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…
Tag: Oma Heard
For The Venus Retrograde Part II: 36 Faces To Do Love’s Review To
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a Venus Retrograde, and it’s been a long long time since I’ve written extensively at looking at Astrology through music. However, this potent Season of the Witch in which we’ll be dealing with Venus in Scorpio retracing steps back to Venus in Libra, it seemed high time to pull…
Unpolished Diamonds, Unused Jewels: More Motown Femme Marvels 1964-69
As we wind down Women’s History Month we head back to Detroit. While we worship at the temples of Marvin, Stevie and The Temptations, The Sound Of Young America was built on the clicking of high heels. Not only was it the matriarchy of The Gordy Family that had Berry’s Back, early acts such as Mable John…
Delicious Together: The Delectable Art of the Duet 1952-1973
The other component of Libra season, beyond balance and justice, is relationships and partnerships. Who are your others? Seems a perfect time to round up a bounty of the beauty of the duet. The call & response between two players on Vinyl goes further back that Vinyl itself of course, as singing is basically the…
California Soul: Golden State Gems From L.A to The Bay 1963-1970
When it comes to classic soul music, California as a whole (and perhaps the whole West Coast) doesn’t get as much respect compared to New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis or New Orleans. Granted the northern cities on that list took on the largest percentage of The Great Migration, therefore, there was a longer term established…
Black Magic: Girl Group Solidarity, Queer Love and Black Lives Remembered – A Mixtape
I’ve said quite often, for little Black Queer Boys 20 something years ago like myself, Girl Group Songs saved a life quite often. Well, mine. I should really speak for myself. In the weird role play between gender expression and having even in the 1990’s so few cultural placeholders to identify with, I grasped full-hearted…