The Birth of Motown
The story of Motown from its beginning with an $800 loan in 1959, to its arrival in the UK as the Tamla Motown label in 1965.
PODCAST – Birth of Motown
PLAYLIST
1 Four Tops – Baby I Need Your Loving
2 The Miracles – You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me
3 The Marvelettes – Please Mr Postman
4 Martha and the Vandellas – Heatwave
5 Jr Walker and the All Stars – Cleo’s Mood
6 The Contours – Do You Love Me
The original radio broadcast, including all the songs played on the show.
COMPANION BLOG
of… The Birth of Motown
BIRTH OF MOTOWN PODCAST
It all started in 1959 when Berry Gordy Jr took out an $800 loan and set up the Tamla record label. He formed the Motown corporation and record label a year later. Motown signed artists and bands from 1950s R&B and doo wop groups. These artists included the Temptations, Four Tops and Marvin Gaye, who subsequently became 1960s soul legends.
The label went from strength to strength in the 1960s. The Marvelettes delivered the first American #1 with Please Mr Postman. Smokey robinson, Marvin Gay, The Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes and other many others became international stars.
The recordings were released on a variety of labels in America, including Tamla, Motown, Gordy and Soul. In the UK it was a different story. Berry Gordy Jr combined the names of two of his early labels and all the UK releases were on the Tamla Motown label. The Supremes’ Stop In the Name of Love was the first UK Tamla Motown release in March 1965.
ABOUT THE ROCK’N’ROLL UNRAVELLED SHOW
We’ll be looking at how rock’n’roll came about. It’s development into rock music in the mid-1960s the array of rock genres in the late 1960s and ‘70s. Blues, R&B, rock’n’roll, rock, prog, folk rock, country rock, psychedelia, glam, early metal, punk, new wave… they will all find their way into the shows. Plus artists and bands some well known, some more on the cult side. Stories behind classic singles and albums, record labels, venues, gigs… Not forgetting the people behind the scenes, managers, promoters, writers, Svengalis – the people who made it all happen.
If it’s relevant to the music of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s I’ll be talking about it.
There will be some great music, some you’ll recognise and some that you might well be hearing for the first time.
Rock’n’Roll Unravelled – THE BOOK
Derek Shelmerdine is the author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled.
RocknRoll Unravelled tells the story of rock’n’roll from its roots up until mid-1970s punk. Not just the story of the music but also the external events which influenced it, such as the Vietnam War and Civil Rights struggle.
TO BUYRock’n’Roll Unravelled
OTHER RADIO APPEARANCES
Birth of Motown
First broadcast on Access North West on 1 October 2018.
For all of Derek Shelmerdine‘s appearances on
The Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Show …and all radio stations
