Motown Dropped The Ball

[Encyclopedia Mack]

Been listening to a couple of my fav albums yet they didn't chart well at all. Made me wonder what the heck was going on - did Motown promotions department go to sleep? Was berry not wanting it to do well?

The Boss - how did this only get to #19 or so?!?! amazing single and should have done much better. IMO it seems as powerful as any charting song in the summer of 79. I remember reading in Berry's book how Motown was really in the red ink during this time. sure Diana was trying to break free but seems like an idiotic move to tank [[relatively) her album and single simply as retribution.

Nature Planned It lp - i'm guessing that since the Tops were already on their way out that the promotion dept just didn't bother. Great set. maybe not quite as wonderful as Still Water but still very solid.

Too Many Fish In Sea & Danger Heartache Dead Ahead - obviously Motown was focusing on the Sups launch. but the 64/65 output from the Marvelettes is strong. these could easily have been compiled into a album.

and i'm sure there are many more!

Motown has dropped the ball on so many levels. Not spilling publish with HDH was the beginning of the end. Now with all of this unreleased footage not being released.

[Motown Eddie]

Motown "Dropped The Ball" when these artists left the label;
1. Gladys Knight & the Pips
2. The Four Tops
3. The Jackson 5/Michael Jackson
4. The Spinners
5. The Isley Bros.

Each of these acts would go on to have big career defining hits for other companies. Now just imagine if The Jackson 5 had stayed at Motown and Michael Jackson recorded Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad & Dangerous for the company [[not to mention the other acts that left the label).

[RanRan79]

Motown "Dropped The Ball" when these artists left the label;
1. Gladys Knight & the Pips
2. The Four Tops
3. The Jackson 5/Michael Jackson
4. The Spinners
5. The Isley Bros.

Each of these acts would go on to have big career defining hits for other companies. Now just imagine if The Jackson 5 had stayed at Motown and Michael Jackson recorded Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad & Dangerous for the company [[not to mention the other acts that left the label).

Good point. I would add to that Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye. Still creating hits during the early 80s for a label other than Motown? I lay that blame at Motown's feet.

[Motown Eddie]

Good point. I would add to that Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye. Still creating hits during the early 80s for a label other than Motown? I lay that blame at Motown's feet.

You're so right RanRan! In the case of Marvin Gaye, Motown messed up when they released in In Our Lifetime without Gaye's consent [[of course, Marvin didn't help things by being "in exile" during that time). And if Motown hadn't lost so many stars [[and money) during the '70s, they could've successfully competed with the major labels for Diana Ross [[of course, this would mean giving her total control over her career and sorting out her relationship with B.G.).

[RanRan79]

You're so right RanRan! In the case of Marvin Gaye, Motown messed up when they released in In Our Lifetime without Gaye's consent [[of course, Marvin didn't help things by being "in exile" during that time). And if Motown hadn't lost so many stars [[and money) during the '70s, they could've successfully competed with the major labels for Diana Ross [[of course, this would mean giving her total control over her career and sorting out her relationship with B.G.).

I agree 100 percent Eddie. And I would add that if Motown had decided to negotiate with Ross [[some creative control, definitely control over her finances and no cheating) they may not have had to financially compete with other label offers to get her to stay. I don't think any of the artists who were there from the very early days like Ross and Gaye really ever wanted to be anywhere else but Motown and would have preferred to stay if their hands hadn't been forced.

[waynesville]

Motown like all companies - often dropped the ball. One example was Carolyn Crawford. If they had mentored her like they did Diana Ross then she would have been a huge star.
Another bad one came in the somewhat disappointing Supremes/Four Tops duet sessions. Yet....there was one absolute bomb - their cut of the Shorty Long tune 'I had a dream,' written I think by Sylvia Moy. The song needed better production, which Frank Wilson delivered, and the vocals of top stars - in this case Levi Stubbs and Jean Terrell, both of whom sung like this was something really important.
So what did Motown do? Canned it - and it never saw the light of day until 2009.

[RanRan79]

Waynesville I agree 100 percent about "I Had a Dream". Levi and Jean were in their element here. Don't know what Motown was thinking sometimes.

[TomatoTom123]

Jean and Levi also tear up another of Shorty's songs, "Function At The Junction", and turn it into a funky gospel-ish party jam!!!



Also went unreleased for decades, of course...

[Motown Eddie]

And yet another time Motown "dropped the ball" is with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. The company signed the group in 1972 [[and placed them on their MoWest label). There was one LP, Chameleon, which landed a hit [[in the UK singles chart only) with "The Night". When The Seasons recorded another LP for MoWest, the label shelved the recordings and the band left Motown. Later, Frankie purchases one song from the sessions, "My Eyes Adored You", that becomes a #1 hit in 1975 and presages The Seasons 'comeback' recordings in 1975/76.

[RanRan79]

And yet another time Motown "dropped the ball" is with Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons. The company signed the group in 1972 [[and placed them on their MoWest label). There was one LP, Chameleon, which landed a hit [[in the UK singles chart only) with "The Night". When The Seasons recorded another LP for MoWest, the label shelved the recordings and the band left Motown. Later, Frankie purchases one song from the sessions, "My Eyes Adored You", that becomes a #1 hit in 1975 and presages The Seasons 'comeback' recordings in 1975/76.

Another good example Eddie!