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Motown, the record label Berry Gordy founded in Detroit in 1959, made its records in a converted house called Hitsville U.S.A. Between 1960 and 1969, 79 of its songs reached the American top ten.

GRAMMY Museum / Motown Museum

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The story behind the card

Berry Gordy Jr. had worked on a Detroit car assembly line and written songs before he started Tamla Records in January 1959 with an 800-dollar loan from his family; the company became Motown Record Corporation in 1960. In 1959 he bought a former photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, turned the back into a small recording studio and moved his family upstairs. Songwriters, producers, the house band later known as the Funk Brothers and coaches who taught stage manners all worked under one roof, and a weekly meeting voted on which recordings to release. The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder came through the house. As a Black-owned label, Motown won huge white audiences at a time when American radio and charts were still divided by race.

Türkçe oku
Berry Gordy'nin 1959'da Detroit'te kurduğu plak şirketi Motown, kayıtlarını Hitsville U.S.A. adını verdiği eski bir evde yapıyordu. 1960 ile 1969 arasında 79 şarkısı Amerika'da ilk ona girdi.

Berry Gordy Jr., Detroit'te bir otomobil fabrikasında bant işçisi olarak çalışmış, şarkılar yazmıştı. Ocak 1959'da ailesinden aldığı 800 dolar borçla Tamla Records'u kurdu; şirket 1960'ta Motown Record Corporation adını aldı. 1959'da West Grand Bulvarı 2648 numaradaki eski bir fotoğraf stüdyosunu satın aldı, arka tarafı küçük bir kayıt stüdyosuna çevirdi ve ailesiyle üst kata taşındı. Şarkı yazarları, prodüktörler, sonradan Funk Brothers adıyla tanınan stüdyo grubu ve sanatçılara sahnede nasıl duracaklarını öğreten eğitmenler aynı çatı altında çalışıyordu; hangi kaydın yayımlanacağına her hafta yapılan bir toplantıda oyla karar veriliyordu. The Supremes, Marvin Gaye ve Stevie Wonder bu evden yetişti. Siyahi bir girişimcinin şirketi olan Motown, Amerika'da radyonun ve listelerin hâlâ ırka göre ayrıldığı bir dönemde beyaz dinleyicilere de geniş ölçüde ulaştı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Motown
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