jackson 5's 40th anniversary revealed they had recorded dozens of fantastic songs that simply could not have all been released at the time," says Bruce Resnikoff, President/CEO, Universal Music Enterprises. "We are amazed by the quality, and we know the many Michael Jackson fans all over the world will be too. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to bring these exciting recordings to the public in such a special package."
I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters is the J5 rediscovered. Now fans can rediscover the brothers who 40 years ago took the musical world by storm - Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Michael.
The celebration of Motown 50 continues around the globe with events, special programming, exhibits, etc. An irresistible force of social and cultural change, Berry Gordy's legendary Motown Records made its mark not just on the music industry but society at large, with a sound that has become one of the most significant musical accomplishments and stunning success stories of the 20th century. No other record company in history has exerted such an enormous influence on both the style and substance of popular music and culture. That influence is still being felt today, from pop to hip-hop, as Motown celebrates the 50th anniversary of the company's founding. Today, Motown is part of the Universal Music Group, with its classic recorded music catalog managed by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe).
* The single, "That's What Love Is," available now EXCLUSIVELY at iTunes. This is the only track available until the album release. Album available in stores and online November 10, 2009. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=333355452&s=143441
* Pre-order the album at:
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002PQ1PDI?tag=ilovethatsong-20
Barnes & Noble
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/I-Want-You-Back-Unreleased-Masters/The-Jackson-5/e/602527222707/?itm=1
Borders
http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=602527222707
* Listen for free to the complete version of the Jackson 5 single, "That's What Love Is" on www.jackson5.com
classic.motown.com
SOURCE Universal Music Enterprises
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...ant-you-back-unreleased-masters-63592167.html
Silouette
Proud Member
Wow MsMo! All of that sounds amazing.
So much info on those unreleased tracks.
They had me at "previously unheard". Hahaha!
The bit about MOTOWN is awesome too!
Woooo! I got some stuff to look forward to! :clapping:
So much info on those unreleased tracks.
They had me at "previously unheard". Hahaha!
The bit about MOTOWN is awesome too!
Woooo! I got some stuff to look forward to! :clapping:
indranee
Proud Member
niiice!! thanks for posting!
Dangerous 1991 HIStory
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When will this CD be released?
rockstar
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Dangerous 1991 HIStory
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rockstar
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MsMo
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Silouette
Proud Member
Wow! Full on tracks! I was expecting 30 second samples.
Very funky. Very Motown and of course, very J5.
Thanks once again MsMo.
Very funky. Very Motown and of course, very J5.
Thanks once again MsMo.
MsMo
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Motown to mark 50 years in style
BY ROCHELLE RILEY
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
One month from today, Berry Gordy Jr. and many of the stars whose careers he launched will be in Detroit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Motown Records.
Officials at the Motown Museum confirmed Friday that Gordy and other Motown legends will gather at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center for a celebration Nov. 21 featuring Stevie Wonder and the Temptations and hosted by Sinbad.
The event, sadly, will come five months after the death of Motown's biggest star, Michael Jackson, and will be the first gathering of the Motown family since his memorial services.
But museum officials and Motown fans plan to remember the achievements of Jackson and Gordy with love, not grief.
"Having grown up with Motown, having danced, dreamed, studied driven to, exercised to the sound of Motown and traveled ... out of the country and wherever I went, people talked to me about two things, cars and Motown, I can tell you it's going to be an absolutely special night," said former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, cochairman of the event.
Proceeds benefit the museum in the small house on West Grand Boulevard where Gordy discovered Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Temptations.
Unlike a private event five years ago to mark Motown's 45th anniversary, this gala is open to the public. Tickets start at $350. For information, call 313-875-2264.
Click here to see our Motown@50 project.
Detroit Free Press
BY ROCHELLE RILEY
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
One month from today, Berry Gordy Jr. and many of the stars whose careers he launched will be in Detroit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Motown Records.
Officials at the Motown Museum confirmed Friday that Gordy and other Motown legends will gather at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center for a celebration Nov. 21 featuring Stevie Wonder and the Temptations and hosted by Sinbad.
The event, sadly, will come five months after the death of Motown's biggest star, Michael Jackson, and will be the first gathering of the Motown family since his memorial services.
But museum officials and Motown fans plan to remember the achievements of Jackson and Gordy with love, not grief.
"Having grown up with Motown, having danced, dreamed, studied driven to, exercised to the sound of Motown and traveled ... out of the country and wherever I went, people talked to me about two things, cars and Motown, I can tell you it's going to be an absolutely special night," said former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, cochairman of the event.
Proceeds benefit the museum in the small house on West Grand Boulevard where Gordy discovered Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Temptations.
Unlike a private event five years ago to mark Motown's 45th anniversary, this gala is open to the public. Tickets start at $350. For information, call 313-875-2264.
Click here to see our Motown@50 project.
Detroit Free Press
Silouette
Proud Member
Thats all fine and wonderful but I surely cant afford to go to
Detroit, Michigan again and pay 350 bones for a ticket.
Sounds like a festive event tho. If it's $350.00 for the public now,
I wonder what it cost 5 years ago for the private affair. If anything
at all . And the proceeds go Hitsville, USA. Cool beans.
Detroit, Michigan again and pay 350 bones for a ticket.
Sounds like a festive event tho. If it's $350.00 for the public now,
I wonder what it cost 5 years ago for the private affair. If anything
at all . And the proceeds go Hitsville, USA. Cool beans.
MsMo
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Thats all fine and wonderful but I surely cant afford to go to
Detroit, Michigan again and pay 350 bones for a ticket.
Sounds like a festive event tho. If it's $350.00 for the public now,
I wonder what it cost 5 years ago for the private affair. If anything
at all . And the proceeds go Hitsville, USA. Cool beans.
Yep, I agree, that's pretty steep for the general public...so it will probably be an audience of mostly industry folks.
But it's all for the love of Motown, L:O:V:E :cheeky:
MsMo
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New York Production Listings
October 30, 2009
Broadway: Workshops, In Development, Etc.
Berry Gordy Project, a musical based on the life of the Motown mogul.
The New York Post reports that the show is in development and will employ Motown hits for the score.
http://www.backstage.com/bso/production-listings/new-york-production-listings-1004032113.story
October 30, 2009
Broadway: Workshops, In Development, Etc.
Berry Gordy Project, a musical based on the life of the Motown mogul.
The New York Post reports that the show is in development and will employ Motown hits for the score.
http://www.backstage.com/bso/production-listings/new-york-production-listings-1004032113.story
raisa
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