Personalities | Berry Gordy | Sixties | Rock

(Founder, Motown Records, b. 1929)

Gordy co-wrote Jackie Wilson’s ‘Reet Petite’ in 1957 while working on Detroit’s Ford assembly line and started Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan, creating a factory-like hit-making process. Gordy scouted talented Detroit performers and matched them to equally talented in-house writers and producers. He fostered a family atmosphere of (mostly) friendly rivalry, which earned him the nickname Pops.

Gordy exercised strict control of Motown’s output. The emphasis was on crossover hits: Motown’s sound, polished up with bright percussion and strings, was prettier than Atlantic’s rootsy R&B, for example. Gordy established a charm school for his stars, and packaged them in slick promotional tours, the Motown Revues. It paid off with over 120 Top 20 entries in the 1960s. In Motown’s best year, 1966, the release-to-hit ratio was an amazing 75 per cent. Relocating to Los Angeles in 1971, Gordy built Motown into America’s biggest black-owned corporation, selling up to MCA in 1988 for $61 million.

Styles & Forms | Sixties | Rock
Personalities | The Graham Bond Organization | Sixties | Rock

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

AUTHORITATIVE

An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

CURATED

Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

Rock, A Life Story

Rock, A Life Story

The ultimate story of a life of rock music, from the 1950s to the present day.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.