Bizarre Article/ Interview Concerning Motown in Billboard 1973:

[Boogiedown]

I've been contemplating this article which served as the Soul Sauce column for July 28th 1973 found next to the Soul Singles chart.

I'm calling it bizarre because why would Motown choose to do an article like this ? In reading Billboard from the seventies, I've seen very little in terms of interviews or focuses about the label and when one is finally published, this is the subject matter?
That is not a good headline for the company:




Motown
Cuts Down
Act Roster
by Eliott Tiegel


LOS ANGELES-

Twelve-year-old Motown is going through the re-
evaluation-trimming down of its artist roster process which big com-
panies undergo at one time or another.
The label has 51 artists, according to Suzanne DePasse, the vice president for creative operations, who oversees all a&r matters. Within the next three months the company hopes to have its preening all done.
At one time there were as many as 65 acts on Motown and its family of la-
bels. The company seeks to be realistic
about being able to fully support all its artists, Suzanne notes. But there is
no set number of commitments which Motown hopes to arrive at.

The company remains unique in terms of having 18 staff producers in
Los Angeles, with others in Detroit and Muscle Shoals.
And it is unique in terms of having 66 percent of its singles and 60
percent of its LP's hit the national best selling charts.
And it is unique in terms of having singers spin out of groups and
watching both the individuals become solo stars while the groups re-
main active and successful in their own right.

Taking things first:
these are the exclusive producers on the Coast-
Hal Davis [[one of the original members of the team which opened the
local office over 10 years ago); Deke
Richards, Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell, Jerry Marcellino, Mel Lar-
son, Willie Hutch, Norman Whitfield, Dino Fekaris, Nick Zes-
ses, Frank Wilson, Leonard Laston,
Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio, Mark Davis, Mike Masser, Joe Porter,
Smokey Robinson, Mark Davis, and Gloria Jones.

In Detroit, Joe Periano, Tom Baird, [[who lives in Canada), Larry
Brown and George Gordy handle production for a number of acts
while in Muscle Shoals, independent producers Clayton Ivy and Terry
Woodford handle local acts.

Incidentally, Norman Whitfield and Bob Crewe are really exclusive
independent producers but their main thrusts are for the Motown
family.

On the matter of singers splitting from groups, consider this: Diana
Ross split from the Supremes, Smokey Robinson split from the
Miracles; David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks split from the Tempta-
tions; and while Michael and Jermaine haven't split from the Jackson
Five, they are still recording as solo acts in addition to working with the
family.
Hit product is the key allowing the acts to continue from a position of
strength, emphasizes Tommy Noonan, executive assistant to Ewart
Abner, Motown's president. The label's direction is to continue broad-
ening its musical base, Noonan says, while mentioning the pop cross over
effect of such top names as Diana, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and
the Temptations.

But there has been a "subtle kind of resistance" in some quarters to ac-
cepting Motown's artistic expansion out of its soul base, admits Suzanne.
"People find it hard to accept change," she says. "But they have to
accept that we mean business and want to push into other markets.

JULY 28, 1973, BILLBOARD


I have some thoughts about this Motown press , but first I am curious as to how others here view it. .........??

[My first question would be, for this article to come about, who first contacted who?]

[jobeterob]

It’s possible they were contacted by Billboard about the hits not churning out like in the 60’s

But more likely someone at Motown provided it to Billboard and it may have been a sign or a hint to groups that were fighting amongst themselves that Motown was a business more than a family and no hits or modest hits and no agreement about a new path for the future might have consequences

It was also a time of movement from groups to singer songwriters and there may have been a recognition at Motown that things were changing

[Boogiedown]

It’s possible they were contacted by Billboard about the hits not churning out like in the 60’s

But more like someone at Motown provided it to Billboard and it may have been a sign or a hint to groups that were fighting amongst themselves that Motown was a business more than a family and no hits or modest hits and no agreement about a new path for the future might have consequences


I like that. That's something I was reading into it too.

Who was at risk at this time? Were the J5 close to new negotiations? The Temptations? [Supremes].... "We love you guys , but honestly we're trying to cut back." :p

Odd that it starts out with this pronouncement of a vague plan of cutting back , then ends with DePasse out of the other side of her mouth stating how they are expanding into new areas of music.
How do you do both??

[Boogiedown]

It's not even headline news. Who doesn't expect a label to thin out some acts that aren't cutting it ...

What's oddly missing in this discussion of Motown having less acts are the recent losses of names that seem to be becoming even bigger currently like Gladys Knight, The Four Tops, The Spinners and The Isleys ...

[To go from 65 to 51 acts , well there's four of them ....it would be interesting to see the names of the other 10]

Either Motown wanted that headline to scare those remaining in the flock to keep them in line as Rob lays out, or they were blindsided by where Billboard went with the discussion, choosing that as its headline....after Motown had just bragged and pointed out name by name, how extensive their production staffs were and how they were eagerly expanding their base beyond soul.

[Clifton Miller]

It's not even headline news. Who doesn't expect a label to thin out some acts that aren't cutting it ...

What's oddly missing in this discussion of Motown having less acts are the recent losses of names that seem to be becoming even bigger currently like Gladys Knight, The Four Tops, The Spinners and The Isleys ...

[To go from 65 to 51 acts , well there's four of them ....it would be interesting to see the names of the other 10]

Either Motown wanted that headline to scare those remaining in the flock to keep them in line as Rob lays out, or they were blindsided by where Billboard went with the discussion, choosing that as its headline....after Motown had just bragged and pointed out name by name, how extensive their production staffs were and how they were eagerly expanding their base beyond soul.

I have no doubt that, as Rob says, this story was put into motion by Motown. There’s no way that such specifics would be available to Billboard without the help of someone at the record company.

Whether or not the piece came out as Motown hoped is difficult to know. Eliot is no longer with us, nor is Tom Noonan. [[Tom joined Billboard after working at Motown.)

Tiegel was an experienced trade journalist, who may have wanted his own take on the info Motown supplied, but would also want to preserve contacts and a decent relationship with the firm for the future.

[Boogiedown]

I have no doubt that, as Rob says, this story was put into motion by Motown. There’s no way that such specifics would be available to Billboard without the help of someone at the record company.

Whether or not the piece came out as Motown hoped is difficult to know. Eliot is no longer with us, nor is Tom Noonan. [[Tom joined Billboard after working at Motown.)

Tiegel was an experienced trade journalist, who may have wanted his own take on the info Motown supplied, but would also want to preserve contacts and a decent relationship with the firm for the future.

that seems likely,
although maybe with the significant exoduses taking place, Billboard reached out to Motown for comment, and then at that point Motown supplied the magazine with details to make it appear their label was on track as planned [we want less soul artists, we're branching out into other sounds] and with an ample staff as listed, suggesting the problem they were addressing was about having too many people on their roster .....not that so many were leaving.

[Boogiedown]

..... so then you've got Motown going to Billboard for what appears to be damage control, claiming they have some vague plan to trim their bloated roster while at the same time grow themselves with an "artistic expansion out of its soul base" which is getting "resistance in some quarters" . They mention Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations as acts that are "broadening their musical base" ... ???

These are all the same o' Motown acts that have had universal acceptance all along.
And these acts are having massive success on all charts across the board even as they speak, so who...what "quarters" ... , are they referring to that are "resisting" these examples they claim are being short shrifted ???

[Boogiedown]

and then there's the issue of:

And it [Motown] is unique in terms of having singers spin out of groups and watching both the individuals become solo stars while the groups re-
main active and successful in their own right.


It's kind of bizarre to bring this up. What does this point have to do with your plans to reduce your number of acts?
If you're insisting you're intentionally downsizing your roster [ as some of your biggest names flee], why point out how you're splintering your acts into more acts ?



On the matter of singers splitting from groups, consider this: Diana
Ross split from the Supremes, Smokey Robinson split from the
Miracles; David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks split from the Tempta-
tions; and while Michael and Jermaine haven't split from the Jackson
Five, they are still recording as solo acts in addition to working with the
family.

All this expansion does not support the claim of intentional roster shrinking.

[marybrewster]

Were there even 51 acts left at Motown by 1973? Martha/Vandellas were gone by this time, as were the Mavelettes, Gladys/Pips, the Four Tops, the Spinners.....

[Boogiedown]

Were there even 51 acts left at Motown by 1973? Martha/Vandellas were gone by this time, as were the Mavelettes, Gladys/Pips, the Four Tops, the Spinners.....

They were also bringing in several new and outside acts at this time .....which is also strange that none get mentioned in this article at all. Martin and Finley, Bobby Darin, and many artists that didn't pan out some so weakly, they don't have wiki pages. I'm guessing that Motown got bolstered with what seemed like the easy success of Rare Earth and thought they could just blast their way into other genres. Maybe this is the resistance they are mentioning in this article. But if that is the beef, that your 'beyond soul' acts aren't doing as you'd hoped, why broadcast it in Billboard's Soul section and make it seem your problem is too many soul acts? Alienate your base, how is that smart?