Post by ClassicSoul on Feb 18, 2006 13:19:49 GMT -5
Motown Sells Out, Too Company that became a legend
by relying on talent has turned to pushing crime
A bittersweet note sounded just before Super Bowl XL, when the old Motown building in downtown Detroit was demolished last month to create a parking lot for sports fans.
The building had sat vacant for more than 30 years, ever since Berry Gordy, founder of the legendary music label, moved his operation to Los Angeles. But that made no difference to music fans, who combed through the rubble to salvage treasures like handwritten notes scribbled during recording sessions by giants like Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye.
Those die-hard fans, along with countless numbers of music lovers, will be saddened to learn that the beloved label, now part of the Universal entertainment empire, traffics in the false notion that criminality somehow confers "realness," credibility and listenability on otherwise marginally talented artists.
Which brings us to the marketing of Penelope Jones, a rapper from St. Louis who is being peddled as Motown's hot new thing.
Longtime music industry veterans started to grumble last week, when press releases began circulating to promote Jones' first CD - and the focus was not on her music, but on her criminal past.
"Born into a family who [sic] has always had one foot firmly planted in the streets, Penelope Jones grew up seeing it all, up close and personal," says the Motown bio. "'I was raised by my mom and my aunts and uncles,' she explains. 'It was chaotic because they were all hustlin' at one time or another.'"
We learn that Jones, a single mother, spent 33 months in federal prison on drug charges. "While hip hop was just a hobby, the drug game had morphed into her career," the bio says.
The two online samples of Jones' music are a letdown, consisting of predictable, unoriginal boasting about drugs, sex, violence and street life. "Penelope relies on her wisdom in and out of the studio," says the bio, but she probably should have relied on some musical training and rehearsal instead.
The Jones phenomenon is all the more troubling in light of Motown's fabled history as a juggernaut of young musical talent. A very short list of the artists who started with the label includes Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Jackson Five and Diana Ross & the Supremes.
The secret of Motown wasn't just raw singing and dancing ability, although the kids had tons of it. The key was a disciplined pursuit of showbiz excellence.
Gordy hired Maxine Powell, an older woman who owned a finishing school, to teach the young artists how to present themselves in public. A hoofer named Cholly Atkins taught the kids how to move on stage, and a crew of seasoned jazz and blues musicians, the Funk Brothers, filled the pop songs with sly, complex riffs.
The current Motown roster still includes giants like Stevie Wonder, but the label has gone down a different path with Jones. "It's not about promoting negativity. That's not what we do," says Eric Nicks, the A&R man at Motown who handles Jones. "We signed her based on her talent."
I wish I could believe that.
The industry execs who use lawlessness to market hip hop have shown a contempt for actual music talent - the foundation of their business - that is nothing short of breathtaking. And it is they, not a wrecking ball, that will finally reduce the Motown dream to dust.
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This is a BIG DISGRACE!!! Motown is that desparate to get artists?
