Simple. Funk died or morphed into something else as do many musical genres.
Last week I saw a claim that racists like Sean Hannity killed Motown music but it really just died a natural death. In fact if anyone was making traditional Motown music today, it would be 50 and 60 somethings buying it.
There’s still some good and not so good music coming out of Detroit. Some of the biggest names in the world have come out of Detroit like Madonna. More modern names would be Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, Jack White and even Eminem.
How did How did Sean Hannity kill Motown? It faded out before anyone knew who he was? Even though Motown went for another decade, I think Berry Gordy moving it to L.A. damaged it. And rap.
Just like hair metal in the 80s, it became a parody of itself and collapsed for lack of anything new. Same cycle many genres go through. But the magical power of retro rexposes it to an all new audience and the nostalgia for something they never knew starts the ball rolling again.
I didn't realize Sean Hannity had so much influence. He was born at the end of 1961, so since the "Motown sound" faded in the early 1970's, he apparently killed it when he was in grade school and junior high.