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In 1959 Elvis dominated the airwaves, while Big Joe Turner, Ruth Brown, and Jackie Wilson—the pioneers of rhythm-and-blues—were confined to the lower reaches of the dial, paid a fraction of what the King made imitating their sound. On December 14, 1959, an entrepreneurial genius from Detroit found a way to change that. He started Motown Records, which, with its unbeatable sound and unmistakable style, would launch African-American entertainers to the top of the charts and out of the “race records” ghetto. Berry Gordy, Jr., was born in 1929 in Detroit, the grandson of a Georgia slave. His parents had moved...

Need Help Voting?: Detroit Votes for You By Debbie Schlussel Need help voting? In a solution to the Palm Beach fiasco (butterfly ballots with old people who couldn't figure it out), the City of Detroit "pre-votes" for you. As reported by Detroit's ABC news affiliate, some Detroit voters received their absentee ballots with the votes already cast for Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie and her buddy, embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick ("the Hip Hop Mayor"). Strangely, Currie--who administers all elections in Detroit and distributes the ballots--got more votes than any candidate in the August primary. Gee, I wonder why. All of...

Obie Benson (Filed: 05/07/2005) Obie Benson, who died on July 1 aged 69, was for 50 years a member of The Four Tops, the group which provided the Motown label with some of its most enduring hits of the Sixties, among them Reach Out, I'll Be There and Walk Away Renee. The band was formed in 1954 when Benson and Lawrence Payton, a fellow student at Northern High in Detroit, were encouraged to show off their vocal talents at a birthday party in company with two pupils from Pershing High, Abdul Fakir and Levi Stubbs. Such was the reception that...

DETROIT - (KRT) - Motown lost a musical pillar Friday. Renaldo ``Obie'' Benson, who for more than half a century provided the bass vocal foundation to the Four Tops' lush harmonies, died Friday morning at Harper Hospital in Detroit. He had turned 69 on June 14. Benson had been battling a sudden onset of medical problems. Last month, he suffered a heart attack after the amputation of a leg because of circulation problems. He was subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer, and began intense, stage-four chemotherapy last week. Abdul ``Duke'' Fakir and Levi Stubbs remain the two surviving members of the...

Up to six days ago my post automatically carried my tagline. Abruptly that stopped. If I do not enter it manually, it does not post. Clues as to why? And I can't seem to figure out to fix it. This is apparently one of my duh days.

Oh my goodness. Why can't they have Stevie Wonder sing Stevie Wonder songs? And you have Smokey Robinson on and not sing "Tears of a Clown"?

http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/ North American Release November 15, 2002 Fourteen years in the making, this film is based upon a book of the same title that won the 1989 Rolling Stone / BMl "Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award", STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN was shot in 35mm film, on location in Detroit and elsewhere. This one hour and forty-eight minute documentary and performance film tells the Funk Brothers' saga through archival footage and still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Funk Brothers backing up Chaka Khan,...