New Dress Code: Tamla Motown

**Hitsville_Jazza** · 03-05-2018, 08:59 AM

This month marks the 53rd anniversary of the debut of the iconic Tamla Motown label. What better way to celebrate than to wear it?

New to the Classic Motown merchandise store is a T-shirt featuring the original Tamla Motown logo which was unveiled in Europe for the first time in March 1965. You can order the T-shirt here:

https://store.universalmusic.com/mot...rt/5S8D0000000

**BigAl** · 03-07-2018, 09:17 AM

It always puzzled me that, in the US, Hitsville acts were assigned to any of half a dozen different labels [[well, more than that, actually), while overseas, eventually, all were released on Tamla-Motown. It has also puzzled me, as a graphic designer, that the Tamla-Motown logo was little more than some dressed-up type, while in the US, a good deal of attention was paid to the design of the assorted labels' logos. Can anyone explain why this was?

**snakepit** · 03-07-2018, 09:27 AM

It was thought that a "corporate" label would help launch Motown in the UK.
This was done for the 1965 tour , to promote the new label. Prior to that, Motown releases had been spread over several labels/licencees.
Quite who suggested to EMI that a defined label would improves sales is unknown , although Dave God in usually gets credit for these things . [[ He was founder of the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society, and the source of the UK information to which Berry Gordy relied on, and as such made the decision to launch TM and tour the UK.
Whilst initial sales were poor in the main, the concept of a "sound" [[ Remember the impact of The Mersey Sound) served Motown well, and led to a strong and devoted following.
Without that, I suspect that Motown artists would have sunk with the likes of The Shirelles, Fontella Bass, Toys, etc....one off hits by Black groups.
A TV special to launch the tour , hosted by Dusty Springfield, was aired in 1965, but bizarely, was aired AFTER the tour went out around the UK. The tour , in terms of theatre attendences, was a disaster, but the TV show " The sound of Motown" gives you a clue as to the branding idea. It worked.

**snakepit** · 03-07-2018, 09:35 AM

BTW I feel £20 is too much for a t shirt.
I've had several similar shirts over the years.
My favourite was a white polo shirt with a 45 logo on front, and the TM label on the back.
It was stolen from my cricket team changing room

**robb_k** · 03-07-2018, 11:12 AM

The USA is very big geographically. It had a lot of different regional record distributing companies. Motown decided to use different distributors for spreading out their distribution, as individual distributors tended to not push more than a couple records per company at any given time. Different labels also helped getting airplay, because different DJs and radio stations didn't want to play several records from one company at the same time, because that would anger the other companies, and look to the authorities like favouritism, and possibly illegal activities [[bribery). In The UK, those issues were, apparently, no problem. Their pop stations played a wide spectrum of music genres, with no one style dominating. Motown couldn't dominate The UK charts the way it did in USA.

**snakepit** · 03-07-2018, 12:58 PM

Indeed, the UK radio played a wide variety of styles, and Soul/R&B music was way down the totem pole.
Off shore "pirate" radio ships played a lot of soul/Motown. But the UK mainstream played all kinds of records that were the backbone of the pop charts...comedy records, Elvis, Beat groups, balladeers, and with arestriction of "needle" time, so that BBC orchestras were featured.
Motown records , before the TM label, were issued on the Stateside label, which had licence deals with many different USA labels...the result was that the Stateside catalogue was a very broad church....and Motown artists would have been placed in that area for Black artists, perhaps with a decent hit in the USA. They would have been lost in the mixed bag of records from all genres.
The launch of the TM label gave it an identity...

**Clifton Miller** · 03-09-2018, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by snakepit

Indeed, the UK radio played a wide variety of styles, and Soul/R&B music was way down the totem pole.
Off shore "pirate" radio ships played a lot of soul/Motown. But the UK mainstream played all kinds of records that were the backbone of the pop charts...comedy records, Elvis, Beat groups, balladeers, and with arestriction of "needle" time, so that BBC orchestras were featured.
Motown records , before the TM label, were issued on the Stateside label, which had licence deals with many different USA labels...the result was that the Stateside catalogue was a very broad church....and Motown artists would have been placed in that area for Black artists, perhaps with a decent hit in the USA. They would have been lost in the mixed bag of records from all genres.
The launch of the TM label gave it an identity...

Here's some more info about Motown's background in the UK before the 1965 launch of Tamla Motown:

http://www.adampwhite.com/westgrandb...lboard-booklet