‘Motown: The Musical’ has begun a one-year-long national tour after 37 previews and 738 performances during its highly successful Broadway run which ended in January.
‘Motown: The Musical’ is the dream story of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and his odyssey from pro featherweight boxer to pro heavyweight music mogul based in Detroit (before relocating Motown to Los Angeles in 1972)
‘MTM’ kicked off its lengthy string of stops earlier this month at Sarofim Hall/The Hobby Center in Houston, where the run continues through July 26. It moves on to Dallas for most of August, then to 30 more cities across the United States and Canada; finally wrapping up with a series of performances in Salt Lake City, ending on July 3, 2016.
A return to Broadway is then planned for mid-summer 2016.
Berry Gordy and Motown Records shattered barriers and shaped the soundtrack to our lives. ‘Motown: The Musical’ is a must-see!
MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL
Trailer
[in High Definition]
2015
‘Motown: The Musical’ is based upon the 1994 autobiography ‘To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown’ by record company founder Berry Gordy.
Gordy founded Motown Records in January, 1959, joining Memphis-based Stax Records, established in 1957 originally as Satellite Records by Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton, as the primary soul-based record companies in late 50’s-early 60’s America. (In 1961 Satellite was renamed Stax, a hybrid of Jim & Estelle’s surnames; St-Ax)
Stax was a southern sound (Booker T. & The MGs, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Rufus Thomas) reaching mostly an Afro-American audience, whereas the northern ‘Motown Sound’ (aka ‘The Sound of Young America’) had cross-racial appeal.
•
Legend has it that in early 1959, Gordy and Smokey Robinson embarked on an almost 100-mile harrowing drive through a raging snowstorm to reach a record pressing facility located north-west of Detroit in the small town of Owosso, MI. A new recording they felt would be the company’s first big hit urgently needed to have a few vinyl 45 copies pressed for promotion to radio stations in the Detroit area. Fortunately it was a safe trip – and well worth it … but not initially.
[Note] Several years ago when I lived in Michigan, I stood on the site of that pressing plant, which like many important icons from pop music’s past, is now a parking lot.
After an unsuccessful debut on the Tamla label, the first of a number of future subsidiaries under the Motown Records umbrella, Gordy licensed the new recording to the Anna label, which actually was run by family members. And Anna happened to be distributed by the highly influential Chicago-based record company, Chess. From that clout, the record received a lot of radio airplay (and sales) in the midwest. Almost one year after its debut, Gordy astutely returned the rights to Tamla, re-released it, and in the summer of 1960 Motown Records had its first hit!
The record? It was a song written by Gordy, and sung by a young male vocalist from Mississippi named Barrett Strong … ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’
🎵 🎵 🎵
[Note] Some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets or connected devices.
A laptop, desktop PC or Mac may be needed for optimal enjoyment.
•
MONEY (That’s What I Want)
Barrett Strong
[in High Definition]
1960
The record became a prophecy for Berry Gordy. After the success of ‘Money’ he made a ton of it (maybe even two) and he ultimately launched the careers of countless artists, including Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Martha & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Mary Wells, The Temptations and Stevie Wonder.
2648 West Grand Boulevard Detroit, MI 48208 … then and now.
The original company headquarters, known as Hitsville U.S.A. still stands, but now as its own Hall of Fame & Museum, with the original cramped recording studio, complete with artifacts, on display for public tours.
Written & Researched by
Rick Murray Hunter
Song Source
The Music Vault of
HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Record Label & Sleeve Graphics
Courtesy of 45cat
