Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959,[1][2] and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan.[3] The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music
with a distinct pop influence. During the 1960s, Motown achieved
spectacular success for a small record company: 79 records in the Top
Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969. Motown was very popular in the 1960s.
The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as The Primettes in Detroit,
Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful
of Motown's acts and are, to date, America's most successful vocal group[2] with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.[3] Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity,[3] and it is said that their success made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success.[3]
Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, the original group, are all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit.[4] They formed the Primettes as the sister act to the Primes (with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who went on to form the Temptations).[4] Barbara Martin
replaced McGlown in 1960, and the group signed with Motown the
following year as the Supremes. Martin left the act in early 1962, and
Ross, Ballard, and Wilson carried on as a trio.
During the mid-1960s, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer and Holland-Dozier-Holland as its songwriting and production team. In 1967, Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes, and replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong. Ross left to pursue a solo career in 1970 and was replaced by Jean Terrell, so the group's name reverted to The Supremes. During the mid-1970s, the lineup changed with Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne and Susaye Greene joining the group until, after 18 years, The Supremes disbanded in 1977 (Wikipedia)
Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas) were an American all-female vocal group formed in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. Selected members of the group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Formed in 1957 by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind Ashford and Gloria Williams, the group eventually included Martha Reeves,
who moved up in ranks as lead vocalist of the group after Williams'
departure in 1962. The group signed with and eventually recorded all of
their singles for Motown's Gordy imprint.
The group's string of hits included "Come and Get These Memories", "Heat Wave", "Quicksand", "Nowhere to Run", "Jimmy Mack", "Bless You" and "Dancing in the Street", the latter song becoming their signature single.
During their nine-year run on the charts from 1963 to 1972, Martha and
the Vandellas charted over twenty-six hits and recorded in the styles of
doo-wop, R&B, pop, blues, rock and roll and soul. Ten Vandellas songs reached the top ten of the Billboard R&B singles chart, including two R&B number ones, and six Top Ten Pop Hits on the Billboard Hot 100.(Wikipedia)
The Temptations are an American vocal group who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single "Cloud Nine" in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music.
The band members are known for their choreography, distinct harmonies,
and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations
are among the most successful groups in popular music.
Featuring five male vocalists and dancers (save for brief periods with fewer or more members), the group formed in 1960 in Detroit, Michigan under the name The Elgins. The founding members came from two rival Detroit vocal groups: Otis Williams, Elbridge "Al" Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of Otis Williams & the Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the group's biggest hits, including "My Girl" (1964), "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (1966), and "I Wish It Would Rain" (1967). Ruffin was replaced in 1968 by Dennis Edwards, with whom the group continued to record hit records such as "Cloud Nine" (1969) and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)"
(1970). The group's lineup has changed frequently since the departures
of Kendricks and Paul Williams from the act in 1971. Later members of
the group have included singers such as Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson, with whom the group scored a late-period hit in 1984 with "Treat Her Like a Lady".(Wikipedia)
The Miracles (also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American rhythm and blues vocal group that was the first successful recording act for Berry Gordy's Motown Records, and one of the most important and influential groups in pop, rock and roll, and R&B music history.[1][2][3] Formed in 1955 by Smokey Robinson, Warren "Pete" Moore, and Ronnie White,
the group started off as the Five Chimes, changing their name to the
Matadors two years later. The group then settled on the Miracles after
the inclusion of Claudette Robinson in 1958. The most notable Miracles line-up included the Robinsons, Moore, White, Bobby Rogers and Marv Tarplin. After a failed audition with Brunswick Records, the group began working with songwriter Berry Gordy, who helped to produce their first records for the End and Chess labels before establishing Tamla Records
in 1959 and signing the Miracles as its first act. The group eventually
scored the label's first million-selling hit record with the 1960 Grammy Hall of Fame smash, "Shop Around", and further established themselves as one of Motown's top acts with the hit singles "You've Really Got a Hold on Me", "What's So Good About Goodbye", "Way Over There", "I'll Try Something New", "Mickey's Monkey", "Going to a Go-Go", "(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need", "Just A Mirage", "If You Can Want", "More Love", "I Don't Blame You at All", "Ooo Baby Baby", the multi-award-winning "The Tracks of My Tears","My Girl Has Gone' "Special Occasion", "I Second That Emotion", "Baby Baby Don't Cry", the number-one Pop smashes "The Tears of a Clown" and "Love Machine", "Do It Baby", and "That's What Love Is Made Of", among numerous other hits.
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