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the nation ’ s pop music charts , becoming the soundtrack for the lives of millions , black and white .
While growing up in the Bahamas in the sixties and seventies , when radio was king , we all would gather on my family ’ s porch and listen to the hits from The Temptations , Diana Ross and The Supremes , Stevie Wonder , The Four Tops , Gladys Knight and The Pips , the Jackson 5 , Martha Reeves and The Vandellas , the Originals , The Spinners , Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and Junior Walker and The All – Stars , it was a real glorious time . A painful memory for me was in 1973 , I was watching my favorite group , the Tempting Temptations perform on NBC , their classic hit “ Papa was a Rollin Stone .” I went to the corner store to purchase some soft drinks and when I returned through my corner I saw my mother being helped into a waiting car ; she suffered a massive stroke but lived for 5 years after that though bedridden for the entire time .
In 1972 , Gordy relocated Motown Record Corporation to Los Angeles , where he produced the commercially successful Billie Holiday biography , “ Lady Sings The Blues , staring Diana Ross who was nominated for an Academy Award and Richard Pryor and introducing Billy Dee Williams . Although Motown continued to produce major hits throughout the 70s and 80s by Artists including the Jacksons , Rick James , Lionel Richie and long – term signings , Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson , the record company was no longer the
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major force it was it had been previously . I can fondly remember as a member of the Pioneers Sporting Club , a Nassau based dominant track and field club headed by my oldest brother Alpheus “ Hawk ” Finlayson , driving from Miami , Florida to the University of Florida in Gainesville or from Miami to Knoxville , Tennessee to compete as a triple jumper and listening to the hits from Motown during the long drive . While I was competing at the Florida Relays at the University of Florida , I can still remember a guy with a boom box in the stands near the triple jump pit , playing all of the Temptations hits one after the other . That certainly inspired me and I came 4th in the Triple Jump in the High School Division beating out 44 athletes from high schools across the United States . Temptations Foreve !
In 1983 , Motown hosted a television show “ Motown 25 “ that was a smash hit . My Temptations battled the Four Tops for the battle of the bands and I believe the Tempts with the great Dennis Edwards singing lead . Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops was sensational . Stevie Wonder did his usual super performance and Marvin Gaye was right on with his hit “ What ’ s Going On ?” But it was Michael Jackson who stole the show with his ‘ Moonwalk ” while leading his brothers , The Jacksons . Berry Gordy sat in the balcony and Diana Ross said to him “ It ’ s not about the people that left Motown but it ’ s about the people that came back and tonight we all came back .” All of the label ’ s artist came
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back and performed for this special night . Richard Pryor was the MC and he delivered his rendition of the Motown Story … A Fairy Tale “:
“ Once upon a time in a kingdom known as Detroit there lived a young warrior named Berry .
And as a youth he fought in arenas with padded gauntlets for small sums of money . He got his brains beat out . So Berry took employment at a local chariot factory called Ford and learned skills of the assembly line . But his heart , alas , was not in his work . No , no , no .
He took on the ways of the minstrel then and he began to write songs for others to sing .
And a local celebrity , Sir Jackie of Wilson , heard some of the songs and put them on cellular platters called discs .
The townspeople liked the sounds that emanated from the pressed discs and turned them into something called hits .
But Berry realized something was astray a bit awry here . Oh Yes . You see the great wealth he had anticipated never materialized . He was busted . So Berry went out on a great quest and he found Miracles and Wonders and Marvelettes .
And he brought the discoveries to a secret place called Hitsville and there he taught them wondrous things .
There was young Smokey of Robinson , and Mary of Wells and
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Martha of the Vandellas , Marvin of Gaye and Tammi of Terrell , and there were Pips and Knights named Gladys and Temptations and Tops , Contours , Spinners
And before anyone realized what was happening , it happened . Hitsville became like its name “ And Berry said to himself once more .“ Self , this is a lot better than being punched in the head by padded gauntlets .
And all was going well in Hitsville when our young hero met three fair maidens from the projects of Brewster . He groomed them , he gowned them , he nursed them and rehearsed them , then gave out the news that Motown gave birth to the Supremes .
It was like something out of a fairy tale .
And the family grew and everything they touched turned to gold and bulging pockets .
And Berry he had climbed the beanstalk to face the great giant and captured the goose that laid the golden records .
And after five and twenty years , there ’ s a chance and everyone wants it , that it will happen to them and all will live happily ever after .” “ We love you Berry , very much .” In 1988 Berry Gordy sold Motown Records to MCA for $ 61 million . Gordy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and he received the Songwriters Hall of Fame ’ s Pioneer Award in 2013 .
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