An infusion of hip-hop, blues, jazz and good old pop, Motown sound has formed the foundation of modern music, bringing together a pantheon of black musical Gods together on one label. Destroying the boundaries of race or class, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Lionel Ritchie. You name it, they had it under one record label. Its still hopping along slowly, as the music industry changes, but it seems absurd for it to die.

If you didn’t know how many people were signed to the Label…

So I set out to find out some more. And in my discovering, I came across some of the best facts so far:

1. Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, was once a professional boxer who went on to fight in the Korean war. His boxing career was steadily rising,. He was a featherweight boxer in Michigan, winning 12 (5 by knockout), lost 3 by knockout and drew 2. This is a fairly impressive record for an amateur boxer,lasting 65 rounds in 17 matches. Unfortunately for him and his fans, the Korean war got in the way and he was conscripted. He went into the army and fought for his country. Having survived that ordeal, he came home with out much money. So he took an $800 loan from his dad to start up a record label.

2. Berry Gordy initially rejected the Jackson 5 from working with his record label. Children, apparently, were too difficult for him to work with so he was reluctant to sign the now world famous mega kids band. Luckily for him, he did sign them and they went on to produce perhaps the greatest artist of our time, Michael Jackson.

3. Motown had its own working set of background musicians to work with its stars. They are considered to be the unsung heroes of the music industry but in some ways they are more musically successful than any other artist ever. They have performed in more number one hits than Elvis, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys combined. They performed in some capacity with every major signing that ever worked with Gordy.

4. Meatloaf once signed for the label. Yes, Meatloaf. Bat out of Hell, metal rock, Meatloaf. He performed with Shaun Murphy under the name of Stoney and Meatloaf.

5. Stevie Wonder and Lionel Ritchie hold the title of best selling tracks. Stevie with “I just called to say I love you” and Lionel with “Hello”.

Want to fine out more? Check out their site.

Here are my Top Ten Tracks
1.I Heard it Through the Grape Vine – Marvin Gaye
2.I’ll Be There – Jackson 5
3.Baby Love – The Supremes
4.Fingertips pt2 – Stevie Wonder
5.Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Diana Ross
6.War – Edwin Starr
7.I Can’t Help Myself – The Four Tops
8.My Guy – Mary Wells
9.The Love you Save – The Jackson 5
10.I Can’t Get Next to You – The Temptations