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Post by Emerald City on Jan 27, 2006 20:17:58 GMT -5
I just cannot believe this ya'll!  No recording took place in the 10-storey Motown Center Abandoned Motown Records headquarters have been demolished in Detroit to make way for a Super Bowl car park.
Motown Center was home to offices at the height of the music firm's success in 1968, but it was abandoned in 1972.
"It was knocked down because it was sorely dilapidated," said Jamaine Dickens, a spokesman for the mayor.
Thousands are expected in Detroit for next month's Super Bowl football final. Nearby Motown studios were turned into Motown Historical Museum in 1985.
Documents remained
The demolition was part of the mayor's plan to remove "eyesores and symbols of a downtown abandoned" from the city, Mr Dickins said.
No recording took place in the 10-storey building but office furniture and documents remained inside.
Bystanders said documents blew onto the street as the building was demolished, including recording schedules for The Supremes and the Vandellas and business reports for Gladys Knight and the Pips.
Mr Dickins said it had been Motown Records' responsibility to clear the building of any documents it wanted to preserve.
Founded by Berry Gordy in 1959, Motown Records became the most successful private label in the US.
It published hits from soul and R&B artists such as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Jackson Five, Lionel Richie, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Temptations.
The music firm abandoned Motown Center when it left Detroit for Los Angeles. It is now owned by Universal Music Group.
A plan to turn Motown Center into a museum proved unsuccessful after Motown's recording studio on West Grand Boulevard was transformed into Motown Historical Museum.
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Post by Emerald City on Jan 27, 2006 20:27:31 GMT -5
Some of the stuff left inside...   
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Post by timmy84 on Jan 27, 2006 21:37:52 GMT -5
I wonder why Berry and 'em didn't take the stuff out of the place if they left it in 1972. That's just foul as this is too, to demolish it. *SMH* Well, least we got the recording studio home and if anyone demolishes that, we'd all protest via message board, ya feel me?  |
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Post by fantagurl on Jan 27, 2006 23:50:09 GMT -5
I wonder why Berry and 'em didn't take the stuff out of the place if they left it in 1972. That's just foul as this is too, to demolish it. *SMH* Well, least we got the recording studio home and if anyone demolishes that, we'd all protest via message board, ya feel me? :no: I feel ya.That`s a darn shame how they just left the building.Berry was so busy worrying about Ross`s career,making movies,and so on in LA,that he probably was like to heck with what`s left behind in Detroit. |
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Post by fantagurl on Jan 27, 2006 23:51:32 GMT -5
Now you know that`s a disgrace. :frustration: |
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Kay
Star
*~*Floever A Star*~*
Posts: 1,326
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Post by Kay on Jan 28, 2006 12:20:58 GMT -5
To say that Berry is selfish would be an understatment :frustration:
It's one thing that he up and left the building, but couldn't Esther or anyone of the Gordy clan have the common sense or decency to at least put all those things in storage??
That's alot of Motown history wiped out for no reason :bonk:
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Post by timmy84 on Jan 28, 2006 17:32:03 GMT -5
F*ck Berry Gordy offically.
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Post by Diamond Girl on Jan 28, 2006 21:04:39 GMT -5
Man oh man, just don't make no kind of sense AT ALL  No need to wonder why the very name of this man and his family envokes such detest :notgettingit: |
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Post by timmy84 on Jan 28, 2006 21:23:43 GMT -5
I've grown to despise Berry Gordy as the years go by. Not just by how many people he screwed over but how we never got to know how much many of the artists who he brought up sold, or anything like that but also for what he did and has done. I thought selling the label for $800 million was bad but this is ridiculous. How can he forget where he comes from? He probably didn't even form Motown Records or at least not by himself. A$$hole.  |
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Kay
Star
*~*Floever A Star*~*
Posts: 1,326
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Post by Kay on Jan 29, 2006 15:51:06 GMT -5
F*ck Berry Gordy offically. Yep, this is exactly what I said when I first came to the thread. Just when you think he can't get any worse he proves us wrong again  Now that Martha is in council I wonder if she will say anything about it. To tear down the buliding for parking space really takes the p*ss :notgettingit: |
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Post by timmy84 on Jan 29, 2006 16:13:29 GMT -5
Maybe it's because he's senile, but really, you wonder how much he gave a f*ck about the people who put this sh*t into motion. Rather than standing up and saying "don't demolish it because I want everyone to know what it is", he just let it get demolished? I don't know how Martha is taking it but it must be heartbreaking. And this guy still gets biased love from historians? Why?
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Post by Diamond Girl on Jan 30, 2006 19:42:48 GMT -5
Maybe it's because he's senile, but really, you wonder how much he gave a f*ck about the people who put this sh*t into motion. Rather than standing up and saying "don't demolish it because I want everyone to know what it is", he just let it get demolished? I don't know how Martha is taking it but it must be heartbreaking. And this guy still gets biased love from historians? Why? I don't know about Martha, Tim, but I do wonder what could have been salvaged and what should have been protectively stored in 1972. I see reels and all kinds of things there, makes you wonder if he respected all of the talent, toil and strength of those that built Motown, made it a culture and made it legendary. Were they being exploited for following their dreams? |
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Post by Emerald City on Jan 30, 2006 19:49:36 GMT -5
You know, maybe he is senile now but back then...no way. I agree with ((Song)) and ((Kay)) he could have gotten somebody to remove those things years ago.
Mr Dickins said it had been Motown Records' responsibility to clear the building of any documents it wanted to preserve.
He was the boss and there were people who would do what he asked...
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Post by Diamond Girl on Jan 30, 2006 19:54:45 GMT -5
And now this............................
"My father always told me "it's not what you know, it's who you know", And chance would have it I know a few of the right people. I was able to tour the Motown building January 21st (one day before its demolition). Since all was scheduled to be destroyed anyway, I was allowed to take anything I wanted! Granted, this place was a wreck! Abandon by Motown in 1972 it had deteriorated into something out of a horror film. Almost anything of value was destroyed by vandals, or time itself. Sifting through “piles” of papers and rubbish I did find quite a few gems."
What the hell is in the hearts and minds of some people :befuddled:
Berry, you really let us down................AGAIN :frustration:
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Post by timmy84 on Jan 30, 2006 20:24:35 GMT -5
You're right! He wasn't senile then... he knew what he was doing in 1972. The nerve of him!!! I really don't think he did care for his artists! I can now FULLY understand Marvin's TOTAL ANGER towards him:
You know you had a brother who thought he was cool, when really I was a dumb little fool... - "Is That Enough?" (1978; Marvin telling Anna he was fooled by her little brother)
What an idiot... always saying Motown was the home where dreams come true but the more I see it, it wasn't just dreams come true but dreams SHATTERED by a benevolent dictator. Marvin even said Berry was a "capitalist pig". The more I hear about his squandering and the more his d*ck-riders say about him to big him up in the press, the more I'm aware at what kind of man he truly is.
He'll diss you when you're on your label but when you leave, "oh how you doin', old friend"... GRR! Sickens me to no end! :frustration:
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