of Motown Records.

My heart pounded with excitement as I waited anxiously in the press room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. for the legendary music mogul, Berry Gordy to appear.

A host of celebrities and political bigwigs, such as Al Teller, Chairman of the MCA Music Group; Percy Sutton Chairman of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation; Irving Azoff, CEO of Giant Records; Jheryl Busby, current CEO of Motown Records; Ron Brown, U.S. Commerce Secretary; Washington D.C. Mayor, Sharon Pratt-Kelly; and `new jack' label heads like Kenny (Babyface) Edmonds and Uptown's Andre Harrell, along with recording artists, Jodeci, Shai, Mary J. Blige and Chante Moore were in town for the 17th Annual Motown, the most successful black-owned record company in music history, was THE MAN! While I sweated out those anxious moments, my mind drifted back to my youth when I would spend hours at the home of Ronnie Scraders, one of my neighbours, totally immersing myself in his extensive record collection which had, I swear, every Motown record that had ever been released. Music by such legendary artists as the temptin' Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, the prince of Motown. "The Wonderful One'', Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and, of course, The Jackson 5.

Those were the good ol' days when music was made by heartfelt lyrics to music-hungry souls! Back then, Motown was my connection to the world of music, represented my `baptism by fire' into the heady and, oft-times, the music grew, I supplemented my knowledge by reading every book about Motown and its artist that I could get my hands on. Books like Motown: Hot Wax, City Cool & Solid Gold by J. Randy Taraborrelli; the Motown Story by Don Waller; Where Did our Love Go?: The Rise & Fall of the Motown Sound by Nelson George and Berry, Me and Motown by Gordy's former wife, Raynoma Gordy Singleton.

Now the man who got it all started was about to enter the room. Only a few minutes earlier, he had been honoured with BRE's (Black Radio Exclusive) prestigious "Man Of The Century Award'' in recognition of his outstanding contribution to American music. Berry Gordy, the "Don Dada of Black Music in America'': the "sho-nuff'' right reverend of Black Music'' as soul queen Aretha Franklin liked to say! When Berry Gordy finally enters the room, everyone stands, staring in amazement, it seems as if time has stood still. Soon the room is aglow with television lights, clicking camera flashes and reporters all jockeying for position.

With my heart racing with excitement, I dart forward to the front of the line, directly in front of Gordy and, with tape recorder in hand, proceed to fire off a volley of questions; questions I had long harboured within, hoping that I would one day have an opportunity to ask him.

Dressed in an immaculate black tux, Berry Gordy appears smaller in person than I had originally envisioned. But what he lacks in physical stature, he has more than compensated for. Because no matter how one looks at it, and social historians and musicologists have attempted to explain the phenomenon of Motown, Berry Gordy was almost singlehandedly responsible for helping to bring about he widespread acceptance of black music at a time when segregation was still quite prevalent in America. As Quincy Jones points out in the foreword to noted black music journalist, Nelson George's critically acclaimed book, Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise And Fall of the Motown Sound: "The music of Motown Records is a challenge and an inspiration to anyone making pop records.

Because, quite simply, the musical achievements of Berry Gordy's company have been monumental. The talented people that flowed through Motown, both the performers on stage and the writes and producers behind the scenes, broke down the barriers between black and white, between the R&B world and the `mainstream', letting everyone see the beauty of black music.'' Indeed, the music that was produced at Motown touched the lives of million of music lovers the world over. Skillfully marketed and promoted by Gordy as "The Sound of Young America'', the music of Motown gave hope to our dreams, fuelled our imaginations and caused us all to look at life just a little bit differently. For that one glorious era, starting in 1960 on through to the end of the decade, Motown would rack up a total of 27 number one pop hits, 29 number one R&B hits, while 94 singles made the Top ten on the pop charts! Never before had an independent record company so completely dominated the American music charts. As Robert Chritgau explains in the introduction to Nelson George's book: "The Motown hits (and quite a few of the misses) of the Sixties may stand as the most impressive and enduring body of pure pop for now people that rock and roll will ever produce.'' Yet, to hear Berry Gordy explain it, Motown's success was not entirely of his making. Instead, it was a reflection of the kind of talent he was fortunate to have had under his direction at the time.

"I can't take all the credit for what happened at Motown,'' he explains in his high pitched voice. "I guess I was lucky, although I think the success of Motown had something to do with the people that I hire. I had people like Mickey Stevenson - (one-time Motown A&R Director) - who could go out and find the talent. I guess I was also very good at pickling people. That was the most important thing. I get a lot of credit for a lot of things that the stars did, but basically they were individuals like we all are, with their own individual talents. So, I didn't do it, they did. they had the talent. I simply directed them and helped them bring it out. I get credit for that, but sometimes it' wrong. But move often, I get blamed for things that I don't deserve either, but that's okay,'' he says as a warm smile spreads across his face.

With such an abundant array of talent at Motown, who was the able to craft that distinctive sound? "Bringing out the artist; individual talents was the key,,'' Gordy explains.

"that why Smokey Robinson doesn't sound like Marvin Gaye, and Marvin doesn't sound like Stevie Wonder and so forth. They all had special talents like we all have. Each person is an individual. I could probably make a star out of you,'' he says, as we both share a chuckle.

One thing that people are generally unaware of about Berry Gordy is that he had developed quite a reputation as a songwriter in his hometown of Detroit, long before he started Motown, on a suggestion from a budding young songwriting as a natural outgrowth of his skills as a storyteller. As a result of an earlier association with the electrifying Jackie Wilson, Gordy got Wilson to record some of his songs, including such R&B classics as Reet Petite and Lonely Tears Drops.

How did he develop such a knack for songwriting? "Well, I had been listening to songs from groups like The Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots from an early age, and I used to listen to their lyrics and what they were saying, but it seems I've always been a songwriter all my life. I've always loved rhyming and I mainly tried to write songs that girls would like, because there was always that girl that I couldn't get, you know. that was my first love songwriting and the other stuff that happened, happened as result of my love for songwriting.'' With his songwriting achieving a measure of success, Gordy decided to run his attention to writing songs and producing talent fulltime. borrowing $800, he started Tamla Records on January 12, 1959 with Mary Johsnon as his first artist. "When I borrowed money, $800, it was from my family. A family loan thins that's how I made my first record with Mary Johnson -- come to Me,'' he says. The song proved to be the one thing Gordy was looking or -- a legitimate hit -- which, eventually, convinced him, with a bit of prompting from Smokey Robinson, that a full-service record company, which marketed and merchandised its own recordings, was the way to financial heaven. so began Motown Records Hitsville, USA, situated in a little building on 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan.

Gordy describes how the name Motown came about: "Because Detroit was a warm town with warm people, that's how Motown got it's name. Like Motor city, like the people were so warm and I decided to make town, Motortown. Then I cut it down to Motown and that's how the name came about.'' With his record company now in place, the numerous housing projects in, and around, Detroit provided Berry with the talent, as J. Randy Taraborelli writes, "to turn his personal ambition into the public passion as his sound, `The Motown Sound', became the most exciting and absorbing popular music of the postwar epoch.'' And with so many starry-eyed youngsters flocking to Motown's doorsteps, with hopes of becoming major singing stars, what kinds of criteria did Gordy use when signing new acts to his company? "Well, basically potential'' he says matter-of-factly. "I've always felt that less than 1 percent of the people in the world ever reach their full potential, and I think that's essential in everyone. I would look for that potential. It actually started in the earlier days when I used to listen to them, I realised they had a lot better potential and were so much alike. I then came to realise that most people in the world have this core of being alike. So, if you write a song that is good in one city, or one country, it will probably be good around the world if it's interpreted properly,'' he explained.

Questioned about what he feels is his most important contribution to the world of music, Gordy was extremely modest for someone with his track record of achievements. "Frankly, I don't really know. I just did what I did because I loved doing it and I loved developing people and bring out their potential.

The other stuff took care of itself. I didn't think in terms of making a major contribution and all that, you know,'' he points out. I guess I just developed potential in people that just wasn't realised. I just loved doing it and I still love doing it today.'' Today, the Motown as we knew it no longer exists. Many of the former stars have either died or left for greener pastures elsewhere. Sold by Gordy in 1988 for a reputed figure of $61 million to entertainment conglomerate MCA, the company now banks its hopes on a roster of young stars such as Boyz II Men, Shanice, Johnny Gill, Another Bad Creation, and female rap artist, Queen Latifah, although veteran acts like Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and The Four Tops still record for the company.

And, in what has been hailed by industry insiders as a monumental deal, international entertainment conglomerate Polygram has recently acquired Motown's complete catalogue and current roster of artists for a staggering $301 million! Also, with current president, Jheryl Busby,, signing the praises of the latest deal, the future, indeed appears bright for the legendary company.

While Gordy expressed enthusiasm for the opportunities that young artist have been afforded today, he was quick to add a word of caution. "I think that there are a lot of things that are wrong with the world generally and I think it boils down to the importance of family values. It's about integrity and loyalty and being proud of yourself because many young people who are becoming stars today don't realise that their only true sense of happiness can only come from being proud of who they are. But that's a very deep story, a very deep kind of thing,'' he explains.

Although he's no longer actively involved in the business of making records, Berry Gordy Jr. has left behind a legacy of glorious music that will live on in the hearts and minds of music fans for ages to come.

For as J. Randy Taraborrelli writes in Motown: Hot Wax, City Cool & Solid Gold Jr;, was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. Even Gordy feels circumstances aside, Berry Gordy and his Motown stars did dramatically change the scope of entertainment, indeed the very way we perceive popular music. and the dram continues to live on. It beats a steady rhythm and shared in Gordy's success with `The Berry Gordy, Jr., music man extraordinarie. A true American original! Freelance writer Lorin Smith is a frequent contributor to RG Magazine. He wrote about the Bermuda Technical Institute in RG No.8.

NOVEMBER 1993 RG MAGAZINE