Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first record label owned by an African American to primarily feature African-American artists who achieved crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.
Motown has owned or distributed releases from more than 45 subsidiaries in varying genres, although it is most famous for its releases in the music genres of rhythm and blues, soul, hip hop and pop. Motown Records left Detroit for Los Angeles in 1972, and remained an independent company until June 28, 1988, when Gordy sold the company to MCA and Boston Ventures (which took over full ownership of Motown in 1991), then to PolyGram in 1994. Now headquartered in New York City, Motown Records is a subsidiary of The Universal Motown/Universal Republic Group, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.
It would be a crazy social music experiment to see if any modern day artist could remake the Motown sound; the only artists that I see that are ‘close’ would be a Chrisette Michelle, Amy Winehouse, or even a Jon Legend. But I think with R&B in a current stalemate, the people could use some of that classic old soul sound.
Some background if you don’t know -and if you don’t know, then you really are not up on your music game, but Hall & Oates are a pop music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates.The act achieved its greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed “rock and soul.” They are best known for their six #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Rich Girl”, “Kiss on My List”, “Private Eyes”, “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”, “Maneater”, and “Out of Touch”, as well as many other songs which charted in the Top 40. They have sold 80 million albums worldwide.
They have one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop industry, here is just a list (which I think is outdated):
* 1989 – “Say No Go” – De La Soul
* 1993 – “V.S.O.P” – Above the Law
* 1996 – “My Crew Can’t Go for That” – Trigger tha Gambler
* 1996 – “So Deep” – Dan-e-o
* 1997 – “I’ll Do Anything” – Heavy D
* 1998 – “I Can’t Go for That” – 2 Live Crew
* 1999 – “Can’t let go – C-Note
* 2000 – “Can’t Go for That (Remix)” -Tamia
* 2000 – “After Party” – Koffee Brown
* 2001 – “Traffic” – Stereo MC’s
* 2002 – “4 Myself” Mac Dre ft. Devious and Dubee
* 2003 – “Sunrise” – Simply Red
* 2003 – “Take Me to Your Leader” – King Geedorah
* 2004 – “I Can’t Go For That/Happy People Remix” – Notorious B.I.G. / R. Kelly (“Happy People” samples Spandau Ballet’s “True”)
* 2005 – “Wait Til I Get Home” – C-Note
* 2006 – “Give and Go” – Girl Talk
* 2006 – “No Can Do” – Tech N9ne
* 2006 – “Can’t Go On” – Örten
I gotta give Ms. Badu some shine because every time she comes out she reinvents the wheel and brings a unique and distinct sound to the game. Only problem this time around is that the music industry is in a black abyss of sh*t, and GOOD music like this may not get the respect that it deserves. I wonder if BET will play this? I can’t imagine on what show, definitely not on 106 & Park.
Sometimes funny, often condescending, but always real from the heart, Life in B Major is my expression of emotions & thoughts through the lens of the Nerban - the Techie Nerd with some Urban Swag and Hip-Hop Culture. Meaning, I know the lyrical differences between a Lil Wayne & Jay-Z, and I also know how to setup a dual boot OS with Vista & Linux. That's fly.
Anyhow, I got a mounting task as I manage to bounce back from a failed business partnership, dealing with WACK people, re-igniting my techie hustle, loving hip-hop music, but having an opinion on the turds and the system that tries to mess it up, AND lifting up and helping others to realize their own potential - while also refining and crafting my own.
.:: LiBM::.
