From Your Subculture Soundtrack, the music encyclopedia

Headquarters: Detroit, MI

Founded: 1959

Founded by: Barry Gordy, Jr

Link: Official Site

Genre(s):

• R&B
• Soul
• Funk
• Rap
• Rock
• Country

Active Roster

• Boyz II Men
• Tony! Toni! Toné!
• Shanice
• Johnny Gill
• The Good Girls
• Brian McKnight
• Queen Latifah
• Erykah Badu
• 702
• 98 Degrees
• Debelah Morgan
• India.Arie
• Her Sanity
• Dave Hollister
• Remy Shand
• JenE
• Black Coffey
• Trav and Journalist
• Q-Tip
• Michael McDonald
• Sharissa
• Kem
• Trina Broussard
• Dina Rae
• Trick Trick
• Yummy Bingham
• Damian Marley
• Stephen Marley
• Penelope Jones

Inactive Roster

• Mabel John
• Barrett Strong
• The Miracles (later Smokey Robinson & the Miracles)
• Mary Wells
• Marvin Gaye
• Edward Holland, Jr.
• The Andantes
• The Contours
• Shorty Long
• The Marvelettes
• The Supremes (later Diana Ross & the Supremes)
• The Temptations
• Stevie Wonder (originally Little Stevie Wonder)
• Jimmy Ruffin
• David Ruffin
• Kim Weston
• Martha & the Vandellas (later Martha Reeves & the Vandellas)
• Dorsey Burnette
• Howard Crockett
• The Four Tops
• Carolyn Crawford
• Brenda Holloway
• Patrice Holloway
• The Velvelettes
• Jr. Walker & the All Stars
• Chris Clark
• Tammi Terrell
• The Monitors
• The Spinners
• The Isley Brothers
• The Elgins
• The Originals
• Gladys Knight & the Pips
• Dennis Edwards
• Syreeta Wright
• Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers
• Edwin Starr
• Rare Earth
• The Jackson 5
• R. Dean Taylor
• Ashford & Simpson
• Diana Ross
• Kiki Dee
• Undisputed Truth
• Stoney & Meatloaf
• Eddie Kendricks
• G.C. Cameron
• Willie Hutch
• Michael Jackson
• Jermaine Jackson
• Smokey Robinson
• Thelma Houston
• The Commodores
• Rick James
• Bonnie Pointer
• DeBarge
• Rockwell
• Lionel Richie
• Teena Marie
• Chico DeBarge

Key Releases

• The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
• The Temptations - Cloud Nine
• Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
• Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

Biography

Probably the most well-known R&B label -- perhaps the only other label that really comes close is Stax or perhaps Chess -- Motown is known mostly for their distinctive sound (created by the in-house band The Funk Brothers). The original Motown records all have a similar feel without sounding derivative of one another; perhaps due to the various styles of R&B they were doing -- solo singers, vocal groups and other styles all had a home on Motown. In later years, they experimented with subsidiary labels directed more at Rock audiences and, strangely enough, Country audiences, but most of those experiments ended up failing aside from a few artists like Rare Earth. Motown is still going today, although they no longer have a distinctive "Motown" sound like the old records had, though many of their new artists are still very successful on the R&B charts.

Further Reading

• WIkipedia:Motown