“The year of Motown memories has begun,” said the Associated Press. On Monday, the legendary R&B label, which was founded in Detroit as Tamla Records by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1959 with a loan for $800, turned 50-years-old. Motown Records spun out chart-topping hits by the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, and many others over the years—there’s a lot to celebrate.
One of Gordy's most remarkable achievements was in breaking down racial barriers in American entertainment, said Mick Brown in London's Telegraph. A lesser-known fact about Gordy is that his “enlightened attitudes also extended to gender issues—Motown was the first major label to release a single openly declaring gay pride.”
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Maybe, said NME, but Motown is “one of the world's most important and iconic record labels.” And its influence is far-reaching—“acts as diverse as George Michael, the Beatles, the Jam, the Beach Boys, the Slits and Delroy Wilson have recorded Motown covers.”
