Motown From The Inside - Part 1
Let me introduce myself to all of you before I begin my first article in this, the PREMIER EDITION of the MOTOWN INTERNATIONAL COLLECTOR'S CLUB. I am very happy to contribute my small part in this, the 1st true Motown Collector's/Fan Club in over 20 years [[yes, it's been THAT long!!!).
My name is Joe Shillair, and I have been a fan of Motown ever since I first heard a Tamla/Motown record over the radio [[can't be sure of the year but it must have been in the late 50's). The song of course was Marv Johnson's "Come To Me." I immediately fell in love with that sound. I also remember the wonderful "Merry-Go-Round" by Eddie Holland, and "Bad Girl" by the Miracles. In the beginning these records were played on black only radio stations, but later, white radio stations got "hep" to soul music and began playing many of the same "jams." In Detroit at that time [[I lived there back then), there were only TWO stations that played R&B music: WCHB and WJLB. The top jocks there were "Long Lanky Lean" Larry Dean; Bristol Bryant; "Frantic Ernie Durham; and my favorite "Joltin" Joe Howard. There were others of course, but the names escape me after all these years. These guys were the Cream of the Crop, and drew the largest audiences from both black and white kids alive! The top two jobks who started playing R&B records on white stations were Jack "The Bellboy," and TOM CLAY. I've often wondered if any of these fellows are still in the biz today? Living in Detroit at that time, one would hear all of the records emminating out of Tamla/Motown [[records not heard anywhere else in the country). Not only did one hear those Motown records, but literally every black artists that had a record release, and especially as the 60's began and white radio really opened up to R&B music . . . and PAYOLA!! Needless to say, when I heard that several of these records were being made right here in Detroit, I immediately made the trek down to West Grand Boulevard, and, after much convincing and fast talking, I landed a job at Motown as Asst. to the Head of Promotions. That of course is another story in itself, which I will disclosed at a later date through the pages of this newsletter.
This story begins with my second stint at Motown Industries. I believe it was late 1976 when I received a telephone call from a friend telling me that Motown was opening a distributorship in Detroit and was naming it HITSVILLE DISTRIBUTING. They needed a salesman who knew the buyers and owners of the retail and none-stop outlets in the city of Detroit and state of Michigan. Since I had been with Motown before, and was then working with another record distributor called PHONODISC [[later to be renamed POLYGRAM), I was acquainted with the merchandising, marking, and sales of records and tapes, and knew the right people for "favors" when they were needed. I accepted Motown's offer and was as the FIRST Sales Representative for HITSVILLE DISTRIBUTING.
Their first offices were located in a small building on James Couzens Avenue in Detroit. I never could under why the company chose that location when I knew they still owned the ten story building on Woodward Avenue. I came to find out that the building on Woodward [[ex-Motown centre) was leased out to two other companies. They rented all of the first floor in the building, and that was the only area in the building that Motown could utilize, since they required a large warehouse space for shipping and receiving, and also needed office space on the same floor.
To be continued ...............
