This year marks the 65th anniversary of an ambitious young Detroit songwriter borrowing $800 from his family and launching what would go on to become one of the biggest powerhouses pop music has ever known.
That man was Berry Gordy, and his company, of course, was Motown Records. Michigan Public reporter Sarah Cwiek is a lifelong Motown superfan. But until recently, she’d never been to the most hallowed ground for any fan: the Motown Museum.
Here, Sarah takes us on a journey into what makes Motown so special to so many.
Dancing in the streets
It was a hot Sunday afternoon, with a scorching sun that would send most people running for the nearest hint of shade. But that didn't stop a big, enthusiastic group from line dancing in Rocket Plaza outside 2648 West Grand Boulevard, otherwise known as Hitsville, USA — and now also as the Motown Museum.
Robin Terry, the museum’s current CEO and the granddaughter of its founder, Esther Gordy Edwards, was there. Terry said every year, nearly 100,000 people come here from every corner of the globe.
“And they come to touch that Hitsville, USA space,” Terry said. “And to stand in Studio A, in the footsteps of giants like Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross and the Supremes, and the Temptations, Four Tops, Martha Reeves, on and on and on.”
The current museum isn’t some big imposing edifice. It’s a little house where, from 1959 through 1972, a talented group of musicians, performers, and songwriters created possibly the greatest hit machine American music has ever known.
I asked Terry a question she gets asked a lot: "What is it about Motown that has kept people hooked for over six decades now?" She thinks it has a lot to do with what her great-uncle Berry Gordy has said many times over the years: Motown songs were about universal experiences and “real things.”
“And it wasn't black music or white music,” Terry said. “It was music for all people. And it resonated because it was about things that were true, things that we all wanted in our lives: love, hope, joy, peace.”
The Motown Museum is in the midst of a massive expansion that will make it into something much more than just the little house on West Grand Boulevard. Terry says it will transform the site into a 50,000-square-foot “world-class entertainment and education destination.”
“What the Motown sound is about”
The museum is also looking to raise its profile beyond its campus, and highlight how much Motown remains a relevant force in pop music and culture. That’s the idea behind Pushin’ Culture Forward, a new exhibition on Detroit’s riverfront that’s part of the so-called “Motown Mile” there.
The next day, I joined four Motown alumni and a gaggle of other reporters for an introductory tour. The exhibit is made up of eight interactive panels that highlight Motown’s enduring impact on music, featuring mash-ups of a Motown song alongside a more current song inspired by it.
The first panel we saw featured one of Motown’s most enduring classics: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Diana Ross also had a hit with a different, later version, and elements of that track have appeared in too many subsequent songs to mention.
Paul Riser was the arranger behind both Motown versions, and is a treasure trove of information about how songs went from a few chords or concepts to musical masterpieces. I know how important he was to the Motown sound, so I was positively giddy to talk with him.
Riser said usually a producer came to him with an idea or even a simple melody, and he’s the one who turned that into music on paper.
“Now, I wouldn't always be taken down and played verbatim,” Riser told me. “We'd make a lot of changes on the floor, ‘cause we had the greatest musicians. Oh those Funk Brothers.”
Yes, the Funk Brothers. Motown’s in-house band, and in my opinion, the real crux of the whole Motown sound. Riser says they were plucked out of clubs from Detroit’s thriving 1950s jazz scene, and they were nothing less than amazing.
“They were jazz musicians, and many of them had classical backgrounds,” Riser said. “And they just combined that jazz and the classical and R&B, and that pretty much is what the Motown sound is about.”
Another panel features a lesser-known but equally noteworthy Motown song: Carl Bean’s 1977 track “I Was Born This Way.” It was penned by a Harlem salon owner who was inspired to write it after witnessing the mistreatment many of her gay employees endured. She released it on her own label, but two years later Motown approached Bean about doing a disco cover.
That version went on to become a gay club anthem and expression of unashamed queer pride — but not right off the bat. Former Motown sales manager Miller London was another alum on the tour. He said they initially took the record to some traditional radio stations, but very few would play it.
But knowing that the gay community was a huge driving force behind the disco movement, London said they eventually decided on a different approach. “We made a 12-inch (vinyl record) out of the song, and took it to all the disco places in New York City, and all the other disco places around the country,” Miller said. “And that's how we broke that record.”
Motown’s legacy: “Part and parcel of our cultural DNA today”
If “I Was Born This Way” sounds familiar to you, that might be because you’ve heard Lady Gaga’s 2011 smash hit of almost the same name. It’s not a cover, but Gaga publicly credits it as an inspiration.
It’s just one example of how “the Motown juggernaut remains part and parcel of our cultural DNA today." That’s according to Eldonna May, a Wayne State University professor and music historian.
May said its roots point back to the thriving music culture of Detroit’s Black community in the mid-20th century, "From the days of Paradise Valley, juke joints, the music of storefront churches and jazz clubs.”
But May noted that for Gordy, Motown wasn’t just about making music or even money — it was about using his stable of artists as “cultural musical ambassadors.”
“He wanted the music to reflect all the positives of African American culture in this country in the '60s,” she said.
May said people around the world recognize what she calls Detroit’s “incredibly rich and important musical legacy,” with Motown the biggest export of all. But she thinks that legacy often goes underappreciated in the city where it all began.
“And perhaps we don’t always give it the credence — I’m going to go out there on a limb and say the respect and recognition — it deserves.” May said.
As a Motown fan who grew up in and around Detroit, I think I have to agree. Still, back at the Hitsville celebration, Detroiters were mingling with people from countless other locations, enjoying a day of music and festivities.
Among the crowd was Justin Kuhnle, who was visiting from Boston with two college buddies. He said that to him, Motown music is personal.
“I also grew up listening to it a lot,” Kuhnle said. “So it reminds me of like, my cousins and my grandma and my uncles, this stuff. It's just like it makes me feel at home, you know?”
And I know exactly what he means. It’s the same for me.
