News & Updates — Motown

Happy birthday to the great Syreeta Wright, singer/songwriter and partner & collaborator with Stevie Wonder. Born in Pittsburgh, she moved to Detroit as a teenager. She danced ballet and sang in groups before getting a job at Motown in '65, starting as secretary and back-up singer. She made her first record, "I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You" (as Rita Wright), in '67. She started going out with her future husband Stevie Wonder in '68 and they started collaborating on songwriting, hitting first with "It's A Shame" for the Spinners in '69. After singing on Supremes demos,...

Happy birthday to the Earl of Funk! Detroit native Earl Van Dyke spent a lot of time around the city's jazz cats, folks like Yusef Lateef, Barry Harris, Hank Jones and others. He met James Jamerson while touring with Lloyd Price, who convinced him to take a job with Motown, then an upstart label. He started at Motown in '62. He served as the keyboardist on many classic Motown hits for many of its biggest stars, like Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Four Tops, etc. He would open up Motown concerts with his own instrumental trio, usually playing alternate, instrumental versions...

While he was much more than a two-trick pony, Junior Walker nevertheless can be immediately recognizable as a distinct saxophonist for the tunes "Shotgun" by his Jr Walker & the All-Stars and his guest appearance with his iconic solo on Foreigner's "Urgent". He got his professional start playing jazz & R&B in his hometown of South Bend, IN before moving onto to Battle Creek, MI. His group signed with Harvey Fuqua as a producer in '61, with the group now being called Junior Walker & the All-Stars, before being bought out by Motown in '64. With members of the Funk...

An exciting singer and entertainer, Jackie Wilson was a huge star in his day. He was one of the greatest singers the new genre of "soul music" offered in the late '50s/60s. He grew up in the mean streets of Detroit, involved in gangs and drinking at 9. He dropped out of school at 15 to be a boxer and fathered about ten kids before he was married at 17. He quit boxing to be a singer. His cousins, whom he collaborated with early on, ended up in The Contours and The Four Tops. His talent caught the ear of...

A Northern Soul legend, Popcorn Wylie was one of the earliest contributors to the Motown hit-making machine as an instrumentalist, composer, producer, A&R man and artist. A pianist from Detroit, he grew up with bassist James Jamerson and the two were in a band together as teenagers. That band, Popcorn & the Mohawks, would cut a few singles for Motown in the early '60s before both the future stars got absorbed into the house band, The Funk Brothers. Wylie played on several big hits such as "Shop Around" (the Miracles), "Please Mr Postman" (Marvellettes), as well as tunes by Marvin...