Copyright 2003 by Gerry Foster
When I was a kid growing up in
Detroit, Michigan
(known back then as the Motor
City because
of its robust automobile industry), one of my favorite pastimes
was listening to Motown music on the radio or my stereo.
The Motown Sound, which came straight out of Detroit, was
popular because of its many legendary artists: Marvin Gaye,
Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson
and the Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, the Four Tops,
Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Temptations, and Tammi Terrell,
just to name a few.
These artists may or may not
be familiar to you. But they, along with a gifted group
of songwriters and producers, put out gospel-based, classic
soul, oldies-but-goodies that sold in the millions. These
folks could truly, truly sing.
Whew!! I can hear some of the
songs as I’m writing this article. I love all kinds of
music. Pop, rock, classical, and even some country-western.
But the Motown sound was special.
The beat. The melodies. The lyrics. This was vintage
music that contained a message - music that told moving
stories and touched our hearts, and still haunt our imaginations.
In the mid-60s, with the world
going mad, the Motown sound put a calm on our anxieties,
soothed our days and electrified our nights. The music
captured the pain and pride of blacks in America
at that time. It played out our dreams and our struggles,
and ignited a fire of freedom, faith and hope.
You have to look at the similarities
within black and white cultures to understand the significance
of Motown music on race relations in this country. We're
all connected by rhythm and harmony. “Motown made the culture,
came out of the culture, and shaped the culture,” says ex-Senator
Julian Bond. “Motown did all of the things to help make
that period in America
what it was. So if you don’t understand Motown and the
influence it had on a generation of young black and white
young people, you can’t understand the United
States. You can’t understand
America.”
See, during the 60s, race riots,
assassinations, and the Vietnam War dominated the evening
news. Hippies were getting high. Bras were being burned.
College campuses were uprising. And racial identification,
black unity and crucial autonomy for the "Negro"
were emerging.
It’s been said that the Motown
sound helped to heal our nation. It helped a generation
of African Americans find a new voice – songs of mutual
acceptance and understanding got heard … songs that were
expressions of love and rich with peace-filled thoughts,
words, and actions … songs that helped bring harmony to
every situation.
The spirit of the Motown sound,
musically and socially, embraced the bright ambition of
the workingman - the common man. The power of the music
could be felt in its pistol-driven rhythms; the monotonous
clash and hum of an auto assembly line magically transformed
into melody. The golden thread was that Motown was a movement
in itself; weaving pain into power, talents into an industry,
and dreams into reality.
A True Marketing Genius
I always regarded Berry Gordy,
the founder of Motown Records, as a master of marketing.
Not because of the sheer quantity and quality of hit records
he created, but for his ability to attract black R&B
lovers and whites as well. “Part of the genius of Berry
Gordy was that he perceived a vacuum in the musical culture
of the nation,” says Harvard Professor Cornell West. “He
was able to convince young brothers and sisters like me
on the black side of town that this was my music. And at
the same time convince white brothers and sisters on the
other side of town listening to the Beach Boys that Motown
was their music. Nothing like that had ever occurred.”
It seemed like everybody was
“dancing in the streets.” The Motown sound was not just
black music. It was the sound of young America.
It was the sound everybody was listening to, music at the
cusp of the turbulent 60s that drove us with a beat – and
helped break down centuries of racial barriers.
I remember, as far back as eleven
years old, my mother taking me each year to the Motortown
Revue. It was held in downtown Detroit
at a place called the Fox Theatre on Woodward
Avenue. For only $1 – that’s
right, $1 for a Saturday matinee show - I got to see all
the groups I mentioned earlier perform live.
A Lot O' Soul
The part of the show I loved
most was when my all-time favorite group, the “original”
Temptations (i.e. Eddie, Paul, Otis, Melvin and David),
came on to the stage. To see the Temps “live” in their
prime was a wondrous, even life-altering experience. Cool
as ice, slick, sincere and effortlessly seductive, who can
ever forget their impeccable style: the way they dressed,
the way they sang, the way they moved onstage in those crafty,
incomparable, intricately choreographed routines; sliding
and gliding with precision accuracy.
The Temptations were unique,
fresh, and original. There was nothing cookie-cutter, me-too
or off-the-shelf about them. They were the men women loved
to love and the men loved to emulate. They were symbols
of a new generation of men, a group of aspiring young African
Americans coming of age with easy confidence and subtle
grace who moved with sophistication and seemed to be saying,
‘We’re going to the top, and we’re going with style.”
Still performing today, nearly
40 years later, they have weathered storm after storm and
stayed afloat (founding father Otis Williams is the original
lineup’s only surviving member). They go on!
As for the effect the Temps had
on me? Well, in my heart and soul, I will always be a Temptation.
Which leads me to the point of
this article. As you seek to rise to the top in your business
or career, are you going with style? Find a way to make
yourself unique like the Temps. Drill down deep – scratch
beneath the marrow – and access the power to perform like
you’ve never performed before.
Ask yourself: “What ‘key’ should
I sing about my services in?”
See, the Temptations sang in
a rich harmony that sent shivers up your spine. They took
you beyond every barrier as though it never exited, to that
level at which all humans – black, white, brown or yellow
– could truly hear. They took us to a place where time
was meaningless … a place where time, as Scott Regan, a
former Detroit DJ, once said, “seems to stand still - those
gentle places which come only from the heart.”
This is about composing a melody,
writing some lyrics, and singing your way to attracting
new clients. It’s about touching hearts, helping lives,
tapping, trapping, and kicking out positive emotions so
prospects are drawn to you first.
In the old days, service providers
could literally hang out a shingle and get business. But
now, you have to stand out from the crowd – be seen, be
heard, and be unforgettable.
The only way to make your way
up the charts is by possessing the professionalism, showmanship
and vocal technique of a superstar, not a Vegas lounge act!
Sure, every recording artist
has his or her rhythmic, infectious groove. This runs from
Britney Spears to Faith Hill; from Luther Vandross to Neil
Diamond. But you may be running the risk of being like
a lot of present day groups who have a keen eye for cool
but with nothing new to offer.
You have to market with style!
Here’s how:
- Be first. We live in an overcommunicatred
society, where each of us gets bombarded with hundreds
of advertising messages daily. Just as every snowflake
since the dawn of creation is unique and different,
surely you are as well. Market your uniqueness by being
first. CNN, the first cable news network. ESPN, the
first cable sports network. Hertz, the first car-rental
company. Domino’s, the first home delivery pizza chain.
Got it?
- Be authentic. Master marketers
express themselves from the heart. Your appearance
is everything. The way you talk, the way you move your
body, your eye contact, your speech patterns, the way
you look, the words you use – it all must establish
trust, and rapport then follows.
