Important points about Motown!

  • Birth of Motown in the early 1960’s, titled Motown Records, founded by Berry Gordy Jr., in Detroit. Motown titled after “the motor city”
  • Berry Gordy Jr. modeled his song writing like a car factory, or an assembly line of sorts. Most artists had a similar sound, but in order to create massive success, the artists replicated this sound across different groups. Promoting the record label, Motown Records, associating the “sound” with the word “Motown”.
  • Motown was a combination of soul, gospel, pop and blues music.
  • Played important role in the Civil Rights movement, brought African Americans into the music business.
  • Motown was geared specifically towards “young America”, promoting desegregation and unity during the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Some famous Motown stars: Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, The Supremes, The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye.
    – Instruments consist of: Rock band set up: (bass, drums, guitar, vocals), horns (trumpets, saxophones, etc), vocals, piano, background singers

Sites to reference…

Motown Museum

Motown TIME Article

Motown Records