Motown had the GREATEST assembly of music Talent in world history

Hathaway

Hathaway

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Man peep game real quick. I'm not gon hold you too long. Usually back in the day, most record companies would have 1,2 MAYBE 3 heavy hitters in their PRIME in rotation and a bunch of bench players. Examples off the top of my head:

Columbia records in the 50s/60s had Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Aretha.
EMI I believe had Elvis and Sinatra at the same time.
Chess Records had Chuck Berry, Etta James.

But Motown nikka. Got damn. When Berry and them boys hit that stride in the mid 60's, it was over. Imagine being a major record company and you pull up the Billboard charts in 1968 and see this lil COlorEd :mjpls:Indie label in the hood of Detroit got FIVE hits in the top 10 at the same damn time. I'm not even lying. In 1968, Motown had 5 songs in the top 10: Heard it Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye at number fukking 1. For Once in My Life By Stevie at fukking 2. Love Child by the Supremes at 3. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me by the Tempts at 7 and Cloud Nine by the Tempts at 10. :wow: The MF Tempts got damn.

Motown exemplified dominance. That formula was bulletproof. The greatest songwriting teams of all time as far as I'm concerned. Holland Dozier Holland, Smokey Robinson. Ashford & Simpson, Norman Whitfield. My nikka let me just go through the accolades of these writers real quick:

Holland Dozier Holland - GOAT songwriters. Motown was built off the backs of their pens.
  • 13 #1 hits
  • Laced the Supremes with 5 STRAIGHT #1 hits
  • Notable songs written:
  • Stop In The Name Of Love - Supremes
  • Baby Love - Supremes
  • Where Did Our Love Go - Supremes
  • You Can't Hurry Love - Supremes
  • You Just Keep Me Hanging On - Supremes
  • Nowhere To Run - Martha & the Vandellas
  • HeatWave - Martha & the Vandellas
  • Baby I Need Your Loving - Four Tops
  • Sugar Pie Honey Bunch - Four Tops
  • Reach Out I'll Be There - Four Tops
  • How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You - Marvin Gaye
Smokey Robinson - Was Berry Gordys protege and arguably the greatest songwriter of all time
  • 3 #1 Hits just as a writer
  • Wrote My Guy, the 1st big hit for Motown then circled the block and wrote My Girl for the Tempts and landed another huge hit.
  • Notable Songs:
  • My Guy - Mary Wells
  • My Girl - Tempts
  • Get Ready - Tempts
  • Since I Lost My Baby - Tempts
  • The Way You Do the Things You Do - Tempts
  • Who's Lovin You - Jackson 5
  • Tracks of My Tears - Himself
  • I Second that Emotion - Himself
  • Tears of a Clown - Himself
  • The Beatles revered his song writing
  • Bob Dylan called Smokey "Americas Greatest Poet"
Ashford & Simpson - Unsung and underrated duo that laced Marvin and Tammi with straight fire.
  • Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
  • Your Precious Love - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
  • Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
  • You're All I Need to get By - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
  • Not Motown but still - I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan
Berry Gordy- The founder of Motown had the coldest pen
  • Before Motown, he wrote Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson
  • Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson
  • Money Thats What I Want - Barrett Strong
  • All I Could Do Was Cry - Etta James
  • Shop Around - Smokey Robinson
  • Do You Love Me - Contours
  • I Want You Back - Jackson 5
  • ABC - Jackson 5
  • The Love You Save - Jackson 5
  • I'll Be There- Jackson 5
Norman Whitfield - Arguably the GOAT Motown writer. As a high school student, had to battle Smokey Robinson in songwriting competitions for the right to compose songs for Temptations. Was the writing force behind The Temps success. Legendary pen. Also considered one of the founders of psychedelic soul. This nikka was a monster.
  • The Girls Alright With Me - Tempts
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg - Tempts
  • Beautys Only Skin Deep - Tempts
  • I'm Losing You - Tempts
  • I Wish it Would Rain - Tempts
  • Cloud Nine - Tempts
  • Can't Get Next to You - Tempts
  • Psychedelic Shack - Tempts
  • Ball of Confusion - Tempts
  • Just My Imagination - Tempts
  • Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Tempts
  • War - Edwin Starr
  • Heard it Through the Grapevine - A hit with Gladys Knight AND Marvin Gaye
  • Smiling Faces - Undisputed Truth
  • After Motown, Car Wash - Rose Royce
  • I'm Going Down - Rose Royce
  • I Wanna Get Next to You - Rose Royce
I know I said I was gonna keep it short but I got carried away :pachaha:
Think about all of the legendary voices that started with Motown. The roster is undeniable:
  • The Four Tops
  • The Supremes
  • Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
  • The Isley Brothers
  • Gladys Knight & The Pips
  • The Temptations
  • The Jackson 5
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Stevie Wonder
  • Rick James
  • Lionel Richie
And those names are just from their golden years. The roster of artist on Motown post 70's is just as impressive:

  • 702
  • Ashanti
  • Boyz II Men
  • India Arie
  • Erykah Badu
  • Toni Braxton
  • Debarge
  • Johnny Gill
  • Dave Hollister
  • Kem
  • Michael McDonald
  • Brian Mcknight
  • Migos
  • Mya
  • Nelly
  • Neyo
  • Tony Toni Tone

Put it in perspective. The J5, Temptations, Isleys & Boyz II Men are top 5 groups of all time.
Smokey is the GOAT songwriter.
Stevie Wonder is a top 5 talent all time.
Marvin Gaye is a top 10 singer all time.
The Supremes are the the greatest girl group of all time.
Gladys Knight is arguably the greatest vocal talent Motown has ever had.
All hit their prime under the Motown label. GOAT shyt. Boss shyt. ✌🏾
 
Hathaway

Hathaway

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KidJSoul said:
What's stopping another motown from existing?
Click to expand...
When you prioritize money over the quality of the art, the art will suffer. Quality music is no longer the goal. A quick dollar is the goal now. Motown was once in a lifetime. What Berry was able to build should be studied by all students of industry.
 
KidJSoul

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Hathaway said:
When you prioritize money over the quality of the art, the art will suffer. Quality music is no longer the goal. A quick dollar is the goal now. Motown was once in a lifetime. What Berry was able to build should be studied by all students of industry.
Click to expand...
I mean come on ,it has to go beyond that. I'm pretty sure motown back then was crafting songs they were hoping to make money with
 
Hathaway

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Forgot to mention that in the 60s, the Beatles were gods. At one point, the top 5 songs on the charts were all Beatles songs. Them Brits had the charts LOCKED DOWN. Had never been done before. Nobody was seeing em until the Supremes finally popped off and ended their reign. A little black owned indie label knocked off the Beatles bruh. GOAT shyt
 
Po pimp

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This was a great documentary about Motown, if yall haven’t seen it already. Talked about how the company basically ran like a factory, whereas you made a song and they would vote on whether it was a hit before putting it out. Some of the talent actually worked at the office doing clerical work and got their break when someone wasn’t available. Also, the artists went through etiquette and media training, hence why they were all so polished.

 
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