Originally Posted by
Sotosound
For me, the thing that defined Motown was its seminal output. It truly set musical trends from around 1963 until the early 70s, starting with people like Smokey, Mickey Stevenson, and H-D-H, and moving on through Ashford and Simpson, Frank Wilson and Norman Whitfield. To me, these people were both musical and commercial heavy hitters.
The combination of these writers and producers with the Funk Brothers therefore provided the launch platform from which its roster of artists could hit the heights with sounds that no other company had originated, but that many would end up copying.
Marvin and Stevie kinda broke the mould, however, and went on to plough two very individual furrows that didn't really rely on the Funk Brothers or anyone or anything else connected with Motown in Detroit. They could probably have produced their music anywhere in the world for any label.
So, for Motown in Detroit to survive in a meaningful and profitable way, it would have needed to set another new musical trend or two that had both social and commercial appeal.
My questions are, therefore about whether or not this viewpoint is valid, and also whether there were any newer writers, artists or producers around who might have done this.
This is just a personal view, and we might never know the full answer as events can only move in one direction.
Perhaps, however, there's a parallel universe where Motown stayed in Detroit and where SDF members debate the pros and cons of the decision not to go west.
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