Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved crossover success.
What did Motown contribute to American history?
Though the songs were not overtly political, Motown’s popularity contributed to the Civil Rights Movement by achieving crossover success. Thanks to its popularity, African-American songs and faces entered the homes of every American in the country, regardless of race.
How did Motown changed music in America?
Its musical themes were instantly relatable (Gordy would also describe the Motown sound as “rats, roaches, soul, guts and love”), and its songs demanded universal audiences. ... The Motown sound was a very big influence in the civil rights movement. It was not that we marched or paraded; we just promoted it through love.”
How did Motown influence today’s music?
Much like how Soul Train rocketed from a local show into a national phenom, Motown did the same and then some—it influenced the whole world. Credited as the originator of modern soul music because of his vocal stylizations, Sam Cooke’s technique and sound was a direct influence to the genre.
What was the Motown effect and why was it important to society culture?
The Social Impact of Motown Music in American Culture
By assembling an impressive roster of talented artists, Motown managed to break down the social and racial barriers and become the most important independent record label of the early 1960s in the history of pop music.
Which city is known as Motown?
Motown, in full Motown Record Corporation, also called Hitsville, recording company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr., in Detroit, Michigan , U.S., in January 1959 that became one of the most successful Black-owned businesses and one of the most influential independent record companies in American history.
Who was the most successful Motown artist?
Diana Ross and The Supremes were the most successful group or artist in Motown’s history by at least one measure — their 12 Billboard No. 1 singles.
How was Motown so successful?
Just how successful they become is evidenced by the fact that during the 1960s Motown released 535 singles in the USA . Of these, 357 either made the R & B charts and/or the pop charts. Twenty-one singles topped the Hot 100 and by 1965 Motown had become the richest corporation in Black-American history.
What was the first Motown song?
The label’s first ever hit, ‘ Money (That’s What I Want) ‘, was written by Motown’s founder Berry Gordy, back when the label was still called Tamla.
Where did Motown originate from?
| Motown | Stylistic origins Pop rhythm and blues | Cultural origins c. 1964, Detroit | Typical instruments Vocal harmony bass beat | Derivative forms Northern soul progressive soul disco |
|---|
What is Motown today?
Always proud of its status as a pioneering African-American-owned business, modern-day Motown is built on a new roster of talented singers, rappers, and genre disrupters , while its partnership with the independent Atlanta-based label Quality Control Music – the name itself recalling the quality-control sessions that ...
Who was influenced by Motown?
The list of Motown artists reads like a who’s who in music— Diana Ross & the Supremes, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations , the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson & the Jackson 5, the Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Lionel Richie, The Commodores, ...
What did Motown stand for?
Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town , has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved crossover success.
What was the impact of Motown?
Motown had a massive influence in the music industry in being that is was a successful black owned record label during the height of racial inequality. Music from Motown broke down racial barriers in the black & white communities in America and throughout the world igniting cultural change in the music industry.
What makes Motown music unique?
The Motown Sound owes some of its uniqueness to the reverb effect created by pumping tracks through the label’s Echo Chamber , in the days before computers and synthesizers. True to his commitment to quality, Berry Gordy, Jr. would not slap a Motown label on every song his producers offered.
