Shortly thereafter, the Motown label was established in April, 1960.
#Motown magic songs skin#
“I had no idea what color skin the singer had – and neither did listeners.” The record became a local sensation. “I was looking for something that grabbed me,” he said. He played the record, Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want),” on his program, “The Hi-Fi Club.” In 1959, a young publicist f handed a record to Chuck Daugherty, then a disc jockey at WXYZ-AM, one of the top radio stations at the time. The emergence of Motown was the result of Berry Gordy’s entrepreneurial formula for mass producing a sound and stylizing the performers on-stage acts, the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, and a culture whereby mainstream radio was growing in influence. “The strength of Motown is a combination of those factors, and we have to get back to understanding how music is inspired from the various places where music education happens,” she said. “There’s a division between school music and other forms of music, and with Motown, we discover a music informed by public schools, churches and communities,” said Betty Anne Younker, associate dean for academic affairs at U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
“There’s a concern about the arts and arts education in American, and as a university, we can play a major role in being a catalyst for an open discussion by bringing together a variety of people,” he said.Īnother benefit from “bringing people together” is breaking down barriers between formal and informal music. Mark Clague, U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance ProfessorĬlague (photo left), a musicologist, teaches a course on Motown, and co-organized the earlier summit on the future of American orchestras. “Some people think of music as mere entertainment or a distraction, but we see music as a force that speaks to us in deep ways and helps make us who we are,” said Mark Clague, U-M associate professor of music.
#Motown magic songs professional#
The symposium came weeks after another timely U-M-sponsored conference examining the future of the American orchestra, a summit that delved into pressing financial and cultural issues facing the country’s leading professional symphonies. U-M: Serving as a catalyst for a deeper, broader public conversation on the arts The gathering was organized by the Center for Afro-American Studies, U-M’s American Music Institute and U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and University Unions Arts & Programs. 19 at the University of Michigan’s Palmer Commons. A formal, yet hardly high-brow discussion of the cultural impact of Motown brought together academics, former Motown musicians and critics from around the country at “Michigan Celebrates Motown: The Symposium,” held Feb. Indeed, the phenomenon simply called Motown is the subject for university classes delving into the interplay between culture, social change and musical expression.
Fifty years after Motown set an up-beat, toe-tapping tempo forever to be associated with the city known as the automotive capital, the legendary music company’s legacy extends far beyond irresistible rhythms, driving bass runs and melodic chord changes.
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