Hey Berry can you spare a penny?

[mirage]

Hey Berry can you spare a penny?
Detroit’sdecline as an urban and cosmopolitan Meccais obvious. It took decades to buildDetroit; decades to tear it down and attempts to burn it down; it will takedecades to rebirth and rebuild itself into a nurturing city that will be ableto give back to every loyal Detroiter and those who want to be aDetroiter. And Music should be playingBIG here.
LA-NYC-Nashville … Detroit? Detroitneeds to be returned to the “A” list music billboard.
Major record labels are still in vogue…just not in Detroit. Money isrecouped, rewashed and recycled…only not in Detroit. Berry andhis newest BF, a Roshkind-type associate and former UMEboy scout /now Sony front-man and creative money shark and bagger are gamblingon Motown the Musical. The Chairman now needs to take his aged glamand glitter MoWest LA crowd and line up to kiss Sony’s front man.
Part of the D’s renaissance needs to center on its musicscene. It is the soul of the city. The Motown Museum is simply a onevisit-wonder on auto-tune.
When is the last time Detroitsaw BB give a penny to the Motown Museum for an endowment or aplant. In thirty-five plus years, themuseum remains endowment-less and operates on tourist tickets.
Sir Paul [[good guy) restores a 2^nd tier Steinway;it creates a rush minute media blip; D corporate sponsors pay for an event inNYC to accept the Steinway for its future delivery to the ambience of aramshackle museum [[if its still standing); the event has a last-minute spin-offauction allowing this alleged “Hitsville” fundraiser to again raise majordollars. The total raised … undisclosed.
The Detroit media [[notthe News’ Whitall fluffette) need to dig deep to get this figure released. It’s actually over $1.2 mil. However, if any funds are “misplaced” or“redirected”, it most likely will become yet another major fundraising red inkspot.
No Detroiter ever has to be ashamed that they moved on tobetter personal and professional pinnacles. Hell, Detroiters are proud that the Motor Citygave you your start.
No one faults a good, honest and compelling story aboutsuccess. However, a story that becomesmired in questionable history caused by an abrupt disappearance, a writer’sdementia, ego or ghost writer syndrome has a tendency to create suspicion andmistrust. Motown history is a compilationof many individuals and their recollection of events and people. When coupled with hard evidentiary documents,it’s difficult to refute.
One should never leave the content of a building unattendedor die without a will that stipulates shredding what you don’t wantshared. The Donovan building is not theonly place where Motown docudrama was left abandoned and unsecured.
And history is never the self-entitlement of one person torewrite the collective history of many because he is the main character.
BB only returns to the D it’s for self-serving indulgence ormaybe a funeral.
Motown 50 – the media-frenzied celebrity fundraising bashlost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Didn’t see this reported.
BB and the lifetime appointed Museum trustees don’tunderstand the concept wherein a charity fundraiser is supposed to give; nottake from its cause.
Gordy and his cohorts seem to view the Motown “family” leftbehind when they all relocated to LA as beggars and castoffs that want ahandout or a Chairman hug. Reality isthat most could care less; and some just want that impersonal and patheticinsincere photo hug.
The Museum is one shabby andshoddy run organization. The NYC eventwas about as low class as the MoWest entourage could go. A Detroitsponsored fundraiser held in NYC? Themuseum needs new trustees and a mega endowment that won’t be squandered by…?
Map out the history of Motown. [[Bobby) - The “House that Berry Built” is notthe “House that Berry Built”…alone. There would be no Motown, no mega-stars, no MoWest, no Motown the Musical if it were not forthe Motown personalities that helped Motown and its stars become successfulbecause of their loyalty to the Motown dream. Belittling the “peripheral” Motown men and women who contributed much inthe creation of Motown as expendable components is both repulsive andcondescending to them and their families. They are owed respect, and if stillalive, a ticket to the premiere.
The ambiance of Motown Gold has faded. And the historical marker paid for by themuseum is the only thing that may be left standing in a few years on illustriousBerry Gordy Avenue.
Show Detroiters where thirty-five+ years and millions of dollarsraised via media-laced celebrity fundraisers has been used to make the museum facilitiespresentable, useable, futuristic and community oriented. Where are all the grant funds?
The Museum is nothing more than a termite infested wooden shellwaiting to collapse from either its decades of neglect or from a mediocre windstorm.
The building is in such disrepair that flushing the toiletcreates a sewage scent that even Glade air fresheners can’t hide.
Clarification-Motownthe Musical … it’s the music that makes the show; not its inaccuratehistorical punch-lines. You gotta love imagination. Hey, it’s Broadway.
Maybe BB’s close pal/associate Mike R… will be attending theMotown premiere to help tell Motown’s story. After all, Mike is a … Fake War Herowho learned how to Steal Valor and a Bronze Medal and never got fired fromMotown. He got promoted to LA. Or did he promote Gordy to LA. The latter seems logical.
Again these are simply my opinions. Everybody is entitled totheir own opinion and conclusion.
Motown music is great… love it. But, Motown history is sordid, lurid andbrutal.
The music industry is on speed 24/7. And every music label is a bankableasset. Punto Banco anyone?
Motown to MoWest overnight flight … Go figure? A penny for your thoughts.

[jobeterob]

Because Motown was so pervasive, so successful ~ all the peripheral people have a story that many other people are interested in hearing.

You can name 50 other record companies where no one ever asks or is interested in the background vocals, who played on what records, who were in the backing band, or even what the name of the backing band was.

If the point is that not very many people made money, that's fair. Not very many people involved with other record companies did either.

But I also firmly believe that many of the people affiliated with Motown who were less successful thoroughly credit and love Berry Gordy for the opportunity he gave them. We certainly hear this from Funk Brothers, Andantes, Vandellas, Supremes, Contours, Temptations, etc. Not all was a bowl of cherries but all of them were glad to be there.

[carole cucumber]

Just a comment:

The selection of your screen name is a clever one. Among many possibilities it might

1) evoke a connection to The Mirage in Las Vegas.

2) call to mind the Miracles' hit "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage"

3) be an example of au courant grammatical license; mirage = my rage

From the tone and direction of your postings, it's likely the second ; but I can also see the third applying here. But, then again, you may have intended a combination of the second and third.

[jobeterob]

I want to hear more Carole.

You both have connections.

[midnightman]

Motown wasn't the only company where artists made less money than the label owners and presidents and chairmen. So I don't get why Motown is treated as a black sheep when it came to its treatment of its artists. If you gonna scream bloody murder at Berry Gordy, do the same for Ahmet Ertegun, Florence Greenberg and the presidents of CBS, Warner Bros and RCA. But no let's put all our anger at Berry Gordy. Yeah that seems fair...

[bankhousedave]

There's a quote somewhere, I think from Earl, that says something like: 'Every time we asked Berry for a raise he gave it to us. We just didn't know what to ask for.'

[skooldem1]

Holding grudges is such a wast of energy. This is obviously someone who worked for the museum, or who worked for Berry Gordy on an administrative level...an accountant maybe?