Motown From The Inside - Part 5 [[Final part of a 5-part series)

[woodward]

In conclusion.

Curious to see what these were, I climbed on top of the dumpster and opened the top lid. To my amazement I discovered a mass collection of publicity photos of several artists. As I started digging through these photos, I came across several full color photos that had been taken and enlarged, many on hard-board backing that were from sessions for planned album covers before graphics were put on. I know that many of these pictures are one of a kind and have never been viewed by the public. Some had been made into LP jackets but never released. Needless to say, I put the whole batch in to my car as fast as I could and took them home.

Evidently Motown must have discontinued dumpster service at the time of their move and the art department had discarded what they considered useless garbage into this trash bin. Fortunately it was never picked up for disposal. No telling how long it had been sitting there until my discovery/ The items that had been on top of the pile were in bad shape, but everything under the six first inches or so was in excellent shape. As I pulled out these treasures, I saw shots of artists like Kiki Dee, Blinky, the Monitors, Chris Clark, Jr. Walker, Smokey Robinson, and tons on Diana Ross.

I was so darn excited, that one would have thought I had found buried treasure. Today I have several framed pictures hanging on my walls in the entertainment room of my home. Other items and pictures are carefully stored away in boxes. Those of you who own copies of The Story of Motown by author and club member Peter Benjaminson will notice many of these pictures illustrated within. Also, Mr. J. Randy Taraborrelli used some of my pictures in his book Motown: Hot Wax, City Cool and Solid Gold.

Plans are for myself to be writing other articles for this column in future issues of this fanzine. Until next time, let's all do our best to keep THE SOUND OF YOUNG AMERICA alive.

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That's all folks. Hope everyone enjoyed reading this article.

[SatansBlues]

Fascinating read!

[thanxal]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[robb_k]

Thanks for posting these recollections. It's always great to hear personal accounts of what went on back then - especially for those of us who were involved from another angle.

[marv2]

That was so great. I wished I had found that dumpster. LOL