All language subtitles for Hitsville.The.Making.of.Motown.2019.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

Hi, Mr McLean.

Uh, you're not joining
the meeting, are you?

Um, that's what
I came here for.

The door's locked
at certain times,

and, you know, no one comes in.

I didn't know that.

I heard a rumor, something
about locking people out...

Yeah, well, um...
you know, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I'm late.

No, but so am I,
but you won't be able to stay.

I would just like to urge you
that this is serious business,

because from these meetings
come the records

that Motown releases
to the street.

We've got to maintain
our high standards,

because if the records
are not created properly,

then we have
a bad image out there.

Luckily, we have one record
in the top ten this week,

which is always good,
with Marv and Tammi's record.

-The artists that are wide open

for releases are
Diana Ross and the Supremes,

which we're working on heavily,

and we have what I consider
a smash on the Four Tops.

Stevie Wonder has a couple
of things but he is still open.

The Temptations are still open.

They have a few things that
I have heard that were cut

that I think
will be extremely good.

Um, Smokey Robinson
and the Miracles,

Gladys Knight and the Pips,

Edwin Starr,
we're gonna release his thing.

Martha,
so we're cleared up here,

we're gonna release her thing.

Jr Walker
has a couple of things.

And then we have this thing
on the Isley Brothers.

We will not compromise
on quality.

I hear many producers talking

about they don't get releases.

First one stayed here ten years

since they don't have
the proper quality

on a major artist,

they will never get a release
on a major artist.

But the opportunity,
as I said before, is here.

OK, ladies and gentlemen,

if there are
no further comments,

then the meeting is adjourned
till next week.

♪ One, two, three, four! ♪

In my mind,
the Motown story begins

long before we thought it began.

♪ I never met a girl ♪

♪ Who makes me feel
the way that you do ♪

♪ You're all right ♪

♪ Whenever I'm asked
who makes my dreams real ♪

♪ I tell 'em you do ♪

♪ You're outta sight ♪

♪ So fee-fi-fo-fum ♪

♪ Look out, baby,
cos here I come ♪

♪ And I'm bringing you
a love that's true ♪

♪ So get ready ♪

♪ So get ready ♪

♪ I'm gonna try
to make love to you ♪

♪ So get ready ♪

♪ So get ready,
here I come... ♪

I was always a hustler
trying to make money,

trying to better myself.

Somehow, I was fascinated
by everybody being the same.

You know, white and black,

they stub their toe, they hurt,
something funny, they laugh.

I mean, it was like, to me,
just almost a no-brainer.

As a kid, I would sell
the Michigan Chronicle,

which was a black newspaper.

I said I can make
a lot more money

if I sell it
to white people, too.

One day,
I decided to go downtown,

take my little black papers
in the white neighborhood,

and I sold more papers
than I'd ever sold before.

And I took my brother
the next week,

I said,
"We gonna get rich, baby!"

We went down
to the white neighborhood

and we sold nothing.
There was my first lesson:

You are about to witness

the very exciting story
of a city and its people.

Detroit today
stands at the threshold

of a bright new future.

One rich with the promise
of fulfilment.

In this bustling city
on the straits,

there is a resurgence
of civic pride

and unfettered imagination.

The city on the straits
welcomes you

to share that vision,

as it continues
to plan, to build,

and yes, to dream.

Starting in the music business

was an evolution, of course,

since over a period of years,
I was a shoeshine boy,

a boxer, I was writing songs.

But if I had just right away
made money,

I don't know
what might've happened to me,

but I kept getting
knocked down.

I knew I wanted to be in music
so I had this record store.

I didn't realize the customer
was always right.

They'd come in and say,

"You got something
by Muddy Waters or BB King?",

and I was trying
to sell them jazz.

I would say,
"If you want Muddy Waters,

go down to Hayes Street.
They sell Muddy Waters.

I ain't got it.
I ain't gonna have it."

It's only 12 bars, 12 bar-blues,
they all say the same thing.

"I love my baby
but my baby don't love me."

I mean, how many times
can you say that

in how many different ways?

But the people in Detroit,
working in the factories,

they wanted the blues,

and so I realized it was
that simplicity in the music

that people understood
and people felt good about.

I did get the blues,

but it was too late
to change our business,

because I was bankrupt.

So, I had to get a real job,

and that's why I went
to the Ford Motor Company

Lincoln-Mercury plant.

And when I was on
the assembly line,

I started perfecting my skills
of writing songs.

The factory had
this assembly line.

And I would see the cars

start out with
the bare minimum frame,

and go around the circle,

and different stations
that put things on there,

and they would go out
another door a brand-new car.

I said, "My goodness!
I can do that with people."

Of course,
everybody laughed at me

and said, "That's ridiculous.

You can't take human beings
and treat them like cars."

I said, "No, everybody's gonna
have their personality,

but I got this idea:
one station here,

producer over here,
arrangers over here,

dance instructors over here.

They go from room to room
and come off a brand-new star."

And eventually,
when I felt that it was right

and my sisters promised me

that they could get my songs
to Jackie Wilson,

I quit my job, and I was ready.

The factory played
such an important part,

because I saw the machine
and how it could work,

with the assembly-line process

that I based my company on.

There are
so many unsung heroes and...

and people that were
just part of the team,

part of the effort,

but there was nobody
greater than Smokey,

who is still
my best friend today.

If I were doing this,
I'd call this...

Just forget everything else
and say, "Berry and Smokey."

You know,
just, "Berry and Smokey."

I always loved singing,

and singing seemed like
my impossible dream

because of where
I was growing up.

I didn't think that would be
available to me.

Going back to Detroit,

getting these thoughts
and memories

and reflections
is just incredible, you know?

You know
something else I think about?

I used to be riding with you

when they first got
the record players in the car?

Yeah.

You'd be driving
and ducking your head under,

"Where's that new
Supremes record, man?"

"Wait a minute.
I will find the record, man.

You just drive!"

Smokey Robinson
was a member of a group

that was auditioning
for Jackie Wilson's manager.

So, we sang for them,
and they rejected us.

And I walked out in the hallway
with them, and I said,

"Oh, you guys were really good."

I said, "Oh, thank you
very much, man."

And he said, "Yeah," he said,
"I'm Berry Gordy." "What?"

"The Berry Gordy
who wrote Reet Petite?"

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Reet petite ♪

♪ The finest girl
you ever wanna meet ♪

"You're Berry Gordy?"

I said, "Yeah.
Only one I know." You know?

And then he made a mistake
because he said,

"You got any more songs, man?"

And I had a loose-leaf notebook
with about 100 songs in it.

And he said, "A song
has gotta be like a short story,

where the beginning, the middle
and the end tie in together."

He said,
"You rhyme stuff really well

but your songs
are just rambling."

Which they were.
And so he started to mentor me.

♪ Walked all day
till my feet were tired... ♪

And the first record
that we ever recorded

was a song called Got a Job.

Berry would produce records

and put them
with other companies,

because Berry hadn't
started Motown yet.

Got a Job was in the top five
of the R&B charts,

so we know
that we sold some records.

When it came time
to pay the royalties,

this guy sent Berry a check
for $3.19.

Back in those days,
they paid you if they wanted to.

If they didn't,
they didn't pay you

especially if you were black.

So, Smokey said,

"If this is the kinda money
you're gonna get,

you might as well be
in business for yourself.

Shortly after that,
he started Motown, and um...

the rest is history, man.

Every family needs a home,

and it was my then-assistant
and future wife Raynoma

who found the two-story house
at 2648 West Grand Boulevard.

And the fact that it was
in the neighborhood.

It was on West Grand Boulevard
at 12th Street.

You don't get
more 'hood than that.

At Hitsville,
everything was in-house,

the offices, the studio,
the sales department.

I even lived upstairs.

And it goes back
to my great-grandparents,

Berry Gordy Snr
and Berth Ida Gordy.

They raised their children

in an entrepreneurial
environment.

Well, the family grocery store

was named after
Booker T. Washington,

who was a big advocate
of self-sufficiency.

Growing up, I knew that was

a very important principle
for our family.

My grandmother put together
this family savings club

called the Burberry Co-op,

and essentially, it's their own

loaning institution
within the family.

She was tough with money.

I mean, I begged for $1,000.

She only OK'd 800.

How tough is that?

That was the beginning of what
we know as Motown today.

That was his first investment.

Yeah, this was the magic room.

And started off with one track.

Everything was on one track.
Then we got two tracks.

We thought we were
the most innovative people.

We could put our lead singer
in there, have them separate.

Always looking for magic,

always looking
for that magical sound.

Or to be with him,
doing the mix.

You know, he'd mix,
he'd do, like...

327 mixes on one tune

and use number two.

He was notorious for that.

"Berry's going to mix
your tune."

"No, no, please! Please!
Don't let Berry mix the tune."

Sometimes you have it perfect
and you wanna get it better,

you wanna get it better.

"They said they want
the Motown sound."

No one could duplicate
our sound,

because even I didn't think
it was a good.

You know?
He thought it was great.

There was arguments about that.
"Man, are you kidding?

New York is sending people here
to record in Detroit

thinking they'll get our sound."

But they couldn't get our sound

because our echo chamber
was the bathroom upstairs.

Exactly.

People would come off the road

and come to the studio because
something was always going on.

You know, 24 hours a day,
somebody would be in that studio

recording, doing something.

This is it.

I remember Shop Around,

the first million-seller
for Motown,

took 20 minutes to write.
Just flowed out.

I ran to Berry's office,
I said, "I got it, Berry."

He said, "Let me hear it, man,"
so we go down to the piano room.

♪ Just because
you've become a young man now ♪

♪ Do some things
that you don't understand now ♪

So, that's how it was,
you know?

We put the record out.

The record's been out
for about two and a half weeks.

It's doing fair. It's doing OK.
It's doing pretty good.

Three o'clock in the morning,
one morning, my phone rings.

Hello?

I said, "I know,
I recognize your voice."

I said, "What do you
think is happening?"

I said, "I'm asleep.
What's happening with you?"

I said I didn't feel right.
We didn't have the magic.

He said,
"I'm gonna change everything.

I'm gonna change the beat,
change the sound.

I'm gonna change the feeling.
I'm changing everything."

And I said,
"OK, man, that's cool."

I said, "See you tomorrow."
He said, "No. Right now."

Three o'clock in the morning.

So, we came over here,

and everybody showed up
except for the piano player,

so he played the piano himself
on the record.

And Shop Around
then went number one.

The first million-seller
was his redo of it

after the record had been out.

Now, I want you to get ready!

♪ Just because
you've become a young man now ♪

♪ There's still some things
that you don't understand now ♪

♪ Before you ask some girl
for her hand now ♪

♪ Keep your freedom
for as long as you can now ♪

♪ My mamma told me ♪

♪ You better shop around ♪

♪ Oh yeah,
you better shop around... ♪

That's how we did stuff.

He didn't care if it
had been out for two weeks.

So what? It's not too late.

No, the masses of people
haven't heard it

cos it's not really a hit
right now.

♪ Before you take a girl
and say "I do" now ♪

♪ Make sure she's in love
with you now ♪

♪ My mamma told... ♪ Come on!

♪ You better shop around ♪

♪ Feel all right! Whoo! ♪

♪ Oh-oh... ♪

Motown was able to accomplish
everything they accomplished

because they were
self-sufficient.

When you can just do
what you want

without somebody
breathing over your neck

telling you what to do,

that's when the real magic
starts to happen.

To be successful
in the music business,

you gotta have hit records.

I'm a producer, writer,
this, that,

but really,
I feel myself as a teacher,

and so I had to find
songwriters to teach.

Smokey was my first project.

Before that,
I was top of the totem pole.

I was, like, the man

because I wrote the songs,
I produced them.

But then Smokey,
one day, he came into my office,

and he wanted me
to hear a new song.

I thought it was...

just one of the greatest new,
clever songs I'd ever known.

And this was the day
I knew that he...

I had a little genius
on my hands, you know?

♪ I will build you a castle
with a tower so high ♪

♪ It reaches the moon... ♪

"Give your lovin',
warm as mamma's oven,

and if that don't do,
I'll try something new."

And I was just blown away.

I had this wonderful feeling
but also this scary feeling

that my throne is...
Here's a guy that's...

writing a song
that I could not ever think of.

And I was the songwriter,
I was teacher.

And from that day forward,

I started slipping from my post,

because he started coming up
with major hits.

I always thought maybe

I could one day, in my life,
compete with him with girls.

You know?

Oh, please!

But that was
out of the question.

You're hearing this story
from Casanova here himself.

"You're hearing this story
from Casanova himself."

You know? I mean...

Exactly!

You know, Bob Dylan's called him
America's greatest poet,

and he really did write poetry.

He was so honest,
so straightforward.

The lyrics
don't take a lot to decipher

but then you realize it took
a lot of genius to write them.

At the time,
Smokey was doing his thing,

singing to the women.

He created so many babies
with his romance

and his feeling of that,

and... a lot of them were his!

My key writing team

was Smokey Robinson
and Holland-Dozier-Holland.

We were not trained musicians.

You know,
Brian would skip school

to come there
to learn to write songs.

I had no idea about writing.

I knew that Smokey,
in my opinion,

was the greatest writer ever.

OK? And I still do.

So, I took two songs
of Smokey's

and I wrote all the lyrics down
and I studied them.

Eddie had this idea,
he said, "Look, man,

you and Brian can do
the tracks and melodies

and come up with the ideas,
and I'll be waiting.

You shoot them to me
and I'll jump on the lyrics.

And that became
Holland-Dozier-Holland,

it became a factory
within a factory.

There was somebody
in every corner writing a song.

And they were young.

And these guys was coming up,
17, 18, 19,

they were young,
so Berry was like a coach

with a great young
talented team,

everybody was trying their best.

Berry was very patient with me.

At the time,
I think I was a secretary,

that was in order to justify
the $30 a week I was getting.

Norman hung around here
for years

before he even got the chance
to get in a studio

to do any records.

Playing tambourine,

that's how he started;
from the bottom.

And then, finally,
he was doing that good

and he got his confidence.

And when he started producing,
man, he was...

Incredible.

Awesome.
He had electricity, magic.

And then we brought in
Nick and Val.

They were a writer and producer
team out of New York.

We were so excited.

Motown, we've arrived
as songwriters.

This is a dream come true.

We got in a taxi,
we said, "Take us to Motown."

And we got down
to the two little buildings

on West Grand Boulevard.

I said, "We want
to go to the main office."

He said, "Well, this is
the only Motown I know."

That little "Hitsville USA".

But the hits were coming
out of that little building.

Norman Whitfield,

Holland-Dozier-Holland
and Smokey,

they were all the greatest.

There were coming up with songs,
"Why didn't I think of that?"

Because of that
Motown structure,

and because of the feelings

of all the producers
and the writers

and the freedom that
Berry Gordy gave all of us,

it made that company
extremely prolific.

Being a teacher
also means finding ways

to unlock people's
true potential.

And at Motown,
we took that very seriously.

Berry Gordy's great ability
was to be able to sense

the talent that one had.

I always felt that Marvin Gaye
was so much more talented

than even he realized.

Marvin wanted to be another
Frank Sinatra,

but that really
wasn't his style.

But he is so good-looking.

It was a little difficult
trying to sing behind him

and look at him
at the same time.

He wanted
to change his career many times.

One time, he wanted
to be a football player.

A boxer.

You know, he wanted
to be an astronaut.

You know what I'm saying?

"Marvin, you know,
you're a singer."

You know, I started Motown
as a jazz singer.

I couldn't sell a bean.

I was sitting at the piano
one night in a depressed mood.

So, anyway, Berry blasé'd in.

So, he stopped me, he said,
"What are you doing?"

I said, "A song I'm writing."

It was a jazz version,
I would say, um...

I said, "Oh, well, you know..."

Berry could sense what
needed to happen to make it pop.

And I'm not saying pop
meaning pop music,

but I'm saying to make it
have that thing.

So, anyway, Berry said...

I said, "Oh, man!"

So, he said...
So, I said...

He said right here,
a group could say...

They finished it up and I said,
"They'll never sell a thing."

And as it turned out,
it was a great big smash.

♪ Oooh-ooh ♪

♪ Hey, baby ♪

♪ I try to put my arms
around you ♪

♪ All because I wanna ♪

♪ Hold you tight ♪

♪ Hold you tight ♪

♪ Every time
I reach for you, baby ♪

♪ Try to kiss you ♪

♪ You jump out of sight ♪

♪ Out of sight ♪

♪ Hey, now,
I've got news for you ♪

♪ Don't you know
I've made plans for two? ♪

♪ Guess I'm
a stubborn kinda fella ♪

♪ Got my mind made up
to love you ♪

♪ Whoo-whoo ♪

♪ Baby, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Hey, yeah... ♪

Berry made us great.

I can't think
of no record company

where the head could sit down
and write a song

as well as he could.

♪ Say yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

You know?

So, I came to Berry
to be an artist, you know?

I was saying to myself,

"I'm gonna be
the next Jackie Wilson."

Berry said,
"I heard you write songs."

So, I'm singing my songs
and he said,

"Your songs are great
but your voice is for shit."

I said, "What?"

Man, I grabbed all my music
up off the floor,

put it in my briefcase,

I'm walking outta there,
I'm done with this.

He was so fast-talking, slick,

you know, from the street,

and so I said,
"Mickey, what else can you do?

Can you do A&R?"

And he said,
"Whatever it is, I can do it.

If it's to do with music,
I'm all over it, man."

I said, "I record
anybody I wanna record?"

"Anybody you wanna record."

I said, "Can I record myself?"

Berry told Mickey
he wanted a house band.

We're missing a band
who can play funky.

He said, "I got a session."
I said, "Don't worry."

"I know guys that are so funky,

they out-funk themselves."

The best musicians
were the jazz musicians,

and the brothers in Detroit,

they weren't making any money

because they weren't
getting respect,

but there were still great.

It's hard to define
just how important

Detroit was to Motown.

The whole migration
from the South

and the automotive industry
and the churches

and the clubs that sprang up

would be a vessel
to discover talent.

Between the church
and the clubs,

and the corner,
there was a lot going on.

The groups that we had

that we grew up with
in Detroit as teenagers

if you could not do
harmony on key,

you were lousy,
and they would tell you.

"Get the hell outta here!"

"And get off the corner!"

And they were so smart.

"Sing somethin' about my momma."
That was called the Dozens.

And I said, "I don't want you
talking about my momma.

I don't play that."
"Oh, you don't play that?

Well, then, pat your foot
while I play it!"

You know what I mean?

They would do the hambone
on me.

You didn't do the hambone, man?

Boy, that used to be the thing,
the hambone.

And I'd do that.

And then I'd make up a song.
Yeah.

♪ Me and your momma ♪

So, music existed
in the community,

but it took a place
like Hitsville

to sort of give those people
a place to come to collaborate.

So, I would pick them,

and I finally put together
a great unit of guys.

And they became
the Funk Brothers,

and they became our house band.

He hired the jazz musicians
because they were smarter

than normal musicians.
They could do all this stuff.

But Jamerson, who was always
doing upbeats in the downbeats

and jazzy things,
he would get off the beat.

I'd look around
and I'd be walking over to him,

and he'd be up
and then he'd catch himself

and he'd do a whole...
arpeggio and stuff...

You know,
and he was right on the...

I would get him and I'd get
there and he sounded so good,

I said, "That's pretty good.
Can you do that riff again?"

When I think of Benny Benjamin

and James Jamerson
and Robert White

and Joe Messina
and on and on and on,

you gotta know that

I was picking up from
all those various musicians

trying to figure out
how to do it.

Paul Riser, when he came
to do an arrangement,

he was only 18 years old.

One of the greatest arrangers
ever,

just outta high school!

I was classically trained

and enjoyed
nothing but classical.

I thought that R&B music
was just the worst, OK?

You also have in Detroit
a big investment

in public education.

They had an incredible
public music program

in these high schools.

And Motown artists came
from these communities.

Back when I was in school,

Ford Motor Company
would give the class tickets

to go to see
the Detroit Symphony.

I saw them playing violins,
French horns

and oboes and bassoons.

I thought that was
the greatest sound ever.

So, that's what got me going.

There was something about what
was in that soil in Detroit,

you know, that just sort of...

folks came up.

I've been in some, you know,

really cool company
in the studio,

but having that group
of creative people

in the same room,
it's just incredible.

And they were playing
real instruments back then, too.

Like, they actually could
play the piano and the drums.

No machines needed.

I didn't know much about
Hitsville USA

because I lived
on the East Side.

Anyway, I dared
take that coach go to

2648 West Grand Boulevard,

and what a world I walked into!

She came to audition
a few times.

I would find nice ways
of saying,

"Uh, Martha, come back later."

And I must've looked like
I was gonna cry or something,

cos he said, "Answer this phone,
I'll be right back."

This "right back"
was four hours.

I walked in my office,

and before I could speak,
she says,

"You got an important call
from such-and-such,

and I think you oughta answer
this line right here."

So I said, "Martha,

how would you like
to work as my secretary?"

She says, "OK."

It was everybody
working in the same spirit,

everybody of one accord,
making hit records.

And it was great to be there.

We were recording sometimes
tracks without the singer,

and according to the union,

you had to have a singer
singing it live.

You couldn't do tracks
in those days.

And I was doing pretty good
in the office,

but when the union man
made a surprise visit...

Everybody went crazy.

"You're doing
a session in there,

and the union guy's coming!"

You know?
"The union guy's coming!"

We told Mickey, man,
"Gotta put somebody on the mic!"

His secretary, "I'll do it!"

And that was the chance she was
waiting for all this time.

Then she grabbed the mic
and started singing it,

and she was Martha.

♪ Calling out
around the world ♪

♪ Are you ready
for a brand-new beat? ♪

♪ Summer's here
and the time is right ♪

♪ For dancing in the street ♪

♪ They're dancing in Chicago ♪

♪ In the street ♪

What happened was,
you had a preacher,

who was standing
in front of the pulpit

with his arms open wide saying,

"The door to the church
is now open."

And everybody came in,
all kind of people,

doing all kinda things

and getting fulfilled
with spirit.

♪ And records playing,
dancing in the street ♪

♪ Oh, it doesn't matter
what you wear ♪

♪ Just as long as
you are there ♪

♪ So come on,
every guy grab a girl ♪

♪ Everywhere around the world ♪

♪ They'll be dancing
in the... ♪

These were exciting times
because it was a first time

you're hearing, you know,
rock 'n' roll

in our city
and people that we knew.

I witnessed Stevie wonder
coming to Hitsville.

I was, what, 11 years
old when I went to Motown.

That day, Smokey was at Motown,

and he said,
"I heard you can sing."

I said,
"Yeah, better than you."

I was, like, you know,
a little smart-mouth kid.

Everything Stevie played
looked genius.

We didn't know
what a genius was.

For me, it was like
going into a candy shop,

all these instruments
were around.

So, he sat down
at that big, long grand piano

and he played as if
he had known Liberace himself.

I said,
"My, this baby's talented!"

When he went to the full set
of drums. He was so good.

He jumped on the organ,
played the organ.

Sat him on a stool
and gave him the bongos.

Next, he's stood up and he took
a harmonica out of his pocket.

He could play everything.

And we were like,
"OK, that's what the genius is."

Berry Gordy said,
"This kid is a wonder."

I probably was paying
very little attention to people,

and I'd say, "Oh," you know,
I'm glad to meet you. OK..."

I think until I got
to Diana Ross

and I heard that voice,
I was like,

"OK, I'm in love." You know.

"Goodbye, instruments."

How about it,
ladies and gentlemen?

Let's hear it for the young man,
Stevie Wonder!

He even wrote a song
at the Apollo.

Called Fingertips,
which went to number one.

Cos he wanted to get
more excitement,

so he came out for his bow,

and instead of taking a bow,
he told the audience,

"Clap your hands
just a little bit louder.

Clap your hands
just little bit louder!"

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Clap your hands
just a little bit louder ♪

♪ Clap your hands
just a little bit... ♪

Everybody started
getting up, going,

and it got good to him.

And people was clapping
their hands and he wrote a song.

♪ Everybody, say yeah! ♪

♪ Yeah! ♪

♪ Say yeah! ♪

♪ Yeah! ♪

-♪ Say yeah! ♪
- ♪ Yeah! ♪

-♪ Yeah? ♪
- ♪ Yeah! ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪

That particular night
was an amazing night.

The girls were screaming
and all this kinda stuff.

That was probably
the really first time

that I understood the power of,

you know, when you do
a performance a certain way,

you get the kind of reaction
that you get

when you blow the house out.

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Now goodbye, goodbye ♪

♪ Goodbye, goodbye ♪

♪ Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye ♪

Motown in the earlier days
was like going to Disneyland.

You know?

But it was
a musical Disneyland.

I mean, you could walk
through the halls of Motown,

and see Marvin Gaye
playing a piano in the corner,

um, you would see
the Holland Brothers

running down
with their music,

saying, "Man, it should
be like this!"

I was upstairs
in the hallway in the house,

and I was just banging...

I said, "Man..."

He said, "I don't know yet."

"What you gonna do with that?"

The following Monday,
everybody came in,

putting background on it.

Smokey come
into the reception area.

I think the Supremes
were sitting there too.

And he said,
"Everybody, come in the studio!"

That's his pretty voice.

He said, "Repeat after me!"

"Come on, is everybody ready?
Yeah!"

-Is everybody ready?
- Yeah!

Mickey's Monkey,
singing on that is the Miracles.

Martha and the Vandellas.

Two of the Temptations.

The Marvelettes.

Mary Wilson.

It probably
had more artists on it

than any other song
I can remember.

He said, "OK, start the music."
♪ Lum di lum di lie ♪

♪ Lum di lum di lie ♪

♪ Oh-oh ♪

♪ All right ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ This cat named Mickey
came from outta town yeah ♪

♪ He was spreading a new dance
all around ♪

♪ In just a matter
of a few days, yeah... ♪

We were just
young people making music,

getting our feet wet.

I think that the way
we had Motown

was a once-in-a-lifetime
musical event.

You can never get
the amount of talent

that was in one room in Motown.

Stevland, Marvin Gaye,
Diana Ross and the Supremes,

all these people
who are juggernauts.

And you look at
a young Michael Jackson,

you know, and Smokey Robinson
talks about

seeing Michael Jackson
for the first time

and just going, like,
"What is that?"

♪ Baby, baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ Baby, baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ Baby, baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ Baby, baby ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah! ♪

I got a telephone call

from Mr Gordy one night,

"Listen, we just signed
this group called the Jackson 5.

You're gonna be their manager,
so you better come down."

He said, "This is Shelly Berger.
Show him what you can do."

They started doing
this Smokey Robinson

Who's Lovin' You.

There is talent
and there is talent,

and there is talent,
and then there's genius.

And then, he said...
♪ When I... ♪

♪ When I ♪

♪ Had you ♪

♪ I treated you bad ♪

♪ And wrong, my dear ♪

♪ And, girl, since ♪

♪ Since you went away ♪

♪ Don't you know I sit around ♪

♪ With my head hanging down ♪

♪ And I wonder ♪

♪ Who's ♪

♪ Lovin' ♪

♪ You ♪

And the only songs
we learned back in those days

was the Motown songs,

cos they were the biggest songs
on the radio.

Next you know,
we were in the recording studio.

There was Marvin Gaye,
there was Stevie Wonder,

Smokey Robinson.

And we had to sing
their songs in front of them.

I was so nervous.

You know, whenever I sing
Who's Lovin' You,

especially young people,
they say,

"Why'd you sing
a Michael Jackson song?"

I wrote this song before
Michael Jackson was born.

That's his song now.

Who's Lovin' You
is Michael Jackson's song.

All the people you hear
singing it now sing it like him.

As the company grew,
so did the challenges

of managing a team.

I realized that I needed

to not only give them
direction in music

but whatever
I had learned about life.

I could use that in some way,

pushing people
but not making them feel

they were being pushed.

So, I created competition,
you know?

Beat me. If you can.

Have a better record
than I have

and of course, many of them did.

The competition grew
and developed,

one feeding off the other.

And it made you sharpen your...

sharpen your tools, you know?

It made you dig a little deeper

to come up with something
that would stand apart.

Competition breeds champions.

But remember, you can't
let that competition

get in the way of the love.

If you're producing an artist,
say, Stevie,

you would want him
to have a hit.

And if I see you
working with him,

I want him to have a hit
as well.

Because if it's successful,
everybody has an opportunity

to work with that artist
as well.

So, artists would love that.

You take love
out of the picture,

it's ego, jealousy...

Stuff that can kill
any organization.

I always asked...

But he couldn't. He was writing
material for the Miracles

and for Mary Wells.

The best thing that happened
to the Temptations

was when Mary Wells
left the company.

That opened him up for us.

The Temptations,
we were trying to get some hits.

We couldn't get any hits until
finally, I got a hit on them

with The Way You Do
the Things You Do,

using Eddie Kendricks's voice
to sing lead vocal.

♪ You got a smile so bright ♪

♪ You know you could have been
a candle... ♪

So,
I looked at the lyrics. I said,

"Got a smile so bright,
could have been a candle?

That's some hokey..."

Smokey just laughed
and said, "Yeah."

♪ The way you swept me
off my feet... ♪

My greatest competitor

for getting music out
on the Temptations

was Norman Whitfield.

They had a contest to see

who would break the Beatles'
command on the top five.

It was that kind of a contest.

I was hurt many times
by not having releases.

That made me stronger,

enough to get the public
and Mr Gordy

to get away from
that Smokey Robinson sound.

Norman Whitfield came to me.

He said, "If you would write
the lyric for me,

get the release on them."

I said, "Man, leave
the Temptations alone.

You know darn well
if you try to beat Smokey,

you got problems."

He said,
"Ed, Ed, I think this is it."

Norman Whitfield came up

and he kinda knocked Smokey
out of that release,

so Smokey was not happy
about that.

♪ I love you, girl,
with all my heart and soul... ♪

They were all using
Eddie Kendricks to sing the lead

cos that was the first hit
they ever had.

Paul Williams and David Ruffin
were in that group,

who were awesome singers.

So, I wanted to write
something for them.

Everybody was bragging
about Norman knocking him out,

so when he said,
"I got a new record

on the Temptations
to follow up My Guy..."

♪ Nothing you can say ♪

♪ Could tear me away
from my guy... ♪

"...that would
settle the score,"

he said, "I'm coming up
with a new record My Girl,"

and so, of course, we thought

that was most ridiculous thing
we ever heard.

I mean, you come up
with My Guy,

what, you gonna do

My Mother-In-Law,
you know, My Wife?

I was actually writing My Girl

because David Ruffin
had such a great voice.

He had this unique voice, and I
just wanted it to be isolated.

So, we were recording it,
running it down,

and I had a Jamerson play...

So, we will still
just running it down.

We hadn't even started
to record it yet.

And Robert White, lead guitarist
for the Funk Brothers,

Robert stood up and started
walking around this studio,

with his guitar just playing...

Just walking round.

And he started laughing,
"No, no, no, man, no, no, no."

And I said, "No, no, no, no!

Are you kidding?

That's in the record!
That's on the tape!"

It became one of the
most famous guitar riffs ever,

and he was just kidding around.

We were appearing
at the 20 Grand,

and the place went crazy.

And Smokey came by, and he came
backstage, and he said,

"Man, I got a song
for you guys that..."

So, us being young and cocky,

"Man, bring it on.
We'll sing anything."

♪ I've got sunshine ♪

♪ On a cloudy day ♪

♪ When it's cold outside ♪

♪ I've got the month of May ♪

♪ I guess you say ♪

♪ What can make me
feel this way? ♪

♪ My girl ♪

♪ My girl ♪

♪ My girl ♪

♪ Talkin' 'bout my girl ♪

♪ My girl! ♪

When Paul Riser
added the strings and the horns,

My Girl took on
a whole 'nother kind of life.

So, I took my classical training
and put it to use.

And we came up with, um...

with My Girl,
as you hear it today.

♪ My girl ♪

-♪ My girl ♪
-♪ My girl ♪

♪ Talkin' 'bout my girl ♪

♪ My girl! ♪

♪ Ooh-hoo... ♪

Smokey Robinson
sent a record up there

called My Girl.

I refused to go in the studio.
I was just totally wiped out.

February 1965,

Mr Gordy sent us
a congratulations telegram,

said that we had sold
over a million records

and we were number one,

and also the Beatles sent us
a telegram congratulating us.

I have it hanging up
in my house.

♪ I don't need no money ♪

♪ Fortune or fame ♪

♪ I got all the riches, baby ♪

♪ One man can claim... ♪

People have asked me
a thousand times,

"Hey, man, aren't you sorry

you didn't keep My Girl
for yourself?"

Had it not been for
the Temptations,

David Ruffin
and Norman Whitfield,

I would have never even written
My Girl.

Berry wanted us
to be competitive.

We were fiercely competitive,
but we helped each other.

The Motown family.

Quality Control was something

that I picked up from
the Ford Motor Company.

After the assembly line
was done,

it still had to go
to Quality Control,

to make sure
that the quality was there.

You bring your record in
on said artist

and you play it
and then you get a vote.

The main thing was to get hits.

If somebody's record
was better that yours,

you're looking at the company
as a whole.

Those Quality Control meetings
were beautiful and loving

but vicious.

OK, let's...
Can we finish our meeting here?

It's afternoon now.

A decision will be made
on the Temptations record.

Which side is it?

- My Girl.
- My Girl?

How many think
that's not a hit?

How many think it is a hit?

How many's undecided?

OK, what are your comments?

- No, you can't pass.

You think it's a hit record?

To be in there with a bunch of
guys that you're competing with,

and yet they constructively
giving you some information

that they think will make
your product better.

You could tell that the writers

had been talked to and trained.

The beat was solid.

Old Jamerson
had that bass out there.

You understand me?
It was way out there!

They didn't just
throw a record out.

That record was doted on,

it was... it was nourished,
It was beat.

You know, it was whupped.

Tracks of My Tears
was one of those songs.

The first time
I took it in there,

they listened to it and said,
"Yeah, man, it's a good song.

That's really good, man.
But you ended it up wrong."

♪ So take a good look
at my face ♪

♪ You'll see my smile
looks out of... ♪

I didn't end it with a chorus.

♪ Take a good look at my face ♪
It wasn't ending with that.

I was ending up with...
♪ I need you, need you ♪

And they all said,
"Are you crazy?"

"The strong bit's the chorus
and you're ending with that?"

♪ I need you ♪

♪ Need you ♪

"You better change that,"
so I did.

♪ Yeah, just look closer
and it's easy ♪

♪ Oh, the tracks of my tears ♪

♪ Baby, baby,
baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ Take a good look at... Ooh ♪

♪ Yeah, you'll see my smile ♪

♪ Looks out of place ♪

♪ Look a little bit closer... ♪

And so, they were cut-throat,
but they were constructive.

There was nothing like it.

Berry had a great ear.

He was always saying
if you don't get them

in the first four to eight bars,

you got to go back
to the drawing board.

He'd say that all the time,

"Get 'em
in the first ten seconds."

We used to come up
with these fabulous intros,

something that would catch
your attention immediately.

And that's what...

♪ Sugar pie, honey bunch ♪

♪ You know that I love you ♪

Boom!
♪ I know you wanna leave me! ♪

♪ I know you wanna leave me
but... ♪

♪ But I refuse to let you go ♪

We stopped the record, probably,
cos sometimes I would go,

"OK, you win,
it's coming out next week."

♪ Cos you mean
that much to me ♪

♪ Ain't too proud to beg ♪

♪ And you know it ♪

♪ Please don't leave me,
girl... ♪

Everybody
had to speak their truths,

what their truths were.

You were free in here.

Whatever you say
will never be held against you.

I challenge anybody,
including me.

They say that for when Smokey
had a song up against mine,

and we had two songs...

I speak the truth!

Not that that was their opinion.

They just said it
to get at you.

No, because they wanted
to test me always.

When I had a record
called, um... Temptations.

Dream Come True.

Dream Come True, that was it.

♪ Dream come true,
da-da-da-da ♪

♪ Dream come true ♪
I mean, it was phenomenal.

It's a great record.

You know, his song was...
compared to mine,

you know, mediocre.
That was, you know... And, um...

When I said, "How many people
liked my song?",

and no hands went up.

And Smokey, I saw him looking
at people, "Ha-ha-ha," you know?

I mean, it was all a coup.
It was a coup.

But because the company

was such a democratic situation
in this Quality Control,

stuff like that happens,
you know? So, that was it.

The first step would be

the writing of the song,
the creative part.

Then we had to deal
with the selling part,

with the distributors.
Create, sell, collect.

To get the talent picture and
what goes on behind the company,

there could be none better
than Berry, who started it out.

And from the sales picture

on what makes a record company
tick in sales,

the dollars and cents, which is
very vital, Mr Barney Ales,

vice president
in charge of sales.

He was a strong Italian,
who I convinced to work for me.

But it was not easy getting him
to give up his great position

where he was
at the top of his game.

Him and I
used to hang out together,

and one night, I said,
"I've got a great new restaurant

I've just been going to
called the Chop House."

We came in
and they saw me with him,

and they said, "I'm sorry,
we don't serve black people."

I said, "That's fantastic,
cos I don't eat them."

And they looked at him and said,

"You know..."
And he's... you know."

Then I got a little... Sicilian.

And we sat down, and
of course, people were staring,

but the point is
that Barney didn't care.

Berry and I had
a great relationship,

and Berry was great
in the studio,

and I was great
with the distributors.

My whole dream
was to make the world...

understand... hear our music.

And they could either
like it or not like it.

But when we couldn't get music
played on the white stations,

what makes you think
white people

are gonna like your music?

I said I want all people.

It's not black music,
it's music by black artists.

I remember when they were
promoting my records,

and Barney Ales took me
to the station, CKLW,

which was
the powerhouse station.

And the guy looked at me.

He said, "I'm a-tell you
something, Eddie.

I'm playing this record
because of Barney Ales."

He made that happen.

Berry was most interested in

where the records
were going in the charts,

and was he getting paid?
Which I collected.

One of the stories when
I came to Motown was that

the Mafia owned Motown,

and it kind of lent
to the folklore of it,

and Barney looked like
that Italian Mafioso guy.

I mean,
he got me in so much trouble.

"He's being run by the Mafia!
You see that guy?

He can't even leave Detroit."
Remember when I told you?

You know, I said,
"Barney, you look like

you could be in the Mafia
or something."

He said,
"Yeah, that's served me well

many times, many times to get
your records played," you know?

And I was criticized by

a lot of black people for
having the white people there.

"He's a traitor!
He won't hire black people!"

I said, "What you mean?

Look and see,
I got a lot of black people!

But I also got white people."

It's not about black or white.
I wanna win.

In some cases,
the best person was white.

Other cases,
the best person was a woman.

The fact that they were women
in key positions at Motown

seemed natural to me.

We drove her crazy.
We got on her nerves.

I didn't realize
she was only 21.

But at an early age,
she was very, very smart.

I didn't realize
how forward-thinking it was

until I saw
many other organizations

where there was not
a reciprocal kind of picture.

All Berry's sisters
worked in the company

at one point or another.

They did jobs that men would do
and did them better.

Most companies
that we would visit?

Ain't no woman
in no key position

making no decisions.
But he had them at Motown.

He had black, white and Jews
working at Motown.

He wasn't stuck on the thing of,

"This is a black company.
It's got to be all black."

The color of business is green.

I got a lot of credit
for all that,

and true, I put it together,

but these people
grew on their own.

And at some point, you know,
it was not me, it was magic.

And it became a brand.

Thanks to the teenager,

the record business
is a big, big business.

They marketed Motown as
the Sound of Young America.

Children who had been born
after World War II

were coming into their
teen years by the early '60s,

and they were aware
of the importance

of that market
for selling records.

You saw the Motown label,
you were gonna buy it,

whether you knew
what it was or not.

The Motown label, the brand,
became that important.

If it's on Motown,
that's the shit.

You know? I'm buying it.
I gotta listen to it.

Artist Development
was a key station

on the production line.

My sisters really persuaded me
to bring in the charm school.

So, I had no idea that was
gonna be as important as it was.

All of us were just...

If an idea sounded good,
we'd try it.

It was a critical part
of the equation

that you not only create
great talent, great songs,

but now you've got
to present those songs.

Ford never saw that kind
of thing on the assembly line.

They were grooming
their artists for the long run.

When we had signed with Motown,

so we had to go through what
everybody else went through,

which was we had
our pictures taken,

and then we learned
how to move, choreography.

You learn how to move
as a band.

Go through the whole thing,
and we did that.

And, uh... they...
we knew we were a challenge.

I don't care who you became,
who you were.

Two days a week, you had to go
to Artist Development.

And then, sometimes
you'd try to dance.

You couldn't dance.

Wait a minute! What you mean?
I taught Michael, man.

♪ Oh, baby, all I need
is one more chance ♪

♪ To show you that I love you ♪

Cholly Atkins
was our choreographer,

and he would stop and say,

"Boy, I am so glad
you're the lead singer,

so I don't have to really try
to show you these steps.

You just stand over there
and sing."

People like Maxine Powell
taught them how to walk and talk

and do things gracefully.

This department would
groom and polish them

so that they could appear
in number-one places

around the country.

And even before
the king and queen.

You know, they came from
a humble beginning.

But I told them
where they would be appearing,

and they laughed and said
that I was out of my mind.

But with me,
it isn't where you come from,

it's where you're going.

She said, "I don't teach you
how to use a spoon or fork.

You learn that at home.

I teach you how to be proud
and to walk

and hold yourself from
a higher standard from inside."

We start with body language.

Your body language
tells so much about you.

You do not protrude
the buttocks.

She was making us
have self-confidence

and building our self-esteem.

Letting us know that we had
to be socially accepted

in order to do this.

To represent not only
a kind of music

but a culture and spirit
of the people.

Now, some black folks
would be like,

"Man, why I gotta do that?"

You know what I'm saying?
"Why I gotta act white

in front of these white folks?

I wanna be me, I wanna be black.

They calling me 'nigger' anyway.
Why don't I just own that?"

And Berry was like,
"Yeah, you could own that.

But then what happens
to the art?"

Because Berry was like,
"The art is colorless.

The music has no color.

It just has a feeling,
it has a pulse to it."

Some people didn't get it.
But they get it now.

No one spent longer
in Artist Development

than the Supremes.

My mother had parents

who had worked in
the cotton fields in the South.

And many of them
had not gone to school.

Our parents wanted us
to get an education,

go to college.

The time we got to Motown,
I didn't wanna go to college.

I'm like,
"I wanna make records."

I remember with
the Supremes, they were singing

and I thought
it was making faces.

I said, "What are you doing?"

And they said, "What are
we doing? We're singing!"

I said, "Well, it looks like
you're making faces."

Who in the hell
would've thought,

all those different artists,
the Supremes and people...

Oh, my God,
you should've seen those girls

when they first came there!

You would've never believed it!

The fabulous Supremes!
How about it?

So, they were waiting around

being called
the "no-hit Supremes".

♪ Stop hurting me ♪

-♪ Hurting me ♪
-♪ Hurting me ♪

♪ Now don't you think
you're... ♪

I would tell the producers,

"Whatever it takes
to get them a hit,

we have to keep trying.

If they don't get a hit,
it's our fault, not theirs."

I cut about three records
on them.

And, you know,
nothing happened.

Berry cut three records,
nothing happened.

♪ But my heart
can't take it no more... ♪

Then finally,
Holland-Dozier-Holland,

who had written
Where Did Our Love Go

for the Marvelettes.

♪ Oh yes, wait a minute,
Mr Postman ♪

♪ Wait, Mr Postman... ♪

But the Marvelettes
didn't like it.

I was talking to Gladys Horton,
and she said, "No, baby,

we don't do stuff like that."

I said, "What you say?"

♪ You better wait a minute,
wait a minute... ♪

That was a first for me.

And so I said, "I gotta find
somebody to do this song."

Then I saw Mary Wilson one day.
I said, "Mary, Mary!

I got this song I just finished
for you guys!"

And she was, "Yeah?

Is this the song
that you played to Gladys?"

I said,
"What are you talking about?"

I told Eddie Holland,
"Eddie, we need a hit!

If we don't get a hit,

our parents are gonna
make us go to college,

and that song is not a hit."

Got them in the studio
and they did the song.

I can't forget that night.
It was like a nightmare.

God!

Oh, man,
Diana was upset and everything.

She was going,
"Talk to Berry about it."

Berry came down to listen,
and he said,

"Wait a minute. This sounds
like it could be something."

♪ Baby, baby ♪

♪ Baby, don't leave me ♪

♪ Ooh, please don't leave me ♪

♪ All by myself ♪

♪ You came into my heart... ♪

When the record came out,

they were opening the show,
the Dick Clark tour,

and by the time the tour
was over, they were closing,

because Where Did Our Love Go
had taken over.

Number one before you
could say "Jackie Robinson".

♪ Baby, baby ♪

♪ You were a perfect guy... ♪

Now everybody at Motown
was at our heels.

Now we were no longer
the "no-hit Supremes".

I was standing outside Motown,

Berry Gordy said to me,

"Listen,
concentrate on the girls.

This group
will carry the company."

I think we were
the only girl group

to have five consecutive
number ones.

Holland-Dozier-Holland
did all these songs for us.

Holland-Dozier-Holland
were gods at Motown.

They were right under Berry,
as far as I was concerned,

in terms of their importance.

There was that quality
and those kinds of songs

that resonated with America,

and they didn't know what
they were even feeling.

That was them.
That was the genius.

From New York City!

The Apollo Theater
proudly presents

the Motor Town Review!

We had written a song,
we produced it,

and we are now selling it.

We got this idea
of taking the artists

on the road
with our own band.

Smokey always closed the shows,
cos he was the star

and the one everybody respected.

But everybody was trying
to get to that ending spot,

and so they'd do
all kinds of stuff

to move back in the show.

Whoever went on first

would just do the best
that they could be,

make the stage so hot,
"OK, beat that."

How do we really
get the people screaming?

How do we get Marvin Gaye?
How do we get him, you know?

We loved the Temps,
we love the Miracles,

but I swear on the Bible,

we'd try to out-sing
them suckers every time.

We loved the Tops,
but when they went out there,

they'd talk about
kicking our ass.

Please.
Back up before you act up.

When we started going
through all that choreography

and throwing the microphone up

and all that the razzmatazz
that we done, please!

We baptized that ass in fire.

It's like, come out fighting.

The Tops made it hard for us,

because Levi Stubbs?

Levi Stubbs was no joke.

♪ When you feel
that you can't go on ♪

♪ Because all of your hope
is gone ♪

♪ And your life is filled
with much confusion ♪

♪ Until happiness
is just an illusion ♪

♪ And your world around
is crumbling down ♪

♪ Darling... ♪

♪ Reach on out for me ♪

♪ And I will be ♪

♪ I'll be there ♪

♪ To love and shelter you ♪

♪ I'll be there ♪

♪ To always see you through ♪

♪ When you're lost
and about to give up... ♪

Now, one thing
we couldn't do,

we couldn't out-dance nobody,

but we had a way of doing
our own

that looked like
we was doing a whole lot.

We weren't doing shit.

We took off so big
in the Detroit area,

Berry decided he had to get us
on the road.

And that opened up
a whole new world for us.

Our first Motown Review
was 94 one-nighters.

Berry waved to us
as we left Detroit

in this broken-down Trailway
that didn't have a toilet.

That's three months
of travelling.

Two hotel visits
in the whole three months.

So, most of the time,
we were sleeping

with our head up
against the window

or just our seating partner.

Travelling was really hard,

but I think working together,
also being young,

made a great deal
of difference.

Every day,
it was a new adventure.

When we
started going to the Deep South,

Mississippi and all round there,

the gigs
were very separated, man.

Living in Detroit,
we had ethnic neighborhoods,

but we didn't call it
segregated, cos...

it didn't have that same feeling
as the South.

We weren't allowed
to stay in the hotels.

We weren't allowed to use
the bathroom on the highway.

And actually
see a water fountain

that only black people
could use,

it was like... "Hmm."

There was a fear in me
where I wanted to go home.

I was ready to go back home.

I remember the first
time we went to Atlanta.

So, I got off the bus first
and went into the waiting room.

As soon as I walked
in the waiting room,

I felt this thing
against my head.

I looked up. The sheriff
had put a gun to my head

and said,
"Nigger, get outta here."

Now, I didn't know I was
in a white waiting room.

I didn't know nothing
about that then.

Scared the hell outta me.
I still feel that.

Put that cold steel
against my head

and he scared
the hell out of me.

They was rough out there.

We'd been shot at
for going to the toilet.

You know,
it's just crazy stuff.

We had a major problem
in Norfolk, Virginia.

We did a gig there and whites
was trying to start some crap.

The Temps was on stage,

Tops and their crew
were standing

on the side of the stage.

When Tops would go on, the Temps
would reposition ourselves.

Even then, our competition
in trying to be last on,

when push came to shove,

we're still just
working together.

So, we finished the show,

we're loading up the bus
to go to the next city.

The next thing I heard...

I dived on the floor.

Cos I know gunshots
when I hear 'em.

They missed the gas tank
by inches.

Scary stuff.

At that point,
I was really ready to go home.

We had assassinations, murders,

race riots, kids being burned...

Kids being burned? How do you...

You know, schools burned up?

Where are these people
coming from?

The places that we played
in the '60s, yeah, it was rough.

We played Columbia,
South Carolina.

First time we went there,
there was a rope

right down the center
of the theatre.

Blacks on one side,
whites sitting on the other.

And all that's going on...

and yet the music of Motown
was growing

in the hearts of everyone.

At of the concerts, actually,
Smokey had said...

We were on tour,

and he told the promoter
we were not going to perform

if they kept that rope
down the middle.

After a while, man, we started
going back to those same places.

All the kids
were dancing together

and they were mingling
and having fun.

Blacks and whites, side by side,
enjoying the music.

I can remember
when I was at Motown,

Berry was in the studio,

and Martin Luther King
walked in.

Man, that was the shock
of my life.

Honest to goodness!

I mean, you know,
it was like God walking in.

Mm-hm, mm-hm.

The time I met Dr. King
when he came,

when he realized our music was
helping him in his movement,

this guy, who I admired so much

and was doing so much
and out there fighting,

was saying that I was bringing

emotional integration
to a lot of people.

He was seeing them dance
to our music,

and it was positive,
and he said,

you know, "I would like to be
connected with your company."

And I said, "Oh, my God!"

A whole of stuff that they
were trying to do legally

or spiritually or however
they were trying to do it,

we were just doing it
with music.

Good evening.
Tonight, live from New York,

"The Ed Sullivan Show".

Growing up, everyone
would surround the TV

and watch The Ed Sullivan Show.

So, for us to be on it,
the first time was big.

It was December 27th, 1964.
I was ten years old,

and it was a moment
that changed my life.

Come See About Me
is sung by these girls here,

the Supremes,
three youngsters from Detroit.

Let's hear it for them.

♪ I've been crying ♪

♪ Ooh-ooh ♪

♪ Cos I'm lonely ♪

♪ For you... ♪

To do The Ed Sullivan Show
meant that you had arrived.

Of course, we ended up
being on there, what, 14 times?

♪ That you're never ever
gonna return ♪

♪ To ease the fire
that within me burns ♪

♪ It keeps me
crying, baby, for you ♪

♪ It keeps me
sighin', baby, for you ♪

♪ So won't you hurry? ♪

♪ Come on, boy,
and see about me ♪

♪ Come see about me ♪

♪ See about me, baby... ♪

♪ Come see about me ♪

When I saw the Supremes
on TV that night,

it was magical to me,

because I had never seen
black women on television,

although we were called
"colored" at the time,

or anywhere, for that matter,

who conveyed such glamour
and such grace.

And nobody was used
to seeing us portrayed

in the way I saw the Supremes.

I missed most of the first song
calling everybody I knew saying,

"Colored people on!
Colored people!

Colored people on TV!"

Let's have a fine welcome
for the Supremes.

♪ I need love, love ♪

♪ Oh to ease my mind... ♪

You put her on
those white shows,

they could see this black girl

coming into white folks'
TV screens

when that wasn't happening.

Any time you saw black people,
something terrible was going on.

We were at an era now

where TV has opened up
the borders

of the world,
and now they're looking at

glamorous, beautiful
black faces.

You know, we were able
to understand a culture

that had never been seen before.

And Mr Gordy
put that fairy dust on it

that made it palatable
to white America.

He made black chic.

♪ That keeps me hanging on ♪

♪ When I feel my strength ♪

♪ Is almost gone
I remember Momma said... ♪

Could you be the Supremes?

Yes.

Step into 15,000 watts of light

wearing $6,000 worth of silk
and sequins

and their sound
sets the room on fire.

That's why Diana Ross
and the Supremes

count on this new deodorant,

Arrid Extra Dry.

The impact that their image

had on the black community
was profound,

and that was everything
from how they dressed,

how they performed

to where they were allowed
to do these things,

those doors that they
were able to get into.

It forced white people
and black people

to look at each other and say,

"There's a bit of you in me
and a bit of me in you."

It was so exciting
to hear people talk about

their hopes, wishes and dreams

and to actually see it
come true.

♪ Ain't no mountain high ♪

♪ Ain't no valley low ♪

♪ Ain't no river wide enough,
baby... ♪

We had come from poverty,

and now we bought
our parents homes.

It's like,
"My daughter is a Supreme.

So happy, so proud."

There were so many artists
made famous in Motown.

All of the talented people
would line up

and want to be
a part of Hitsville USA.

The energy at the one building
was just so great.

They would buy one building,
then buy another.

They went from Market and Sales,

Artist Development,
it was a win-win.

♪ To keep me
from getting to you, baby... ♪

And the brand
got bigger and bigger

and the business
got bigger and bigger,

and then it went
around the world.

I was 16 years old,
and there were the Supremes

Martha and the Vandellas,
Stevie, and the Miracles

on stage in front of you.

You'd die and go to heaven.

Motown represented the next
generation of American music

in the way the Beatles did
in Britain

and then fed
into the mainstream.

Tamla-Motown artists
are our favorites.

The Miracles, Marvin Gaye...

-Mary Wells.
-To name but 80.

As the '60s unfolded,
that generation realized

that they potentially had
the power to change everything.

♪ Baby, baby ♪

♪ Where did our love go? ♪

-♪ Ooh... ♪

I spoke to one of
our accounts in Atlanta,

and he says, "We don't sell
any nigger records down here."

I said, "Excuse me? You sell
Diana Ross and the Supremes."

"They're a big seller for us."

"You sell Smokey Robinson
and the Miracles."

"We sell a lot of that."
"Stevie Wonder?"

"Yeah." I said, "Well, surprise,
you're selling nigger records."

Diana, I just
thought, set a pathway for

women like me to walk through,
you know?

-I do.

Berry Gordy did inspire me,

especially when
I decided I wanted

to start a record company
with my friends.

We just took that model
and did our own thing.

Could it ever be as big?

No, but this is
who we looked up to.

I'm a 25-year-old
white, gay Londoner,

and Motown music
has affected me so hugely.

And I couldn't be any further
from Detroit.

When our production line

really started working,
it was phenomenal.

In 1968, we had five records
in the top ten

on the Billboard charts,

with the number-one record
being

I Heard It Through
the Grapevine.

Norman Whitfield would record
his songs over and over again

with different artists
and they'd always be hits.

The first people to record I
Heard It Through the Grapevine

was the Miracles and me.

But the sales department
felt it was too bluesy for us.

They didn't want us
to sing that kind of song.

So, he said OK, fine.

He cut it on
Gladys Knight and the Pips.

It was a smash hit.
And after that...

No, no, he cut it on, uh...
on Marvin.

No, Marvin was last.
He recorded Marvin

after it had been a huge hit
on Gladys Knight and the Pips.

No, no, no, that's not true.

-Wanna bet?
-Yeah.

How much?

-A hundred.
-Hundred? It's a bet.

You got this on tape?

Marvin had recorded it
and it had been turned down.

No, no, no. Not before
Gladys Knight and the Pips.

OK, where's the phone?
Who's got...

Not before
Gladys Knight and the Pips.

OK, I need to make
a long-distance call.

I recorded this song
on Marvin Gaye first.

I brought it in the meeting
and I submitted it.

Well, consequently, I lost out.

But this particular song
I would not let die.

I went to many clubs

with Berry, even though
I wasn't invited.

And I hounded him till
he was very, very angry with me.

So, I said...

So, he says...

♪ Ooh, I bet you're wondering
how I knew ♪

♪ Baby, baby, baby ♪

♪ About your plans
to make me blue ♪

♪ With some other girl
you knew before ♪

♪ Between the two of us girls
you know I love you more ♪

♪ It took me by surprise
I must say ♪

♪ When I found out yesterday ♪

♪ Don't you know that I heard
it to the grapevine? ♪

♪ Not much longer
would you be mine ♪

♪ Don't you know that I heard
it through the grapevine? ♪

♪ And I'm just about
just about, just about ♪

♪ To lose my mind ♪

♪ Oh, yes, I am ♪

♪ Baby, won't you
listen to me... ♪

It went to number one
on the pop charts,

and Berry looked at me,
he says,

"I don't know
what you got, son, but..."

Now, it was time to put out
a Marvin Gaye album,

so I, in fact,
started my campaign once again.

They said,
"Well, I guess he's right.

We'll just go ahead
and put it in the album."

And lo and behold, this record
was picked out of the album

and it went on to be
the largest song

in the history of Motown.

♪ Ooh, I bet you're wondering
how I knew ♪

♪ About your plans
to make me blue ♪

♪ With some other guy
you knew before ♪

♪ Between the two of us guys
you know I love you more ♪

♪ It took me by surprise
I must say ♪

♪ When I found out yesterday ♪

♪ Don't you know that I heard
it through the grapevine? ♪

♪ Not much longer
would you be mine... ♪

Two bona fide different
versions of the same song.

It was clever production work,
as far as I'm concerned.

Cos good is good,
and great is even better.

Brenda?

Look, I'm here with Smokey.
Tell me the...

the Grapevine record

and who recorded it first
and what happened.

Marvin recorded after Gladys,
that's what I said.

Damn it, that's a drag
like a dog.

That's really a drag.
I mean, I hate that.

I know but...
OK, Brenda. Thank you.

No, don't thank you nothing!

Just get off the phone!

It's very hard

for anybody to go through
the cycle of success.

People treat you differently.
You treat people differently.

My problem was, as a manager,
I had to tell them the truth,

and that was not always easy.

And love means
building other people,

even when they don't know
they need to be built.

And it's the most thankless task

that one can endure.

We had an interesting
relationship, Berry and I,

because we were
so very much alike.

I was much younger,
and I needed to

have my independence
and to spread my wings.

I had figured out

that I wanted the Supremes

to move from the pop R&B class
to standards.

And I wanted them to be

in the class of Lena Horne,
Sammy Davis Jr,

and all those people.

Then, when she went
to Manchester

is when she tried
the first time

You're Nobody
Till Somebody Loves You.

♪ You're nobody ♪

♪ Till somebody loves you ♪

♪ You're nobody ♪

♪ Till somebody cares... ♪

And she did it.
And I thought it was good.

The crowd didn't like it
like Baby Love,

but it got a nice applause.
And so I came back, she said,

"I'm not doing it anymore.

The audience hated it
and so did I."

I said, "But I loved it!
It was the first time."

"Well, I hated it and I'm not
doing it on the second show."

Oh, man.
Now, that was a big deal.

"I'm not doing it. I'm defying
you on the second show."

So, I'm saying all this stuff

that I'd built up with her
to this point, it crumbled.

Because I knew me.

And I knew that I could never
work with her again

if she violated our agreement
after one show.

And then when she said,

"I'm not gonna let you
ruin my career. You are nobody."

What? Me?

She said, "I'm just
not doing it."

I said, "OK. You decide
who you want to satisfy."

"Me or those 700 people
out there.

Just make up your mind."

I was very strong,
and I was proud of myself,

"You make up your mind."

She looked at me and said, "OK."

And I walked out.

When I got outside, it hit me.

All of a sudden,
I don't have this star,

that's my biggest star
in the world.

What am I gonna do
with the rest of my life?

What am I gonna do
with the rest of my life?

And now, ladies
and gentlemen, the Supremes!

And then she goes out
in that unique Diana Ross style.

She went through
most of the show.

And I was there,
and all of a sudden, I hear

something that sounds like
the middle of the song.

And I think I'm dreaming.

♪ Somebody loves you ♪

♪ You're nobody... ♪

I'm saying,

"That's what I had to
fight with her to say."

I mean, it was just this
kind of surreal feeling.

And then, she was singing it
in full-blast.

♪ The world
is still is the same ♪

♪ You'll never change it... ♪

And... you know...

my life was back.

No, my life was back.

♪ You're nobody ♪

♪ Till somebody loves you ♪

♪ So find yourself somebody ♪

♪ To love ♪

♪ You're nobody ♪

And when she came out
of the thing,

the other girls went by,
and I congratulated them,

but Diana just kept walking.

And I said, "But, Diana,
I'm really so happy."

Cos I know she had
to do some thinking, too.

And she just stopped
for a moment and said,

"I did it for you,"

and she walked on.

And uh... You know.

♪ The world is still the same ♪

♪ You'll never change it ♪

♪ You'll never, never
change it... ♪

I was stuck there.
She did it for me.

Golly! You know?
She did it for me.

It was in that moment
that I realized

our relationship had changed
to something... different.

♪ The world's the same,
we'll always remain ♪

♪ And you'll never change it ♪

♪ Ooh, find yourself... ♪

When people say
Motown was a family,

they have no idea that Motown
was really a family.

You know,
we had close relationships.

You know,
Diana and I had a love affair.

Marvin married my sister.

The love and family atmosphere
at Motown

defined the company,

but it made things...
at times, very complicated.

When you first start,
it's a passion thing, right?

And then once you start
having some success

or you get famous,

then all this other stuff
comes with it.

Sharks is coming all the time,

they coming from everywhere,
man.

There's a lot of smoke
being blown.

It's wild, cos this is
a very wild business,

it's like the Wild, Wild West.

Holland-Dozier
leaving Motown

was not a major surprise to me.

I saw it coming,

because they were so great,
they had so many hits.

The friction with
Holland-Dozier-Holland

was personal.
Berry always found himself...

trying to give me
that which I wanted.

I wanted more of this,
I wanted a higher royalty,

"OK, give him that."

So, when I came to him with...

I don't do what it was,

some label or something,
whatever,

he felt this way,

"If I give you that label,

you'll stop working for Motown
and start working on that label,

cos that's the way
that you are."

I said, "No, we won't."
He said, "You will. I know you."

You know, and sometimes
it's just about principle.

You say it's just wrong
and I can't deal with it.

I may lose money,
I may lose this and that,

but I can't deal
with the principle.

Berry told me,
"You go check it out

and see that
you're more valuable to me

than another company."

What the other company
did end up offering me

I knew he couldn't meet.

It's easy to make anybody feel

that they deserve more
than they're getting.

"We made $4 million last year."
"You should've made ten."

And then,
when lawyers get involved,

you might as well forget it.

We lost three
of our best writers

at the peak of their success.

And many people thought
we would not make it

without Holland-Dozier-Holland.

We were worried because
we had only really worked

with Holland-Dozier-Holland
at that point,

so it was a big loss for us.

That was like breaking up
with your old lady.

I mean, that's the way we felt.

What happens is
when you depend so much

upon a particular writer
or writers in your company,

you begin to get
a particular thing

just from these writers,
and when the writers split

and feel they can do better
somewhere else,

I think that then
you have to realize

the talents of the artist.

On Stevie's 21st birthday,

I had this big party for him.
Everything was so great.

And the next day, I got
this letter from his attorney

saying that he had turned 21

and he wanted to reorganize
his whole deal with me.

♪ All is fair in love... ♪

He was saying,
"Why did you do this?"

And I said, "I wanna do it
the way I wanna do it."

And I felt musically

that I didn't want to stay
in a particular kind of box.

And I said, "Oh, my goodness!"

Other artists had left.

I was petrified.

There comes a time in life

when you gotta
do what you gots to do.

♪ All is fair in love ♪

♪ I had to go away ♪

♪ A writer takes his pen... ♪

We'd gone to
a few different companies,

but I think because
of the love that...

and respect
that we had for each other,

meaning Berry and myself,

that it felt... it felt home.

And when I talk to Stevie,
he wanted changes,

and he wanted full control
of everything.

I felt that he had grown

and he was one of
the greatest artists around.

And so I was forced
to relent to his demands.

There was a lot of decisions
that I made,

I can't say that was the best
but it was certainly up there.

He came out
under these new arrangements

with some of the most brilliant
music of his whole career,

and I was extremely proud
of Stevie, his loyalty,

and his ability to take Motown
to even greater heights.

♪ Very superstitious ♪

♪ The writing's on the wall ♪

♪ Very superstitious... ♪

Stevie Wonder!

Stevie Wonder! Stevie Wonder!

Stevie Wonder.

I believe Stevie is the greatest
solo artist of all time

in any genre.

I think Stevie is the one.
He's the greatest.

If you listen to his music,

it's jazz, it's gospel,
it's pop.

It's everything.

Stevie Wonder is one of
the most talented people ever,

and I mean for all of life.

♪ That you don't understand
then you suffer ♪

♪ Superstition ain't the way ♪

♪ Yeah hey-hey-hey... ♪

Berry wanted
the best of the artist.

And the challenge is...
obviously is...

him proving himself right
or us proving him wrong.

But at the end of the day,
we all win.

I always had the feeling if you
don't keep up with the times,

if you don't innovate,
you stagnate.

There was always in him

the appreciation
of the next step.

Wait! Wait!
Boys, I wanna sign you up!

♪ Ooh-ooh ♪

♪ Oh-oh-oh ♪

♪ Let me tell you now,
ah-ah-ooh-hoo ♪

♪ When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around ♪

♪ Those pretty faces
always made you ♪

♪ Stand out in a crowd... ♪

I remember signing with Motown.

All the kids round our
neighborhood in Gary, Indiana,

they didn't believe us

because it took a while
to make our first record.

When it came out,
it was like a machine. Boom!

♪ Oh, darling,
all I need is one more chance ♪

♪ Show you that I love you ♪

♪ Won't you please let me ♪

♪ Back in your heart? ♪

♪ Oh, darling,
I was blind to let you go ♪

♪ Let you go, baby ♪

♪ But now since I see you... ♪

It was the first time
that black kids

had a young group that
was fabulous, you know.

They had a screaming little
girls, pigtails and Afros.

Just when we thought
we understood something

with the Supremes
and the Temptations,

Mr Gordy took us
to another level

with the Jackson 5.

You think of a black group
had their own cartoon series?

That's mind-boggling.

I think he thought the power
of television early.

Berry Gordy realized
if he wanted his artists

to become global superstars,

then television
was the way to do that.

We wanted movies,
television, Broadway.

I wanted everything for
the artist that they could do.

Now that they're as big
as they can be in Detroit,

I wanna take them to Hollywood.

He always was
pushing that envelope.

I mean, soon after that,

it was Lady Sings the Blues
with Diana Ross.

I moved out of Detroit

because I wanted to be
in the movie business,

and I wanted to make strides

in areas that Detroit
couldn't offer me.

My creative talents
could be wide open.

There was nothing
that I couldn't do.

So we became
a totally different company.

We went from a record company

to an entertainment
conglomerate.

I was the biggest protestor
about moving to LA, man.

I told Berry,
"No, we cannot move to LA, man.

Detroit is our home."

There was no in-house studio
any more.

That was the big factor.

Heck, man, I started sending
Berry books on earthquakes

and smog and...
I did, I really did!

But we did,
we moved out there

cos he's innovative
and he saw what I didn't see.

It was a dream,
a dream has no limits, you know.

And we used to always say
the sky is not the limit,

the sky is the first stop.
You know?

The world was changing.

The music business was changing.
The artists were changing.

They all have their own ideas.

And you have to make a decision

as to how you wanna
deal with it.

We came from this time of
"Wow, black is beautiful!

We can go out and be on stage
and look fabulous."

And then you got into
that social climate change.

And we came up with...

-Cloud Nine.
-Cloud Nine.

I said, "Wait a minute!
I'm getting high...

I mean, "I'm doing fine...
up here on cloud nine."

You thought it was
promoting drugs.

Yeah.

♪ I'm doing fine ♪

♪ Up here on cloud nine ♪

♪ Listen, one more time ♪

♪ I'm doing fine... ♪

And I said, "No, we can't be
a company that promotes drugs.

We can't have that."

And so I said, you know,
"How many say it's not a hit?"

And I was the only one
to raise my hand.

It was the first Grammy,
got a gold record for it.

And then we're going
psychedelic soul.

It was like a culture shock.

Wait, what the hell are
the Temps doing now?"

And that also
told me something.

Society is going
in a very strange direction.

I don't want
to glamorize getting high,

but obviously,
the public wanted it,

and they made me seem wrong.

But I didn't like
compromising, uh...

my values
on that particular record.

Things are moving fast
and changing,

and so maybe he had a kind of
vision that was a safe one,

but the talent of these
different artists

and the songs they wrote,

they were looking
at what was going on,

and they felt
it's time to move forward

and encourage the world
to be better.

Do you feel that entertainers
such as yourselves

should become more involved

in the black man's problems
today?

Well, we are involved
because we're black men,

so we're involved automatically
whether or not we want to be,

and I think
that it's a good thing,

if you get in that position,
to speak out

and to say what you think of it.

The Black Power organizations
were proud of me

but yet against me,
because I was this company

that only did love songs

and songs of faith
and hope and duty.

So, we didn't cross the line,
in my opinion.

The songs just changed
because the world was changing.

We changed.
We had a different understanding

of what was going on.

We wanted somebody
to tell us about that.

Coming from the sound of Young
America to psychedelic soul,

that was indicative
of the times we were living in.

We were just singing about
what was happening in the world.

♪ Well, the only person ♪

♪ Talkin' 'bout love thy brother
is the preacher... ♪

It was an horrific time.
Detroit was on fire.

♪ Nobody's interested
in learning ♪

♪ But the teacher... ♪

I remember a line of tanks

coming down
West Grand Boulevard.

It was like a different country.

♪ Obligation to our nation ♪

♪ Ball of confusion ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ That's what
the world is today... ♪

That's a hard time
for people doing music

when there's blood
on the streets,

when there's civil unrest.

When you believe in something
very strongly,

and you feel in your soul that
it's time for that to be said,

how can you not want to break
through and make that happen?

And so, you realize
the power of your voice

and what it means it to...
to the world,

not just to blacks,
but to whites

and to anybody that's listening.

I think it was, uh,
around 1969 or 1970

when I stopped thinking so much
about my erotic fantasies,

and I started to

think about the war
in Vietnam and my brother.

I became quite affected by it,
and, um,

at the same time,

there was a great deal of unrest
in America.

Marvin was a good-looking guy.

He was a ladies man.

Being a protest singer
was not Berry's idea

of a good thing for Marvin.

We created stuff in Motown
where we would say,

you have freedom
within restriction, you know?

I'm not gonna tell you
anything that you're gonna do

between here and here.

But when you get past there,
I gotta stop you.

I had to fight for my, um...

my... creative freedom,
you know, my artistic freedom,

my right to produce,
my right to... to write.

Marvin was working on something.

I didn't know
what he was working on.

I talked with him
in understanding

that that there
were boundaries,

but he said, "No, I'm gonna
do this the way that I see it."

Him doing all of those vocals

and the layering
and the sound of it,

he had found the place
in himself.

One, two, three, four.

♪ Oh, mother, mother ♪

♪ There's too many
of you crying ♪

♪ Brother, brother, brother ♪

♪ There's far too many
of you dying ♪

♪ You know
we've got to find a way ♪

♪ Got to find a way ♪

♪ To bring some loving
here today ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Father, father ♪

♪ We don't need to escalate ♪

♪ You see,
war is not the answer ♪

♪ For only love
can conquer hate ♪

♪ You know
we've got to find a way ♪

♪ To bring some loving
here today ♪

♪ Oh-oh-ho ♪

-♪ Picket lines ♪
-♪ Sister

-♪ And picket signs ♪
-♪ Sister ♪

-♪ Don't punish me ♪
-♪ Sister ♪

-♪ With brutality ♪
-♪ Sister ♪

-♪ Talk to me ♪
-♪ Sister ♪

-♪ So you can see ♪
-♪ Sister ♪

-♪ Oh what's going on ♪
-♪ What's going on ♪

-♪ What's going on ♪
-♪ What's going on ♪

-♪ Yeah, what's going on ♪
-♪ What's going on ♪

-♪ Oh, what's going on ♪
-♪ What's going on ♪

♪ Oh, now ♪

Whoo! Right on, baby.

Whoo! Right on, baby.

Right on.

The value

of what he was writing
was so... artistic.

His production was brilliant.

And he would sing with himself.

And we recorded Marvin
on top of Marvin

on top of Marvin.

But I was against him writing
about trigger-happy police

and stuff about the world
with Vietnam

and this and that and so forth.

I said,
"Well, we can't do that."

I couldn't
believe that sat on a shelf

because Motown
was kind of afraid of it.

They didn't think people
could deal with those issues.

They wanted to keep it
light and fluffy, but....

he had hit the vein,
he had hit the real thing.

I was just concerned about

getting off-track
with the Motown brand.

And I was not always right,
and this was one case where

Marvin came back and threw it
in my face, you know,

"Hey, you taught us this,
you told us, you know,

look at what's happening,
write what you feel.

And I got a brother in Vietnam.
You don't understand.

And the pollution out there,
you know, and that's the truth.

And you've always said
to do that,

so what are you talking about?"

I said, "Well, uh...
you know, um...

Yeah, well, I can't really
disagree with you on that."

♪ Mother, mother ♪

♪ Everybody thinks we're wrong,
yes, they do ♪

♪ Mamma, who are they
to judge us ♪

♪ Simply cos
our hair is long? ♪

♪ People you, you, you know ♪

♪ We've got to find a way ♪

♪ To bring some understanding
here today ♪

♪ Picket lines ♪

♪ And picket signs ♪

♪ People, don't punish me ♪

♪ With brutality ♪

♪ Talk to me, talk to me ♪

♪ Talk to me so you can see ♪

♪ What's going on ♪

♪ What's going on ♪

♪ Yeah, what's going on ♪

♪ I wanna know
what's going on ♪

♪ All right... ♪

I could not possibly tell you

what my favorite song is.

My favorite album
is What's Going On.

It is my favorite album.

I haven't heard anything
before that or since then

that takes the place of that
being my favorite album.

Marvin was correct.

God did write it.

It's prophecy.

It's more poignant today
than it was when it came out.

Well, you could play that
here on the streets

when we're having
all of the shootings.

Play that song right now.
It's needed.

You know,
maybe that'll make us, like,

take a couple of steps back

and treat people
a little better.

Mr Gordy
had a very specific vision.

We weren't gonna talk politics,

cos we were gonna keep it
commercial,

and then it becomes
out of your control.

These artists that he created

were developing
and growing his company

into places that he didn't even
think that he could take it.

You can have the greatest
assembly line in the world,

but people are not cars.

And eventually, they are going
to express themselves

outside of the system.

They saw, say,
my career or Marvin's career

in a certain kinda way,

and we said,
"No, we don't see that.

We wanna do it differently."

And as far as me and my life,

it was just evolving
from one step to the next

and learning and not being stuck

on any idea
that didn't make sense.

I now had felt that the idea
of reflecting the world

was not a bad idea at all.

When we were in prison,
we appreciated

and avidly listened
to the sound of Detroit,

Motor Town.

Today, in a time where things

are sort of turbulent
in the world,

the challenge is to again

be the loudest bell
that you hear ringing

that will encourage people
to do and be better.

We can't seem to agree on what
we all wanna hear any more.

And we don't realize
that we need

music that speaks
to our hearts,

so we can say, "Ah, yeah,
that's the way I feel."

Over the years,
this room has hosted

some of the most talented
musicians in the world,

from classical to country.

But Motown is different.

Born at a time
of so much struggle,

so much strife,
it taught as that what unites us

will always be stronger
than what divides us.

So, today,
more than 50 years later,

that's the Motown legacy.

You could start something
with nothing,

and it ends up being
internationally something.

Yes, it's... it's...

Motown is a great example
of the American dream.

I think the Motown
legacy's just the culture,

it's part of the culture
of the United States.

It's not just black culture,

it's the country,
it's everybody.

It was all a divine
movement for a purpose.

To let
other talented people know

you don't have to suffer
under the system.

Create for yourself.

And so Motown became a model.

People come from
all over this planet

to visit this little house
Hitsville USA in Detroit,

because this music made its way
across the globe,

and this music represented
the fabric of their lives,

in the same way it did
for those of us in Detroit.

I celebrate a time
in space as a little kid,

who didn't really understand it,
but the older I got,

the more I can appreciate
how it is a stamp on society

that will never, ever
be forgotten.

I can't sum up Motown

but I sure am glad
to have been a part of it.

To produce music that
will endure past my lifetime,

it's special.

I would never change it
in a million years.

I would have done one thing.

I would have done it
a little slower

so I would have enjoyed it more.

The more and more
I think about it,

I don't know how the hell
it happened in the first place.

It was magnetic.

All that stuff there
in one city called Detroit.

Mm-hm.

Every city, every
town, every... every place

probably on earth, ratio-wise,
with the talent we had

has the same amount of talent.

They just don't have
a Berry Gordy to pull that off.

Yeah, I think the secret,
you know...

You the secret, brother.

Thank you, that's great.
That's wonderful, man.

But I'm just saying
my thing was to bring

the best out of other people.

Cos I couldn't do what you did.

I couldn't write as well
as you or sing as well as you,

but if I make them
the best they could be,

then I could reach
my potential in some way.

But all I wanted to do
in those days

was make some money,
make some music,

and get some girls.

-You know...
-And you did all that.

♪ Ain't no mountain
high enough ♪

♪ Ain't no valley low enough ♪

♪ Ain't no river wide enough ♪

♪ To keep me from you ♪

♪ Ain't no mountain
high enough ♪

♪ Ain't no valley low enough ♪

♪ Ain't no river wide enough ♪

♪ To keep me from you ♪

♪ Ain't no mountain
high enough ♪

♪ Nothing can keep me ♪

♪ Keep me from you... ♪

One of the key points
that kind of pulled us together,

which was very unusual,

is we had a company song.

Don't ask me to sing it.

I wasn't too good
with the comments.

We watched their mouths

to see if they could
remember it.

And they would say, "No..."

"We are..."
I'm not gonna sing it.

♪ We are
a very swinging company ♪

♪ We are
a very famous company ♪

♪ We're a very happy family ♪

♪ Oh, we are... ♪

♪ We are a happy
swinging company ♪

That's all I know.

"Swinging... company..."

♪ Workin' hard
from day to day ♪

No, I won't do this,
I will not do it!

Now you got me mixed up.

I've known that song
really well.

♪ No one has more energy ♪

♪ No one...
can you find more unity ♪

♪ Than at Hitsville ♪

♪ USA! ♪

I can see it, I can see
the, um... the lyrics.

♪ Our employees
must be neat and clean ♪

♪ And really have something
on the ball ♪

♪ Da-da-da ♪

♪ Honesty is our only policy ♪

♪ We're all for one ♪

♪ And one for all ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ We have
a very swinging company ♪

♪ Working hard
from day to day ♪

♪ Nowhere will you find
more unity ♪

-♪ Than at Hitsville ♪
-Bang!

-♪ I said Hitsville ♪
-Bang!

♪ Than at Hitsville USA! ♪

And then we say,
"One more time!"

-♪ I said Hitsville ♪
-Bang!

-♪ I said Hitsville ♪
-Bang!

♪ Than at Hitsville USA! ♪

♪ Whenever I'm with him ♪

♪ Something inside ♪

♪ Starts to burning ♪

♪ And I'm filled with desire ♪

♪ Could it be a devil in me ♪

♪ Or is this the way
love's supposed to be? ♪

♪ It's like a heat wave ♪

♪ Burning in my heart ♪

♪ I can't keep from crying ♪

♪ It's tearing me apart ♪

♪ Whenever he calls my name ♪

♪ Soft, low, sweet and plain ♪

♪ Right then, right there ♪

♪ I feel that burning flame ♪

♪ Has high blood pressure
got a hold on me ♪

♪ Or is this the way
love's supposed to be? ♪

♪ It's like a heat wave ♪

♪ Burning in my heart ♪

♪ I can't keep from crying ♪

♪ It's tearing me apart ♪

♪ Heat wave! ♪

♪ Heat wave! ♪

♪ Sometimes I stare in space ♪

♪ Tears all over my face ♪

♪ I can't explain it,
don't understand it ♪

♪ I ain't never felt
like this before ♪

♪ Now that funny feeling
has me amazed ♪

♪ Don't know what to do,
my head's in a haze ♪

♪ It's like a heat wave ♪

♪ Burning in my heart ♪

♪ I can't keep from crying ♪

♪ It's tearing me apart... ♪