Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074
Advertise your product or brand here
contact www.OpenSubtitles.org today
2
00:00:40,082 --> 00:00:41,914
Hi, Mr McLean.
3
00:00:42,209 --> 00:00:44,041
Uh, you're not joining the
meeting, are you?
4
00:00:45,546 --> 00:00:47,913
Uh...
that's what I came here for.
5
00:00:48,006 --> 00:00:51,419
The door is locked at a certain time
and, you know, no-one comes in.
6
00:00:51,510 --> 00:00:54,423
I didn't know that.
I heard a rumour about...
7
00:00:54,513 --> 00:00:56,473
something about locking people
out, but I never...
8
00:00:59,142 --> 00:01:01,304
Yeah, well, you know, I'm sorry.
9
00:01:01,353 --> 00:01:02,747
I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm late.
10
00:01:02,771 --> 00:01:05,208
No, but so am I,
but you're gonna be able to stay.
11
00:01:05,232 --> 00:01:08,896
I'd just like to urge you
that this is serious business,
12
00:01:08,986 --> 00:01:11,478
because from these
meetings come the records
13
00:01:11,822 --> 00:01:13,904
that Motown releases
to the street.
14
00:01:14,032 --> 00:01:16,615
We've got to maintain
our high standards,
15
00:01:16,702 --> 00:01:22,539
cos if the records are not created properly,
then we have a bad image out there.
16
00:01:22,833 --> 00:01:26,326
Luckily for us we,
have one record in the top ten this week
17
00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:29,287
which is always good,
which is the Marvin and Tammi record.
18
00:01:30,382 --> 00:01:35,127
The artists that are wide open for
releases are Diana Ross and the Supremes,
19
00:01:35,262 --> 00:01:36,878
which we're working on heavily.
20
00:01:36,972 --> 00:01:39,304
We have what I consider
a smash on the Four Tops.
21
00:01:39,391 --> 00:01:43,055
Stevie Wonder has a couple of
things, but he is still open.
22
00:01:43,145 --> 00:01:45,056
The Temptations are still open.
23
00:01:45,147 --> 00:01:47,267
They have a few things that
I have heard that were cut
24
00:01:47,357 --> 00:01:49,940
that I think will
be extremely good.
25
00:01:50,569 --> 00:01:53,982
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles,
Gladys Knight and The Pips.
26
00:01:54,281 --> 00:01:55,925
Edwin Starr,
we're gonna release his thing.
27
00:01:55,949 --> 00:01:58,941
Martha was just sort of cleared up
here, we're gonna release her thing.
28
00:01:59,036 --> 00:02:01,949
Jr. Walker has a
couple of things...
29
00:02:02,039 --> 00:02:04,155
And then we have this thing
on the Isley Brothers.
30
00:02:05,125 --> 00:02:06,991
We will not
compromise on quality.
31
00:02:07,502 --> 00:02:09,413
I hear many producers talking
about, you know,
32
00:02:09,504 --> 00:02:11,370
they don't get releases
and this and that.
33
00:02:11,465 --> 00:02:12,751
A person can stay here ten years
34
00:02:12,799 --> 00:02:15,153
and if they don't have the
proper quality on a major artist,
35
00:02:15,177 --> 00:02:16,946
they will never get a
release on a major artist.
36
00:02:16,970 --> 00:02:20,088
But the opportunity,
as I said before, is here.
37
00:02:21,433 --> 00:02:24,926
OK, ladies and gentlemen,
if there are no further comments,
38
00:02:25,020 --> 00:02:27,136
then the meeting is
adjourned till next week.
39
00:02:27,689 --> 00:02:31,102
"Get Ready" by The Temptations ♪
One, two, three, four ♪
40
00:02:33,278 --> 00:02:34,814
In my mind,
41
00:02:34,905 --> 00:02:39,365
the Motown story begins long
before we thought it began.
42
00:02:39,785 --> 00:02:44,655
♪ I never met a girl who makes
me feel the way that you do ♪
43
00:02:44,748 --> 00:02:46,034
♪ You're alright ♪
44
00:02:47,376 --> 00:02:50,038
♪ Whenever I'm asked who
makes my dreams real ♪
45
00:02:50,170 --> 00:02:51,786
♪ I say that you do ♪
46
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:53,245
♪ You're outta sight ♪
47
00:02:53,840 --> 00:03:00,928
♪ So fee fi fo fum Look
out, baby, cos here I come ♪
48
00:03:01,765 --> 00:03:07,852
♪ And I'm bringing you a love that's
true So get ready, so get ready ♪
49
00:03:09,147 --> 00:03:16,565
♪ I'm gonna try to make love to you So
get ready, so get ready, here I come ♪
50
00:03:16,655 --> 00:03:18,007
I was always the hustler,
51
00:03:18,031 --> 00:03:23,367
trying to make money,
trying to better myself.
52
00:03:23,578 --> 00:03:27,037
Somehow, I was fascinated by
everybody being the same, you know?
53
00:03:27,124 --> 00:03:30,162
White and black,
they stubbed their toe, they hurt.
54
00:03:30,210 --> 00:03:31,604
There's something
funny, they laugh.
55
00:03:31,628 --> 00:03:35,212
I mean, it was, like, to me,
just almost a no-brainer.
56
00:03:36,425 --> 00:03:41,090
As a kid, I would sell the Michigan
Chronicle, which was a black newspaper.
57
00:03:41,388 --> 00:03:45,347
I said I could make a lot more money
if I sell it to white people, too.
58
00:03:48,812 --> 00:03:50,644
One day,
I decided to go downtown,
59
00:03:50,731 --> 00:03:53,473
take my little black papers
in the white neighbourhood
60
00:03:53,567 --> 00:03:55,683
and I sold more papers
than I'd ever sold before.
61
00:03:55,777 --> 00:03:57,338
And I took my brother
down the next week.
62
00:03:57,362 --> 00:03:59,524
I said, "We're gonna get
rich, baby."
63
00:03:59,614 --> 00:04:02,402
We went down to the white
neighbourhood and we sold nothing.
64
00:04:02,492 --> 00:04:03,857
You know,
it was my first lesson.
65
00:04:03,910 --> 00:04:07,653
One black kid is cute,
two were a threat to the neighbourhood.
66
00:04:11,460 --> 00:04:12,825
You are about to witness
67
00:04:12,919 --> 00:04:17,334
the very exciting story
of a city and its people.
68
00:04:18,967 --> 00:04:24,007
Detroit today stands at the
threshold of a bright new future.
69
00:04:24,347 --> 00:04:27,339
One rich with the
promise of fulfiiment.
70
00:04:27,976 --> 00:04:30,468
In this bustling
city on the straits,
71
00:04:30,604 --> 00:04:35,064
there is a resurgence of civic
pride and unfettered imagination.
72
00:04:35,817 --> 00:04:38,024
The City On The
Straits welcomes you
73
00:04:38,111 --> 00:04:41,820
to share that vision as
it continues to plan,
74
00:04:41,907 --> 00:04:45,241
to build, and, yes, to dream.
75
00:04:46,161 --> 00:04:49,574
My starting in the music
business was an evolution.
76
00:04:49,664 --> 00:04:51,621
Of course,
this was over a period of years.
77
00:04:51,708 --> 00:04:55,542
I was the shoeshine boy,
a boxer, I was writing songs.
78
00:04:55,629 --> 00:04:57,336
But if I had just
right away made money,
79
00:04:57,589 --> 00:05:01,753
I don't know what might have happened
to me, but I kept getting knocked down.
80
00:05:01,968 --> 00:05:05,757
I knew I wanted to be in music,
so I had this record store.
81
00:05:05,847 --> 00:05:08,134
I didn't realise the
customer was always right.
82
00:05:08,183 --> 00:05:09,218
They'd come in and say,
83
00:05:09,392 --> 00:05:11,975
"You got something by
Muddy Waters or BB King?"
84
00:05:12,103 --> 00:05:14,014
And I was trying
to sell them jazz.
85
00:05:14,105 --> 00:05:16,825
I would say, "Look, if you want
Muddy Waters, go down to Hay Street."
86
00:05:16,900 --> 00:05:19,642
They sell Muddy Waters.
I ain't got it and I ain't gonna have it."
87
00:05:21,446 --> 00:05:25,440
It's only 12 bars, 12 bar blues,
they all say the same thing.
88
00:05:25,742 --> 00:05:28,029
"I love my baby,
but my baby don't love me."
89
00:05:28,411 --> 00:05:31,403
ll mean, how many times can you say
that in how many different ways?
90
00:05:31,957 --> 00:05:35,370
But the people in Detroit
who worked at the factories,
91
00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:40,375
they wanted the blues, and so I realised
it was that simplicity in the music
92
00:05:40,465 --> 00:05:44,754
that people understood and
people felt good about.
93
00:05:45,095 --> 00:05:46,381
So, I did get the blues,
94
00:05:46,471 --> 00:05:49,930
but it was too late for the change
on business because I was bankrupt.
95
00:05:50,016 --> 00:05:53,008
So I had to get a real job,
96
00:05:53,103 --> 00:05:56,687
and that's why I went to the Ford
Motor Company, Lincoln Mercury Plant
97
00:05:57,649 --> 00:05:59,265
and when I was on
the assembly line,
98
00:05:59,359 --> 00:06:03,102
I started perfecting my
skills of writing songs.
99
00:06:12,414 --> 00:06:14,746
The factory had this
assembly line...
100
00:06:18,253 --> 00:06:25,501
And I would see the cars start out a bare
metal frame and go around in a circle
101
00:06:26,636 --> 00:06:29,344
and different stations
would put things on there
102
00:06:29,639 --> 00:06:32,802
and they would go out
another door a brand new car.
103
00:06:34,019 --> 00:06:36,260
I said, "My goodness,
I can do that through people."
104
00:06:36,688 --> 00:06:39,646
Of course, everybody laughed at me
and said, "No, that's ridiculous."
105
00:06:40,108 --> 00:06:42,475
You can't take human beings
and treat them like cars. ""
106
00:06:42,527 --> 00:06:43,629
I said "No,
I'm not gonna do that."
107
00:06:43,653 --> 00:06:46,611
Everybody's gonna have their own
personality, but I got this idea.
108
00:06:46,907 --> 00:06:49,023
One station here,
producers over here,
109
00:06:49,367 --> 00:06:52,450
arrangers over here,
dance instructors over here.
110
00:06:52,621 --> 00:06:56,114
"They go from room to room and
come off a brand new star."
111
00:06:57,042 --> 00:06:59,283
And eventually,
when I felt that it was right
112
00:06:59,794 --> 00:07:03,662
and my sisters promised me they
could get my songs to Jackie Wilson,
113
00:07:03,757 --> 00:07:07,716
I quit my job and I was ready.
114
00:07:10,472 --> 00:07:12,463
The factory played
such an important part
115
00:07:12,557 --> 00:07:19,304
because I saw the machine and how it
could work with the assembly line process
116
00:07:19,397 --> 00:07:22,230
that I based my company on.
117
00:07:49,469 --> 00:07:51,335
There are so many unsung heroes
118
00:07:51,513 --> 00:07:56,804
and people that were just part of the
team, part of the effort
119
00:07:57,018 --> 00:08:00,227
but there was no bond
greater than Smokey
120
00:08:00,605 --> 00:08:02,437
who is still my
best friend today.
121
00:08:03,108 --> 00:08:04,769
If I were doing this,
I'd call this...
122
00:08:04,985 --> 00:08:08,649
just forget everything else
and say Berry and Smoke.
123
00:08:09,447 --> 00:08:11,188
You know, just Berry and Smoke.
124
00:08:11,449 --> 00:08:13,065
- I - always loved singing
125
00:08:13,159 --> 00:08:16,902
and singing seemed like
my impossible dream,
126
00:08:17,122 --> 00:08:22,788
because of where I was growing up. I
didn't think that would be available to me.
127
00:08:24,587 --> 00:08:26,203
Coming back to
Detroit, you know,
128
00:08:26,256 --> 00:08:29,465
getting these thoughts and
memories and reflections
129
00:08:29,551 --> 00:08:31,258
is just incredible, you know?
130
00:08:31,344 --> 00:08:33,072
And you know something
else I think about, man?
131
00:08:33,096 --> 00:08:36,259
I used to be riding with you when they
first got the record players in the car.
132
00:08:36,307 --> 00:08:37,172
Yeah, yeah.
133
00:08:37,225 --> 00:08:39,842
And you'd be driving and you'd
be ducking your head under it.
134
00:08:39,936 --> 00:08:42,678
"Where's that new Supremes
record, man?"
135
00:08:42,814 --> 00:08:46,057
"Wait a minute. I will find the
record, man. You just drive!"
136
00:08:48,945 --> 00:08:52,688
Smokey Robinson was
a member of a group
137
00:08:52,824 --> 00:08:56,112
that was auditioning for
Jackie Wilson's manager.
138
00:08:57,078 --> 00:09:00,946
So, we sang for them
and they rejected us.
139
00:09:01,207 --> 00:09:03,824
And I walked out in the
hallway with them and I said,
140
00:09:03,918 --> 00:09:06,034
"Oh, you guys were really good."
141
00:09:06,212 --> 00:09:08,249
I said "Oh, thank you very
much, man," you know?
142
00:09:08,339 --> 00:09:11,001
And he said, "Yeah," he
said, “I'm Berry Gordy."
143
00:09:12,135 --> 00:09:13,135
What?
144
00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:15,711
"The Berry Gordy who
wrote Reet Petite?"
145
00:09:15,847 --> 00:09:18,305
"Reet Petite" by Jackie Wilson ♪
Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
146
00:09:18,516 --> 00:09:20,177
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
147
00:09:21,394 --> 00:09:25,513
♪ Reet petite,
the finest girl you ever want to meet ♪
148
00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:28,400
"You're Berry Gordy?"
149
00:09:28,902 --> 00:09:31,815
I said, "Yeah.
The only one I know," you know?
150
00:09:31,946 --> 00:09:33,983
And then he made a
mistake, because he said,
151
00:09:34,032 --> 00:09:35,818
"You got any more songs, man?"
152
00:09:35,909 --> 00:09:39,402
And I had a loose-leaf notebook
with about 100 songs in it.
153
00:09:39,496 --> 00:09:41,783
And he said, "A song has got
to be like a short story"
154
00:09:41,873 --> 00:09:44,911
with the beginning and the middle
and the ending tying together."
155
00:09:45,168 --> 00:09:47,125
He said,
"You rhyme stuff really well,"
156
00:09:47,170 --> 00:09:49,411
he said, "but your songs are
just rambling, you know?"
157
00:09:49,506 --> 00:09:52,294
Which they were.
And so he started to mentor me.
158
00:09:53,426 --> 00:09:58,421
♪ Walked all day till
my feet were tired ♪
159
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,474
The first record that we ever
recorded was a song called "Got A Job"
160
00:10:02,602 --> 00:10:05,685
and Berry would produce records on us
and put 'em with other record companies
161
00:10:05,772 --> 00:10:07,354
cos Berry hadn't
started Motown yet.
162
00:10:07,565 --> 00:10:10,808
"Got A Job" was in the
top five of the R&B charts
163
00:10:10,902 --> 00:10:12,563
so we know that he
sold some records.
164
00:10:12,946 --> 00:10:15,563
♪ 1 got a job ♪
- When it came time to pay the royalties,
165
00:10:15,824 --> 00:10:18,441
this guy sent Berry a
check for $3.19 cents.
166
00:10:18,827 --> 00:10:21,159
Back in those days, man,
they paid you if they wanted to.
167
00:10:21,204 --> 00:10:23,516
If they didn't, they didn't pay you.
Especially if you were black.
168
00:10:23,540 --> 00:10:26,749
So, Smoky said, "If this is the
kind of money you're gonna get",
169
00:10:27,085 --> 00:10:29,201
you might as well be in
business for yourself."
170
00:10:29,796 --> 00:10:32,709
So, shortly after that,
he started Motown, and, um...
171
00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,132
the rest is history, man.
172
00:10:49,607 --> 00:10:52,144
♪ Ooooh ♪
173
00:10:53,403 --> 00:10:55,269
Every family needs a home,
174
00:10:55,363 --> 00:10:59,027
and it was my then assistant
and future wife Raynoma
175
00:10:59,450 --> 00:11:04,445
who found the two-storey house
at 2648 West Grand Boulevard.
176
00:11:05,707 --> 00:11:07,869
And the fact that it was
in the neighbourhood,
177
00:11:07,959 --> 00:11:10,667
it was on West Grand
Boulevard at 12th Street.
178
00:11:10,753 --> 00:11:12,960
You don't get more
hood than that.
179
00:11:13,923 --> 00:11:16,381
At Hitsville,
everything was in-house.
180
00:11:16,509 --> 00:11:19,877
The offices, the studio,
the sales department.
181
00:11:20,096 --> 00:11:21,678
I even lived upstairs.
182
00:11:22,932 --> 00:11:25,390
And it goes back to
my great grandparents,
183
00:11:25,476 --> 00:11:28,138
Berry Gordy Sr and
Bertha Ida Gordy.
184
00:11:28,396 --> 00:11:33,141
They raised their children in
an entrepreneurial environment.
185
00:11:33,276 --> 00:11:35,017
Well, the family grocery store
186
00:11:35,069 --> 00:11:40,155
was named after Booker T. Washington,
who was a big advocate of self-sufficiency.
187
00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:44,785
Growing up, I knew that was a very
important principle for our family.
188
00:11:45,371 --> 00:11:50,457
My grandmother put together this family
savings club called The Burberry Co-op
189
00:11:50,543 --> 00:11:54,707
and, essentially, it's their own
loaning institution within the family.
190
00:11:54,923 --> 00:11:56,775
- She was tough with money.
- Yes.
191
00:11:56,799 --> 00:11:59,166
I mean, I begged for $1,000.
192
00:11:59,510 --> 00:12:03,128
She only OK'd $800.
How tough is that?
193
00:12:03,973 --> 00:12:06,806
That was the beginning of
what we know as Motown today.
194
00:12:06,851 --> 00:12:08,182
That was his first investment.
195
00:12:10,939 --> 00:12:13,271
Yeah, this was the magic room.
196
00:12:16,236 --> 00:12:18,819
We started off with one track.
197
00:12:19,656 --> 00:12:21,656
Everything was on one track,
then we got two tracks
198
00:12:21,699 --> 00:12:23,469
we thought we were the most
innovative people in the world.
199
00:12:23,493 --> 00:12:26,076
We could put our lead singer in
there, have them separate.
200
00:12:26,454 --> 00:12:30,038
Always looking for magic, always looking
for that magical sound, you know?
201
00:12:30,458 --> 00:12:33,325
Or to be with him doing the mix.
You know, he'd mix it.
202
00:12:33,419 --> 00:12:39,165
He'd do, like,
327 mixes on one tune...
203
00:12:39,926 --> 00:12:41,291
and use number two.
204
00:12:41,678 --> 00:12:44,090
THEY LAUGH - He was
notorious for that.
205
00:12:44,138 --> 00:12:45,824
"Oh, Berry's gonna mix it."
"No, no, please!
206
00:12:45,848 --> 00:12:48,340
Please,
don't let Berry mix the tune."
207
00:12:48,726 --> 00:12:51,286
Sometimes you have it perfect and
you want to just get it better.
208
00:12:51,354 --> 00:12:52,394
You want to get it better.
209
00:13:23,803 --> 00:13:25,603
They said we want the Motown.
210
00:13:27,265 --> 00:13:31,099
No-one can duplicate our sound, because
even though I didn't think it was that good
211
00:13:31,185 --> 00:13:32,926
you know,
he thought it was great.
212
00:13:32,979 --> 00:13:34,456
There was arguments about
that, man.
213
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,017
Like, man, are you kidding?
New York is trying to get our sound.
214
00:13:37,108 --> 00:13:39,099
They're sending people
here to record in Detroit
215
00:13:39,152 --> 00:13:40,734
thinking they're
gonna get our sound.
216
00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:43,048
But they couldn't get our
sound, because our echo chamber
217
00:13:43,072 --> 00:13:44,779
was the bathroom upstairs.
218
00:13:46,242 --> 00:13:49,906
People would come off the
road and come to the studio
219
00:13:49,996 --> 00:13:52,237
because something
was always going on.
220
00:13:52,415 --> 00:13:56,534
You know, 24 hours a day, somebody
would be in that studio, recording.
221
00:13:56,794 --> 00:13:59,081
Doing something. HE LAUGHS
222
00:13:59,172 --> 00:14:00,412
This is it.
223
00:14:01,132 --> 00:14:04,341
I remember "Shop Around," which was
the first million-seller for Motown.
224
00:14:04,469 --> 00:14:06,710
Took 20 minutes to write.
It just flowed out.
225
00:14:06,763 --> 00:14:09,130
So I ran to Berry's office,
I said, "I've got it, Berry."
226
00:14:09,474 --> 00:14:12,034
He said, "Let me hear it, man."
So, we go down to the piano room.
227
00:14:12,894 --> 00:14:16,637
♪ Just because you've
become a young man now ♪
228
00:14:21,486 --> 00:14:25,525
♪ There's still some things
that you don't understand now ♪
229
00:14:28,993 --> 00:14:30,324
So that's how it was, you know?
230
00:14:30,620 --> 00:14:31,860
We put the record out.
231
00:14:32,246 --> 00:14:34,954
The record's been out for
about two and a half weeks.
232
00:14:35,583 --> 00:14:38,325
It's doing fair, it's doing OK,
it's doing pretty good, you know?
233
00:14:38,753 --> 00:14:41,791
Three o'clock in the morning,
one morning, my phone rings.
234
00:14:45,343 --> 00:14:46,343
"Hello."
235
00:14:46,386 --> 00:14:48,127
"Smoke?" I said, "Yeah?"
236
00:14:48,221 --> 00:14:51,341
He said, "It's me, Berry, man." I said,
"I know, man. I recognised your voice."
237
00:14:51,391 --> 00:14:52,511
He said, "What's happening?"
238
00:14:52,558 --> 00:14:54,703
I said, "What do you think is
happening, man?" I say...
239
00:14:54,727 --> 00:14:56,764
"I'm asleep.
What's happening with you?"
240
00:14:56,896 --> 00:14:58,853
"Shop Around won't let me
sleep, man."
241
00:14:59,190 --> 00:15:01,168
See, well, I just didn't feel
right about the record, man.
242
00:15:01,192 --> 00:15:02,273
We didn't have the magic.
243
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,171
He said, "Well,
I'm gonna change everything about it."
244
00:15:04,195 --> 00:15:06,315
I'm gonna change the beat,
I'm gonna change the sound.
245
00:15:06,364 --> 00:15:08,776
"I'm gonna change the feeling.
I'm changing everything."
246
00:15:09,242 --> 00:15:10,607
And I said, "OK
man, that's cool."
247
00:15:10,701 --> 00:15:14,114
I said, "I'll see you tomorrow." He
said, "No, no, no. I mean right now."
248
00:15:14,205 --> 00:15:15,821
THEY LAUGH Three
o'clock in the morning.
249
00:15:15,998 --> 00:15:18,438
So, we came over here and everybody
showed up, like I told you
250
00:15:22,255 --> 00:15:24,496
And "Shop Around" then
went to number one.
251
00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:28,458
The first million seller was his redo
of it, after the record had been out.
252
00:15:28,761 --> 00:15:31,298
Now I want you to get ready.
253
00:15:36,727 --> 00:15:39,310
♪ Just because you've
become a young man now ♪
254
00:15:39,856 --> 00:15:42,689
♪ There's still some things
that you don't understand now ♪
255
00:15:43,025 --> 00:15:45,983
♪ Before you ask some
girl for her hand now ♪
256
00:15:46,237 --> 00:15:49,104
♪ Keep your freedom for
as long as you can now ♪
257
00:15:49,323 --> 00:15:53,157
♪ My mama told me,
you'd better shop around ♪
258
00:15:53,202 --> 00:15:55,910
♪ Oh yeah,
you'd better shop around ♪
259
00:15:55,997 --> 00:15:57,683
But that's how we did stuff,
we didn't care, he didn't care
260
00:15:57,707 --> 00:16:00,244
cos it had been out for two weeks.
So what? It's not too late.
261
00:16:00,460 --> 00:16:03,439
No, the masses of people haven't heard
it cos it's not really a hit right now
262
00:16:03,463 --> 00:16:04,463
you know what I mean?
263
00:16:04,881 --> 00:16:07,498
♪ Before you take a
girl and say I do, now ♪
264
00:16:07,842 --> 00:16:11,005
♪ Make sure she's in
love with-a you now ♪
265
00:16:11,220 --> 00:16:14,212
♪ My mama told me, tell 'em,
you'd better shop around ♪
266
00:16:21,397 --> 00:16:22,432
♪ Feel alright ♪
267
00:16:23,107 --> 00:16:24,107
♪ Woo! ♪
268
00:16:26,652 --> 00:16:27,652
♪ Oh, oh ♪
269
00:16:28,029 --> 00:16:30,612
Motown was able to accomplish
everything that they accomplished
270
00:16:30,656 --> 00:16:32,067
because they were
self-sufficient.
271
00:16:32,366 --> 00:16:35,654
When you can just do what you want
without somebody breathing over your neck
272
00:16:35,745 --> 00:16:37,505
telling you what you
should or shouldn't do,
273
00:16:37,747 --> 00:16:39,704
that's when the real
magic starts to happen.
274
00:16:45,046 --> 00:16:47,287
To be successful in
the music business,
275
00:16:47,340 --> 00:16:48,671
you've got to have hit records.
276
00:16:48,799 --> 00:16:50,879
I'm a producer, I'm a writer,
I'm a this, I'm a that,
277
00:16:51,052 --> 00:16:54,090
but really,
I feel myself as a teacher
278
00:16:54,347 --> 00:16:57,465
and so I had to find
songwriters to teach.
279
00:16:58,142 --> 00:17:00,804
Smokey was my first project.
280
00:17:00,895 --> 00:17:02,806
Before that,
I was on the top of the totem pole.
281
00:17:02,855 --> 00:17:06,439
I was, like, "the man" because I
wrote the songs, I produced 'em,
282
00:17:06,692 --> 00:17:09,434
but then, Smokey,
one day he came into my office
283
00:17:09,529 --> 00:17:11,941
and he wanted me
to hear a new song.
284
00:17:12,323 --> 00:17:18,365
I thought it was just one of the
greatest new clever songs I'd ever known.
285
00:17:18,788 --> 00:17:24,534
And this was the day I knew that I had
a little genius on my hands, you know?
286
00:17:25,044 --> 00:17:28,457
♪ / would build you a castle
with a tower so high ♪
287
00:17:30,466 --> 00:17:32,082
♪ It reaches the moon ♪
288
00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,469
"I'll Try Something
New" by The Miracles
289
00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:45,770
"Give you lovin'
warm as Mama's oven.
290
00:17:45,856 --> 00:17:48,018
And if that don't do,
I'll try something new."
291
00:17:48,442 --> 00:17:50,103
And I was just blown away.
292
00:17:55,199 --> 00:17:58,032
I had this wonderful feeling,
but also this scary feeling
293
00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:00,235
that I was... my throne is...
294
00:18:00,621 --> 00:18:05,366
Here's a guy that's writing a song
that I could not ever think of
295
00:18:05,543 --> 00:18:07,409
and I was a songwriter,
I was the teacher.
296
00:18:07,795 --> 00:18:11,254
And from that day forward,
I started slipping from my post
297
00:18:11,340 --> 00:18:13,877
because he started coming
up with major hits.
298
00:18:24,061 --> 00:18:28,055
I always thought maybe I
could, one day in my life
299
00:18:28,149 --> 00:18:29,560
compete with him with girls,
300
00:18:29,817 --> 00:18:31,399
- Oh, please!
- You know?
301
00:18:31,444 --> 00:18:32,775
But that was out
of the question.
302
00:18:33,029 --> 00:18:35,361
You're hearing this story
from Casanova himself.
303
00:18:35,406 --> 00:18:38,615
No, no. "You're hearing this
story from Casanova himself,"
304
00:18:38,701 --> 00:18:40,738
- you know? I mean...
- Exactly!
305
00:18:42,747 --> 00:18:45,865
You know, Bob Dylan's called
him America's greatest poet
306
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,866
and he really did write poetry.
307
00:18:48,377 --> 00:18:50,709
He was so honest,
so straightforward.
308
00:18:50,796 --> 00:18:52,636
I mean, the lyrics don't
take a lot to decipher
309
00:18:52,715 --> 00:18:55,035
but then you realise it took
a lot of genius to write them.
310
00:18:55,343 --> 00:18:59,337
At the time, Smokey was doing his
thing, singing to the women.
311
00:18:59,722 --> 00:19:04,467
He created so many babies with his
romance and his feeling of that
312
00:19:05,019 --> 00:19:06,019
and...
313
00:19:06,604 --> 00:19:09,642
a lot of them were his.
314
00:19:12,735 --> 00:19:18,151
My key writing team was Smokey
Robinson and Holland-Dozier-Holland.
315
00:19:18,366 --> 00:19:21,199
We were not trained
musicians, you know?
316
00:19:21,285 --> 00:19:24,994
Brian would skip school to come
there to learn to write songs.
317
00:19:25,247 --> 00:19:28,615
I had no idea about writing.
318
00:19:28,918 --> 00:19:32,377
I knew that Smokey, in my opinion,
was the greatest writer ever.
319
00:19:32,797 --> 00:19:33,832
OK? And I still do.
320
00:19:34,131 --> 00:19:37,044
So, I took two songs of Smokey's
321
00:19:37,134 --> 00:19:39,626
and I wrote all the lyrics
down and I studied them.
322
00:19:39,887 --> 00:19:41,031
Eddie had this idea.
323
00:19:41,055 --> 00:19:43,922
He said, "Look, man, you and Brian
can do the tracks and melodies"
324
00:19:44,016 --> 00:19:46,883
and come up with the ideas and
I'll be sitting there waiting.
325
00:19:46,977 --> 00:19:49,469
"You know, shoot 'em to me
and I'll jump on the lyrics."
326
00:19:49,647 --> 00:19:51,888
And that became
Holland-Dozier-Holland, you know,
327
00:19:51,982 --> 00:19:53,939
it became a factory
within a factory.
328
00:19:54,235 --> 00:19:56,588
There was somebody in
every corner writing a song
329
00:19:56,612 --> 00:20:00,321
and they were young,
and these guys were coming up 17, 18, 19.
330
00:20:00,408 --> 00:20:02,490
They were young,
so Berry was like a coach, you know?
331
00:20:02,535 --> 00:20:04,526
With a great,
young, talented team
332
00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:06,540
and everybody was trying
to play their best game.
333
00:20:06,664 --> 00:20:08,308
Berry was very patient with me.
334
00:20:08,332 --> 00:20:10,243
At the time,
I think I was a secretary
335
00:20:10,459 --> 00:20:15,249
and that was in order to justify
the $30 a week I was getting.
336
00:20:15,673 --> 00:20:18,256
Norman hung around
here for years
337
00:20:18,551 --> 00:20:21,191
before he even got a chance to get
in the studio to do any records.
338
00:20:21,429 --> 00:20:24,512
Playing tambourine,
that's how he started, from the bottom.
339
00:20:24,598 --> 00:20:28,387
And then, finally, he was doing
that good and he got his confidence
340
00:20:28,644 --> 00:20:31,181
and when he started
producing, man, he was...
341
00:20:31,313 --> 00:20:32,313
- Incredible.
- Awesome.
342
00:20:32,356 --> 00:20:35,098
He had electricity, magic.
343
00:20:35,568 --> 00:20:37,479
And then we brought
in Nick and Val.
344
00:20:37,570 --> 00:20:40,688
They were writer and producer
team out of New York.
345
00:20:40,781 --> 00:20:42,759
When we landed, we
were, like, so excited.
346
00:20:42,783 --> 00:20:46,367
Motown, we've arrived.
As songwriters, this is a dream come true.
347
00:20:46,454 --> 00:20:48,661
And we got in a taxi.
We said "Well, take us to Motown"
348
00:20:48,789 --> 00:20:52,373
and we got down to the two little
buildings on West Grand Boulevard.
349
00:20:52,460 --> 00:20:55,140
I said, "Hey, look,
we want to go to the main office."
350
00:20:55,337 --> 00:20:59,001
He said, "This is the only Motown I know.”
- That little "Hitsville U.S.A."
351
00:21:00,176 --> 00:21:02,884
But the hits were coming
out of that little building.
352
00:21:03,304 --> 00:21:07,889
Norman Whitfield, Holland-Dozier-Holland,
Smokey, they were all the greatest.
353
00:21:08,184 --> 00:21:11,104
They were coming up with songs that
you say... why didn't I think of that?
354
00:21:11,312 --> 00:21:14,020
Because of that Motown structure
355
00:21:14,106 --> 00:21:19,852
and because of the feelings of
all the producers and the writers
356
00:21:19,945 --> 00:21:22,983
and the freedom that Berry
Gordy gave all of us,
357
00:21:23,073 --> 00:21:25,405
it made that company
extremely prolific.
358
00:21:25,826 --> 00:21:29,740
"You Keep Me Hangin'
On" by The Supremes
359
00:21:29,830 --> 00:21:31,116
Being a teacher
360
00:21:31,207 --> 00:21:35,075
also means finding ways to
unlock people's true potential
361
00:21:35,252 --> 00:21:37,960
and at Motown,
we took that very seriously.
362
00:21:38,297 --> 00:21:40,914
Berry Gordy's great ability was
363
00:21:41,008 --> 00:21:44,592
to be able to sense the
talent that one had.
364
00:21:44,845 --> 00:21:51,091
I always felt that Marvin Gaye was so
much more talented than even he realised.
365
00:21:51,352 --> 00:21:54,470
Marvin wanted to be
another Frank Sinatra
366
00:21:54,772 --> 00:21:59,482
but that really wasn't his
style, but he is so good looking.
367
00:22:00,945 --> 00:22:03,778
It's a little difficult
trying to sing behind him
368
00:22:03,864 --> 00:22:05,730
and look at him
at the same time.
369
00:22:06,075 --> 00:22:08,737
He wanted to change his
career many times, you know?
370
00:22:08,828 --> 00:22:11,240
One time he wanted to
be a football player.
371
00:22:11,330 --> 00:22:13,116
A boxer, you know.
372
00:22:13,207 --> 00:22:15,118
He wanted to be an astronaut...
373
00:22:15,209 --> 00:22:17,997
You know, and I'm saying, "Marvin,
you know, you're a singer."
374
00:22:18,504 --> 00:22:21,087
You know, I started at
Motown as a jazz singer.
375
00:22:21,131 --> 00:22:23,088
I couldn't sell a bean.
376
00:22:23,175 --> 00:22:26,293
I was sitting at the piano all
night in a very depressed mood.
377
00:22:26,387 --> 00:22:28,173
So anyway, Berry blase-d in.
378
00:22:28,347 --> 00:22:30,492
So, he stopped me, he said,
"Listen, what are you doing?
379
00:22:30,516 --> 00:22:32,911
What are you singing there?" So,
I said "It's a song I'm writing."
380
00:22:32,935 --> 00:22:34,767
It was a jazz
version, I would say.
381
00:22:41,902 --> 00:22:43,643
You know, very jazzy, you know.
382
00:22:43,946 --> 00:22:45,882
He said, "Yeah,
but that's not gonna sell any records."
383
00:22:45,906 --> 00:22:49,240
I said, "Oh, well, you know,
I thought I'd give it the old try."
384
00:22:49,368 --> 00:22:54,659
Berry could sense what needed
to happen to make it pop.
385
00:22:55,332 --> 00:22:57,790
And I'm not saying
pop meaning pop music
386
00:22:57,877 --> 00:23:00,164
but I'm saying to make
it have that thing.
387
00:23:00,212 --> 00:23:01,652
So anyway, Berry said...
388
00:23:05,175 --> 00:23:07,712
I said "Oh, man,
that's killing my jazz, man."
389
00:23:07,761 --> 00:23:08,967
So then, he sings...
390
00:23:09,889 --> 00:23:11,575
So ll said, "Oh, well,
for Heaven's sakes."
391
00:23:11,599 --> 00:23:13,681
He said, "Now,
right here a group can say..."
392
00:23:16,854 --> 00:23:19,516
He finished it up and I said,
"Listen, it'll never sell a thing."
393
00:23:19,607 --> 00:23:22,269
And as it turned out,
it was a great big smash.
394
00:23:22,443 --> 00:23:24,730
"Stubborn Kind Of
Fellow" by Marvin Gaye
395
00:23:24,778 --> 00:23:28,237
♪ Qooohhhhh, hey, hey ♪
396
00:23:29,450 --> 00:23:35,822
♪ 1 try to put my arms around you All
because I want to hold you tight ♪
397
00:23:35,915 --> 00:23:37,246
♪ Hold you tight ♪
398
00:23:37,499 --> 00:23:41,834
♪ Every time I reach for you,
baby Try to kiss you, you jump ♪
399
00:23:41,921 --> 00:23:44,333
♪ Ooh! ♪
♪ Out of sight ♪
400
00:23:44,548 --> 00:23:51,545
♪ Hey now, I've got news for you Don't
you know I've made plans for two ♪
401
00:23:51,889 --> 00:23:57,384
♪ 1 guess I'm a stubborn kind of fellow
Got my mind made up to love you ♪
402
00:23:58,354 --> 00:24:00,095
♪ Oooh ♪
403
00:24:00,356 --> 00:24:03,144
♪ Baby, say yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
404
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:04,895
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
405
00:24:06,028 --> 00:24:08,486
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
406
00:24:08,572 --> 00:24:09,925
Berry made us great.
407
00:24:09,949 --> 00:24:13,442
I can't think of no other record
company where the head could sit down
408
00:24:13,577 --> 00:24:16,035
and write a song as
well as he could.
409
00:24:16,246 --> 00:24:18,487
♪ Mmm, mm mm mm ♪
410
00:24:18,582 --> 00:24:20,698
♪ Say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
411
00:24:20,793 --> 00:24:23,160
♪ Say yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
412
00:24:24,129 --> 00:24:26,587
HE GRUNTS THE TUNE Y'know?
413
00:24:32,179 --> 00:24:34,341
So, I came to Berry to be an
artist, you know?
414
00:24:34,473 --> 00:24:37,261
I was saying to myself,
I'm gonna be the next Jackie Wilson.
415
00:24:37,351 --> 00:24:39,718
So, Berry said,
"I heard you write songs and everything.
416
00:24:40,854 --> 00:24:43,471
So I'm singing my songs and he
said, "Your songs are great",
417
00:24:43,524 --> 00:24:44,810
but your voice is for shit."
418
00:24:45,234 --> 00:24:50,195
I said "What?" Man, I grabbed all my music
up off the floor, put it in my briefcase.
419
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,112
I'm walking out of here.
I'm done with this.
420
00:24:52,491 --> 00:24:56,576
He was so fast talking.
Slick, you know, from the street.
421
00:24:56,704 --> 00:24:59,036
And so, I said, "Well,
Mickey, what else can you do?"
422
00:24:59,123 --> 00:25:00,123
Can you do ARR?"
423
00:25:00,249 --> 00:25:01,518
You know, artist and repertoire.
424
00:25:01,542 --> 00:25:03,353
You handle the artists and
the music and all that.
425
00:25:03,377 --> 00:25:05,209
And he says, "Whatever it
is, I can do it."
426
00:25:05,254 --> 00:25:07,837
If it's anything to do with
music, man, I'm all over it, man."
427
00:25:07,965 --> 00:25:10,276
I say, "I record
anybody I wanna record?"
428
00:25:10,300 --> 00:25:11,540
"Anybody you wanna record."
429
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,469
I said,
"Can I record myself?" HE LAUGHS
430
00:25:15,848 --> 00:25:17,634
Berry told Mickey he
wanted a house band.
431
00:25:17,683 --> 00:25:20,266
What we're missing is a
band who can play funky.
432
00:25:20,352 --> 00:25:23,039
And he said, "I've got a session coming
up." I said, "Don't worry about it."
433
00:25:23,063 --> 00:25:28,274
"know guys that are so funky
they out-funk themselves."
434
00:25:28,986 --> 00:25:31,694
And the best musicians
were the jazz musicians
435
00:25:32,031 --> 00:25:34,739
and the brothers in Detroit,
they weren't making any money
436
00:25:34,825 --> 00:25:36,970
cos they weren't getting the
respect for what they were doing
437
00:25:36,994 --> 00:25:38,280
but they were still great.
438
00:25:38,495 --> 00:25:43,410
It's hard to define just how
important Detroit was to Motown.
439
00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:46,083
The whole migration
from the South
440
00:25:46,170 --> 00:25:50,755
and the automotive industry and the
churches and the clubs that sprang up
441
00:25:50,841 --> 00:25:54,755
would be a vessel
to discover talent.
442
00:25:54,887 --> 00:25:57,879
I mean, between the church
and the clubs and the corner,
443
00:25:58,515 --> 00:25:59,880
there was a lot going on.
444
00:26:00,184 --> 00:26:03,393
The groups that we had and we grew
up with in Detroit as teenagers,
445
00:26:03,729 --> 00:26:07,472
if you could not
do harmony on key,
446
00:26:07,941 --> 00:26:12,026
you were lousy and they would tell
you, "Get the hell out of here."
447
00:26:12,112 --> 00:26:13,227
"And get off the corner."
448
00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:19,866
They were so smart.
449
00:26:19,953 --> 00:26:22,223
He said something about "my
mama", that was called the Dozens.
450
00:26:22,247 --> 00:26:25,911
And I said, "Wait a minute. I don't want you
talking about my mama. I don't play that."
451
00:26:26,001 --> 00:26:29,289
"Oh, you don't play that?
Well, then pat your foot while I play it."
452
00:26:29,379 --> 00:26:32,462
You know,
then he would do the hambone on me.
453
00:26:32,633 --> 00:26:34,944
You don't do the hambone, man?
I didn't think you could hambone.
454
00:26:34,968 --> 00:26:36,003
I hambone, I...
455
00:26:38,263 --> 00:26:40,675
Boy, that used to be the thing,
the hambone. I'm telling you.
456
00:26:40,724 --> 00:26:44,137
Yeah, and I'd do that and then
I would make up a song, yeah.
457
00:26:44,436 --> 00:26:46,848
"Me and your momma." THEY LAUGH
458
00:26:47,272 --> 00:26:49,730
So, music existed
in the community
459
00:26:49,942 --> 00:26:52,809
but it took a place
like Hitsville
460
00:26:52,903 --> 00:26:57,488
to sort of give those people a
place to come to collaborate.
461
00:26:57,533 --> 00:26:58,802
So, I would pick 'em.
462
00:26:58,826 --> 00:27:01,488
I finally put together
a great unit of guys.
463
00:27:01,620 --> 00:27:04,829
And they became the Funk Brothers
and they became our house band.
464
00:27:04,998 --> 00:27:08,787
We hired the jazz musicians cos they
were smarter than normal musicians.
465
00:27:08,877 --> 00:27:10,037
They could do all this stuff.
466
00:27:10,212 --> 00:27:14,957
But Jamerson, who was always doing up
beats and down beats and jazzy things,
467
00:27:15,092 --> 00:27:16,423
he would get off the beat.
468
00:27:16,510 --> 00:27:18,342
I'd look around,
I'd be walking over to him,
469
00:27:18,470 --> 00:27:24,762
and he'd be up and then he'd catch himself
and he'd do a whole arpeggio and stuff.
470
00:27:24,852 --> 00:27:29,471
Da da da da da da da da!
Doom, doom, doom, doom-doom.
471
00:27:29,565 --> 00:27:32,808
You know, and he was right on the...
and I would get him and I'd get there
472
00:27:32,901 --> 00:27:35,182
and he was sounding so good,
I said, "That's pretty good."
473
00:27:35,362 --> 00:27:36,727
Can you do that riff again?"
474
00:27:36,947 --> 00:27:40,235
When I think of Benny
Benjamin and James Jamerson,
475
00:27:40,284 --> 00:27:44,323
and Robert White and Earl Van Dyke,
Thomasina and on and on and on,
476
00:27:44,413 --> 00:27:49,158
you've got to know that I was picking
up from all those various musicians,
477
00:27:49,459 --> 00:27:51,041
trying to figure
out how to do it.
478
00:27:51,461 --> 00:27:56,251
Paul Riser, when he came to do an
arrangement, he was only 18 years old.
479
00:27:56,383 --> 00:28:00,377
One of the greatest arrangers ever.
Just out of high school.
480
00:28:00,470 --> 00:28:04,714
I was classically trained,
and enjoyed nothing but classical.
481
00:28:04,808 --> 00:28:07,766
I thought that R&B music
was just the worst, OK?
482
00:28:07,936 --> 00:28:11,474
You also have, in Detroit,
a big investment in public education.
483
00:28:11,607 --> 00:28:15,601
They had an incredible public music
programme in these high schools,
484
00:28:15,903 --> 00:28:18,190
and Motown artists came
from these communities.
485
00:28:18,530 --> 00:28:19,941
Back when I was in school,
486
00:28:20,032 --> 00:28:26,074
Ford Motor Company would give the class
tickets to go see the Detroit Symphony.
487
00:28:26,330 --> 00:28:30,870
I saw them playing violins,
French horns and oboes and bassoons...
488
00:28:34,963 --> 00:28:38,376
I thought that was the greatest sound
ever, you know what I mean?
489
00:28:38,717 --> 00:28:40,503
So that's what got me going.
490
00:28:42,387 --> 00:28:46,631
Was something about what was in
that soil in Detroit, you know,
491
00:28:46,725 --> 00:28:49,308
that just sort of...
folks came up.
492
00:28:50,771 --> 00:28:54,059
I've been in some, you know,
really cool company in the studio,
493
00:28:54,149 --> 00:28:58,484
but having that group of creative people
in the same room, it's just incredible.
494
00:28:58,779 --> 00:29:01,090
And they were actually playing
real instruments back then too,
495
00:29:01,114 --> 00:29:04,357
like, they actually could play
the piano and play the drums
496
00:29:04,576 --> 00:29:06,943
and no machines needed.
497
00:29:12,209 --> 00:29:15,952
I didn't know much about Hitsville U.S.A.
because I lived on the east side.
498
00:29:16,171 --> 00:29:20,290
Anyway, I dared take that coach and
go to 2648 West Grand Boulevard,
499
00:29:20,550 --> 00:29:22,757
and what a world I walked into.
500
00:29:22,844 --> 00:29:24,960
She came to audition
a few times.
501
00:29:25,138 --> 00:29:30,304
I would find nice ways of saying,
"Martha, you know, come back later."
502
00:29:30,602 --> 00:29:33,219
And I must have looked like
I was gonna cry or something,
503
00:29:33,313 --> 00:29:35,520
cos he said, "Answer this phone.
I'll be right back."
504
00:29:35,732 --> 00:29:38,099
This "right back"
was four hours.
505
00:29:38,277 --> 00:29:40,922
I walk in my office,
and before I could speak, she says,
506
00:29:40,946 --> 00:29:43,424
"You've got an important call
from such and such and so and so,
507
00:29:43,448 --> 00:29:46,386
and this one right here, and I think you
ought to answer this line right here."
508
00:29:46,410 --> 00:29:50,028
So I said, "Martha, how would you
like to work as my secretary?"
509
00:29:50,122 --> 00:29:51,863
She says, "OK."
510
00:29:51,957 --> 00:29:53,893
It was just everybody
working in the same spirit,
511
00:29:53,917 --> 00:29:58,036
everybody with one accord, making hit
records, and it was great to be there.
512
00:29:58,380 --> 00:30:01,589
We were recording sometimes
tracks without the singer,
513
00:30:01,675 --> 00:30:05,964
and according to the Union,
you had to have a singer singing it live.
514
00:30:06,054 --> 00:30:08,091
You couldn't do
tracks in those days.
515
00:30:08,348 --> 00:30:11,215
And I was doing pretty
good in the office,
516
00:30:11,601 --> 00:30:13,683
but when the Union man
made a surprise visit...
517
00:30:13,937 --> 00:30:15,268
Everybody went crazy, saying,
518
00:30:15,355 --> 00:30:18,848
"Well, you're doing a session in
there and the Union guy is coming."
519
00:30:18,942 --> 00:30:20,524
You know,
"The Union guy is coming!"
520
00:30:20,819 --> 00:30:23,277
We told Mickey, "Man,
we've got to put somebody on the mic."
521
00:30:23,322 --> 00:30:25,404
His secretary overheard it.
"I'll do it!"
522
00:30:25,699 --> 00:30:28,236
That was the chance she was
waiting for all this time.
523
00:30:28,327 --> 00:30:30,694
"Dancing In The Street"
by Martha & The Vandellas
524
00:30:30,746 --> 00:30:34,284
Then she grabbed the mic and started
singing it, and she was Martha.
525
00:30:35,834 --> 00:30:42,627
♪ Calling out around the world,
are you ready for a brand new beat? ♪
526
00:30:43,759 --> 00:30:49,971
♪ Summer's here and the time is
right for dancing in the street ♪
527
00:30:50,057 --> 00:30:53,641
♪ They're dancing in Chicago ♪
528
00:30:54,353 --> 00:30:56,685
What happened was,
you have a preacher.
529
00:30:57,272 --> 00:31:01,766
He was standing in front of the pulpit
with his arms open wide, saying,
530
00:31:02,277 --> 00:31:06,521
"The door to the church is now
open," and everybody came in.
531
00:31:06,615 --> 00:31:11,701
All kind of people doing all kind of
things and getting fulfilled with spirit.
532
00:31:12,371 --> 00:31:16,990
♪ And records playing
Dancing in the street ♪
533
00:31:17,084 --> 00:31:24,457
♪ Oh, it doesn't matter what you
wear Just as long as you are there ♪
534
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:32,764
♪ So come on, every guy,
grab a girl Everywhere around the world ♪
535
00:31:32,891 --> 00:31:34,552
♪ There'll be dancing... ♪
536
00:31:34,684 --> 00:31:36,391
And these were exciting times
537
00:31:36,436 --> 00:31:39,303
because it's the first time you're
hearing, you know, rock and roll
538
00:31:39,564 --> 00:31:41,896
in our city and
people that we knew.
539
00:31:42,818 --> 00:31:44,650
♪ Across the nation ♪
540
00:31:45,195 --> 00:31:47,027
- I - witnessed Stevie Wonder
541
00:31:47,989 --> 00:31:49,104
coming to Hitsville.
542
00:31:49,324 --> 00:31:51,907
I was, what,
11 years old when I went to Motown.
543
00:31:51,952 --> 00:31:55,741
That particular day, Smokey was at
Motown, and he said, you know,
544
00:31:55,789 --> 00:31:58,351
"I heard you can sing." I said, "Yeah,
I can sing even better than you."
545
00:31:58,375 --> 00:32:00,582
I was like, you know,
a little smart-mouthed kid.
546
00:32:00,669 --> 00:32:03,286
Everything Stevie
played looked genius.
547
00:32:03,380 --> 00:32:05,191
But we didn't know what a genius
was, right?
548
00:32:05,215 --> 00:32:07,582
For me, it was like
going into a candy shop.
549
00:32:07,801 --> 00:32:09,883
A place where all these
instruments were around.
550
00:32:09,970 --> 00:32:12,837
So, he sat down at that
big, long grand piano
551
00:32:13,098 --> 00:32:16,432
and he played it as if he
had known Liberace himself.
552
00:32:16,518 --> 00:32:18,225
I said, "My,
this baby's talented."
553
00:32:18,645 --> 00:32:21,057
He went to the full set of drums.
He was so good.
554
00:32:21,106 --> 00:32:23,814
When he jumped on the
organ, played the organ.
555
00:32:23,859 --> 00:32:26,021
Sat him on a stool and
gave him the bongos.
556
00:32:26,236 --> 00:32:28,876
Next, he stood up and he took a
little harmonica out of his pocket.
557
00:32:29,531 --> 00:32:30,737
He could play everything.
558
00:32:30,824 --> 00:32:34,408
And we were like, OK,
that's what a genius is.
559
00:32:34,828 --> 00:32:36,569
Berry Gordy said,
"This kid is a wonder."
560
00:32:36,955 --> 00:32:40,914
I probably was paying very
little attention to people
561
00:32:41,042 --> 00:32:43,704
and I'd say, "Oh," you know,
“I'm glad to meet you. OK."
562
00:32:44,963 --> 00:32:49,298
I think until I got to Diana Ross and I heard
that voice. It was like, OK, I'm in love.
563
00:32:49,551 --> 00:32:51,167
You know, goodbye instruments.
564
00:32:57,225 --> 00:33:00,934
How about it, ladies and gentlemen?
A cheer for the young man, Stevie Wonder.
565
00:33:01,021 --> 00:33:03,433
- He even wrote a song at the Apollo.
- Yeah.
566
00:33:03,482 --> 00:33:05,722
Called "Fingertips," which
went to number one, I believe.
567
00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:08,308
Because he wanted to
get more excitement,
568
00:33:08,528 --> 00:33:10,144
so he came out for his bow.
569
00:33:10,238 --> 00:33:11,319
Instead of taking a bow,
570
00:33:11,406 --> 00:33:13,843
he told the audience,
"Clap your hands just a little bit louder.
571
00:33:13,867 --> 00:33:16,029
Clap your hands just
a little bit louder!"
572
00:33:16,119 --> 00:33:18,235
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
573
00:33:18,788 --> 00:33:22,281
♪ Clap your hands just
a little bit louder ♪
574
00:33:22,417 --> 00:33:24,337
♪ Clap your hands
just a little... ♪
575
00:33:24,377 --> 00:33:26,857
You know, and everybody started
getting up going and everything
576
00:33:26,922 --> 00:33:28,083
and it got good to him,
577
00:33:28,173 --> 00:33:30,790
and the people was clapping
their hands and he wrote a song.
578
00:33:31,009 --> 00:33:34,923
- ♪ Everybody say yeah! ♪
- Yeah!
579
00:33:35,055 --> 00:33:40,721
- ♪ Say yeah! ♪ - Yeah!
580
00:33:40,810 --> 00:33:42,392
- ♪ Yeah ♪ - Yeah!
581
00:33:42,479 --> 00:33:44,390
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
582
00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:06,913
That particular night
was an amazing night.
583
00:34:07,003 --> 00:34:09,461
The girls were screaming
and all this kind of stuff.
584
00:34:09,589 --> 00:34:15,050
That was probably the really first
time that I understood the power of,
585
00:34:15,220 --> 00:34:17,507
you know, when you do a
performance a certain way,
586
00:34:17,681 --> 00:34:19,592
you get the kind of
reaction that you get.
587
00:34:20,308 --> 00:34:21,844
We blew the house out.
588
00:34:22,727 --> 00:34:23,727
♪ Yeah ♪
589
00:34:24,020 --> 00:34:27,308
♪ Now goodbye, goodbye,
goodbye, goodbye ♪
590
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,556
♪ Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye ♪
591
00:34:29,651 --> 00:34:31,358
Motown, in the earlier days,
592
00:34:31,444 --> 00:34:37,190
was like going to Disneyland, you
know, but it was a musical Disneyland.
593
00:34:37,284 --> 00:34:39,901
I mean, you could walk
through the halls of Motown
594
00:34:40,161 --> 00:34:43,324
and see Marvin Gaye playing
the piano over in the corner.
595
00:34:44,082 --> 00:34:47,700
You would see the Holland Brothers
running down with their music
596
00:34:47,794 --> 00:34:49,626
saying, "Man,
I think it should be like this."
597
00:34:49,713 --> 00:34:52,501
It was upstairs in the
hallway of the house
598
00:34:52,591 --> 00:34:55,504
and I was just banging...
599
00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:58,752
I said, man, that's really funky, man.
What's the name of that?
600
00:34:58,805 --> 00:35:00,366
He looked at me and
said, "I don't know yet."
601
00:35:00,390 --> 00:35:02,076
I said, "Man,
what you gonna do with that?"
602
00:35:02,100 --> 00:35:04,637
Is somebody gonna sing it or what?" I
said, "You want it?"
603
00:35:04,811 --> 00:35:07,098
- I said yeah!
- By the following Monday,
604
00:35:07,188 --> 00:35:10,146
we had everybody come in
and putting background.
605
00:35:10,233 --> 00:35:12,353
Smokey,
coming into the reception area,
606
00:35:12,444 --> 00:35:14,310
I think the Supremes
were sitting there too.
607
00:35:14,613 --> 00:35:17,526
And he said, "I want everybody
to come in the studio!"
608
00:35:17,616 --> 00:35:19,106
Just like that,
in his pretty voice.
609
00:35:19,284 --> 00:35:20,524
He said, "Repeat after me."
610
00:35:20,702 --> 00:35:22,192
"Come on, is everybody ready?
Yeah!"
611
00:35:22,245 --> 00:35:24,348
- Alright, is everybody ready?
- Yeah!
612
00:35:24,372 --> 00:35:27,310
"Mickey's Monkey," singing on
that, of course, is the Miracles.
613
00:35:27,334 --> 00:35:28,686
Martha and the Vandellas.
614
00:35:28,710 --> 00:35:30,997
- Two of the Temptations.
- The Marvelettes.
615
00:35:31,046 --> 00:35:31,956
Mary Wilson.
616
00:35:32,047 --> 00:35:35,961
Probably had more artists on it than
any other song that I could remember.
617
00:35:36,051 --> 00:35:37,862
He said "OK,
start the music, come on!"
618
00:35:37,886 --> 00:35:39,297
SHE SINGS ♪ Lum di lum di lie ♪
619
00:35:39,387 --> 00:35:41,924
"Mickey's Monkey" by The
Miracles ♪ Lum di lum di lie ♪
620
00:35:42,057 --> 00:35:43,263
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
621
00:35:45,018 --> 00:35:46,018
♪ Alright ♪
622
00:35:47,020 --> 00:35:48,055
♪ Yeah ♪
623
00:35:52,859 --> 00:35:55,396
♪ This cat named Mickey came
from out of town, yeah ♪
624
00:35:57,864 --> 00:36:00,481
♪ He was spreading a
new dance all around ♪
625
00:36:02,911 --> 00:36:06,074
♪ In just a matter of a few
days, yeah ♪
626
00:36:06,206 --> 00:36:09,415
It was the young people making
music, getting our feet wet.
627
00:36:09,876 --> 00:36:15,872
I think that the way we had Motown was
a once in a lifetime musical event.
628
00:36:17,133 --> 00:36:19,465
You can never get
the amount of talent
629
00:36:19,552 --> 00:36:21,463
that was in one room in Motown.
630
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,048
Stevland, Marvin Gaye,
Diana Ross, the Supremes.
631
00:36:25,350 --> 00:36:30,140
Oh, all these people
who are Juggernauts...
632
00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:34,140
and you look at a
young Michael Jackson.
633
00:36:34,901 --> 00:36:36,892
You know,
and Smokey Robinson talks about
634
00:36:36,986 --> 00:36:40,980
seeing Michael Jackson for the first time
and just going, like, "What is that?"
635
00:36:41,116 --> 00:36:44,484
♪ Baby, baby,
baby Give me baby, baby ♪
636
00:36:44,577 --> 00:36:47,490
♪ Give me baby,
baby Give me baby ♪
637
00:37:14,107 --> 00:37:16,940
I got a telephone call
from Mr Gordy one night.
638
00:37:17,318 --> 00:37:21,152
"Listen, we just signed this
group called the Jackson Five.
639
00:37:21,740 --> 00:37:25,108
You're gonna be their manager,
so you better come down."
640
00:37:25,452 --> 00:37:28,410
He said, "This is Shelly Berger.
Show him what you can do."
641
00:37:28,496 --> 00:37:31,579
They started doing this Smokey
Robinson, "Who's Loving You."
642
00:37:31,958 --> 00:37:34,199
There is talent
and there is talent
643
00:37:34,544 --> 00:37:37,002
and there is talent,
and then there's a genius.
644
00:37:37,088 --> 00:37:39,580
And then he said...
♪ When I... ♪
645
00:37:39,841 --> 00:37:46,588
♪ When I had you ♪
646
00:37:47,056 --> 00:37:53,348
♪ [ Treated you bad ♪
647
00:37:53,938 --> 00:37:56,305
♪ And wrong, my dear ♪
648
00:37:56,483 --> 00:38:03,526
♪ And ever since
you've been away ♪
649
00:38:04,157 --> 00:38:12,157
♪ Don't ya know [ sit around
with my head hanging down ♪
650
00:38:13,208 --> 00:38:15,540
♪ And I wonder ♪
651
00:38:15,668 --> 00:38:23,668
♪ Who's loving you ♪
652
00:38:27,055 --> 00:38:30,173
And the only songs we learned back
in those days was the Motown songs,
653
00:38:30,225 --> 00:38:32,262
cos they were the biggest
songs on the radio
654
00:38:32,352 --> 00:38:34,872
and actually, you know, we were in
the recording studio after that.
655
00:38:34,896 --> 00:38:39,515
There was Marvin Gaye,
there was Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson.
656
00:38:39,776 --> 00:38:41,858
And we had to sing their
songs in front of them.
657
00:38:41,986 --> 00:38:43,101
I was so nervous.
658
00:38:43,363 --> 00:38:45,274
You know,
whenever I sing "Who's Loving You,"
659
00:38:45,365 --> 00:38:48,525
especially young people, they go to me,
"Why'd you sing Michael Jackson's song?"
660
00:38:48,827 --> 00:38:52,320
"Oh, Michael Jackson's song? I wrote this
song before Michael Jackson was born."
661
00:38:52,497 --> 00:38:55,615
THEY LAUGH He has...
That's his song now.
662
00:38:55,708 --> 00:38:57,428
"Who's Loving You" is
Michael Jackson's song
663
00:38:57,460 --> 00:39:00,373
and all the people that you hear
singing it now, sing it like him.
664
00:39:04,384 --> 00:39:08,423
As the company grew,
so did the challenges of managing a team.
665
00:39:09,097 --> 00:39:13,341
I realised that I needed to not
only give them direction in music,
666
00:39:13,434 --> 00:39:19,055
but whatever I had learned about
life, I could use that in some way,
667
00:39:19,274 --> 00:39:22,187
pushing people, but not making
them feel they were being pushed
668
00:39:22,235 --> 00:39:27,401
so I created competition.
You know, "Beat me if you can."
669
00:39:27,490 --> 00:39:31,108
Have a better record than I have."
And, of course, many of them did.
670
00:39:31,911 --> 00:39:38,203
The competition grew and developed,
one feeding off the other.
671
00:39:38,459 --> 00:39:43,044
And it made you
sharpen your tools.
672
00:39:43,131 --> 00:39:45,338
You know,
it made you dig a little deeper,
673
00:39:45,425 --> 00:39:47,837
to come up with something
that would stand apart.
674
00:39:47,969 --> 00:39:49,801
Competition breeds champions.
675
00:39:49,888 --> 00:39:52,880
But remember, you can't let the
competition get in the way of the love.
676
00:39:53,057 --> 00:39:56,266
If you were producing an
artist, say Stevie,
677
00:39:56,394 --> 00:40:00,558
you would want him to have a hit,
and if I see you working with him,
678
00:40:00,857 --> 00:40:04,691
I want him to have a hit as well,
because if they become successful,
679
00:40:04,777 --> 00:40:08,315
everybody has an opportunity to
work with that artist as well.
680
00:40:08,573 --> 00:40:09,734
So, artists would love that.
681
00:40:09,782 --> 00:40:14,948
You take love out the
picture - it's ego, jealousy.
682
00:40:15,121 --> 00:40:17,829
Stuff that can kill
any organisation.
683
00:40:18,291 --> 00:40:19,611
I always asked...
684
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:26,630
But he couldn't, he was writing material
for the Miracles and for Mary Wells.
685
00:40:26,925 --> 00:40:28,777
The best thing that
happened for the Temptations
686
00:40:28,801 --> 00:40:30,667
was when Mary Wells
left the company.
687
00:40:30,803 --> 00:40:32,544
That opened him up for us.
688
00:40:32,764 --> 00:40:35,005
The Temptations,
we were trying to get some hits on them.
689
00:40:35,058 --> 00:40:36,658
We couldn't get any hits
until, finally,
690
00:40:36,768 --> 00:40:39,226
I got a hit on them with "The
Way You Do The Things You Do"
691
00:40:39,270 --> 00:40:42,137
using Eddie Kendricks'
voice to sing lead vocal.
692
00:40:42,357 --> 00:40:44,849
♪ You got a smile so bright ♪
693
00:40:46,194 --> 00:40:49,232
♪ You know you could've
been a candle ♪
694
00:40:49,781 --> 00:40:51,818
So I looked at the
lyrics, I said,
695
00:40:51,991 --> 00:40:54,904
"Got a smile so bright,
you could've been a candle.
696
00:40:55,036 --> 00:40:58,654
That's some hokey sh... Mm, yeah,
Smokey would just laugh and say, "Yeah."
697
00:40:58,790 --> 00:41:01,327
♪ Swept me off my feet ♪
698
00:41:01,584 --> 00:41:03,541
My greatest competitor
699
00:41:03,670 --> 00:41:07,504
for getting music out on the
Temptations was Normal Whitfield.
700
00:41:07,882 --> 00:41:13,173
They had a contest to see who could break
the Beatles' command on the top five.
701
00:41:13,262 --> 00:41:15,094
It was that kind of a contest.
702
00:41:15,181 --> 00:41:18,845
I was hurt many times
by not having releases.
703
00:41:19,060 --> 00:41:22,553
That made me stronger,
enough to get the public
704
00:41:22,939 --> 00:41:27,775
and Mr Gordy to get away from
that Smokey Robinson sound.
705
00:41:28,111 --> 00:41:30,853
Norman Whitfield came
to me and he said,
706
00:41:30,947 --> 00:41:35,282
"If he will write the lyric for me,
then get this, the release on them."”
707
00:41:35,576 --> 00:41:37,692
I said, "Man,
leave the Temptations alone."
708
00:41:38,037 --> 00:41:42,998
Now you know darn well, trying to
beat Smokey out, you've got problems."
709
00:41:43,084 --> 00:41:45,792
He said, "Ed, Ed.
I think this is it."
710
00:41:46,004 --> 00:41:49,372
"Girl, Why You Wanna Make
Me Blue" by The Temptations
711
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:54,460
Norman Whitfield came up
712
00:41:54,554 --> 00:41:57,546
and he kinda knocked
Smokey out of that release,
713
00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,040
so Smokey was not
happy about that.
714
00:42:00,059 --> 00:42:03,222
♪ I love you, girl,
with all my heart and soul ♪
715
00:42:03,312 --> 00:42:05,874
And they were all using Eddie
Kendricks to sing the lead
716
00:42:05,898 --> 00:42:07,559
cos that was the first
hit they ever had.
717
00:42:07,650 --> 00:42:10,370
Heck, I knew Paul Williams and David
Ruff in were in that group, man,
718
00:42:10,445 --> 00:42:13,654
who were awesome singers,
so I wanted to write something for them.
719
00:42:14,282 --> 00:42:16,819
♪ Girl, girl, girl ♪
720
00:42:17,577 --> 00:42:20,239
Everybody was bragging about
Norman knocking him out,
721
00:42:20,371 --> 00:42:26,868
so when he said, "I've got a new record
on the Temptations to follow up My Guy..."
722
00:42:28,671 --> 00:42:34,917
♪ Nothing you can say could
tear me away from my guy ♪
723
00:42:35,553 --> 00:42:37,114
That would settle the score.
724
00:42:37,138 --> 00:42:39,425
He said, "I'm coming up
with a new record, My Girl."
725
00:42:39,515 --> 00:42:43,304
And so, of course, we thought that was
the most ridiculous thing we ever heard.
726
00:42:46,230 --> 00:42:48,500
Il mean, you come up with "My Guy,”
you can't come up with "My Girl.”
727
00:42:48,524 --> 00:42:51,642
What you gonna do,
"My Mother-in-Law" you know, "My Wife"?
728
00:42:52,111 --> 00:42:53,672
I was actually writing "My Girl"
729
00:42:53,696 --> 00:42:56,438
because I thought that David
Ruff in had such a great voice.
730
00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,943
He had this unique voice and I just
wanted it to be kind of, like, isolated.
731
00:43:01,079 --> 00:43:02,240
So, we were recording it,
732
00:43:02,288 --> 00:43:05,121
you know, we were running it
down and I had Jamerson play...
733
00:43:10,004 --> 00:43:11,620
So, we were just
still running it down.
734
00:43:11,714 --> 00:43:14,502
We hadn't even started to
record it yet and Robert White,
735
00:43:14,592 --> 00:43:16,653
you know, he was the lead
guitarist for the Funk Brothers,
736
00:43:16,677 --> 00:43:20,011
Robert stood up and started walking
around the studio with his guitar
737
00:43:20,056 --> 00:43:23,970
and he was just playing, bom,
bom-bom bom-bom bom, bom,
738
00:43:24,060 --> 00:43:24,970
just walking around.
739
00:43:25,061 --> 00:43:28,224
And he started laughing, "Oh no,
no, no, no, man. No, no, no."
740
00:43:28,314 --> 00:43:31,056
And I said "No, no, no, no?
Are you kidding?"
741
00:43:31,150 --> 00:43:33,608
BERRY LAUGHS - That's in the record!
That's on the thing.
742
00:43:33,653 --> 00:43:35,773
And it became one of the
most famous guitar riffs ever
743
00:43:35,822 --> 00:43:37,062
and he was just kidding around.
744
00:43:37,490 --> 00:43:41,154
"My Girl" by The Temptations
745
00:43:48,668 --> 00:43:50,668
We were appearing
at the 20 Grand...
746
00:43:50,711 --> 00:43:52,668
CROWD CHEERS and the
place went crazy,
747
00:43:52,755 --> 00:43:56,248
and Smokey came by and he came
backstage, and he said,
748
00:43:56,342 --> 00:44:02,088
"Man, I got a song for you guys
that I think will be a smash."
749
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,349
So, us being young and cocky, "Man,
bring it on. We'll sing anything."
750
00:44:07,061 --> 00:44:14,149
♪ I've got sunshine
on a cloudy day ♪
751
00:44:16,779 --> 00:44:23,572
♪ When it's cold outside
I've got the month of May ♪
752
00:44:26,330 --> 00:44:34,330
♪ I guess you'd say What
can make me feel this way? ♪
753
00:44:35,423 --> 00:44:38,757
♪ My girl ♪
754
00:44:38,926 --> 00:44:43,215
♪ Talking about my girl ♪
755
00:44:43,681 --> 00:44:47,640
When Paul Riser added the
strings and the horns,
756
00:44:47,935 --> 00:44:49,972
"My Girl" took on a whole
'nother kind of life.
757
00:44:50,396 --> 00:44:53,809
So I took my classical
training and put it to use
758
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:59,110
and we came up with "My
Girl" as you hear it today.
759
00:45:00,114 --> 00:45:03,857
"My Girl" by the Temptations
760
00:45:28,726 --> 00:45:32,094
♪ My girl ♪
761
00:45:32,230 --> 00:45:36,599
♪ Talking about my girl ♪
762
00:45:36,776 --> 00:45:41,316
♪ Ooooh-ooh ♪
763
00:45:41,530 --> 00:45:45,489
Smokey Robinson sent a record
up there called "My Girl."
764
00:45:45,826 --> 00:45:49,160
I refused to go in the studio.
I was just totally wiped out.
765
00:45:49,789 --> 00:45:53,953
February 1965, Mr Gordy sent
us a congratulation telegram.
766
00:45:54,043 --> 00:45:58,128
It said that we had sold over a
million records and we were number one,
767
00:45:58,339 --> 00:46:02,048
and also the Beatles sent us
a telegram congratulating us.
768
00:46:02,176 --> 00:46:04,634
I have it hanging
up in my house.
769
00:46:04,887 --> 00:46:11,850
♪ I don't need no
money, fortune or fame ♪
770
00:46:13,938 --> 00:46:21,186
♪ I've got all the riches,
baby One man can claim ♪
771
00:46:21,696 --> 00:46:24,233
People have asked
me a thousand times
772
00:46:24,699 --> 00:46:28,317
"Hey man, aren't you sorry you
didn't keep My Girl for yourself?"
773
00:46:28,869 --> 00:46:32,078
Had it not been for the Temptations
and David Ruff in and Norman Whitfield,
774
00:46:32,123 --> 00:46:34,123
I probably would have never
even written "My Girl."
775
00:46:34,375 --> 00:46:35,991
Berry wanted us
to be competitive.
776
00:46:36,168 --> 00:46:39,411
We were fiercely competitive against
each other, but we helped each other.
777
00:46:40,006 --> 00:46:41,246
The Motown family.
778
00:46:47,013 --> 00:46:50,256
Quality control was
something that I picked up
779
00:46:50,433 --> 00:46:51,673
from the Ford Motor Company.
780
00:46:51,809 --> 00:46:55,552
After the assembly line was done,
it still had to go to quality control,
781
00:46:55,938 --> 00:46:58,270
to make sure that the
quality was there.
782
00:46:58,607 --> 00:47:02,976
You bring your record in on said artist
and you play it and then you get a vote.
783
00:47:03,237 --> 00:47:05,478
The main thing,
it was to get hits.
784
00:47:05,781 --> 00:47:07,592
So, if somebody's record
was better than yours,
785
00:47:07,616 --> 00:47:10,608
you're looking at the
company as a whole.
786
00:47:10,995 --> 00:47:14,829
Those quality control meetings were
beautiful and loving, but vicious.
787
00:47:21,505 --> 00:47:25,214
OK, can we finish our meeting here?
It's afternoon now.
788
00:47:25,343 --> 00:47:27,112
We're getting to the
conclusions of assignments,
789
00:47:27,136 --> 00:47:30,629
a decision will be made on the
Temptations record, which side is it?
790
00:47:30,890 --> 00:47:32,801
- "My Girl."
- "My Girl"?
791
00:47:33,100 --> 00:47:36,218
How many think that's not a hit?
How many think it is a hit?
792
00:47:36,771 --> 00:47:38,261
How many's undecided?
793
00:47:39,899 --> 00:47:40,979
OK, what are your comments?
794
00:47:59,502 --> 00:48:01,243
No, you can't pass.
795
00:48:01,337 --> 00:48:02,418
That's not fair!
796
00:48:10,888 --> 00:48:12,424
You think it's a hit record?
797
00:48:22,566 --> 00:48:25,274
To be in there with a bunch of
guys that you're competing with
798
00:48:25,403 --> 00:48:28,737
and yet they're constructively
giving you some information
799
00:48:28,823 --> 00:48:30,905
that they think will
make your product better.
800
00:48:31,075 --> 00:48:32,928
You could tell that the
writers had been sit down
801
00:48:32,952 --> 00:48:35,990
and talked to and trained.
The beat was solid.
802
00:48:36,288 --> 00:48:39,497
Old Jamerson had that base out
there, you understand me?
803
00:48:39,583 --> 00:48:42,496
It was way out there.
They didn't just throw a record out.
804
00:48:42,586 --> 00:48:47,422
You could tell that record was docked
on, it was nourished, it was beat.
805
00:48:47,508 --> 00:48:49,795
You're talking about some whoop, you know?
It was whooped.
806
00:48:50,177 --> 00:48:52,043
"Tracks Of My Tears"
was one of those songs.
807
00:48:52,388 --> 00:48:55,409
The first time I took it in there, you
know, they listened to it and they said,
808
00:48:55,433 --> 00:48:56,743
"Oh yeah, man,
that's a good song.
809
00:48:56,767 --> 00:49:00,180
That's really good, man,
but you ended it up wrong."
810
00:49:00,729 --> 00:49:05,314
"The Tracks of my Tears" ♪ So
take a good look at my face ♪
811
00:49:05,818 --> 00:49:08,230
♪ You'll see my smile.. ♪
812
00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:10,048
Cos I didn't end it
up with the chorus.
813
00:49:10,072 --> 00:49:13,352
It wasn't ending up with "Take a good look
at my face," it wasn't ending with that.
814
00:49:13,576 --> 00:49:16,296
I was ending it up with that lil
groove thing, "I need you, need you"
815
00:49:16,412 --> 00:49:18,390
and they all looked at me and
say, "Are you crazy?"
816
00:49:18,414 --> 00:49:20,517
As strong as the chorus is,
you're gonna end that with that?"
817
00:49:20,541 --> 00:49:23,078
♪ ll need you ♪
818
00:49:23,752 --> 00:49:26,164
"You've got to back and
change that," so I did.
819
00:49:26,547 --> 00:49:31,462
♪ Yeah, just look closer
and it's easy to trace
820
00:49:31,594 --> 00:49:34,382
♪ Oh, the tracks of my tears ♪
821
00:49:34,555 --> 00:49:37,718
♪ Baby, baby, baby, baby ♪
822
00:49:37,808 --> 00:49:40,641
♪ Take a good look at... ♪
823
00:49:40,769 --> 00:49:46,230
♪ Oh yeah, you'll see my
smile looks out of place ♪
824
00:49:46,317 --> 00:49:49,184
♪ Look a little bit closer ♪
825
00:49:49,320 --> 00:49:52,403
And so, they were cutthroat,
but they were constructive.
826
00:49:53,032 --> 00:49:54,193
There was nothing like it.
827
00:49:54,700 --> 00:49:56,316
Berry had a great ear.
828
00:49:56,410 --> 00:50:00,620
He was always saying if you don't get
'em in the first four to eight bars,
829
00:50:00,831 --> 00:50:02,392
you've got to go back
to the drawing board.
830
00:50:02,416 --> 00:50:03,727
He used to say
that all the time.
831
00:50:03,751 --> 00:50:05,520
"We've got to get 'em in
the first ten seconds."
832
00:50:05,544 --> 00:50:07,706
We used to try and go for
these fabulous intros.
833
00:50:07,796 --> 00:50:10,192
You know, something that would
catch your attention immediately.
834
00:50:10,216 --> 00:50:11,297
And that's...
835
00:50:14,803 --> 00:50:16,259
♪ Sugar pie, honey bunch ♪
836
00:50:16,388 --> 00:50:20,347
"I Can't Help Myself" by Four
Tops ♪ You know that I love you ♪
837
00:50:23,145 --> 00:50:25,933
"Get Ready" by the Temptations
838
00:50:27,358 --> 00:50:29,770
Boom!
♪ I know you want to leave me ♪
839
00:50:29,818 --> 00:50:31,379
"Ain't Too Proud To
Beg" by the Temptations
840
00:50:31,403 --> 00:50:33,690
♪ I know you want to leave me ♪
841
00:50:34,365 --> 00:50:36,902
♪ But I refuse to let you go ♪
842
00:50:37,326 --> 00:50:39,804
We stopped the record, probably.
Because sometimes I would stop.
843
00:50:39,828 --> 00:50:42,911
"OK, OK, you win.
It's coming out next week."
844
00:50:43,374 --> 00:50:45,661
♪ Cos you mean that much to me ♪
845
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:49,203
♪ Ain't too proud to
beg and you know it ♪
846
00:50:49,838 --> 00:50:53,001
♪ Please don't leave me, girl ♪
847
00:50:53,717 --> 00:50:56,926
Everybody had to speak their
truth, what their truths were.
848
00:50:57,137 --> 00:50:58,252
You were free in here.
849
00:50:58,389 --> 00:51:00,630
Whatever you say,
it will never be held against you.
850
00:51:00,891 --> 00:51:02,677
I challenge anybody,
including me.
851
00:51:03,143 --> 00:51:06,352
They save that for when Smokey
had a song up against mine
852
00:51:06,522 --> 00:51:09,059
and we had two songs, yeah?
853
00:51:11,026 --> 00:51:12,687
This is true, I speak the truth.
854
00:51:12,861 --> 00:51:16,024
Not that it was actually their opinion,
they just did that to get at you.
855
00:51:16,156 --> 00:51:18,443
Oh no, no. Because they
want to test me, always.
856
00:51:18,701 --> 00:51:22,160
But when I had a record
called "Temptations"...
857
00:51:22,288 --> 00:51:25,531
"Dream Come True." - "Dream
Come True," that was it.
858
00:51:25,958 --> 00:51:30,373
♪ Dream come true, da da da
da, dream come true ♪
859
00:51:30,462 --> 00:51:32,315
- ll mean, it was phenomenal.
- It's a great record.
860
00:51:32,339 --> 00:51:37,129
You know, his song was,
compared to mine, you know, mediocre.
861
00:51:37,219 --> 00:51:39,586
That was, you know...
862
00:51:40,306 --> 00:51:44,550
When I said, "How many people liked my
song" and there was no hands went up
863
00:51:44,810 --> 00:51:47,177
and Smokey, I saw him looking at
people, you know?
864
00:51:47,354 --> 00:51:50,563
SMOKEY LAUGHS - I mean, it was all a coup.
It was a coup.
865
00:51:51,191 --> 00:51:55,901
But because the company was such a democratic
situation in this quality control,
866
00:51:55,988 --> 00:51:58,446
stuff like that happens, you know?
So, that was it.
867
00:52:03,954 --> 00:52:07,288
The first step would be the writing
of the song, the creative part.
868
00:52:07,374 --> 00:52:10,912
Then we had to deal with the selling
part, with the distributors.
869
00:52:11,170 --> 00:52:13,081
Create, sell, collect.
870
00:52:13,172 --> 00:52:15,900
It's nice to get the talent picture
of what goes on behind the company,
871
00:52:15,924 --> 00:52:18,916
there could be none better than
Berry, naturally, who started it out.
872
00:52:19,011 --> 00:52:20,571
And, of course,
from the sales picture,
873
00:52:20,638 --> 00:52:25,053
on what makes a record company tick in sales,
the dollars and cents, which is very vital,
874
00:52:25,267 --> 00:52:28,100
Mr Barney Ales, Vice
President, in charge of sales.
875
00:52:28,437 --> 00:52:33,102
He was a strong Italian who
I convinced to work for me,
876
00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:38,361
but it was not easy getting him
to give up his great position
877
00:52:38,447 --> 00:52:39,903
where he was at the
top of his game.
878
00:52:40,115 --> 00:52:41,801
Him and I used to
hang out together
879
00:52:41,825 --> 00:52:44,567
and one night,
I saw they got a great new restaurant
880
00:52:44,620 --> 00:52:47,408
I'd just been going to the last
month called the Chop House.
881
00:52:47,998 --> 00:52:50,114
We came in and they
saw me with him
882
00:52:50,334 --> 00:52:53,497
and they said, "I'm sorry,
we don't serve black people here."
883
00:52:53,587 --> 00:52:56,045
I said, "Easy, that's
fantastic, cos I don't eat 'em."
884
00:52:56,256 --> 00:53:00,295
And they looked at him and said,
you know... and he... you know.
885
00:53:00,636 --> 00:53:03,253
Then I got a little Sicilian.
886
00:53:03,889 --> 00:53:05,675
And we sat down and, of course,
887
00:53:05,766 --> 00:53:09,384
people were staring at us and all that,
but the point is that Barney didn't care.
888
00:53:09,603 --> 00:53:11,719
Berry and I had a
great relationship
889
00:53:12,398 --> 00:53:15,891
and Berry was great in the studio and
I was great with the distributors.
890
00:53:16,193 --> 00:53:21,359
My whole dream was to
make the world understand,
891
00:53:21,448 --> 00:53:24,361
hear our music, and they could
either like it or not like it.
892
00:53:24,743 --> 00:53:27,326
But when we couldn't get music
played on the white stations,
893
00:53:27,913 --> 00:53:30,405
"What makes you think white
people won't like your music?"
894
00:53:30,499 --> 00:53:32,018
You know,
I said "I want all the people."
895
00:53:32,042 --> 00:53:34,704
It's not black music.
It's music by a black artist.
896
00:53:34,962 --> 00:53:37,545
I can remember when they
were promoting my records
897
00:53:37,631 --> 00:53:43,217
and Barney Ales took me to the station,
CKLW, which was the powerhouse station,
898
00:53:43,387 --> 00:53:45,549
and the guy looked at
me, he said,
899
00:53:45,639 --> 00:53:47,721
"I'm gonna tell you
something, Eddie,
900
00:53:47,891 --> 00:53:50,258
I'm playing this record
because of Barney Ales."
901
00:53:50,644 --> 00:53:52,226
He made that happen.
902
00:53:52,521 --> 00:53:55,684
Berry was most interested in where
the records were going in the charts
903
00:53:55,941 --> 00:53:58,683
and was he getting
paid, which I collected.
904
00:53:58,819 --> 00:54:01,277
One of the stories
when I came to Motown
905
00:54:01,363 --> 00:54:07,860
was that the Mafia owned Motown and
it kinda lent to the folklore of it
906
00:54:08,036 --> 00:54:11,825
and, yeah, Barney looked like
that Italian Mafioso guy.
907
00:54:11,915 --> 00:54:13,906
I mean,
he got me in so much trouble.
908
00:54:14,001 --> 00:54:16,413
"He's being run by the Mafia.
You see that guy in there?
909
00:54:16,503 --> 00:54:17,993
He can't even leave Detroit."
910
00:54:18,046 --> 00:54:19,246
Remember when I told you that?
911
00:54:19,631 --> 00:54:21,247
You know, I said,
"Barney, you know",
912
00:54:21,341 --> 00:54:23,341
you look like you could be
the Mafia or something."
913
00:54:23,385 --> 00:54:25,342
He said, "Yeah, well,
that's served me well."
914
00:54:27,055 --> 00:54:29,422
Many times it gets your records
played, you know?
915
00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:36,017
And I was criticised by a lot of black
people for having the white people there.
916
00:54:36,273 --> 00:54:38,514
"He's a traitor!
He won't hire black people."
917
00:54:38,567 --> 00:54:40,545
It's like, "What do you mean?
Come and look and see."
918
00:54:40,569 --> 00:54:43,527
I've got a lot of black people,
but I also got white people.”
919
00:54:43,655 --> 00:54:46,522
It's not about whether you're
black or white. I want to win.
920
00:54:46,742 --> 00:54:51,157
In some cases the best person was white,
other cases the best person was a woman.
921
00:54:51,413 --> 00:54:55,247
The fact that there were women
in key positions at Motown
922
00:54:55,584 --> 00:54:57,040
seemed natural to me.
923
00:54:57,169 --> 00:54:59,160
We drove her crazy.
We got on her nerves.
924
00:54:59,463 --> 00:55:02,000
I didn't realise,
she was only 21.
925
00:55:02,424 --> 00:55:05,257
But at an early age she was
very, very smart.
926
00:55:05,594 --> 00:55:08,427
I didn't realise how
forward thinking it was
927
00:55:08,514 --> 00:55:10,926
until I saw many
other organisations
928
00:55:11,016 --> 00:55:13,804
where there was not a
reciprocal kind of picture.
929
00:55:13,894 --> 00:55:17,307
All of Berry's sisters worked in
the company at one point or another.
930
00:55:17,481 --> 00:55:21,019
They did jobs that men would
do and did them better.
931
00:55:21,485 --> 00:55:23,067
Most companies that
we would visit,
932
00:55:23,153 --> 00:55:27,147
Tsch, no woman in no key
position making no decisions,
933
00:55:27,449 --> 00:55:31,488
but he had 'em at Motown and he had
black, white and Jews working at Motown,
934
00:55:31,578 --> 00:55:34,195
so he wasn't stuck on a thing
of, you know,
935
00:55:34,289 --> 00:55:36,621
well, this is a black company,
it's got to be all black.
936
00:55:36,708 --> 00:55:38,324
The colour of business is green.
937
00:55:38,418 --> 00:55:40,063
You know,
I got a lot of credit for all that
938
00:55:40,087 --> 00:55:44,502
and sure, I put it together,
but these people grew on their own
939
00:55:44,591 --> 00:55:47,959
and at some point,
you know, it was not me,
940
00:55:48,053 --> 00:55:51,171
it was magic,
and it became a brand.
941
00:55:51,348 --> 00:55:55,717
Thanks to the teenager, the record
business is a big, big business.
942
00:55:56,311 --> 00:55:58,973
They marketed Motown as "The
Sound Of Young America."
943
00:55:59,398 --> 00:56:01,730
Children who had
been born after WW? 2
944
00:56:01,817 --> 00:56:04,559
were coming into their teen
years by the early '60s
945
00:56:04,695 --> 00:56:09,940
and they were aware of the importance
of that market for selling records.
946
00:56:10,284 --> 00:56:11,820
You saw the Motown label,
947
00:56:11,869 --> 00:56:14,150
you were gonna buy it whether
you knew what it was or not.
948
00:56:14,454 --> 00:56:17,196
The Motown label and brand
became that important.
949
00:56:17,291 --> 00:56:20,454
If it's on Motown,
that's the shit, you know?
950
00:56:20,544 --> 00:56:22,956
You know, I'm buying it.
I got to listen to it.
951
00:56:32,014 --> 00:56:36,679
Artist development was a key
station on the production line.
952
00:56:36,768 --> 00:56:40,807
My sisters really persuaded me
to bring in the charm school,
953
00:56:40,898 --> 00:56:45,984
so I had no idea that was going
to be as important as it was.
954
00:56:46,486 --> 00:56:49,979
All of us were just, if an idea
sounded good, we'd try it, you know?
955
00:56:50,198 --> 00:56:52,530
It was a critical
part of the equation,
956
00:56:52,784 --> 00:56:56,368
that you not only create great
talent, great songs,
957
00:56:56,455 --> 00:56:58,571
but now you've got to
present those songs.
958
00:56:59,291 --> 00:57:02,374
Ford never saw that kind of
thing on the assembly line.
959
00:57:02,628 --> 00:57:06,041
They were grooming their
artists for the long run.
960
00:57:06,298 --> 00:57:07,788
Then we had signed with Motown
961
00:57:07,841 --> 00:57:11,550
and so we had to go through what
everybody else at Motown went through,
962
00:57:11,637 --> 00:57:13,799
which was,
we had our pictures taken
963
00:57:13,889 --> 00:57:16,722
and then we learned how to
move, choreography.
964
00:57:17,309 --> 00:57:18,970
You learn how to move as a band.
965
00:57:19,561 --> 00:57:21,017
Go through the whole thing.
966
00:57:21,104 --> 00:57:25,814
And we did that and we
knew we were a challenge.
967
00:57:26,276 --> 00:57:29,018
I don't care who you became,
who you were, whatever.
968
00:57:29,112 --> 00:57:30,423
Two days a week,
when you were in Detroit,
969
00:57:30,447 --> 00:57:32,634
you had to go down to this
building, so we'd go over there.
970
00:57:32,658 --> 00:57:35,616
You used to do stuff,
and then sometimes you'd try to dance,
971
00:57:35,702 --> 00:57:37,284
but you couldn't
dance that well.
972
00:57:37,371 --> 00:57:39,738
Wait a minute. What do you mean, man?
I taught Michael, man.
973
00:57:40,958 --> 00:57:44,917
"I Want You Back" by Jackson 5
974
00:57:47,923 --> 00:57:50,290
Charlie Atkins was
our choreographer
975
00:57:50,425 --> 00:57:54,419
and he would stop and say, "Boy,
I am so glad you're the lead singer,"
976
00:57:54,846 --> 00:57:57,053
so I don't really have to
try to show you these steps.
977
00:57:57,265 --> 00:57:59,302
"You just stand over there
and sing." THEY LAUGH
978
00:57:59,559 --> 00:58:03,473
People like Maxine Powell
taught them how to walk and talk
979
00:58:03,563 --> 00:58:05,725
and do things gracefully.
980
00:58:05,816 --> 00:58:09,434
This department would
groom and polish them
981
00:58:09,528 --> 00:58:12,691
so that they could appear in number
one places around the country,
982
00:58:13,031 --> 00:58:14,863
and even before
the King and Queen.
983
00:58:15,409 --> 00:58:17,776
You know,
they came from humble beginning,
984
00:58:18,078 --> 00:58:21,116
but I told them where
they would be appearing
985
00:58:21,415 --> 00:58:24,828
and they laughed and said
that I was out of my mind.
986
00:58:25,043 --> 00:58:28,161
But with me, it isn't where you come
from, it's where you're going.
987
00:58:28,338 --> 00:58:30,650
And she said, "I don't teach you
how to use a spoon or a fork."
988
00:58:30,674 --> 00:58:31,985
You've got to
learn that at home.
989
00:58:32,009 --> 00:58:33,920
You know,
I'll teach you how to be proud
990
00:58:34,011 --> 00:58:38,221
"and to walk and hold yourself from
a higher standard, from inside."
991
00:58:38,390 --> 00:58:39,846
We start with body language.
992
00:58:40,017 --> 00:58:42,179
Your body language
tells so much about you.
993
00:58:42,269 --> 00:58:44,385
You do not protrude
the buttocks.
994
00:58:45,022 --> 00:58:47,083
She was making us
have self-confidence
995
00:58:47,107 --> 00:58:48,848
and building our self-esteem.
996
00:58:49,276 --> 00:58:54,567
Letting us know that we have to be
socially accepted in order to do this.
997
00:58:54,656 --> 00:59:00,948
To represent not only a kind of music,
but the culture and spirit of a people.
998
00:59:01,163 --> 00:59:02,870
Now, some black
folks would be like,
999
00:59:02,956 --> 00:59:05,618
"Man, why I got to do that?"
You know what I'm saying?
1000
00:59:05,709 --> 00:59:09,293
"Why I got to act white in front of
these white folks? I wanna be me.
1001
00:59:09,379 --> 00:59:12,917
I wanna be black. They calling me nigger
anyway, why don't I just own that?"
1002
00:59:13,175 --> 00:59:14,665
And Berry was like,
1003
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:17,798
"Yeah, you could own that, but then
what happens? What happens to the art?"
1004
00:59:17,888 --> 00:59:20,676
Because Berry was like,
the art is colourless.
1005
00:59:20,807 --> 00:59:24,926
The music has no colour. It just
has a feeling. It has a pulse to it.
1006
00:59:25,353 --> 00:59:28,141
Some people didn't get
it, but they get it now.
1007
00:59:28,356 --> 00:59:32,645
No-one spent longer in artist
development than the Supremes.
1008
00:59:32,861 --> 00:59:37,776
My mother had parents who had worked
in the cotton fields in the South
1009
00:59:37,991 --> 00:59:39,698
and many of them had
not gone to school.
1010
00:59:40,118 --> 00:59:44,077
Our parents wanted us to get an
education, go to college.
1011
00:59:44,706 --> 00:59:47,323
By the time we got to Motown,
I didn't want to go to college,
1012
00:59:47,417 --> 00:59:49,203
you know, I'm like,
"I want to make records."
1013
00:59:49,503 --> 00:59:51,790
I remember, with the Supremes,
1014
00:59:51,880 --> 00:59:55,464
they were singing and I
thought it was making faces.
1015
00:59:55,550 --> 00:59:56,710
I said, "What are you doing?"
1016
00:59:56,802 --> 00:59:59,214
And they said, "What are we doing?
We're singing."
1017
00:59:59,346 --> 01:00:01,804
I said, "Well, it looks like
you're making faces to me."
1018
01:00:02,265 --> 01:00:04,077
Who in the hell
would have thought
1019
01:00:04,101 --> 01:00:06,968
all those different artists,
the Supremes and people...
1020
01:00:07,104 --> 01:00:11,223
Oh my God, you should have seen those
girls when they first came there!
1021
01:00:11,316 --> 01:00:12,681
You would have
never believed it.
1022
01:00:12,776 --> 01:00:14,813
The fabulous Supremes.
How about it, yeah?
1023
01:00:18,073 --> 01:00:19,300
So, they were waiting around
1024
01:00:19,324 --> 01:00:21,440
and they were being called
the no-hit Supremes.
1025
01:00:22,869 --> 01:00:26,783
♪ Stop hurting me Hurting me ♪
1026
01:00:27,249 --> 01:00:31,994
♪ Ooooh Now don't you
think you're all... ♪
1027
01:00:32,087 --> 01:00:33,356
I would tell the producers,
1028
01:00:33,380 --> 01:00:36,293
whatever it takes to get them a
hit, we just have to keep trying.
1029
01:00:36,383 --> 01:00:38,590
If they don't get a hit,
it's our fault, not theirs.
1030
01:00:38,677 --> 01:00:42,591
I cut about three records on them
and, you know, nothing happened.
1031
01:00:43,098 --> 01:00:45,451
And then Berry cut about three
records on them, nothing happened.
1032
01:00:45,475 --> 01:00:50,265
♪ But my heart can't
take it no more ♪
1033
01:00:50,355 --> 01:00:51,971
And then finally,
Holland-Dozier-Holland,
1034
01:00:52,065 --> 01:00:54,853
who had actually written "Where Did
Our Love Go" for the Marvelettes.
1035
01:00:54,943 --> 01:00:57,526
♪ Oh yes, wait a
minute, Mr Postman ♪
1036
01:00:57,571 --> 01:01:00,484
♪ Wait, Mr Postman ♪
1037
01:01:00,657 --> 01:01:02,510
The Marvelettes didn't like it.
They didn't wanna sing it.
1038
01:01:02,534 --> 01:01:05,743
I was talking to Gladys
Horton and when she said,
1039
01:01:05,829 --> 01:01:08,571
"No, baby.
We don't do stuff like that,"
1040
01:01:09,166 --> 01:01:11,407
I said,
"What did you say?" HE LAUGHS
1041
01:01:12,043 --> 01:01:14,125
♪ You'd better wait a
minute, wait a minute ♪
1042
01:01:14,171 --> 01:01:15,832
That was a first for me,
1043
01:01:16,006 --> 01:01:19,044
and so I said, "Man, I've got to
find somebody to do this song."
1044
01:01:19,551 --> 01:01:22,543
I saw Mary Wilson one day.
I said, "Mary, Mary, baby",
1045
01:01:22,846 --> 01:01:25,588
I've got this song I just
finished for you guys!"
1046
01:01:25,974 --> 01:01:29,592
And she was like, "Yeah.
Is this the song that you gave to Gladys?"
1047
01:01:29,686 --> 01:01:31,518
I said...
"What are you talking about?"
1048
01:01:31,646 --> 01:01:34,513
I told Eddie Holland, I
said, "Eddie, we need a hit",
1049
01:01:34,733 --> 01:01:37,725
cos if we don't get a hit, our parents
are gonna make us go to college,
1050
01:01:38,028 --> 01:01:39,735
"and that song is not a hit."
1051
01:01:39,988 --> 01:01:42,355
Got them in the studio and
they did the song, you know.
1052
01:01:43,074 --> 01:01:45,862
"Where Did Our Love
Go" by the Supremes
1053
01:01:46,077 --> 01:01:48,159
I can't forget that name.
It's like a nightmare.
1054
01:01:54,544 --> 01:01:59,380
Ooh, man, Diana was upset and everything.
She was gonna talk to Berry about it.
1055
01:01:59,716 --> 01:02:01,423
Berry came down and
listened and he said,
1056
01:02:01,843 --> 01:02:05,177
"Well, wait a minute. This sounds
like it could be something, you know?"
1057
01:02:05,805 --> 01:02:07,261
♪ Baby, baby ♪
1058
01:02:08,183 --> 01:02:10,345
♪ Baby, don't leave me ♪
1059
01:02:11,019 --> 01:02:17,561
♪ Ooh, please don't
leave me All by myself ♪
1060
01:02:18,693 --> 01:02:20,684
♪ You came into my heart ♪
1061
01:02:21,363 --> 01:02:22,632
When the record came out,
1062
01:02:22,656 --> 01:02:25,114
they were actually opening the
show, the Dick Clark tour,
1063
01:02:25,200 --> 01:02:27,487
and by the time the tour was
over, they were closing,
1064
01:02:27,911 --> 01:02:30,198
because "Where Did Our
Love Go" had taken over.
1065
01:02:30,247 --> 01:02:31,247
Phew!
1066
01:02:32,082 --> 01:02:35,325
Number one before you could
say Jackie Robinson, you know?
1067
01:02:36,711 --> 01:02:38,577
♪ You were a perfect guy ♪
1068
01:02:38,672 --> 01:02:41,130
Then everybody at
Motown was at our feet.
1069
01:02:41,466 --> 01:02:44,379
Now, we were no longer
the no-hit Supremes.
1070
01:02:44,469 --> 01:02:46,389
And I was standing
outside Motown,
1071
01:02:46,471 --> 01:02:50,260
Berry Gordy said to me, "Listen,
concentrate on the girls."
1072
01:02:50,350 --> 01:02:52,466
This group will
carry the company.”
1073
01:02:52,769 --> 01:02:54,205
I think we were
the only girl group
1074
01:02:54,229 --> 01:02:56,266
to have five
consecutive number ones.
1075
01:02:56,356 --> 01:02:58,723
Of course, Holland-Dozier-Holland
did all these songs.
1076
01:02:58,817 --> 01:03:01,434
Holland-Dozier-Holland
were the gods at Motown.
1077
01:03:01,528 --> 01:03:03,923
They were, like, right under
Berry as far as I was concerned,
1078
01:03:03,947 --> 01:03:06,029
you know,
in terms of their importance.
1079
01:03:06,116 --> 01:03:10,952
There was that quality and those kinds
of songs that resonated with America,
1080
01:03:10,996 --> 01:03:13,112
and they didn't know what
they were even feeling.
1081
01:03:13,331 --> 01:03:15,038
That was them.
That was the genius.
1082
01:03:22,799 --> 01:03:24,460
From New York City,
1083
01:03:25,427 --> 01:03:28,886
the Apollo Theatre proudly
presents the Motortown Revue!
1084
01:03:29,597 --> 01:03:32,885
We had written a song, we'd produced
it, and we're now selling it.
1085
01:03:32,976 --> 01:03:38,722
We got this idea of taking the
artist on the road with our own band.
1086
01:03:38,815 --> 01:03:41,648
Smokey always closed the
shows, as he was the star
1087
01:03:42,027 --> 01:03:43,734
and the one everybody respected.
1088
01:03:43,945 --> 01:03:46,232
But everybody was trying
to get to that ending spot,
1089
01:03:46,323 --> 01:03:50,362
and so they'd do all kind of
stuff to move back in the show.
1090
01:03:50,577 --> 01:03:54,036
Whoever went on first would
just do the best they could be.
1091
01:03:54,247 --> 01:03:57,114
You know, like, make the stage so
hot, then it was, like, OK beat that.
1092
01:03:57,208 --> 01:03:59,666
How do we really get
the people screaming?
1093
01:04:00,003 --> 01:04:02,586
How do we get Marvin Gaye?
How do we get him, you know?
1094
01:04:02,839 --> 01:04:05,001
We loved the Temps,
we loved the Miracles,
1095
01:04:05,091 --> 01:04:06,902
but I swear on the Bible
when it comes to singing,
1096
01:04:06,926 --> 01:04:09,088
we tried to out-sing
them suckers every time.
1097
01:04:09,220 --> 01:04:11,257
We loved the Tops,
but when they would go out there
1098
01:04:11,306 --> 01:04:14,469
they'd talk about trying to kick our
ass, so... pshh, "Brer, please."
1099
01:04:14,684 --> 01:04:16,891
You'd better back up before we act
up, you know?"
1100
01:04:16,978 --> 01:04:19,720
When we brought that and started
going through all that choreography
1101
01:04:19,814 --> 01:04:23,227
and throwing the microphone up and all
that razzmatazz they was doing, please!
1102
01:04:23,443 --> 01:04:25,184
We baptised that ass in fire.
1103
01:04:25,695 --> 01:04:28,403
It's like chickens
come out fighting.
1104
01:04:28,573 --> 01:04:31,782
The Tops made it hard for
us because Levi Stubbs...
1105
01:04:31,868 --> 01:04:34,735
"Reach Out I'll Be There" by Four Tops
- Levi Stubbs was no joke.
1106
01:04:35,246 --> 01:04:41,618
♪ Now if you feel that you can't go
on Because all of your hope is gone ♪
1107
01:04:42,295 --> 01:04:45,253
♪ And your life is filled
with much confusion ♪
1108
01:04:45,507 --> 01:04:48,716
♪ Until happiness is
just an illusion ♪
1109
01:04:49,594 --> 01:04:53,383
♪ And your world around is
falling down Darling... ♪
1110
01:04:55,517 --> 01:04:56,678
♪ Reach on out to me ♪
1111
01:05:02,232 --> 01:05:07,818
♪ I'll be there,
to love and shelter you ♪
1112
01:05:08,655 --> 01:05:15,402
♪ I'll be there,
to always see you through ♪
1113
01:05:17,038 --> 01:05:19,575
♪ When you feel lost
and about to give up ♪
1114
01:05:19,666 --> 01:05:22,658
Now one thing we couldn't do,
we couldn't outdance nobody
1115
01:05:23,086 --> 01:05:26,454
but we had a way of doing our own that
looked like we was doing a whole lot.
1116
01:05:26,548 --> 01:05:27,629
We weren't doing shit.
1117
01:05:29,759 --> 01:05:32,717
We took off so big
in the Detroit area,
1118
01:05:32,887 --> 01:05:34,844
Berry decided he had
to get us on the road
1119
01:05:34,973 --> 01:05:37,340
and that opened up a
whole new world for us.
1120
01:05:38,309 --> 01:05:40,892
Our first Motown Revue
was 94 one-nighters.
1121
01:05:41,020 --> 01:05:43,603
Berry waved to us
as we left Detroit
1122
01:05:43,898 --> 01:05:46,265
in this broken down Trailway
that didn't have a toilet.
1123
01:05:46,776 --> 01:05:48,312
That's three months
of travelling.
1124
01:05:48,570 --> 01:05:50,686
Two hotel visits in
the whole three months,
1125
01:05:50,822 --> 01:05:53,940
so most of the time, we were sleeping
with our head up against the window
1126
01:05:54,033 --> 01:05:55,740
or against a seating partner.
1127
01:05:55,952 --> 01:05:57,818
Travelling was really hard,
1128
01:05:57,871 --> 01:06:00,829
but I think working
together, also being young
1129
01:06:00,957 --> 01:06:02,539
made a great deal of difference.
1130
01:06:02,625 --> 01:06:04,582
Every day it was
a new adventure.
1131
01:06:08,548 --> 01:06:10,776
When we first started going,
especially to the Deep South,
1132
01:06:10,800 --> 01:06:14,134
Mississippi and all round in there,
the gigs were very separated, man.
1133
01:06:14,596 --> 01:06:17,588
Living in Detroit,
we had ethnic neighbourhoods,
1134
01:06:17,724 --> 01:06:21,763
but we didn't call it segregated cos it
didn't have that same feeling as the South.
1135
01:06:21,978 --> 01:06:24,185
We weren't allowed
to stay in hotels,
1136
01:06:24,397 --> 01:06:27,606
we weren't allowed to use
the bathroom on the highway,
1137
01:06:27,859 --> 01:06:31,773
and to actually see a water fountain
that only black people could use,
1138
01:06:31,863 --> 01:06:34,446
it was like... hmm.
1139
01:06:34,741 --> 01:06:37,233
There was a fear in me
where I wanted to go home.
1140
01:06:37,410 --> 01:06:38,866
I was ready to go back home.
1141
01:06:39,370 --> 01:06:41,737
I remember the first
time we went to Atlanta.
1142
01:06:42,040 --> 01:06:44,998
So, I got off the bus first
and went into the waiting room.
1143
01:06:45,084 --> 01:06:49,373
As soon as I walked in the waiting
room, I felt this thing against my head.
1144
01:06:49,422 --> 01:06:51,880
I looked up. The sheriff had
put a gun to my head and said,
1145
01:06:51,925 --> 01:06:53,666
"Nigger, get out of here."
1146
01:06:53,801 --> 01:06:56,168
Now, I didn't know I was
in a white waiting room.
1147
01:06:56,262 --> 01:06:59,550
I didn't know nothing about that, then.
It scared the hell out of me, man.
1148
01:06:59,641 --> 01:07:05,353
I still feel that. Put that cold steel against
my head, he scared the hell out of me.
1149
01:07:05,563 --> 01:07:07,041
It was rough out there, man.
1150
01:07:07,065 --> 01:07:09,126
I mean, we've been shot at for
wanting to go to the toilet.
1151
01:07:09,150 --> 01:07:11,107
You know, it's just crazy stuff.
1152
01:07:11,819 --> 01:07:15,187
We had a major problem in
Northfork, Virginia.
1153
01:07:15,448 --> 01:07:18,566
We did a gig there and the whites
were trying to start some crap.
1154
01:07:19,953 --> 01:07:21,159
The Temps was on the stage.
1155
01:07:21,287 --> 01:07:23,745
Tops and their crew were
standing on the side of the stage
1156
01:07:23,831 --> 01:07:26,949
and then, when the Tops would go on,
the Temps would re-position ourselves.
1157
01:07:27,043 --> 01:07:30,707
Even in our competition and
trying to be flash and all that,
1158
01:07:31,005 --> 01:07:33,997
when push come to shove,
we're still just working together.
1159
01:07:34,342 --> 01:07:35,902
So, we finished the show,
1160
01:07:35,969 --> 01:07:38,427
loading up the bus,
cos we have to go to the next city,
1161
01:07:38,805 --> 01:07:40,796
and the next thing I
heard, pow, pow, pow!
1162
01:07:41,057 --> 01:07:44,925
I dived on the floor,
cos I know gunshots when I hear 'em.
1163
01:07:45,144 --> 01:07:48,353
They missed the
gas tank by inches.
1164
01:07:49,357 --> 01:07:53,851
Scary stuff. At that point,
I was really ready to go home.
1165
01:07:56,155 --> 01:08:02,117
We had assassinations, murders,
race riots, kids being burned.
1166
01:08:02,662 --> 01:08:05,450
Burnt... kids being burnt.
I mean, how do you...
1167
01:08:06,416 --> 01:08:08,123
You know, schools burned up.
1168
01:08:08,167 --> 01:08:10,020
Where is this coming from?
Where are these people coming from?
1169
01:08:10,044 --> 01:08:13,127
The places that we played during the
'60s, oh yeah, it was rough.
1170
01:08:13,715 --> 01:08:15,422
We played Columbia,
South Carolina.
1171
01:08:15,508 --> 01:08:20,423
The first time we went there, there was a
rope right down the centre of the theatre.
1172
01:08:21,431 --> 01:08:24,093
Blacks on one side,
whites sitting on the other.
1173
01:08:24,392 --> 01:08:25,757
And all that's going on,
1174
01:08:26,519 --> 01:08:30,262
and yet the music of Motown was
growing in the hearts of everyone.
1175
01:08:30,857 --> 01:08:34,475
At one of the concerts, actually,
Smokey had said... we were on tour,
1176
01:08:34,819 --> 01:08:39,655
and he told the promoter we
were not going to perform
1177
01:08:39,907 --> 01:08:43,525
if they kept that
rope down the middle.
1178
01:08:43,745 --> 01:08:46,362
After a while, man,
we started going back to those same places
1179
01:08:46,831 --> 01:08:50,825
and all the kids were dancing together,
they were mingling and having fun.
1180
01:08:51,127 --> 01:08:55,041
Blacks and whites, side-by-side,
enjoying the music.
1181
01:08:55,381 --> 01:08:58,590
Ll can remember when
I was at Motown,
1182
01:08:58,676 --> 01:09:03,421
Berry was in the studio and
Martin Luther King walked in.
1183
01:09:03,806 --> 01:09:07,765
Man, that was the shock of my life.
Honest to goodness!
1184
01:09:08,853 --> 01:09:11,971
I mean, you know,
it was just like God walking in.
1185
01:09:14,233 --> 01:09:16,975
The time I met Dr
King when he came,
1186
01:09:17,403 --> 01:09:21,192
um, when he realised our music
was helping him and his movement,
1187
01:09:21,866 --> 01:09:25,609
this guy who I admired so much and who
was doing so much and out there fighting
1188
01:09:25,703 --> 01:09:29,742
was saying that I was bringing emotional
integration to a lot of people.
1189
01:09:29,832 --> 01:09:33,245
He was seeing them dancing to our
music and it was, like, positive,
1190
01:09:33,336 --> 01:09:38,672
and he said, you know, "I would like to
be connected with your company, you know?"
1191
01:09:38,758 --> 01:09:41,341
And I'm saying, "Oh my God!"
1192
01:09:41,678 --> 01:09:46,218
A whole lot of stuff that they were
trying to do legally or spiritually
1193
01:09:46,307 --> 01:09:47,718
or how they were
trying to do it,
1194
01:09:49,811 --> 01:09:51,176
we were just doing
it with music.
1195
01:09:53,898 --> 01:09:55,209
Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.
1196
01:09:55,233 --> 01:09:59,352
Tonight, live from New
York, the Ed Sullivan Show.
1197
01:10:03,533 --> 01:10:07,902
Growing up, everyone would surround
the TV and watch the Ed Sullivan Show.
1198
01:10:07,995 --> 01:10:11,078
So for us to be on it
the first time was big.
1199
01:10:11,249 --> 01:10:15,083
It was December 27th
1964, I was ten years old,
1200
01:10:15,461 --> 01:10:18,078
and it was a moment
that changed my life.
1201
01:10:18,423 --> 01:10:21,711
"Come See About Me" as sung by
these girls here, the Supremes.
1202
01:10:21,801 --> 01:10:24,338
Three youngsters from Detroit.
Let's hear it for them.
1203
01:10:26,305 --> 01:10:28,922
"Come See About
Me" by The Supremes
1204
01:10:32,437 --> 01:10:35,520
♪ I've been crying ♪
1205
01:10:35,815 --> 01:10:39,149
♪ Because I'm lonely, for you ♪
1206
01:10:39,527 --> 01:10:42,861
To do the Ed Sullivan Show
meant that you had arrived.
1207
01:10:43,114 --> 01:10:45,981
Of course,
we ended up being on there 14 times.
1208
01:10:46,451 --> 01:10:52,663
♪ That you're never ever gonna return
To ease this fire that within me burns ♪
1209
01:10:52,957 --> 01:10:59,294
♪ It keeps crying, baby, for you It
keeps me sighing, baby, for you ♪
1210
01:10:59,547 --> 01:11:04,337
♪ So won't you hurry, come
on, boy And see about me ♪
1211
01:11:04,385 --> 01:11:07,753
♪ Come see about me See about
you, baby ♪
1212
01:11:07,930 --> 01:11:09,295
♪ Come see about me ♪
1213
01:11:09,390 --> 01:11:11,256
When I saw the Supremes
on TV that night,
1214
01:11:11,642 --> 01:11:16,352
it was magical to me, because I had
never seen black women on television,
1215
01:11:16,439 --> 01:11:18,167
although we were called
"coloured" at the time,
1216
01:11:18,191 --> 01:11:22,276
or anywhere for that matter,
who conveyed such glamour and such grace.
1217
01:11:22,570 --> 01:11:27,110
And nobody was used to seeing us
portrayed the way I saw the Supremes.
1218
01:11:27,283 --> 01:11:29,845
That's why I missed most of the first
song, calling everybody I knew
1219
01:11:29,869 --> 01:11:34,454
saying, "Coloured people on!
Coloured people! Coloured people on TV!"
1220
01:11:34,874 --> 01:11:37,457
Have a fine welcome
for the Supremes.
1221
01:11:38,586 --> 01:11:42,580
"You Can't Hurry Love" ♪ I need
love, love to ease my mind ♪
1222
01:11:42,965 --> 01:11:45,297
You put her on
those white shows,
1223
01:11:45,551 --> 01:11:49,795
they could see this black girl
coming into white folks' TV screens
1224
01:11:49,931 --> 01:11:51,547
when that wasn't happening.
1225
01:11:51,641 --> 01:11:53,076
Any time you really
saw black people
1226
01:11:53,100 --> 01:11:55,307
there was something terrible going
on, you know?
1227
01:11:55,478 --> 01:11:56,663
We were in an era now
1228
01:11:56,687 --> 01:11:59,975
where TV has opened up
the borders of the world
1229
01:12:00,483 --> 01:12:04,568
and now they were looking at
glamorous, beautiful black faces.
1230
01:12:04,654 --> 01:12:09,069
You know, we were able to understand a
culture that had never been seen before
1231
01:12:09,200 --> 01:12:14,070
and Mr Gordy put that fairy dust on it
that made it palatable to white America.
1232
01:12:14,163 --> 01:12:16,279
He made black chic.
1233
01:12:16,749 --> 01:12:18,205
♪ That keeps me hanging on ♪
1234
01:12:18,835 --> 01:12:22,373
♪ When I feel my strength,
yeah, it's almost gone ♪
1235
01:12:22,463 --> 01:12:23,999
♪ I remember Mama said ♪
1236
01:12:24,090 --> 01:12:27,549
- Are you the Supremes?
- APPLAUSE
1237
01:12:29,011 --> 01:12:31,673
Step into 15,000 watts of lights
1238
01:12:31,764 --> 01:12:37,100
wearing $6,000 worth of silk and sequins
and their sound sets the world on fire.
1239
01:12:37,311 --> 01:12:40,804
That's why Diana Ross and the
Supremes count on this new deodorant.
1240
01:12:40,898 --> 01:12:42,388
Arrid Extra Dry.
1241
01:12:42,567 --> 01:12:46,481
The impact that their image had on
the black community was profound,
1242
01:12:46,571 --> 01:12:48,482
and that was everything
from how they dressed,
1243
01:12:48,573 --> 01:12:52,362
how they performed, to where they
were allowed to do these things.
1244
01:12:52,451 --> 01:12:54,317
Those doors that they
were able to get into.
1245
01:12:54,412 --> 01:12:57,370
It forced white people and black
people to look at each other and say,
1246
01:12:57,415 --> 01:13:00,157
there's a little bit of you in
me and a little bit of me in you.
1247
01:13:01,043 --> 01:13:05,503
It was so exciting to hear people talk
about their hopes, wishes and dreams
1248
01:13:05,673 --> 01:13:07,755
and to actually
see it come true.
1249
01:13:07,800 --> 01:13:10,588
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
♪ Ain't no mountain high ♪
1250
01:13:10,636 --> 01:13:12,377
♪ Ain't no valley low ♪
1251
01:13:12,513 --> 01:13:15,175
♪ Ain't no river wide
enough, baby ♪
1252
01:13:15,349 --> 01:13:19,718
We had come from poverty,
and now we bought our parents homes.
1253
01:13:19,854 --> 01:13:24,644
This is like, "My daughter is
a Supreme." So happy, so proud.
1254
01:13:24,901 --> 01:13:27,142
There were so many artists
made famous at Motown.
1255
01:13:27,236 --> 01:13:30,729
All of the talented people would line up
and wanted to be a part of Hitsville U.S.A.
1256
01:13:30,823 --> 01:13:33,503
The energy at the one
building was just so great.
1257
01:13:33,576 --> 01:13:35,863
They would buy one
building, then buy another.
1258
01:13:35,953 --> 01:13:39,787
They went from marketing and sales,
artist development. It was a win-win.
1259
01:13:41,626 --> 01:13:44,584
♪ To keep from getting to
you, babe ♪
1260
01:13:44,670 --> 01:13:46,661
And the brand got
bigger and bigger,
1261
01:13:46,756 --> 01:13:50,670
and the business got bigger and bigger,
and then it went around the world.
1262
01:13:50,885 --> 01:13:54,173
I was 16 years old and
there are the Supremes,
1263
01:13:54,388 --> 01:13:57,200
and Martha and the Vandellas and Stevie
and the Miracles on stage in front of you.
1264
01:13:57,224 --> 01:13:58,680
You'd die and go to heaven.
1265
01:13:58,809 --> 01:14:01,972
Motown represented the next
generation of American music
1266
01:14:02,063 --> 01:14:05,351
in the way the Beatles did it in Britain
and then fed into the mainstream.
1267
01:14:05,441 --> 01:14:08,479
Tamla Motown artists
are our favourites.
1268
01:14:08,569 --> 01:14:11,857
- The Miracles, Marvin Gaye...
- And Mary Wells.
1269
01:14:11,906 --> 01:14:13,021
To name but 80.
1270
01:14:13,866 --> 01:14:15,402
As the '60s unfolded,
1271
01:14:15,493 --> 01:14:19,487
that generation realised they potentially
had the power to change everything.
1272
01:14:20,998 --> 01:14:25,708
♪ Baby, baby,
where did our love go? ♪
1273
01:14:26,003 --> 01:14:28,119
♪ Ooh, don't... ♪
1274
01:14:33,552 --> 01:14:36,260
I spoke to one of our
accountants in Atlanta
1275
01:14:36,347 --> 01:14:39,840
and he says, "You know, we don't
sell any nigger records down here."
1276
01:14:40,184 --> 01:14:43,051
And I said, "Excuse me?
Did you sell Diana Ross and the Supremes?"
1277
01:14:43,145 --> 01:14:44,510
"Yeah,
they're a big song for us."
1278
01:14:44,605 --> 01:14:46,249
"You sell Smokey Robinson
and the Miracles?"
1279
01:14:46,273 --> 01:14:48,640
"Yeah, we sell a lot of that."
"What about Stevie Wonder?"
1280
01:14:48,734 --> 01:14:51,567
"Yeah." I says, "Well, surprise!
You're selling nigger records.”
1281
01:14:51,737 --> 01:14:54,024
And Diana,
I just thought set a pathway
1282
01:14:54,115 --> 01:14:57,449
for women like me to walk
through, you know? I do.
1283
01:14:57,952 --> 01:14:59,238
Berry Gordy did inspire me,
1284
01:14:59,537 --> 01:15:03,075
especially when I decided I wanted to
start a record company with my friends.
1285
01:15:03,207 --> 01:15:05,665
We just took that model and
did our own thing with it.
1286
01:15:05,751 --> 01:15:09,790
Now, could it ever be as big? No.
But this is who we looked up to.
1287
01:15:10,172 --> 01:15:13,665
I'm a 25 year-old
white, gay Londoner
1288
01:15:13,759 --> 01:15:18,629
and Motown music has
affected me so hugely
1289
01:15:18,723 --> 01:15:22,091
and I couldn't be any further
from Detroit. HE LAUGHS
1290
01:15:22,393 --> 01:15:26,808
When our production line really
started working, it was phenomenal.
1291
01:15:27,189 --> 01:15:32,480
In 1968, we had five records out of
the top ten on the Billboard charts
1292
01:15:32,570 --> 01:15:35,528
with the number one record being
"I Heard It Through The Grapevine."
1293
01:15:37,700 --> 01:15:39,657
I knew if we recorded
songs over and over again
1294
01:15:39,744 --> 01:15:41,555
on different artists,
then they would always be hits.
1295
01:15:41,579 --> 01:15:43,974
The first people to ever record
" Heard It Through The Grapevine"
1296
01:15:43,998 --> 01:15:45,113
was the Miracles and me.
1297
01:15:45,499 --> 01:15:48,082
However, the sales department
felt it was too bluesy for us.
1298
01:15:48,169 --> 01:15:52,003
They didn't want us to sing that
kind of song, so we said, "OK, fine."
1299
01:15:52,089 --> 01:15:54,009
And then he cut it on
Gladys Knight and the Pips.
1300
01:15:54,091 --> 01:15:56,753
And it was a smash hit.
Even after that.
1301
01:15:56,844 --> 01:16:01,259
No, no. He cut it on Marvin.
- No, Marvin was last.
1302
01:16:01,640 --> 01:16:04,286
He recorded it on Marvin after it had been
a huge hit on Gladys Knight and the Pips.
1303
01:16:04,310 --> 01:16:06,096
No, no, no. No, that's not true.
1304
01:16:06,312 --> 01:16:07,552
- Want a bet?
- Yeah.
1305
01:16:07,646 --> 01:16:10,104
How much? - 1007
1306
01:16:10,191 --> 01:16:12,523
1007 It's a bet.
Have you guys got this on tape?
1307
01:16:12,735 --> 01:16:15,898
What happened is, Marvin had recorded it.
It had been turned down.
1308
01:16:15,988 --> 01:16:18,821
No. No, not before Gladys
Knight and the Pips.
1309
01:16:18,866 --> 01:16:20,652
OK. Where's the phone?
Who's got the phone?
1310
01:16:20,743 --> 01:16:22,345
Yeah, not before Gladys
Knight and the Pips.
1311
01:16:22,369 --> 01:16:24,906
OK. I need to make a
long-distance call.
1312
01:16:25,372 --> 01:16:27,579
♪ Oooooh ♪
1313
01:16:27,666 --> 01:16:31,079
I recorded this song
on Marvin Gaye first.
1314
01:16:31,378 --> 01:16:33,836
Like, I brought it in the
meeting and I submitted it,
1315
01:16:34,215 --> 01:16:36,297
when, consequently, I lost out.
1316
01:16:36,383 --> 01:16:39,341
♪ Ooooooh ♪
1317
01:16:40,137 --> 01:16:43,596
But this particular song,
I would not let die.
1318
01:16:43,682 --> 01:16:48,518
I went to many clubs with Berry,
even though I wasn't invited,
1319
01:16:48,687 --> 01:16:52,396
and I hounded him until he was
very, very angry with me.
1320
01:16:52,900 --> 01:16:53,900
So ll said...
1321
01:16:57,279 --> 01:16:58,485
So he says...
1322
01:17:03,869 --> 01:17:07,407
♪ I bet you're wonderin' how I knew
Baby, baby, baby ♪
1323
01:17:07,456 --> 01:17:13,327
♪ 'Bout your plans to make me blue
With some other girl you knew before ♪
1324
01:17:14,046 --> 01:17:16,754
♪ Between the two of us girls
You know I love you more ♪
1325
01:17:17,383 --> 01:17:22,799
♪ It took me by surprise I must
say When I found out yesterday ♪
1326
01:17:22,888 --> 01:17:24,783
♪ Don't you know that I heard
it through the grapevine ♪
1327
01:17:24,807 --> 01:17:26,548
♪ [ Heard it through
the grapevine ♪
1328
01:17:26,642 --> 01:17:29,555
♪ Not much longer would you be mine
Not much longer would you be mine ♪
1329
01:17:29,645 --> 01:17:31,581
♪ Don't you know that I heard
it through the grapevine ♪
1330
01:17:31,605 --> 01:17:32,999
♪ [ Heard it through
the grapevine ♪
1331
01:17:33,023 --> 01:17:35,890
♪ Because I'm just about, just
about, just about to lose my mind ♪
1332
01:17:36,235 --> 01:17:38,602
♪ Oh, yes [ am
Oh, yes, oh, yes ♪
1333
01:17:39,822 --> 01:17:41,529
♪ Baby, won't you listen to me? ♪
1334
01:17:42,658 --> 01:17:44,886
It went to number
one on the pop charts
1335
01:17:44,910 --> 01:17:48,073
and Berry looked at me and says,
"I don't know what you've got son, but..."
1336
01:17:50,249 --> 01:17:52,957
Now, it was time to put
out a Marvin Gaye album,
1337
01:17:53,669 --> 01:17:58,163
so I, in fact,
started my campaign once again.
1338
01:17:58,257 --> 01:18:02,592
They said, "Well, I guess he's right. We'll
just go ahead and put it in the album."
1339
01:18:02,720 --> 01:18:05,929
And lo and behold,
this record was picked out of the album
1340
01:18:06,015 --> 01:18:10,634
and it went on to be the largest
song in the history of Motown.
1341
01:18:11,770 --> 01:18:15,434
♪ Ooh, I bet you're
wonderin' how I knew ♪
1342
01:18:16,483 --> 01:18:19,817
♪ About your plans
to make me blue ♪
1343
01:18:20,446 --> 01:18:24,030
♪ With some other
guy you knew before ♪
1344
01:18:24,116 --> 01:18:28,155
♪ Between the two of us guys
You know I love you more ♪
1345
01:18:28,704 --> 01:18:36,543
♪ It took me by surprise I must
say When I found out yesterday ♪
1346
01:18:36,629 --> 01:18:40,497
♪ Don't you know that I heard
it through the grapevine ♪
1347
01:18:41,258 --> 01:18:44,546
♪ Not much longer
would you be mine ♪
1348
01:18:45,095 --> 01:18:48,133
Two bona fide different
versions of the same song.
1349
01:18:48,432 --> 01:18:51,470
It was, like, clever production
work as far as I'm concerned,
1350
01:18:51,727 --> 01:18:54,469
because good is good,
and great is even better.
1351
01:18:55,397 --> 01:18:56,397
Brenda?
1352
01:18:57,358 --> 01:18:59,190
Alright, look,
I'm here with Smokey.
1353
01:18:59,485 --> 01:19:04,821
Tell me, "The Grapevine" record and who
recorded it first and what happened?
1354
01:19:05,032 --> 01:19:07,649
I mean, Marvin recorded it after Gladys.
That's what I said.
1355
01:19:11,664 --> 01:19:15,783
Hey, that's a drag like a dog.
That's really a drag, I mean, I hate that.
1356
01:19:15,876 --> 01:19:17,913
I know. OK, Brenda, thank you.
1357
01:19:18,087 --> 01:19:19,498
No, I don't thank you nothing.
1358
01:19:19,588 --> 01:19:22,046
Get off the phone! THEY LAUGH
1359
01:19:22,216 --> 01:19:25,299
"Reach Out" by Four Tops
1360
01:19:26,428 --> 01:19:31,764
It's very hard for anybody to
go through the cycle of success.
1361
01:19:32,309 --> 01:19:35,301
People treat you differently.
You treat people differently.
1362
01:19:35,896 --> 01:19:39,764
My problem was, as their manager,
I had to tell them the truth,
1363
01:19:39,858 --> 01:19:45,524
and that was not always easy,
and love means building other people
1364
01:19:45,614 --> 01:19:48,072
even when they don't know
they need to be built
1365
01:19:48,242 --> 01:19:53,828
and it's the most thankless
task that one can endure.
1366
01:19:53,998 --> 01:19:56,226
We had an interesting
relationship, Berry and I,
1367
01:19:56,250 --> 01:19:58,537
because I think we were
so very much alike.
1368
01:19:59,169 --> 01:20:00,375
I was much younger,
1369
01:20:00,587 --> 01:20:04,751
and I needed to have my
independence and to spread my wings.
1370
01:20:05,134 --> 01:20:07,592
I had figured out...
1371
01:20:08,387 --> 01:20:15,430
that I wanted the Supremes to move
from the pop R&B class to standards,
1372
01:20:15,561 --> 01:20:20,556
and I wanted them to be in the
class of Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr
1373
01:20:20,816 --> 01:20:23,478
and all those people.
1374
01:20:24,111 --> 01:20:25,818
Then,
when she went to Manchester,
1375
01:20:27,489 --> 01:20:32,074
it's when she tried the first time,
"You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You."
1376
01:20:32,244 --> 01:20:40,244
♪ You're nobody till
somebody loves you ♪
1377
01:20:41,795 --> 01:20:48,963
♪ You're nobody til
somebody cares ♪
1378
01:20:49,053 --> 01:20:51,197
And she did it,
and I thought it was good, you know?
1379
01:20:51,221 --> 01:20:53,337
The crowd didn't like it
like they did "Baby Love,"
1380
01:20:53,390 --> 01:20:57,008
but they gave nice applause.
And so, I came back,
1381
01:20:57,227 --> 01:21:01,266
she said, "I'm not doing it anymore.
The audience hated it and so did ll."
1382
01:21:01,357 --> 01:21:03,519
I said, "But I loved it.
It was the first time."
1383
01:21:04,026 --> 01:21:07,690
"Well, I hated it and I'm not
doing it on the second show."
1384
01:21:08,405 --> 01:21:10,942
Oh, man,
now that was a big deal.
1385
01:21:11,033 --> 01:21:14,025
"I'm not doing it.
I'm defying you on the second show."
1386
01:21:14,745 --> 01:21:18,909
So, I'm saying all the stuff that
I'd built up with her to this point.
1387
01:21:19,500 --> 01:21:22,367
It crumbled, because I knew me,
1388
01:21:23,045 --> 01:21:25,377
and I knew that I could
never work with her again
1389
01:21:25,923 --> 01:21:29,882
if she violated our
agreement after one show.
1390
01:21:30,260 --> 01:21:35,471
And then when she said, "I'm not gonna
let you ruin my career. You or nobody."
1391
01:21:37,393 --> 01:21:40,761
What? Me?
She said, "I'm just not doing it."
1392
01:21:41,063 --> 01:21:45,728
I said, "OK.
You decide who you want to satisfy",
1393
01:21:46,360 --> 01:21:49,819
me or those 700
people out there.
1394
01:21:49,947 --> 01:21:51,654
"Just make up your mind."
1395
01:21:51,949 --> 01:21:54,566
I was very strong and
I was proud of myself.
1396
01:21:54,701 --> 01:21:55,782
"You make up your mind."
1397
01:21:56,370 --> 01:22:02,787
She looked at me and said,
"OK" and I walked out.
1398
01:22:03,085 --> 01:22:04,701
When I got outside, it hit me.
1399
01:22:05,337 --> 01:22:10,082
All of a sudden, I don't have this star.
It's my biggest star in the world.
1400
01:22:10,759 --> 01:22:12,500
What am I gonna do with
the rest of my life?
1401
01:22:14,304 --> 01:22:16,887
What am I gonna do with
the rest of my life?
1402
01:22:32,823 --> 01:22:35,406
And now, ladies and
gentlemen, the Supremes.
1403
01:22:38,036 --> 01:22:43,076
And as she goes out in the
unique Diana Ross style,
1404
01:22:43,834 --> 01:22:47,043
she went through most of
the show and I was there,
1405
01:22:47,212 --> 01:22:54,676
and all of a sudden, I hear something
that sounds like the middle of the song,
1406
01:22:55,471 --> 01:22:56,677
and I think I'm dreaming.
1407
01:22:56,847 --> 01:22:59,430
♪ Till somebody loves you ♪
1408
01:23:00,476 --> 01:23:02,342
♪ You're nobody... ♪
1409
01:23:02,728 --> 01:23:05,623
I'm looking and I'm saying, "Oh,
that's what I'd like for her to say."
1410
01:23:05,647 --> 01:23:08,560
ll mean, it was just this
kind of surreal feeling,
1411
01:23:08,650 --> 01:23:13,486
and then she was singing
it in full blast.
1412
01:23:13,906 --> 01:23:17,490
♪ Whilst you're growing old
The world is still the same ♪
1413
01:23:17,576 --> 01:23:18,862
♪ You'll never change it ♪
1414
01:23:18,994 --> 01:23:22,953
And then, you know,
my life was back.
1415
01:23:23,499 --> 01:23:25,831
SMOKEY LAUGHS - No,
my life had left.
1416
01:23:26,293 --> 01:23:31,504
♪ You're nobody till
somebody loves you ♪
1417
01:23:31,715 --> 01:23:35,834
♪ So, find yourself
somebody to love ♪
1418
01:23:37,137 --> 01:23:38,137
♪ You're nobody... ♪
1419
01:23:38,180 --> 01:23:40,387
And as she came
out of the thing,
1420
01:23:40,807 --> 01:23:43,299
the other girls went by
and I congratulated them,
1421
01:23:43,393 --> 01:23:45,134
but Diana just kept walking.
1422
01:23:45,812 --> 01:23:48,850
I said, "But Diana,
I'm really so happy"
1423
01:23:49,191 --> 01:23:51,774
because I know she had
to do some thinking too,
1424
01:23:51,985 --> 01:23:55,523
and she just stopped for a moment and
said, "I did it for you."
1425
01:23:56,198 --> 01:23:59,862
And she walked on
and, you know...
1426
01:24:00,160 --> 01:24:03,323
♪ The world is still is the
same You'll never change it ♪
1427
01:24:03,372 --> 01:24:04,703
♪ Never never change it ♪
1428
01:24:05,499 --> 01:24:07,831
I was stuck there,
and she did it for me.
1429
01:24:08,627 --> 01:24:12,416
Golly, you know,
she did it for me.
1430
01:24:12,881 --> 01:24:15,293
It was in that moment
that I realised
1431
01:24:15,384 --> 01:24:19,594
our relationship had changed
to something... different.
1432
01:24:20,138 --> 01:24:21,424
♪ To love ♪
1433
01:24:21,723 --> 01:24:25,637
♪ The world's the same, we'll always
remain And you'll never change it ♪
1434
01:24:26,019 --> 01:24:28,511
♪ Qoooh, find yourself... ♪
1435
01:24:28,689 --> 01:24:30,851
When people say
Motown was a family,
1436
01:24:31,358 --> 01:24:34,316
they have no idea that
Motown was really a family.
1437
01:24:34,778 --> 01:24:36,394
You know,
we had close relationships.
1438
01:24:36,863 --> 01:24:41,573
You know, Diana and I had a love affair.
Marvin married my sister.
1439
01:24:41,660 --> 01:24:46,871
The love and family atmosphere
at Motown defined the company,
1440
01:24:46,999 --> 01:24:50,993
but it made things, at
times, very complicated.
1441
01:24:53,630 --> 01:24:56,247
When you first start,
it's a passion thing, right?
1442
01:24:56,550 --> 01:25:00,839
And then, once you start having
some success or you get famous,
1443
01:25:01,638 --> 01:25:03,675
then all this other
stuff comes with it.
1444
01:25:03,724 --> 01:25:05,840
Sharks is coming all the
time, you know?
1445
01:25:05,934 --> 01:25:07,470
They're coming from
everywhere, man.
1446
01:25:07,561 --> 01:25:09,143
There's a lot of
smoke being blown.
1447
01:25:09,646 --> 01:25:12,479
It's wild, because this is a
very wild business, you know?
1448
01:25:12,566 --> 01:25:13,852
It's like the wild, wild west.
1449
01:25:15,110 --> 01:25:17,977
Now, Holland and
Dozier leaving Motown
1450
01:25:18,071 --> 01:25:21,689
was not a major surprise to me.
1451
01:25:22,159 --> 01:25:26,699
I saw it coming, because they were
so great, they had so many hits.
1452
01:25:26,955 --> 01:25:30,619
The friction with
Holland-Dozier-Holland was personal.
1453
01:25:30,709 --> 01:25:36,546
Berry always found himself trying
to give me that which I wanted.
1454
01:25:36,840 --> 01:25:39,081
I wanted more of this,
I wanted a higher royalty.
1455
01:25:39,134 --> 01:25:40,134
"OK, give him that."
1456
01:25:40,385 --> 01:25:44,253
So, when I came to him with,
I don't know what it was,
1457
01:25:44,348 --> 01:25:46,635
some label or
something, whatever.
1458
01:25:46,725 --> 01:25:47,931
He told it this way.
1459
01:25:48,185 --> 01:25:52,474
"If I give you that label,
you'll stop working for Motown"
1460
01:25:52,564 --> 01:25:55,773
and start working on that label
cos that's the way that you are.”
1461
01:25:55,859 --> 01:25:58,476
I said, "No, we won't." He said,
"Yes, you will. I know you."
1462
01:25:58,528 --> 01:26:01,566
You know, and sometimes
it's just about principle.
1463
01:26:02,658 --> 01:26:04,945
It's wrong and I can't deal with
it, you know?
1464
01:26:04,993 --> 01:26:09,658
I may lose money, I may lose this and
that, but I can't deal with the principle.
1465
01:26:09,831 --> 01:26:11,071
Berry told me,
1466
01:26:11,166 --> 01:26:15,581
"You go look and check it out and
see if you're more valuable to me"
1467
01:26:15,671 --> 01:26:17,332
than you would be
to another company.”
1468
01:26:17,798 --> 01:26:22,508
What the other company did end up
offering me, I knew he couldn't meet.
1469
01:26:22,844 --> 01:26:28,135
It's easy to make anybody feel that
they deserve more than they're getting.
1470
01:26:28,225 --> 01:26:29,886
Oh,
we made $4 million last year.
1471
01:26:29,976 --> 01:26:31,616
That was great.
You should have made ten.
1472
01:26:32,062 --> 01:26:35,555
And then the lawyers get involved,
you might as well forget it.
1473
01:26:38,110 --> 01:26:42,525
We lost three of our best writers
at the peak of their success,
1474
01:26:42,698 --> 01:26:46,987
and many people thought we would not
make it without Holland-Dozier-Holland.
1475
01:26:47,411 --> 01:26:48,471
We were worried,
1476
01:26:48,495 --> 01:26:51,829
because we had only really worked with
Holland-Dozier-Holland at that point.
1477
01:26:51,915 --> 01:26:54,327
So it was a big loss for us.
1478
01:26:54,876 --> 01:26:58,039
That was like breaking
up with your old lady.
1479
01:26:58,463 --> 01:26:59,749
I mean, that's the way we felt.
1480
01:26:59,965 --> 01:27:01,626
What happens is when
you depend so much
1481
01:27:01,717 --> 01:27:05,005
upon a particular writer
or writers of a company,
1482
01:27:05,220 --> 01:27:08,633
you begin to get a particular
thing just from these writers.
1483
01:27:08,724 --> 01:27:11,716
And when the writers split and feel
they can do better somewhere else,
1484
01:27:11,893 --> 01:27:16,308
I think that, then, you have to
realise the talents of the artist.
1485
01:27:16,690 --> 01:27:19,978
On Stevie's 21st birthday,
I had this big party for him.
1486
01:27:20,110 --> 01:27:21,475
Everything was so great.
1487
01:27:21,570 --> 01:27:28,863
And the next day, I got this letter from
his attorney saying that he had turned 21
1488
01:27:29,202 --> 01:27:33,571
and he wanted to re-organise
his whole deal with me.
1489
01:27:33,707 --> 01:27:35,539
"All In Love Is Fair"
by Stevie Wonder
1490
01:27:35,584 --> 01:27:41,079
♪ All is fair in love ♪
1491
01:27:41,214 --> 01:27:43,251
He was saying, like, "Why,
why did you do this?"
1492
01:27:43,341 --> 01:27:46,800
And I said, "You know, I want to do it
the way I want to, I'm gonna do it,"
1493
01:27:47,637 --> 01:27:52,302
and I felt, musically, I didn't want
to stay in a particular kind of box.
1494
01:27:52,392 --> 01:27:54,120
And I said,
"Oh my goodness," you know?
1495
01:27:54,144 --> 01:27:57,887
Other artists had left.
I was petrified.
1496
01:27:59,691 --> 01:28:00,931
There comes a time in life
1497
01:28:01,026 --> 01:28:02,892
when you've got to do
what you've got to do.
1498
01:28:03,403 --> 01:28:09,740
♪ All is fair in love ♪
1499
01:28:09,993 --> 01:28:15,204
♪ 1 had to go away ♪
1500
01:28:16,958 --> 01:28:18,995
♪ A writer takes his pen ♪
1501
01:28:19,503 --> 01:28:21,335
We'd gone to a few
different companies,
1502
01:28:21,421 --> 01:28:27,258
but I think because of the love and
the respect that we had for each other,
1503
01:28:27,344 --> 01:28:32,009
meaning Berry and myself,
that it felt home.
1504
01:28:32,182 --> 01:28:33,618
But when I talked to Stevie,
1505
01:28:33,642 --> 01:28:37,010
he wanted changes and he wanted
full control of everything.
1506
01:28:37,521 --> 01:28:42,516
I felt that he had grown and he was
one of the greatest artists around
1507
01:28:42,609 --> 01:28:45,818
and so I was forced to
relent to his demands.
1508
01:28:46,238 --> 01:28:48,275
There was a lot of
decisions that I've made,
1509
01:28:48,490 --> 01:28:52,654
I can't say that was the best,
but it was certainly up there.
1510
01:28:52,994 --> 01:28:56,237
"Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
1511
01:28:57,249 --> 01:28:59,616
He came out under
these new arrangements
1512
01:28:59,709 --> 01:29:03,418
with some of the most brilliant
music of his whole career,
1513
01:29:03,713 --> 01:29:06,455
and I was extremely
proud of Stevie,
1514
01:29:06,633 --> 01:29:11,127
his loyalty and his ability to take
Motown to even greater heights.
1515
01:29:11,221 --> 01:29:17,263
♪ Very superstitious,
writing's on the wall ♪
1516
01:29:19,646 --> 01:29:23,139
♪ Very superstitious... ♪
- Stevie Wonder!
1517
01:29:23,358 --> 01:29:25,565
CROWD CHEERS ♪ Ladder's
about to fall ♪
1518
01:29:25,777 --> 01:29:27,768
Stevie Wonder, Stevie Wonder!
1519
01:29:28,113 --> 01:29:29,113
Stevie Wonder.
1520
01:29:31,700 --> 01:29:34,613
I believe that Stevie is the
greatest solo artist of all time.
1521
01:29:35,495 --> 01:29:39,454
In any genre, I think Stevie is the one.
He's the greatest.
1522
01:29:40,208 --> 01:29:43,997
If you listen to his music,
it's jazz, it's gospel, it's pop.
1523
01:29:44,337 --> 01:29:45,337
It's everything.
1524
01:29:45,463 --> 01:29:49,331
Stevie Wonder is one of the most talented
people ever, and I mean for all of life.
1525
01:29:49,718 --> 01:29:53,507
♪ That you don't understand
Then you suffer ♪
1526
01:29:55,056 --> 01:29:57,263
♪ Superstition ain't the way ♪
1527
01:29:58,268 --> 01:29:59,758
♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
1528
01:29:59,978 --> 01:30:02,515
Berry wanted the
best for the artist.
1529
01:30:02,731 --> 01:30:04,438
You know, the challenge is...
1530
01:30:04,524 --> 01:30:10,236
obviously is in proving himself
right or us proving him wrong.
1531
01:30:10,488 --> 01:30:12,650
But at the end of the
day, we all win.
1532
01:30:13,199 --> 01:30:16,237
"You Keep Me Hanging
On" by The Supremes
1533
01:30:19,789 --> 01:30:22,952
I always had the feeling if you
don't keep up with the times,
1534
01:30:23,043 --> 01:30:25,956
if you don't innovate,
you stagnate.
1535
01:30:26,546 --> 01:30:32,838
There was always, in him,
the appreciation of the next step.
1536
01:30:33,678 --> 01:30:37,046
Wait! Wait!
Boys, I want to sign you up.
1537
01:30:39,184 --> 01:30:43,143
"Want You Back" by Jackson 5
1538
01:30:46,024 --> 01:30:50,814
♪ Uh-oh,
oh-oh Let me tell you now ♪
1539
01:30:50,862 --> 01:30:53,229
♪ Uh huh ♪
1540
01:30:55,533 --> 01:30:59,447
♪ When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around ♪
1541
01:30:59,829 --> 01:31:03,367
♪ Those pretty faces always
made you Stand out in a crowd ♪
1542
01:31:03,458 --> 01:31:04,994
I remember signing with Motown
1543
01:31:05,043 --> 01:31:07,375
and all the kids around our
neighbourhood in Gary, Indiana,
1544
01:31:07,462 --> 01:31:10,875
they didn't believe us, cos it took a
while for us to make our first record.
1545
01:31:10,924 --> 01:31:13,131
When it came out,
it was like a machine. Boom!
1546
01:31:13,426 --> 01:31:17,715
♪ Oh, darling, all I need is one more
chance To show you that I love you ♪
1547
01:31:18,098 --> 01:31:22,183
♪ Won't you please let
me Back in your heart ♪
1548
01:31:22,602 --> 01:31:26,812
♪ Oh, darling, I was blind to
let you go Let you go, baby ♪
1549
01:31:26,898 --> 01:31:29,731
♪ But now since I see you ♪
1550
01:31:29,943 --> 01:31:32,184
It was the first
time that black kids
1551
01:31:32,278 --> 01:31:35,521
had a young group that was
fabulous, you know?
1552
01:31:35,657 --> 01:31:39,491
They had, you know, screaming
little girls in pigtails and afros.
1553
01:31:39,828 --> 01:31:41,785
Just when we thought
we understood something
1554
01:31:41,871 --> 01:31:43,453
with the Supremes
and the Temptations,
1555
01:31:43,540 --> 01:31:47,408
Mr Gordy took us to another
level with the Jackson Five.
1556
01:31:47,961 --> 01:31:51,204
Can you think of a black group
who had their own cartoon series?
1557
01:31:51,464 --> 01:31:52,829
That's mind boggling.
1558
01:31:53,800 --> 01:31:55,211
♪ Following the girl ♪
1559
01:31:55,468 --> 01:31:57,948
I think he saw the power
of television early.
1560
01:31:58,096 --> 01:32:04,058
Berry Gordy realised if he wanted his
artists to become global superstars,
1561
01:32:04,144 --> 01:32:05,885
then television was
the way to do that.
1562
01:32:06,771 --> 01:32:08,666
We wanted movies,
television, Broadway.
1563
01:32:08,690 --> 01:32:11,148
I wanted everything for the
artist that they could do.
1564
01:32:11,484 --> 01:32:15,523
Now that they're as big as they can be in
Detroit, I want to take them to Hollywood.
1565
01:32:15,822 --> 01:32:18,564
He always was pushing
that envelope.
1566
01:32:18,658 --> 01:32:21,946
I mean, soon after that it was "Lady
Sings The Blues" with Diana Ross.
1567
01:32:27,625 --> 01:32:29,161
I moved out of Detroit,
1568
01:32:29,294 --> 01:32:31,956
because I wanted to be
in the movie business
1569
01:32:32,172 --> 01:32:36,507
and I wanted to make strides in
areas that Detroit couldn't offer me.
1570
01:32:36,634 --> 01:32:40,673
My creative talents could be wide open,
there was nothing that I couldn't do.
1571
01:32:40,972 --> 01:32:43,464
So, we became a totally
different company.
1572
01:32:43,558 --> 01:32:47,973
We went from a record company to
an entertainment conglomerate.
1573
01:32:48,605 --> 01:32:51,222
I was the biggest protestor
about moving to LA, man.
1574
01:32:51,316 --> 01:32:55,355
I told Berry, "No, we cannot move to
LA, man. Detroit is our home."
1575
01:32:55,570 --> 01:32:58,278
There was no in-house
studio anymore.
1576
01:32:58,656 --> 01:33:00,488
That was the big factor.
1577
01:33:00,617 --> 01:33:04,406
Heck, man, I started sending Berry
books on earthquakes and smog.
1578
01:33:04,496 --> 01:33:07,284
I did. I really did!
You know what? But we did.
1579
01:33:07,373 --> 01:33:11,833
We moved out there cos he's innovative,
and he saw what I didn't see.
1580
01:33:12,045 --> 01:33:14,412
It was a dream,
a dream has no limits, you know?
1581
01:33:14,756 --> 01:33:16,042
And we used to always say,
1582
01:33:16,800 --> 01:33:20,168
"The sky is not the limit,
the sky is the first stop," you know?
1583
01:33:26,184 --> 01:33:29,097
The world was changing,
the music business was changing,
1584
01:33:29,187 --> 01:33:32,100
the artists were changing,
they all had their own ideas,
1585
01:33:32,440 --> 01:33:35,728
and then you have to make a decision
as to how you want to deal with it.
1586
01:33:36,194 --> 01:33:40,654
We came from this time of,
"Wow, black is beautiful."
1587
01:33:40,740 --> 01:33:43,653
We can go out and be on
stage and look fabulous,
1588
01:33:43,868 --> 01:33:47,327
and then you got into that
social climate change.
1589
01:33:47,497 --> 01:33:49,257
You know what we came up with...
1590
01:33:49,415 --> 01:33:50,530
- Cloud nine.
- Cloud nine,
1591
01:33:50,834 --> 01:33:54,418
and I said, wait a minute. "I'm getting
high. I mean, I'm doing fine..."
1592
01:33:54,504 --> 01:33:56,541
Up here on cloud nine."
- Up here on cloud nine.
1593
01:33:56,714 --> 01:33:59,297
You thought it was promoting drugs.
- Yeah.
1594
01:33:59,717 --> 01:34:01,708
♪ I'm doing fine ♪
1595
01:34:01,928 --> 01:34:04,090
♪ Up here on cloud nine ♪
1596
01:34:04,180 --> 01:34:08,469
♪ Listen one more
time I'm doin' fine ♪
1597
01:34:08,768 --> 01:34:13,137
I said, "No, we can't be a company that
promotes drugs. We can't have that."
1598
01:34:13,231 --> 01:34:16,144
And so I said, you know,
"How many say it's not a hit?"
1599
01:34:16,234 --> 01:34:18,817
You know, and I was the
only one to raise my hand.
1600
01:34:20,280 --> 01:34:22,146
It was the first Grammy.
1601
01:34:22,782 --> 01:34:26,525
Got a gold record for it,
and then we go on "Psychedelic Soul."
1602
01:34:26,703 --> 01:34:28,159
It's like culture shock.
1603
01:34:28,246 --> 01:34:30,863
Wait, what the hell are the
Temps doing now, you know?
1604
01:34:31,082 --> 01:34:32,476
And that also told me something,
1605
01:34:32,500 --> 01:34:35,959
well, society is going in
a very strange direction.
1606
01:34:36,296 --> 01:34:38,628
I don't want to
glamourise getting high,
1607
01:34:38,715 --> 01:34:43,380
but obviously the public wanted
it and they made me seem wrong.
1608
01:34:43,553 --> 01:34:49,299
But I didn't like compromising my
values on that particular record.
1609
01:34:49,559 --> 01:34:54,804
Things were moving fast and changing,
and so maybe he had a kind of vision.
1610
01:34:55,231 --> 01:34:59,646
It was a safe one, but the talent of these
different artists and the songs they wrote,
1611
01:34:59,986 --> 01:35:01,772
they were looking
at what was going on
1612
01:35:02,071 --> 01:35:06,315
and they felt it was time to move forward
and encourage the world to be better.
1613
01:35:06,868 --> 01:35:09,326
Do you feel that
entertainers such as yourself
1614
01:35:09,412 --> 01:35:13,076
should become more involved in
the black man's problems today?
1615
01:35:13,166 --> 01:35:15,436
Well, we are involved
because we're black men,
1616
01:35:15,460 --> 01:35:18,828
so we're involved automatically, whether
or not we want to be, we're involved,
1617
01:35:18,922 --> 01:35:23,917
and I think that it's a good thing if
you get in that position to speak out...
1618
01:35:24,010 --> 01:35:26,447
- This is what I was gonna say.
- And just say what you think of it.
1619
01:35:26,471 --> 01:35:29,964
The Black Power organisations
were proud of me,
1620
01:35:30,058 --> 01:35:35,144
but yet against me, because I was
this company that only did love songs
1621
01:35:35,230 --> 01:35:40,816
and songs of faith
and hope and duty.
1622
01:35:40,985 --> 01:35:43,818
So, we didn't cross the
line, in my opinion.
1623
01:35:44,113 --> 01:35:47,105
The songs just changed because
the world was changing.
1624
01:35:47,408 --> 01:35:48,523
We changed.
1625
01:35:48,785 --> 01:35:51,180
We had a different understanding
of what was really going on.
1626
01:35:51,204 --> 01:35:53,195
We wanted somebody to
tell us about that.
1627
01:35:53,289 --> 01:35:56,577
Coming from "The Sound of Young
America" to "Psychedelic Soul,"
1628
01:35:56,709 --> 01:35:59,246
it was indicative of the
times that we were living
1629
01:35:59,337 --> 01:36:01,732
and we were just singing about
what was happening in the world.
1630
01:36:01,756 --> 01:36:03,872
"Ball of Confusion"
by The Temptations
1631
01:36:04,050 --> 01:36:08,590
♪ Well, the only person talking about
love my brother is the preacher ♪
1632
01:36:08,680 --> 01:36:10,842
It was a horrific time.
Detroit was on fire.
1633
01:36:11,182 --> 01:36:15,176
♪ Nobody's interested in
learning but the teacher ♪
1634
01:36:15,311 --> 01:36:17,143
Ll remember a line of tanks
1635
01:36:17,230 --> 01:36:20,473
coming down West Grand Boulevard,
it was like I was in a different country.
1636
01:36:20,692 --> 01:36:23,559
♪ Aggravation, humiliation,
obligation to our nation ♪
1637
01:36:23,653 --> 01:36:27,988
♪ Ball of confusion ♪
1638
01:36:29,617 --> 01:36:31,449
♪ That's what the
world is today ♪
1639
01:36:31,661 --> 01:36:34,073
That's a hard time for
people who's doing music
1640
01:36:34,163 --> 01:36:37,531
when there's blood on the streets,
when there's civil unrest.
1641
01:36:38,084 --> 01:36:40,542
When you believe in
something very strongly
1642
01:36:40,628 --> 01:36:44,166
and you feel in your soul that
it's time for that to be said,
1643
01:36:44,257 --> 01:36:47,420
how can you not want to break
through and make that happen?
1644
01:36:47,844 --> 01:36:50,176
And so, you realise
the power of your voice
1645
01:36:50,263 --> 01:36:52,721
and what it means to the world.
1646
01:36:52,807 --> 01:36:55,687
Not just to blacks, but to whites and
to anybody that's listening to you.
1647
01:36:56,352 --> 01:37:00,471
I think it was
around 1969 or 1970
1648
01:37:00,606 --> 01:37:04,224
when I stopped thinking so
much about my erotic fantasies
1649
01:37:04,319 --> 01:37:09,314
and I just started to think about
the war in Vietnam and my brother.
1650
01:37:10,658 --> 01:37:14,777
I became quite affected by it
and, at the same time,
1651
01:37:14,871 --> 01:37:16,782
there was a great deal
of unrest in America.
1652
01:37:17,165 --> 01:37:20,203
Marvin was a good-looking
guy, he was a ladies' man.
1653
01:37:20,293 --> 01:37:24,207
Being a protest singer was not Berry's
idea of a good thing for Marvin.
1654
01:37:24,422 --> 01:37:26,038
We created stuff in Motown
1655
01:37:26,132 --> 01:37:30,547
where we would, say, you have
freedom within restriction, you know?
1656
01:37:30,803 --> 01:37:34,546
I mean, I'm not gonna tell you anything
that you're gonna do between here and here,
1657
01:37:35,016 --> 01:37:37,758
but when you get past
there, I've got to stop you.
1658
01:37:37,852 --> 01:37:43,473
I had to fight for
my creative freedom,
1659
01:37:43,566 --> 01:37:49,027
you know, my artistic freedom,
my right to produce, my right to write.
1660
01:37:49,322 --> 01:37:52,986
Marvin was working on something.
I didn't know what he was working on.
1661
01:37:53,242 --> 01:37:57,031
I talk with him in the understanding
that there were boundaries,
1662
01:37:57,121 --> 01:37:59,783
but he said, "No.
I'm gonna do this the way that I see it."
1663
01:38:00,208 --> 01:38:05,874
Him doing all of those vocals and
the layering and the sound of it,
1664
01:38:05,963 --> 01:38:08,204
he had found the
place in himself.
1665
01:38:08,383 --> 01:38:12,047
"What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye
1666
01:38:18,935 --> 01:38:22,178
♪ Oh, mother, mother ♪
1667
01:38:23,147 --> 01:38:27,562
♪ There's too many
of you crying ♪
1668
01:38:29,404 --> 01:38:31,566
♪ Brother, brother, brother ♪
1669
01:38:32,615 --> 01:38:36,859
♪ There's far too
many of you dying ♪
1670
01:38:37,662 --> 01:38:41,030
♪ You know we've
got to find a way ♪
1671
01:38:42,500 --> 01:38:46,209
♪ To bring some
loving here today ♪
1672
01:38:46,379 --> 01:38:50,919
♪ Yeah, father, father ♪
1673
01:38:51,926 --> 01:38:55,385
♪ We don't need to escalate ♪
1674
01:38:56,889 --> 01:39:04,889
♪ See, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate ♪
1675
01:39:06,065 --> 01:39:09,649
♪ You know we've
got to find a way ♪
1676
01:39:10,778 --> 01:39:16,364
♪ To bring some loving here
today, oh ♪
1677
01:39:16,826 --> 01:39:20,615
♪ Picket lines
and picket signs ♪
1678
01:39:21,122 --> 01:39:25,161
♪ Don't punish me
with brutality ♪
1679
01:39:26,294 --> 01:39:31,664
♪ Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on ♪
1680
01:39:31,757 --> 01:39:32,792
♪ What's going on ♪
1681
01:39:33,009 --> 01:39:34,750
♪ What's going on
What's going on ♪
1682
01:39:34,844 --> 01:39:39,304
♪ Hell, what's going on, what's going on
Oh, what's going on, what's going on ♪
1683
01:39:39,390 --> 01:39:41,597
♪ Oh ♪
1684
01:39:42,894 --> 01:39:44,134
♪ Right on, baby ♪
1685
01:39:45,354 --> 01:39:49,063
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
1686
01:39:50,109 --> 01:39:53,773
♪ Woo!
Right on, baby, right on ♪
1687
01:39:54,697 --> 01:39:58,816
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
1688
01:40:00,036 --> 01:40:03,074
♪ Bip, bip, bip, boop ♪
1689
01:40:03,623 --> 01:40:08,743
The value of what he was
writing was so artistic.
1690
01:40:09,170 --> 01:40:12,913
His production was brilliant
and he would sing with himself
1691
01:40:13,174 --> 01:40:15,757
and we recorded Marvin on top
of Marvin on top of Marvin,
1692
01:40:16,511 --> 01:40:20,300
but I was against him writing
about trigger happy police
1693
01:40:20,389 --> 01:40:24,553
and stuff about the world,
Vietnam and this and that and so forth.
1694
01:40:24,894 --> 01:40:26,259
I said, "Well,
we can't do that."
1695
01:40:26,562 --> 01:40:28,415
I couldn't believe
that sat on a shelf
1696
01:40:28,439 --> 01:40:30,555
because Motown was
kind of afraid of it.
1697
01:40:31,108 --> 01:40:33,629
They didn't think people could deal
with all those issues, you know?
1698
01:40:33,653 --> 01:40:37,237
They wanted to keep it light and
fluffy, but he had hit the vein.
1699
01:40:37,323 --> 01:40:38,654
He had hit the real thing.
1700
01:40:40,243 --> 01:40:41,153
I was just concerned
1701
01:40:41,244 --> 01:40:44,987
about getting off track
with the Motown brand
1702
01:40:45,790 --> 01:40:46,951
and I was not always right,
1703
01:40:46,999 --> 01:40:51,163
and this is one case where Marvin
came back and threw it in my face,
1704
01:40:51,254 --> 01:40:53,086
you know, that, "Hey,
you taught us this."
1705
01:40:53,172 --> 01:40:56,915
You told us, you know,
look at what's happening.
1706
01:40:57,051 --> 01:40:58,051
Write what you feel.
1707
01:40:58,135 --> 01:41:00,467
And I got a brother in Vietnam,
man, you don't understand.
1708
01:41:00,555 --> 01:41:02,762
And the pollution out
there, you know,
1709
01:41:02,848 --> 01:41:05,840
and that's the truth and
you've always said to do that,
1710
01:41:06,060 --> 01:41:07,642
"so what are you talking about?"
1711
01:41:07,728 --> 01:41:15,146
So I'm saying, "Well, you know... yeah, well,
I can't really disagree with you on that."
1712
01:41:15,528 --> 01:41:23,528
♪ Mother, mother,
everybody thinks we're wrong, they do ♪
1713
01:41:24,870 --> 01:41:32,413
♪ Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long ♪
1714
01:41:32,795 --> 01:41:38,256
♪ People you, you,
you know We've got to find a way ♪
1715
01:41:38,843 --> 01:41:43,838
♪ To bring some
understanding here today ♪
1716
01:41:44,974 --> 01:41:52,974
♪ Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality ♪
1717
01:41:53,983 --> 01:41:58,352
♪ Talk to me, talk to me,
talk to me So you can see ♪
1718
01:41:58,946 --> 01:42:03,156
♪ What's going on
What's going on ♪
1719
01:42:03,367 --> 01:42:07,736
♪ Hell, what's going on I
want to know what's going on ♪
1720
01:42:07,955 --> 01:42:08,955
Alright.
1721
01:42:09,040 --> 01:42:12,283
I could not possibly tell you
what my favourite song is.
1722
01:42:13,210 --> 01:42:17,454
My favourite album is "What's Going On."
It's my favourite album of all time.
1723
01:42:17,548 --> 01:42:20,336
I haven't heard anything
before that or since then
1724
01:42:21,010 --> 01:42:24,219
that takes the place of that
being my favourite album.
1725
01:42:24,680 --> 01:42:29,265
Marvin was correct.
God did write it. His prophesy.
1726
01:42:29,894 --> 01:42:32,682
It's more poignant today
than it was when it came out.
1727
01:42:33,397 --> 01:42:35,167
Well, you could play
that here on the streets
1728
01:42:35,191 --> 01:42:37,853
when we're having
all of the shootings.
1729
01:42:37,943 --> 01:42:39,854
You could play that song right
now, it's needed.
1730
01:42:39,945 --> 01:42:41,590
You know, maybe that'll make
us, like, you know,
1731
01:42:41,614 --> 01:42:44,276
take a couple of steps back and
treat people a little better.
1732
01:42:45,409 --> 01:42:47,571
Mr Gordy had a very
specific vision.
1733
01:42:47,662 --> 01:42:50,950
We weren't gonna talk politics cos
we were gonna keep it commercial
1734
01:42:51,165 --> 01:42:52,997
and then it becomes
out of your control.
1735
01:42:53,250 --> 01:42:57,244
These artists that he created were
developing and growing his company
1736
01:42:57,922 --> 01:43:00,380
into places that he didn't even
think that he could take it.
1737
01:43:00,716 --> 01:43:03,629
You can have the greatest
assembly line in the world,
1738
01:43:03,761 --> 01:43:06,503
but people are not cars,
1739
01:43:06,972 --> 01:43:13,469
and eventually, they are going to
express themselves outside of the system.
1740
01:43:13,729 --> 01:43:16,812
They saw, say,
my career or Marvin's career
1741
01:43:16,899 --> 01:43:20,233
in a certain kind of way and we
said, "No, we don't see that."
1742
01:43:20,319 --> 01:43:21,525
We want to do it differently.”
1743
01:43:21,987 --> 01:43:23,728
And as far as me and my life,
1744
01:43:24,115 --> 01:43:28,234
it was just evolving from one
step to the next and learning,
1745
01:43:28,452 --> 01:43:32,241
and not being stuck on any
idea that didn't make sense.
1746
01:43:33,290 --> 01:43:39,787
I now have felt that the idea of reflecting
the world was not a bad idea at all.
1747
01:43:41,006 --> 01:43:42,667
When we were in prison,
1748
01:43:43,300 --> 01:43:50,673
we appreciated and avidly listened
to the sound of Detroit Motortown.
1749
01:43:52,518 --> 01:43:56,227
Today, in a time where things are
sort of turbulent in the world,
1750
01:43:56,731 --> 01:44:02,101
the challenge is to again be the
loudest bell that you hear ringing
1751
01:44:02,194 --> 01:44:05,778
that will encourage people
to do and be better.
1752
01:44:06,073 --> 01:44:08,781
Can't seem to agree on what
we all want to hear anymore,
1753
01:44:09,326 --> 01:44:13,411
and we don't realise that we need
music that speaks to our hearts,
1754
01:44:13,706 --> 01:44:16,289
SO we can say, "Ah yeah,
that's the way I feel."
1755
01:44:17,334 --> 01:44:18,699
Now, over the years,
1756
01:44:18,753 --> 01:44:22,246
this room has hosted some of the
most talented musicians in the world,
1757
01:44:22,339 --> 01:44:24,250
from classical to country.
1758
01:44:25,009 --> 01:44:27,091
But Motown is different.
1759
01:44:27,678 --> 01:44:30,966
Born at a time of so much
struggle, so much strife,
1760
01:44:31,724 --> 01:44:36,139
it taught us that what unites us will
always be stronger than what divides us.
1761
01:44:36,395 --> 01:44:40,104
So today, more than 50 years
later, that's the Motown legacy.
1762
01:44:41,025 --> 01:44:43,062
You could start
something with nothing
1763
01:44:43,486 --> 01:44:46,399
that ends up being
internationally something.
1764
01:44:47,531 --> 01:44:52,241
Yes, it's... Motown is a great
example of the American dream.
1765
01:44:52,578 --> 01:44:56,367
I think the Motown legacy
is just the culture.
1766
01:44:56,457 --> 01:44:58,789
It's part of the culture
of the United States.
1767
01:44:58,834 --> 01:45:01,917
It's not just black culture.
It's the country, it's everybody.
1768
01:45:03,422 --> 01:45:06,335
It was all a divine
movement for a purpose,
1769
01:45:06,425 --> 01:45:10,384
to let other kinds of people know you
don't have to suffer under the system,
1770
01:45:10,763 --> 01:45:14,631
create for yourself,
and so Motown became a model.
1771
01:45:17,895 --> 01:45:21,604
People come from
all over this planet
1772
01:45:21,899 --> 01:45:25,563
to visit this little house,
Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit,
1773
01:45:25,820 --> 01:45:29,859
because this music made
its way across the globe
1774
01:45:30,741 --> 01:45:34,325
and this music represented
the fabric of their lives
1775
01:45:34,411 --> 01:45:36,573
in the same way it did for
those of us in Detroit.
1776
01:45:36,831 --> 01:45:38,868
- I - celebrate a time in space
1777
01:45:39,124 --> 01:45:41,456
as a little kid who didn't
really understand it,
1778
01:45:41,544 --> 01:45:44,662
but the older I got,
the more I can appreciate
1779
01:45:45,130 --> 01:45:50,170
how it is a stamp on society that
will never ever be forgotten.
1780
01:45:50,678 --> 01:45:54,342
I can't sum up Motown, but I sure
am glad to have been a part of it.
1781
01:45:54,890 --> 01:45:59,475
To produce music that can endure
past my lifetime is special.
1782
01:46:00,729 --> 01:46:04,518
I would never change it in a million years.
I would have done one thing.
1783
01:46:04,942 --> 01:46:08,776
I would have done it a little slower
so I would have enjoyed it more.
1784
01:46:09,238 --> 01:46:10,820
The more and more
I think about it,
1785
01:46:10,990 --> 01:46:14,073
I don't know how the hell it
happened in the first place.
1786
01:46:14,451 --> 01:46:20,288
It was magnetic. All that stuff
there in one city called Detroit.
1787
01:46:20,416 --> 01:46:21,451
Mm-hm.
1788
01:46:23,419 --> 01:46:29,461
Every city, every town,
every place probably on Earth,
1789
01:46:29,550 --> 01:46:33,088
ratio-wise, with the talent that we
had, has that same amount of talent,
1790
01:46:33,178 --> 01:46:34,760
they just don't
have a Berry Gordy.
1791
01:46:34,805 --> 01:46:36,575
They don't have somebody
who could pull that off.
1792
01:46:36,599 --> 01:46:39,933
Yeah, I think the secret, you know...
- You're the secret, brother.
1793
01:46:39,977 --> 01:46:42,264
Oh, thank you. That's great.
That's wonderful, man.
1794
01:46:42,479 --> 01:46:47,098
But I'm just saying, my thing was to
bring the best out of other people,
1795
01:46:47,276 --> 01:46:48,732
cos I couldn't do what you did.
1796
01:46:48,819 --> 01:46:51,732
I couldn't write as well as
you or sing as well as you,
1797
01:46:51,822 --> 01:46:54,530
but if I make them the
best they could be,
1798
01:46:55,117 --> 01:46:58,326
then I could reach my
potential in some way,
1799
01:46:58,454 --> 01:47:01,913
but all I wanted to do in those
days is to make some money,
1800
01:47:02,458 --> 01:47:05,792
make some music
and get some girls.
1801
01:47:06,629 --> 01:47:07,915
And you did all that.
1802
01:47:09,423 --> 01:47:13,758
♪ Ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough ♪
1803
01:47:14,261 --> 01:47:18,630
♪ Ain't no river wide
enough To keep me from you ♪
1804
01:47:19,058 --> 01:47:23,097
♪ Ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough ♪
1805
01:47:23,687 --> 01:47:28,056
♪ Ain't no river wide
enough To keep me for you ♪
1806
01:47:28,400 --> 01:47:32,439
♪ Ain't no mountain
high enough ♪
1807
01:47:33,072 --> 01:47:37,817
♪ Nothing can keep
me, keep me from you ♪
1808
01:47:38,243 --> 01:47:40,575
One of the key points that,
kind of, pulled us together,
1809
01:47:40,663 --> 01:47:44,998
which was very unusual,
is we had a company song.
1810
01:47:45,292 --> 01:47:46,703
Don't ask me to sing it.
1811
01:47:47,878 --> 01:47:50,666
HE LAUGHS I wasn't
too good with the...
1812
01:47:51,966 --> 01:47:54,924
Cos we used to watch their mouths
and see if they could remember it.
1813
01:47:55,010 --> 01:47:56,341
And they would
say, "No, that..."
1814
01:47:56,845 --> 01:47:57,880
You know, "We are..."
1815
01:47:58,555 --> 01:47:59,920
No, I'm not gonna sing it.
1816
01:48:00,349 --> 01:48:03,683
♪ We are a very
swinging company ♪
1817
01:48:03,894 --> 01:48:05,601
♪ We are a very famous company ♪
1818
01:48:05,729 --> 01:48:08,847
♪ We're a very happy family ♪
1819
01:48:09,274 --> 01:48:10,764
♪ Oh, we are... ♪
1820
01:48:13,070 --> 01:48:16,108
♪ We are a happy singing company ♪
That's all I know.
1821
01:48:16,615 --> 01:48:18,822
Swinging company?
1822
01:48:19,827 --> 01:48:22,444
♪ Working hard from day-to-day ♪
1823
01:48:22,913 --> 01:48:25,826
Though-I won't do this.
I will not do it! SHE LAUGHS
1824
01:48:26,208 --> 01:48:29,326
Now you've got me all mixed up.
I've known that song really well.
1825
01:48:30,170 --> 01:48:31,581
♪ No one has more energy ♪
1826
01:48:31,797 --> 01:48:34,289
♪ No one...
can you find more unity ♪
1827
01:48:34,591 --> 01:48:37,754
♪ Than at Hitsville, U.S.A. ♪
1828
01:48:37,886 --> 01:48:41,504
You... I can see it,
I can see the lyrics.
1829
01:48:41,932 --> 01:48:45,050
♪ Our employees must
be neat and clean ♪
1830
01:48:45,227 --> 01:48:48,265
♪ And really have something
on the ball Dun dun dun ♪
1831
01:48:48,772 --> 01:48:51,890
♪ Honesty is our only policy ♪
1832
01:48:51,984 --> 01:48:57,775
♪ We're all for one
and one for all ♪
1833
01:48:57,865 --> 01:48:59,856
♪ Ooooh ♪
1834
01:49:00,034 --> 01:49:06,451
♪ We have a very swinging company
Working hard from day-to-day ♪
1835
01:49:06,915 --> 01:49:09,953
♪ Nowhere will you
find more unity ♪
1836
01:49:10,002 --> 01:49:11,492
♪ Than at Hitsville ♪
- Bang!
1837
01:49:11,628 --> 01:49:13,494
♪ I said Hitsville ♪
- Bang!
1838
01:49:13,672 --> 01:49:18,337
♪ [ Sard Hitsville, U.S. Al ♪
1839
01:49:18,719 --> 01:49:21,256
THEY LAUGH - And then we'd
say, "One more time!"
1840
01:49:21,388 --> 01:49:23,425
Yeah, one more...!
- ♪ I said Hitsville ♪
1841
01:49:23,474 --> 01:49:25,181
Bang! - ♪ I said Hitsville ♪
1842
01:49:25,267 --> 01:49:29,977
Bang!
- ♪ Than at Hitsville, U.S.A! ♪
1842
01:49:30,305 --> 01:49:36,641
Support us and become VIP member
to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org
165079
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.