Tamla Motown

"Motown is an American record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. in 1959, the United States. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music by achieving a 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.
Gordy originally set up two nominally-separate labels (Tamla Records and Motown Records) in 1959. The two labels featured the same writers, producers and artists, and they were both formally incorporated together as Motown Record Corporation (commonly referred to simply as "Motown") on April 14, 1960. " -Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown 

Berry Gordy, Jr.

 



Motown still has large influences contemporarily, with signed artists such as The Marvellettes, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, both still invading the charts to this day. However, 'Motown' may stereotypically be viewed as a 'Black label', which is proven wrong through singers Dusty Springfield and Amy Winehouse; White artists taking influence from the Motown genre, singing songs seemingly written for Black artists and through their costume choices, integrate fully with the Motown conventions. 'Vintage' style is often adopted by younger generations, through sixties 'swing' dresses, prominent collars and furious back-combed hair, appearance is still as overtly important to today's generation as it was during the times of 'The Marvellettes'.