Originally Posted by
juicefree20
I never understood how or why a Motown fan would differentiate between the 60's or the '70s to begin with.
One thing that music has always done was EVOLVE. Music has always changed, usually with the ever-changing times. Had it not, we'd all be still listening to or singing the Blues & still be wondering how much that damn doggie in the window cost or worrying about whether our chewing gum lost its flavor on the bedpost overnight.
When were young, very few of us wanted to hear our artists singing the same exact music as we were maturing & being presented with new ideas & new sounds. Most of us wanted our artists to grow as we were growing. And time has proven that most artists whom could not or would not change their sound stagnated because we felt that their sound was stale. It happened with Ike Turner & it happened to James Brown & countless others.
People don't drive the same kind of cars that they did in the 60s, don't use the same kind of utilities nor electronics as they did in the 60s because life is about progress & change. If we've come to accept that life indeed changes & learned to accept all kinds of change, why wouldn't the same rules apply to the music?
Motown of the 70s was still Motown. It's simply that as the times changed, Motown had to change or be left behind. It was nothing more that an evolution of their sound & that sound was still excellent. I defy anyone to tell me that "It's A Shame", "Still Waters", "what's Goin' On" & hundreds of other songs DO NOT represent the Motown Sound & DO NOT rank up there with the greatest Motown songs of ANY decade.
Atlantic Records had a sound, but when Aretha hit with "Respect", Atlantic wasn't sounding lie the label that gave us Ray Charles' "Mess Around", nor "Saturday Night At The Movies". Music MUST change with the times or you'll eventually end up with empty recording studios & defunct record labels. To say that Motown wasn't Motown is similar to saying that as you change over the course of a decade that you're no longer you. And when you really think about it, is there any of us whom are exactly how we were a decade after our formulative stages?
If so, then we're really in trouble becuase that would be an indicator that we've learned nothing, experienced nothing outside of our own world & would show no growth whatsoever. NOTHING & NO ONE is the same 10 years later, nor do I believe that it or they should be. It's simply not realistic.
When music becomes nothing more than vapid crap, I can understand a lack of appreciation. But when we're talking about an era which gave birth to some of the greatest music ever, I simply don't understand the criticism. I would love to turn back the clock & relive those days, but that's simply impossible. So, I moved on, learned to appreciate the changing sounds & found beauty simply in accepting these new sounds for what they were.
It's hard living life in a vacuum & in trying to do so, sometimes one can deprive themselves of hearing some truly great music.
