Motown Did Not Serve Soul: The Black Music for White Audiences
In this post, we’ll be discussing the Motown Did Not Serve Soul: The Black Music for White Audiences blog post. We’ll be discussing how this blog post came to be, and some of the main points that it covers.
The Truth About Motown
Motown was created by Berry Gordy in 1959 as a record label that would serve African American music to a white audience. The name Motown is a combination of motor and town, which was chosen because Gordy was from Detroit, aka the Motor City. Gordy’s aim was to produce music that would cross over to Top 40 radio stations, and he was successful in doing so. However, what many people don’t know is that Gordy only wanted to produce music that would be palatable to white audiences.
The artists were not given creative control
The artists on the Motown label were not given creative control over their music. The company’s producers, songwriters, and arrangers were mostly white, and they created a sound that was aimed at white audiences. This “Motown sound” was polished and pop-oriented, with catchy melodies and simple, danceable rhythms. It was very different from the raw, emotional style of soul music that was popular among black audiences.
The Motown label did have some success with crossover hits that appealed to both black and white audiences, but for the most part, the company’s music was not intended for or accepted by black listeners. This led to a great deal of frustration on the part of Motown’s artists, many of whom felt that they were being pigeon-holed as “white” musicians. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, several of Motown’s biggest stars – including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Smokey Robinson – began to push against the limitations imposed on them by the company. They demanded more creative control over their music, and they began to experiment with social and political messages in their lyrics. These artists helped to redefine soul music and bring it back to its roots in the African-American community.
The music was not meant for black audiences
When Motown first hit the airwaves in 1959, it was with the express purpose of making black music accessible to white audiences. The label’s founder, Berry Gordy, was adamant that his music would not be pigeonholed as “race music” – he wanted it to cross over into the mainstream and be enjoyed by everyone. To this end, Motown’s signature sound was light, upbeat and melodic, with songs that were easy to sing along to. The lyrics were carefully crafted to avoid any controversial topics that might turn off potential listeners. This approach proved successful, and over the next two decades Motown would produce some of the biggest hits in pop music history.
However, while Gordy may have succeeded in making Motown acceptable to white audiences, he did so at the expense of alienating the label’s black fanbase. Many felt that Gordy had sold out their culture in order to chase commercial success, and as a result Motown never gained the same level of street cred as other soul labels such as Stax or Atlantic. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in “ authentic” soul music, which has led many listeners to re-evaluate Motown’s place in history. While it’s undeniable that the label produced some truly great pop songs, it’s also clear that much of its appeal was due to its sanitized presentation of black culture.
The Impact of Motown
Before Motown, black music was largely ignored by the mainstream. But Motown changed that. They created a sound that was appealing to white audiences, and as a result, Motown became one of the most successful record labels of all time. But some say that Motown sold out its soul in the process.
The music had a profound impact on white America
American Bandstand, the most popular television show of its day, began playing Motown records in February 1964, more than a year before the Beatles came to America. The Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go” was the first Motown song to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, in August 1964. It reached No. 1 in October and stayed there for four weeks. A month later, the Miracles’ “The Tracks of My Tears” also reached No. 1, and by the end of 1965Motown had eight songs in the Top 10. The Beatles had only five. In 1968, when race riots broke out in more than 100 American cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Otha Turner, an African American fife and drum player from Mississippi, spoke for many when he said that white America had been saved by Motown: “If it hadn’t been for soul music, them bottles and bricks would have been flying all over America instead of just Chicago and Detroit. Soul music stopped a lot of marching and rioting because young people had something to identify with—it gave ’em a camera to look through—and they could photograph themselves dancing instead of throwing bricks.”
The music helped to break down racial barriers
In the 1960s, Motown was one of the most successful music labels in the United States. The company was founded by black entrepreneur Berry Gordy, and it featured a number of black artists who achieved crossover success with white audiences. The music of Motown was often criticized by black commentators for its slick, commercial sound, but it nevertheless played an important role in breaking down racial barriers in American popular culture.
The Legacy of Motown
Motown’s sound was not just a reflection of the city it came from, it was the product of a very specific moment in time-the early 1960s, when the autoworkers’ strike gave way to the civil rights movement and the contraceptive pill was introduced. This was a time of great social and economic change, and Motown’s music reflected that. It was a sound that was both black and white, urban and rural, commercial and political.
The music is still popular today
The Motown sound is still popular today, more than fifty years after it was first created. The music has been sampled by hip-hop artists, covered by pop performers, and used in movie soundtracks. The story of Motown is the story of African American music’s journey from the margins to the mainstream. It is a story of talent and hard work, of creativity and commercial success. It is also a story of betrayal and lost opportunities.
The artists have gone on to have successful careers
The artists who first found success with Motown went on to have impressive careers. Diana Ross became a Hollywood star, with appearances in movies like “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Mahogany.” Smokey Robinson had a long solo career, and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1988. The Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson all continued to make music that was popular with audiences around the world.
