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Motown's sad song: Music takes a back seat to founder Gordy and the record label's collapse

Sunday, January 12, 2003

By Jon Caroulis

After writing about assassins, politicians, drug gangs and Nazis, Gerald Posner now turns to an equally nefarious topic: show business. The result is a chronicle of the rise and fall of Motown, the fabled rock 'n' roll record company.

	"Motown: Money, Sex, Power and Music" By Gerald Posner Random House ($24.95)

While there are many personal escapades recounted (most of the recording artists shared sex and drugs), the book doesn't have a gossipy feel, which for Posner's purposes is a plus. It's the "business" of show business that intrigues him.

A former lawyer and prodigious researcher, Posner used a detached, objective approach in books about the John Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King assassinations.

The lack of emotion and reliance on hard fact made those books stronger. Yet his clinical approach in a biography of Ross Perot failed to provide a grasp of what makes Perot tick.

He has somewhat bridged the gap here, focusing primarily on one personality, Berry Gordy Jr., Motown's founder.

A former boxer who had no formal musical training, Gordy nevertheless had an uncanny knack for judging melodies, lyrics and voices. Borrowing $800 from his family in 1958, he founded his own company, "Hitsville," which he ran out of a Detroit house.

Soon, future stars Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson and his siblings were signed. Gordy called one of his record labels Motown, the nickname for Detroit and its auto industry.

The grandchild of slaves, Gordy believed the key to success was finding performers and material that crossed over to black and white audiences. In 1967, Motown sold more than 30 million singles.

Gordy and most of his superstars wouldn't speak with Posner, so he relied on their autobiographies and previously published articles to flesh out the interactions between them.

Practically everyone involved has said or written something about Gordy, so he is the most fully realized character. Complex doesn't begin to describe him: He was a pimp for a time, was a compulsive gambler and constantly cheated on his wives.

Yet his business acumen was startling; he was able to spot talent for key positions at Motown and even created a competitive atmosphere so producers and artists tried harder to get his attention -- and their records released.

Posner interviewed scores of performers, producers, technicians, songwriters and acquaintances. He also went through thousands of pages of court testimony.

One of the legacies of Motown is not just the music, but litigation -- some cases are still active after nearly four decades

There's hardly any discussion of the music here. Posner chose not to explore why it's still popular or the novelty of how a group of mostly untrained artists from Detroit created a sound that became a worldwide favorite.

Discussing the music might have taken the book off course, so instead he gives a chronological, insider's look at how a corporation began, grew and collapsed. He tackles the issues of race, greed and arrogance with his customary objectivity.

But show business stories usually don't end happily, and that's where the money, power and sex of the subtitle come into play.

Many artists accused Gordy of cheating them on royalties, and they sued. Others, tired of Gordy's paternalistic attitude, switched to different labels.

Many artists associated with Motown have died young, often after bouts with drugs or alcohol.

The beginning of the end started when Gordy and Ross (who does not come off well here) became lovers. Gordy spent much of his time and effort getting her solo career off the ground, then making her a movie star with "Lady Sings the Blues" and "Mahogany," but also miscasting her in "The Whiz."

Ross left Gordy, then married quickly and had a daughter. Years later, Ross admitted that Gordy was the father.

While obsessed with Ross, Gordy nearly drove the company into bankruptcy. He missed out on the disco era and, later, hip-hop. He eventually sold Motown for $61 million.

No one book can capture the whole Motown story, and other works get into the evolution of the music. Posner's contribution is a "Just the facts, ma'am" work, yet those facts are fascinating, and his narrative, the best he's done, keeps this story interesting.

Jon Caroulis is a free-lance writer living in Philadelphia.