DETROIT STORIES: Happy 50th Birthday, Motown

Part of a series. Catch up on other Detroit Stories here.

Yesterday marked the day that, five decades ago, Berry Gordy borrowed $800 from his family's entrepreneurial co-op and started Motown Records in a house on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. "God bless the dreamer, God bless the dream," said Ivy Jo Hunter, Motown producer and songwriter, at the Hitsville ceremony.

The celebration, of course, is ongoing. Here at Isak, you can expect daily videos and other points of interest that carry the heartbeat of the music I was raised on.

Here are a few ways you can join in (via the Detroit Free Press):

• The Motown Historical Museum kicked off a week of activities on Monday, including on-site radio broadcasts and half-price admission ($5 instead of $10). A rotating cast of Motown figures, including the Four Tops' Duke Fakir and charm-school maven Maxine Powell, will serve as docents from noon-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• The museum will present special events throughout 2009, including an exhibition of Annie Leibovitz's collection of Motown photographs and a celebrity golf tournament hosted by Fakir.
• The museum's annual fall gala will include a concert, likely in late fall. Performers are still to be announced.
• "Motown: The Complete No. 1's" boxed set, a 10-CD set containing every No. 1 Motown hit, was released in December. Other special releases are on the way from Universal, including five "Love Songs" compilations due by Valentine's Day.
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland earlier this month unveiled the exhibit "Motown: The Sound of Young America."
• The "NOW" singles compilation series will spotlight Motown with a 25-track greatest hits disc due today.
• Fakir and Martha Reeves will host a discussion and autograph signing at 7 p.m. Friday at Borders Dearborn, 5601 Mercury Drive.
• The Four Tops will perform on CBS's "The Early Show" on Saturday.
• Hallmark's 3,500 retail outlets are selling Motown-themed merchandise for the Valentine's season.
• Beginning this week, the official Motown 50 Web site, www.classic.motown.com, will feature a weekly podcast series.
• A two-hour Motown documentary, produced by Berry Gordy Jr. and his associate, Suzanne de Passe, is being aimed for a fall theatrical release.

And more:

• Fifty fabulous years of Motown: a Detroit News special multimedia section deserves your immediate attention
• Don Davis, veteran of both Motown and the inestimable Stax Records, speaks
• Whatever happened to Motown's stars?
• Motown was hardly Detroit's only record label
• Racial tension in 1968 at Berry Gordy's mansion
• The confluence of Motown and Europe

Comments

[Chris Miller]

Gordy is a bum. He had someone read a statement from him (meaning said statement was likely written by a flack, not him) rather than attend the commemoration of his own company.

[Anna Clark]

Lamest of lames. What the hell did he have to do instead? I wasn't a particular fan of Gordy anyway, but I'm happy to ignore him entirely and celebrate the Motown musicians/singers/staff.