Motown Quotes

I grew up with Cher and Motown, beautiful costumes.

One thing I can say about the Motown acts is that we were a family. That’s not a myth.

My mom was a huge Adam and the Ants fan. My granddad listened to a lot of Motown and Elvis and Johnny Cash. So I was kind of well-rounded.

My mom taught me every dance move I’ve ever known to the Motown hits.

My listening changed when I heard music from Stax, Atlantic, Motown because by that age I thought anything that my parents listened to must be square. So I had to find my own rock n’ roll, as it were, and I found it in black soul music.

I think my parents are the first influence on me music-wise. My dad was into Motown and soul, and my mom was into British ’80s pop, like The Trashcan Sinatras. I grew up on that. It was great. They were the first people to really bring music into my life.

My father loved music. He loved Motown and R&B, and my mother loved Journey and Fleetwood Mac, so they were always listening to it and playing it.

People still look at Michael Jackson as being a Motown artist.

Growing up, I liked all the stuff that everyone else was listening to, like Motown, but the biggest group of all was The Beatles.

Music has always been in my family, but it was mainly keyboards. I learned to play classical piano, but when I first heard the amazing bass guitar of James Jamerson, who played on all the big Motown hits of the ’60s and ’70s, I knew bass guitar was my instrument.

Once you‘re a Motown artist, you’re always a Motown artist.

I think there’s a void for some authentic soul music with an edge. I think there’s some people who grew up with Motown and Stevie Wonder that still can appreciate Future, Drake, and all these different things, too, but there shouldn’t be a void for those people, as well.

I was in about in the 8th grade when I started recording R&B, so much of what was on was the Motown sound, and The Beatles had pretty much come over and taken America by storm.

One thing I can say about the Motown acts is that we were a family. That’s not a myth.

Even though I loved the Fifties doo-wop, you couldn’t hold on to it. You had to change, or you was gon’ be antique real quick, like the Ink Spots. And then we were at Motown and you had the Rolling Stones, simple rock & roll became the new thing.

Definitely just growing up in general influenced me; Detroit happened to be where I was. I feel like the city definitely has made an impact on my life and made me who I am. Detroit has an unmistakable soul – nobody can duplicate the soul we bring to the game. From Motown to J Dilla to Eminem to anything.

When we were first started we were doing a lot of Motown stuff, but actually playing it more in a rock way. Everybody in the band sang and we did a lot of harmonies.

One of my strongest memories is my father playing bongos in the living room in Detroit listening to Motown radio. He was this skinny white bald guy, but he was really moved by blues and Motown and funk.

One of my idols is my dad. All his work in Motown, and just the way he conducted himself as a human being was always interesting to me, and it seemed like the successful way, and it is a successful way, and I always wanted to do that. He’s funny, and all that stuff.

The Great Migration changed American history not just for the migrants but for all of us. It made possible American cultural milestones like the Harlem Renaissance, Chicago blues, and Motown, just to name a few.

Growing up, I listened and was influenced by a lot of those around me. I have a big family, and my dad listened to ’80s music, my mom listened to Motown, my brother listened to reggae, and my granddad was the one that got me into jazz and swing music.

The same reason why we’re doing music is the same reason why Motown did: to make the world a better place and to make people happy. The main message is, just have a good time.

Growing up in Hitchin was comfortable and easy enough. My parents had some great records – and some not-so-great ones – and that’s where I got introduced to Motown and the Stones and Springsteen.

I grew up when the whole Motown thing was huge. The charts in those days were dominated by groups more than solo artists at one point.

My musical influence is really from my father. He was a DJ in college. My parents met at New York University. So he listened to, you know, Motown, and he listened to Bob Dylan. He listened to Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones, but he also listened to reggae music. And he collected vinyl.

With my music, I don’t have to stay in one lane. One day I’m in Motown, and the next day I’m in reggae.

My dad was a soul fan and a singer himself, and he loved vocal harmony, stuff like the Beach Boys and Motown like the Four Tops, which was a big influence on me.

The Great Migration changed American history not just for the migrants but for all of us. It made possible American cultural milestones like the Harlem Renaissance, Chicago blues, and Motown, just to name a few.

Testify‘ went from a clean Motown song to straight psychedelic. Loud and feedback and people was loving it, because Motown was ending now.

I honed in on a great time, the Motown era, the ’60s and ’70s. That type of music has always been a staple in my life.

I grew up listening to Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and lots of blues, R&B and Motown.

People still look at Michael Jackson as being a Motown artist.

When I first got to Motown, Smokey was already a fixture there. To me, he is one of the greatest songwriters and poets, so anything they ask me to do for Smokey is going to get a yes.

My favorite record label of all time is Motown. That era of music was my favorite.

When we did a lot of that Motown stuff there were four of us on the front line. When we started the evening we’d start from one end of the band and just go along. The lead singer would change all the time. That’s the first time that I actually managed to put it into a record.

I don’t ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.

Charles and I are from Augusta, Ga. – so we come from James Brown territory, soul music and Motown. And Charles has always had a lot of Southern rock in there as well.

I love to dance. I think it’s so much fun! I love classic Motown, hip-hop, pop, whatever has a good beat and is uplifting.

When we did a lot of that Motown stuff there were four of us on the front line. When we started the evening we’d start from one end of the band and just go along. The lead singer would change all the time. That’s the first time that I actually managed to put it into a record.

When we were first started we were doing a lot of Motown stuff, but actually playing it more in a rock way. Everybody in the band sang and we did a lot of harmonies.

The ‘Motown’ detour for me was almost like it wasn’t work. It was more fun than work, and that’s all it takes for me to not be very responsible to other things I should have been paying attention to.

My folks had a lot of Motown records, so that was a kind of an early inspiration. I grew up on the radio really.

Music has always been in my family, but it was mainly keyboards. I learned to play classical piano, but when I first heard the amazing bass guitar of James Jamerson, who played on all the big Motown hits of the ’60s and ’70s, I knew bass guitar was my instrument.

Motown was the mecca. It was every writer‘s dream to work there.

Well, I had an after hours club in Vancouver and when any of the Motown acts would call.

Artist development is something that I’ve been passionate about from my days at Uptown and Motown Records.

I never thought I would be recording on any professional level, so to be doing a rockabilly, Motown, pop soundtrack in a L.A. studio was completely bizarre and amazing.

It’s marvelous when you visit Tokyo: they have these clubs, and they’ll have ‘Motown Night‘ or ‘The Beatles – Totally Authentic and Live!’ You know it’s shrunk, but at least there’s some sort of youthful figure to it. Whereas, the blues scene in Europe is more like, ‘Here we go again.’

I don’t ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.

With the ’60s era and Motown, my grandparents actually introduced us to that when I was younger, so I grew up listening to the Jackson Five, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Supremes and Diana Ross’ solo stuff. I just loved it.

Motown wasn’t just pioneering a sound but a cultural dynamic.

I’ve discovered that Motown and Broadway have a lot in common – a family of wonderfully talented, passionate, hardworking young people, fiercely competitive but also full of love and appreciation for the work, for each other and for the people in the audience.

Without the Fender bass, there’d be no rock n’ roll or no Motown. The electric guitar had been waiting ’round since 1939 for a nice partner to come along. It became an electric rhythm section, and that changed everything.

Testify‘ went from a clean Motown song to straight psychedelic. Loud and feedback and people was loving it, because Motown was ending now.

I grew up in one of those households where, growing up in Detroit, you gravitate towards music and cars because we were the capital for a long time. Especially during my childhood. We were the Motown sound. We were the Motor City.

Motown was about music for all people – white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone.

I’ve bought clothes based on record covers. Particularly from the formative music that turned me onto it in the first place when I was a kid, with the Beatles and the Small Faces. A lot of those Sixties soul artists were in really sharp sharkskin or mohair suits, and Motown artists looked amazing.

Once you’re a Motown artist, that’s your stigmatism, and I was there from the very first day.

It was a free-for-all; the BBC wouldn’t play anything so we had pirate radio playing the African-American music and the Beatles and greats like Howlin’ Wolf and Robert Johnson and Motown’s Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Otis Redding.

Growing up, I never listened to English music. I was more into Motown, as well as early rock n’ roll like Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

Marvin Gaye is an inspiration to me. He was one of the first Motown musicians that my mom and dad introduced me to, and I always thought it would be a good idea if I was ever an artist, and now I am, to make a record called ‘Marvin Gaye.’

Even though I grew up playing folk music – and surf music, originally – I was listening to Motown and Stax on the radio as well. That music always resonated with me.

My dad liked a lot of Motown, but I didn’t listen to it until my teenage years.

My father loved music. He loved Motown and R&B, and my mother loved Journey and Fleetwood Mac, so they were always listening to it and playing it.

Sometimes you’re inspired by an old-school song that you want to chop up and make a sample out of it. I find that with a lot of older Motown music.

I left Motown because of the regime of people who were there.

My mum used to listen to Motown. Diana Ross was my first singing teacher, really. I’d just sing along all the time.

My favorite record label of all time is Motown. That era of music was my favorite.

Back in the day, Motown was on the pulse of young America. It wasn’t about just dope contemporary. It was pop, it was R&B, it was all of that.

And for some reason, when I’m sad, I do listen to Leonard Cohen, I do listen to Joni Mitchell. I do find myself going to the music that’s actually reflecting my mood, as opposed to sticking on Motown, which might actually bring my mood up.

I grew up in Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, and my mom and pop had an extensive record collection, so Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder and all of those sounds and souls of Motown filled the house.

I’m obsessed with the sound of today, but I was raised on the Motown sound.

At an early age I was listening to BB King, what have you. Ray Charles, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Mcgriff, you dig? With the obvious Marvin Gayes and the Motown records.

I knew I wanted to do music at eight years of age. I listened to a lot of Motown growing up, and it got to the point where I started mimicking people – Michael Jackson or whoever. People started to notice I could hold a tone. The bug was always there.

My dad was a soul fan and a singer himself, and he loved vocal harmony, stuff like the Beach Boys and Motown like the Four Tops, which was a big influence on me.

Motown will always be a heavy-duty part of my life because those are my roots.

I think that there is such power with the live performance of it – so much of what ‘Motown’ is about is the live performance aspect, really. The power of our production is really the music and the performances.

Growing up, I liked all the stuff that everyone else was listening to, like Motown, but the biggest group of all was The Beatles.

I grew up in a jazz household. They made me listen to jazz before I could hear my Motown.

My dad liked a lot of Motown, but I didn’t listen to it until my teenage years.