There were many wonderful highlights from the 1985 television special MoTown 25….which was a celebration of MoTown Records first 25 years of operation…..as many of their stars coming back to honor the record label that truly put black music and black entertainers on the map….with none bigger for the night than when The Four Tops and The Temptations came on to perform a medley of their hit song….from I’ll Be There to My Girl to Getting Ready and others….for these two legendary groups exemplified The MoTown Sound as much as any did during the record label’s first 25 years from 1960 to 1985.
Motown Records is an American record label that is now owned by Universal Music Group….which was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959….and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960.
Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned label that achieved significant crossover success. In the 1960’s, Motown and its subsidiary labels were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. Motown was the most successful record label of soul music net worth totaling $61 million. During their first 25 years from 1960 to when this program seen herewith was aired….Motown achieved spectacular success for a small label….with 79 records in the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100 between 1960 and 1969 alone…..and The Four Tops along with The Temptations were an integral part of the success of MoTown.
