Motown / Philadelphia (10 replies)

Recently viewed two excellent docs about Berry Gordy and how he built up Motown down the years (Hitsville:Making of Motown) and also the tragic story of Teddy Pendergrass....For years , I was not alone in thinking that Harold of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes was the actual vocalist but of course it was the voice of Teddy that gave them that distinctive sound, in fact the doc claims Harold was a crook and stashed away much of the group's royalties, they regularly had to beg him for 'loans'

Teddy used to hang out with some right dodgy gangsters in Philly though and was also very much a ladies man, he was paralyzed in 1982 after a serious road accident in his Rolls Royce and later appeared at 'Live Aid' in a wheelchair

I always thought R.Dean Taylor was the first white artist to record with the Motown session musicians but apparently famous rock/folk icon Neil Young signed up with Motown in the very early days as a member of a group, I had never known that

R.Dean Taylor scored a hit with 'There's A Ghost In My House' which became a bigger hit in the UK and also became a bit of a Northern Soul anthem

Another big hit in the UK was 'Heaven Must Have Sent You' by The Elgins five years after it's US release, underrated vocal group who had been around a long time, Gladys Knight was also a Motown artist right up until 1972

Great labels .....Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Four Tops are among my favourite all time artists , this magical music just never ages

I'm sure there are still many fans, fascinating too that Motown sent many of their leading artists to the UK during the 60's in response to the 'British Invasion' (Beatles, Stones, Animals, Who, Kinks, Dave Clark Five etc ) going the other way