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TGIM and Girlfriend are two of MJ’s most underrated vocal performances

zinniabooklover said:
As for the later diversity, well, with Stevie I don't even consider his 70's stuff as even being Motown. He's just being Stevie and is so far removed from Motown at that point that I always used to forget that he was still signed to them. Bc he left in order to get more control and autonomy, they caved in and he went back. But I always forget that.
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I can not subscribe to this train of thought. Stevie, as its biggest and most influential artist, defined Motown of the 1970’s. Therefore, I’d argue, his sound must be Motown’s. And there are many strings on that label’s lyre; it ain’t no one-trick pony, as Dr. Phil would’ve put it.

By the way, Stevie never left Motown.* Berry was scared shitless that he’d even consider the thought, though!

*…before 2020! Detroit Free Press article: https://eu.freep.com/story/entertai...new-songs-republic-records-motown/3638656001/
 
Agonum said:
I can not subscribe to this train of thought. Stevie, as its biggest and most influential artist, defined Motown of the 1970’s. Therefore, I’d argue, his sound must be Motown’s. And there are many strings on that label’s lyre; it ain’t no one-trick pony, as Dr. Phil would’ve put it.
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Fair enough but for me Stevie in the 70's just isn't Motown. Sure, the label was always way more diverse than people gave them credit for. Plus, I did make that point, lol.
zinniabooklover said:
Tamla was never as monolithic as some people believed it to be.
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But Stevie soared so far above them. Not having a go, mate, but that's just how it was for me. Stevie was ... I can't explain it. He was still on the label but, for me, it's like he had already left them far, far behind. He was so far into another universe, operating on a whole other level. I'd say he defined the 70's but not the Motown sound. Not for me, anyway.

I still think this is really interesting, though. What is the Tamla sound, who had it, who didn't, when did it change, did it change?
 
zinniabooklover said:
I still think this is really interesting, though. What is the Tamla sound, who had it, who didn't, when did it change, did it change?
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What is known as the Motown sound is really The Funk Brothers sound, and most of them weren't used as much when Motown left Detroit for L.A. in the early 1970s. So that Berry Gordy could try to break into Hollywood to make movies. Motown past the 1960s didn't really have a "sound". It was just another record label. Notice that Motown albums in the 1960s had the slogan "Sound Of Young America" on them, the ones after that decade didn't have that. In the 1970s Motown had a country music label called Melodyland and a rock label called Rare Earth. The Rare Earth band was on the Rare Earth label. Pat Boone was on Melodyland and his records didn't sound like Rick James, who was also on Motown. Rick had his own sound which he called punk funk. Rick's music didn't sound like the Commodores, Diana Ross, DeBarge, or the later Boyz II Men, all on Motown.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Fair enough but for me Stevie in the 70's just isn't Motown. Sure, the label was always way more diverse than people gave them credit for. Plus, I did make that point, lol.


But Stevie soared so far above them. Not having a go, mate, but that's just how it was for me. Stevie was ... I can't explain it. He was still on the label but, for me, it's like he had already left them far, far behind. He was so far into another universe, operating on a whole other level. I'd say he defined the 70's but not the Motown sound. Not for me, anyway.

I still think this is really interesting, though. What is the Tamla sound, who had it, who didn't, when did it change, did it change?
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I get what you’re saying. I just see it as odd to disregard the sound of your biggest artist when talking about the sound of the label. Of course, I do realize this is mostly my autism speaking. But having said that, I also feel it’s strange to talk about a Motown sound, while at the same time admitting that this very same sound can be very different from time to time.

Disclaimer: I know exactly the sound you are referring to. Or at least I have my own idea of it: It’s that energetic, heavily tambourine-ridden Hitsville-package. But I, as you, find the topic interesting, and do believe that the discussion holds a few nuts that could prove unexpectedly hard to crack. The academic in me is calling for an investigation.
 
A record label is like a film franchise. After 20 odd years all that was recognizable about the first few films has evolved into something completely different (often parody but this does not apply to Motown)
 
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