I’m not normally phased by celebrity death. Death is part of reality. Yet something hit me really hard about the passing of Mary Wilson this past Monday at the age of 76. She is not just a founding member of The Supremes, the most successful all girl group of all time. She is larger than…
Category: Motown
More Gems From The Jewelbox: Forgotten Kisses From The Many Mrs. of Motown
Motown was a house built on the labor of Women. Particularly Black Women There’s no way to really debate this. It started with the labor of understanding music, publicity, marketing and legal concerns Berry Gordy picked up from his sisters, Anna, Gwen, Esther and Loucye. It continued with the financial success that women like Mary…
Mickey’s Mojo: The Extensive Talents of Motown’s A&R Magician
As Motown continues to roll out celebrations of its 60th anniversary, it’s extremely curious who doesn’t get attention for their hard work and extraordinary talents getting the label underway. There’s plenty of names that get lost today behind the glittering legacy of Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and the mourning of Marvin Gaye. Indeed if it…
Everybody Sings Smokey: Motown’s Poet Laureate 50 times Over
It wouldn’t be Motown’s 60th Anniversary without visiting their premiere singer, songwriter and producer. As legend goes, Smokey Robinson met Berry Gordy with a notebook of songs, of which maybe one or two Gordy considered viable, yet he was impressed with the teenager’s moxie. So goes the template of who Gordy accepted into the fold,…
The Sound Of Young America As A Senior Citizen: Motown Records at 60
On January 12, 1959, some 60 years ago today, Motown Records was founded. In reality, it wasn’t founded as Motown at all. The original name was Tamla Records. The Motortown-punning, Detroit proud referencing Motown label didn’t press until 1960. The Tamla Records pointed to one of the main reasons we ended up with Motown Records…
In Envy Of The Motor City: More Motown Femme Soul Soundalikes Vol. II
When you’re as large a cultural phenomenon as Motown Records, the depth of imitation as flattery is quite vast. I’ve explored this pool of influence before. After sitting with the topic for even longer, I decided, just in time for Pop Culture Summer, it was time to look at how The Sound Of Young America breathed…
Taurus Talent at its finest: The Too Short Times of Tammi Terrell
I think of Tammi Terrell’s short 24 years on this planet, nearly 34 years old, and think I’m really wasting time. It didn’t exactly take that much time for her to establish herself as a legend. I don’t know whether her early death elicits moments of sadness, because she fought up until she went into…
The Magic of Marvin: Sovereign Soul and Sweetness, The Crown’d Prince of Motown
If you don’t have a special connection to Marvin Gaye, immediately I question your humanity. Chances are I’ll never like you. He left this earthly plane with a gunshot shortly before I turned 2 years old 32 years ago today, right before he turned 45. In just over 25 years, he evolved from being one…
The Supremes “Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye” (1965, Unreleased. From Never-Released-Before Masters, 1987)
The Supremes “Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye” (1965, Unreleased. From Never-Released-Before Masters, 1987) I’m like a number of people. When we look back on Diana Ross’s success as a performer for the past 57 years, I’m prone to put the metric of that squarely on her charisma and unstoppable…
Dear Blondie: A Reflection on Florence Ballard and the legacy of The Supremes.
She was terrific. She was also terrified of the world. 40 years ago today, Florence Glenda Chapman, formerly Florence Ballard of The Supremes, died suddenly of Coronary Thrombosis in Detroit. The inspiration for Dreamgirls became a ghostly gothic story that day. An intersection in which race, rape culture, the pressures of fame and feminism developed…
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