Motown started with an $800 family loan and a converted Detroit photo studio
In 1958 Berry Gordy needed $800 to release a single and persuaded his family to lend it from their shared savings account. He had wanted to call his label Tammy, after a Debbie Reynolds hit, but the name was taken, so it became Tamla. Within a decade the company had placed 79 songs in the American top ten.
Gordy's first venture, a Detroit record shop meant to educate customers about jazz, soon closed. He had better luck writing for Jackie Wilson with his sister Gwen and Billy Davis; Reet Petite became their first big hit in 1957. That year he also met Smokey Robinson, then 17 and leading a group called the Matadors, who became the Miracles. Early on Gordy leased his recordings to bigger outside labels, a common practice for small producers, before deciding to keep control himself.
In mid-1959 he bought a former photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, turned the ground floor into a studio and offices, and moved his family in upstairs. Hitsville U.S.A. expanded into seven neighbouring houses within seven years, holding finance, sales and an artist development unit where Maxine Powell taught grooming and poise and Cholly Atkins handled choreography. Robinson became vice president and later named his children Tamla and Berry. Shop Around, a Miracles single of 1960, sold a million, and the Marvelettes' Please Mr. Postman gave Tamla its first American number one in 1961. By the end of 1966 the company had more than 450 employees and $20 million in gross income.
The roster ran from the Supremes and the Four Tops to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations and the Jackson 5, spread across imprints including one Gordy named after himself. Marketed as the Sound of Young America, the music drew Black and white listeners alike, and Robinson recalled Southern audiences that were segregated on early tours later dancing together once the records caught on.
After the 1967 Detroit riot and a royalty dispute that cost it the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team, Motown moved to Los Angeles and branched into film and television. It stayed independent until MCA bought it in 1988 and now belongs to Universal Music Group.
Source: Motown
