Chapter 7: Just Another Record Company

In this chapter, the author cites Berry Gordy’s ego, the neglect of keeping up with the latest musical trends, and the overexpansion of the company as the primary reasons why Motown ceased being an innovator in the entertainment industry. However, in reality, Motown Records continued to be a successful business with well-known recording artists throughout Berry Gordy’s tenure as CEO until he sold it to MCA Inc. and Boston Ventures for $61 million in 1988.

Why do you believe most narratives about the company tend to imply Motown met an unsatisfactory end?

Chapter 5- What singer was influenced by David Ruffin? What experience did Ruffin have that made his music great?

Chapter 6 - Chasing Dreams

This chapter shows the rise of Motown coming to fruition, the last line of the chapter struck me, though:

"Motown would do a lot of new and different things in the coming years; they just wouldn't do them as well as they used to."

Foreshadowing the fall of Motown, and with this quote, it had me thinking about past experiences about trying 'new and different things', like a morning routine or working habits.

With that said, was there a time in your life where you tried something 'new and different' and it ended up actually doing more harm than good just like Motown's fall?

Chapter 4 : Shop Around

I recently saw a video of Marvin Gaye singing sultry love ballads...laying on his back, on a wooden bench at a studio and the words flowed smoothly from his mouth as if he were LIVE AT THE FOX THEATRE! It was phenomenal!! I've always been a fan of his smooth grooves. I just learned in this chapter that his father was a cross dresser. I strict, Pentecostal preaching, cross dresser.

What effects do you think this had on his short music career?

Chapter 5: Production Line

Chapter 5 talks about Berry Gordy's rise as not only a business man, but in music with all of the various acts that came out of Motown. It also spoke to how independent Motown was in music and how it changed the landscape to the way artists of color are viewed today and what a huge risk it was for him, along with the acts he brought along, to go down this road.

Here are the questions: Seeing how Berry Gordy changed the musical landscape and create a label of such timeless homegrown artists, do you think it would possible to do the same thing in today?

                                                             --------or---------

Motown was the first label that had no initial major backing from anyone. How impactful was this to the independent movement that is taking place today?

Chapter 2 Motortown

As the Gordy family settles into life in Detroit, how do they find things both the same and different from life in the South?

Week 3 (Chapter 3) - I Need Money (1953-1959)

Throughout Chapter 3 (I Need Money), multiple emerging themes become apparent. George talks about Gordy's experience working in his family's business. While it was work, and a way to support himself, ultimately the family business was a job, not a career, not a passion. Gordy's passion for music, more specifically jazz, and his "after hours" pursuits, are what guided him into the waters of a fulfilling career opportunity.

Additionally, George highlights a moment where Gordy realizes the power in regional music tastes in relationship to people's lifestyles - as many Detroiters loved Mississippi's boogie-woogie musician John Lee Hooker over nationally famed Jazz musician Charlie Parker.

Discuss a moment in your own life where you took a "job" as a way to make ends meet in order to pursue your career ambitions

-or-

Talk about a musical artist, band, group or genre of music that has significantly impacted Detroit, but may have not had as much national appeal.