The Life and Times Of The Motown Stars

The Life and Times Of The Motown Stars
by Alex MacKenzie – a book review

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Motown Records and here is a comprehensive and compelling guide tracing the history and the people connected with the groundbreaking record label.

With nearly 200 number 1 songs worldwide, Motown’s hits continue to appear globally in commercials, TV shows and movies, and remain an influence on today’s soul, pop and R&B music and artists.

Motown boasts songs that eclipse generations. Baby Love, My Girl, ABC, The Tracks of My Tears, You Are The Sunshine of My Life and What’s Going On to name a few.

The Life And Times Of The Motown Stars is an interesting, well researched, insightful look into the world of the Motown greats; from Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and The Supremes to Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder – discover what life was really like for these musical legends.

This book not only charts careers of the artists and their subsequent life and whereabouts after leaving Motown; but also chronicles the historic dates and timeline of Motown’s tremendous rise to music immortality, with a precise, but brief look at history in the making.

Motown was originally incorporated on 12th January 1959 in Detroit by Berry Gordy and became the most successful independent record label of all time.  It was also the biggest grossing black-owned business in the United States. Both these statements bring extra value to the compelling story of Motown Records.

There have been record labels throughout history that have left a mark on a particular type of music but none has had a genre named after it like Motown. There may well be a ‘Motown Sound’ but that’s not to say all the releases and artists had the same sound. In the 1960’s there was the polished sounding soul of The Temptations, the more gritty and emotional songs of The Four Tops, the overtly pop songs of The Supremes and the gospel-like sound of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.  While in the 1970’s Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye released two of the all-time classic albums in Innvervisions and What’s Going On as Motown moved with the times.

Chapters include the history of Motown, a A-Z list of artists and others connected with Motown, plus an interesting chapter highlighting the different label designs over the past 50 years.

This great reference book is a must read for all Motown fans and younger music fans who want to know more about the roots of today’s soul and R&B pop music.

The Life and Times Of The Motown Stars by Alex MacKenzie RRP £17.99

diversity

Britain’s Got Talent winner Diversity have been signed as support for Boyzone at The Big Gig Weekend music festival at the Bristol & West showground on September 26.

Diversity will perform the set they had intended to do for Michael Jackson’s This Is It series of concerts at the O2 in London, before his tragic death. Jackson became a fan of Diversity when he saw them on YouTube and was in talks to make them part of his O2 concert series. Diversity are made up of three sets of brothers who all dance, something that Jackson could relate to.

Property tycoon Kevin Newton, promoter of The Big Gig Weekend, feels that Simon Cowell was a little hasty in dropping the dancing group because ‘they dance and don’t sing’ and says he is keen to discuss signing Diversity to his own label Cent Records. “Done right, they could be marketed in much the same was as Lord of the Dance, which wasn’t about singing but was still promotable,” says Newton.

The Big Gig Weekend has been labelled the ‘mainstream alternative to Glastonbury’ by Newton. The Somerset festival will feature James Morrison on Friday, September 25.  Boyzone and Diversity will appear on Saturday 26 and Katherine Jenkins will appear on Sunday 27.

Tito, Jermaine, Jackie and Marlon would possibly be joined by sisters Janet and LaToya at the show, which would also feature recent footage of Michael taken during rehearsals for the now cancelled This is it tour. The show would use the costumes, set and dance routines designed for the tour.

The date for the show is rumoured to be the 13th July although the report says a family member had said: “We might do the 13th or a date in August with Jan and Toya. We may rehearse after the funeral. It’ll be good and we’ll do it right for Michael.”

As soon as the rumours started circulating earlier this year that Michael Jackson was to announce a final world tour in 2009, the frenzied excitement began.

Last week a television advert was shown just before the results of Saturday night’s prime time Dancing On Ice programme, promoting Michael Jackson’s final ‘This Is It’ UK tour.

The tv advert was watched by around 11 million people and showed the ‘King of Pop’ being greeted by screaming fans in London. Jackson, wearing dark glasses and looking in good health, was shown doing his trademark Moonwalk dance.

Concert Tickets for the UK shows went on sale last Friday morning at 7am (13th March), but with more than one million people registering for pre-sale tickets, these are probably the most sought after concert tickets in the UK since Led Zeppelin’s one-off reunion at London’s O2 Arena in 2007.

Michael Jackson originally announced there would be just 10 shows but that has already been extended to a staggering 50 London shows.

In 1988 Michael Jackson performed seven sold out concerts at London’s Wembley Stadium, with 72,000 attending each concert. The total number of people in attendance of this residence was a staggering 504,000 which earned Michael Jackson a Guinness World Record.

The ‘This Is It’ UK tour begins on Wednesday 8th July at London’s prestigious O2 Arena and includes a residency of dates through July, August and September 2009.  He will then return for more dates at the London O2 Arena through January and 24th February 2010.

Michael Jackson returned to the United States after the press conference to begin rehearsals for the tour.
As you can imagine tickets are sold out but you can buy concert tickets for all major events at viagogo.

Viagogo are the Official Premium Ticketing Partner and Fan-To-Fan Exchange for Michael Jackson’s residency at London’s O2 Arena.