who has appeared on the most motown group labels

[tamla617]

i mean tamla,motown [[before consolodation),gordy,vip soul etc.

include group members like david ruffin..........gordy [[with temptations)
motown [[solo)
soul [[with jimmy rufin)
did anyone appear on 4 or more?

[midnightman]

Syreeta was with Gordy when she started her music career, then MoWest when she issued her debut album, then Motown for Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta [[and I believe her G.C. Cameron duet album) and Tamla with the rest of the albums. I don't know what she released "The Spell" on but it was either Tamla, Motown or Gordy [[since Tamla and Gordy still existed in 1983).

[copley]

Blinky x 3 Motown/Soul/Mowest

Thelma Houston x 3 Motown/Mowest/Tamla

Jr. Walker x 3 Harvey/Soul/Motown

Velvelettes x 3 IPG/VIP/Soul

Chris Clark x 3 VIP/Motown/Weed

Jimmy Ruffin x 3 Miracle/Soul/Motown

David Ruffin x 4 Anna/Check-Mate/Gordy/Motown

Syreeta x 4 Motown/Tamla/Mowest/Gordy

[jsmith]

Jan 1968; Gordy # 7064 >>> Rita Wright [[Syreeta) -- Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You ........
............. Syreeta x 4 ....... Gordy / Mowest / Tamla / Motown

[copley]

Jan 1968; Gordy # 7064 >>> Rita Wright [[Syreeta) -- Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You ........
............. Syreeta x 4 ....... Gordy / Mowest / Tamla / Motown

Yup, I forgot about her great Rita Wright single.

[jobeterob]

Copley is kinda like Reese = Super knowledge of Motown; incredible guys.

[psychedelic jacques]

i'd like to broaden this thread by asking two questions i've always wondered about:

i) what was the rationale for sometimes moving artists such as [[Sy)Reeta Wright & Blinky to other labels [[if any) - e.g. why were the Supremes moved from Tamla to Motown way back in 61/62, or the Velvelettes moved from VIP to Soul for their final single? Might artists have requested the move themselves; was it considered a form of promotion [[or relegation) within the company?

ii) was there any rationale for why artists were allocated a particular label in the first place - in some cases I see a clearer pattern [[such as the more 'pop' or white artists in the 60s being placed on VIP, Jr Walker being put on Soul due to his 'bluesier' feel, and, perhaps Martha & the Vandellas being allocated Gordy as there were already established girl groups on Tamla and Motown at that time). But was it often just random? For example why were the Velvelettes originally on VIP, why put both McNair and Eckstine on Motown when Tamla had no MOR big hitter equivalent, why put the Messengers on Soul, etc. etc.

any thoughts?

[copley]

Sorry that I don't know how artists and labels were allocated. However I have read that the spread of artists over all the Motown labels was to achieve maximum airplay as BG guessed that radio stations would only play so many tracks by one label at any given time.

[tamla617]

it was to do with payola.so they spread it around like coley said above.

[midnightman]

^ I was gonna guess it had something to do with money.

[uptight]

Not so much payola, but it had to do with money.

The various Motown labels was a way of getting more airplay at first. When all the labels had the phrase "a product of Motown Record Corporation" printed on them, I'm not so sure how effective that was in "fooling" the DJs into playing more than the limit allowed per record company.

The main reason for the various Motown labels was for the tax write-offs. Even though they were the same company [[Motown Record Corporation) in-house, they could still report to the IRS regarding all the different "companies" the founder was responsible for.

[uptight]

Now how they allocated each artist to any specific label is a mystery to me. It might have to do with maintaining a healthy balance of "priority" artists with other artists on the same label so that at least the main four labels [[Tamla, Motown, Gordy, Soul) could keep those tax credits going on multiple levels. Just a guess.

You had Edwin Starr and Undisputed Truth on Gordy label with The Tempts and the Vandellas.
You had Billy Eckstine and Barbara McNair on the Motown label with Jackson Five and The Supremes.
You had Willie Tyler and Lester on the Tamla label with Smokey Robinson, Stevie and Marvin Gaye.
et cetera

Weird combinations on each label, but it did the trick, I'm sure.

[tamla617]

the main reason to have multiple labels was not to be drawn into payola.the tax liability spread is an added bonus.but i dont think his labels were separated that way.all the major labels did it.chess,checker and cadet.stax,volt and enterprise.atco and atlantic.a radio dj [[club and disco dj's have different rules)playing all motown releases as opposed to a couple of gordys,motown,tamla vip and soul.would leave himself wide open to accusations of bribery [[payola).its in the sharon davis book i quote "gordy realized he had to intro more labels if his business was to expand further.it was difficult for his promotion staff to get airplay on singles bearing the same label and should a radio dj regularly play records with he same label he might be accused of payola." thats on page 34,there is a bit more and v. interesting.

[psychedelic jacques]

sure, I understand the bit about why Motown ran a number of labels, but my questions related to the allocations of label, and particularly changes of particular artists from one to another - I guess there are no definitive answers to these questions, but I jsut find it interesting to speculate.

[mysterysinger]

Suggest the Funk Brothers and that guy Jo Bete lol.

[tamla617]

psychadelic...
the bit i find interesting is after all those years of different labels.all of a sudden the whole outfit was consolodated to one label,motown.was there a change in the law that allowed them to do this? [[and get as many motown labeled records on air with no accusations)club dj's can be paid to play records by record companies.but radio,and i guess tv, were regulated because they used airwave frequencies.

[tomato tom]

Edwin Starr...RIC-TIC/ GORDY/SOUL/MOTOWN.
Thelma Houston..MOWEST/ MOTOWN/ TAMLA/ and BACK to MOTOWN
Repairs..RARE EARTH/ MOWEST
Chris Clark..V,I,P. / MOTOWN/ WEED
Rare Earth..RARE EARTH / PRODIGAL
R.Dean Taylor..V.I.P/ RARE EARTH

Lots more..I know why some acts were shifted around. When Mowest was being phased out, most acts were transfered over to Motown. When Rare Earth became defunct, the group moved to Prodigal, which was run by their manager Barney Ales. Edwin Starr moved from Soul to Motown, when that label was being phased out. The Originals, who were a SOUL label group, turned up on MOTOWN for their California Sunset album, but THAT was because it was a Lamont Dozier project, and for contractual reasons, had to be issued on the mother label. Oh, the things we turn up and need to know about MOTOWN....Hope this info helps....Paulo XXXXX

[luke]

Wasn't Prodigal an independent label distributed by Motown?

[tomato tom]

Yes, and then absorbed by Motown when Mr Ales returned to the fold. Gets murkey here with Charlene She claims in her book she was with Motown from the start. But her original releases were on Prodigal when it was distributed by Motown. Then, when Prodigal taken over, her releases were on Motown. Ive never been to me and It aint easy coming down were original Prodigal releases, then re-released on Motown. However, Jobete songwriters abound. i.e. Ron Miller. See what I mean about confusing?..Paulo XXXXX

[luke]

Yes; maybe like Ric Tic? Was Shirley Alston a part of Prodigal only or Prodigal/Motown?

[keith_hughes]

Eric & the Vikings had the odd and rather sad distinction of having 45s scheduled/released on Motown's three flagship labels - Tamla [[54216), Motown [[1257) and Gordy [[7116/7132) - and never getting a hit.

[tomato tom]

Shirley Alston was Pre Motown PRODIGAL.