One of the biggest tragedies in the history of 1960s pop culture is we have forgotten about Motown music.
There’s no denying the '60s is perhaps one of the greatest, if not the greatest, decades of music in the 20th century, but if you haven’t noticed, the most revered and remembered artists of the period are pretty white-washed.
Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Beatles — no one is denying their talent or total exuberance. They are the best for a reason.
However, aren’t we forgetting something? Sure, we have the edgy lyrics, the war cry of the guitars and the moving lyrics.
But, wait. Where is the soul?
In 1959, legendary record producer Berry Gordy, Jr., established the Motown record label with an $800 loan from his family.
With this action, he involuntarily kick-started one of the most demographically inclusive genres in history. Regardless of your race, you probably loved Motown in the ‘60s, and you probably still do now.
In a time when anyone who was not a white, straight, cis-gendered male was condemned and segregated, Motown still managed to bring everyone together.
In all honesty, it’s perhaps one of the most ironic genres in pop music history. Despite the isolation of African-Americans from society, their musical reaction was still more peaceful than most of the rock music made by white rock artists.
While The Rolling Stones sang about men fighting in the street and The Who sang about rebellion, Aretha Franklin sang about acceptance and Sly & the Family Stone sang about a celebration of life.
Why is this? Simple: they got it. You don’t need 100 percent social acceptance for total positivity and beauty in your art, and even when the going got tough, they clung to their class and their soul.
Man, did they get it, and soon enough, others got it too.
Throughout the ‘60s, 79 Motown records were featured in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and more than 180 singles peaked at number one worldwide.
How could you argue with that? The Motown label is, to this day, the most successful African-American-owned business in the history of the United States.
Despite such an astonishing record, it still is somehow underrepresented in media depictions of the 60s.
Why are we more likely to hear Jefferson Airplane than Martha Reeves and the Vandellas on a classic radio station? The latter had way more hits than the former, and Reeves has the same attention-holding vocal style as Grace Slick.
Why does Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons get their own Tony-winning Broadway musical, while the Temptations get a oft-forgotten miniseries?
Granted, Motown had its own musical too. And while it did receive four Tony nominations, it won none. Not to mention it is relatively unknown, even among theatre buffs.
Motown has shaped our culture entirely, yet we still somehow continue to push it under the rug as just a nice little genre, as opposed to the groundbreaking era it was.
With Motown came funk and with funk came hip-hop, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Without Motown, artists and groups like the Beatles, Destiny’s Child, Bruno Mars, Sam Smith and Adele may never exist — or at least sound significantly different.
Simply put, Motown was the gateway to artistic and stylistic liberation for black culture.
So kick on your best dancing shoes, put on some James Brown and get down to the sweet, sweet sounds of Motown.
