94-901: Focker may refer to: "Focker" (song) , a 2008 song by UK band Late of the Pier Fockers, a fictional family from the American comedy films Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers Gaylord "Greg" Focker, fictional character from the above two films and from their predecessor Meet the Parents Roy Focker , a fictional character from the Japanese anime series Macross See also [ edit ] Fokker (disambiguation) Fucker Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG, German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft during World War II Topics referred to by
188-536: A Roland TB-303 electronic synthesiser - sequencer . The track features complex time signature progressions and a guitar solo played by Potter on the sampler at the end. "Whitesnake" was inspired by the music of Devo , Roxy Music , and Dandi Wind , while "VW" is based on a 2001 demo recorded in Eastgate's attic. In the studio, Late of the Pier hired brass players to perform the horn sections and create new scales . Once
282-407: A normalised rating of 81% based on 18 critical reviews. AllMusic 's K. Ross Hoffman described the album as "glorious and galvanising" and labelled it "a convoluted construction crammed with so many immediately gratifying moments that it takes multiple listens to extricate them all". John Burgess of The Guardian explained that a new favourite song, riff, or wayward moment can be found every time
376-609: A North American distribution deal with the label in 1983) and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $ 61 million. In 1989, Gordy sold the Motown Productions TV/film operations to Motown executive Suzanne de Passe , who renamed the company de Passe Entertainment and continues to run it as of 2018 . Gordy continued to retain the Jobete music publishing catalog, selling it separately to EMI Music Publishing in parts between 1997 and 2004. It
470-559: A certain level financially." By the 1970s, the Motown "hit factory" had become a target of a backlash from some fans of rock music. Record producer Pete Waterman recalls of this period: "I was a DJ for years and I worked for Motown – the press at the time, papers like NME , used to call it Toytown. When I DJ'd on the Poly circuit, the students wanted me to play Spooky Tooth and Velvet Underground . Things don't change. Nowadays, of course, Motown
564-429: A computerised machine track. Then from there we learn what he's put down in a human way ... After that process you get a recording of it like a demo, then from that we'll gig the track and it changes again. Our music goes through lots of filters: it's a really strange process and I don't think many bands do it. Sam Potter, on Late of the Pier's methods of creating Fantasy Black Channel In late 2007, Late of
658-467: A flicker, a line" in "Heartbeat" came to Eastgate while recording the song and hearing its time signature always changing. The lyricist cannot remember writing "White Snake" and did not know there was a band of the same name in existence. "Focker" evolved out of a demo, called "6/8 Focker", Eastgate sang through a guitar amp with initially indecipherable lyrics. "The Enemy Are the Future" gets its name from
752-521: A gross income of $ 20 million by the end of 1966. Early Tamla/Motown artists included Mable John , Eddie Holland and Mary Wells . " Shop Around ", the Miracles' first number 1 R&B hit, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960. It was Tamla's first million-selling record. On April 14, 1960, Motown and Tamla Records merged into a new company called Motown Record Corporation. A year later,
846-551: A key role in the early days of Motown, leading the company's first session group, The Rayber Voices, and overseeing Jobete. The studio that Gordy purchased in 1959 would become Motown's Hitsville U.S.A. studio. The photography studio located in the back of the property was modified into a small recording studio, and the Gordys moved into the second-floor living quarters. Within seven years, Motown would occupy seven additional neighboring houses: Motown had hired over 450 employees and had
940-912: A later Friday morning meeting, as producer Norman Whitfield did with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and the Temptations' " Ain't Too Proud to Beg ". Many of Motown's best-known songs, including all the early hits for the Supremes , were written by the songwriting trio of Holland–Dozier–Holland ( Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland ). Other important Motown producers and songwriters included Norman Whitfield , William "Mickey" Stevenson , Smokey Robinson , Barrett Strong , Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson , Frank Wilson , Pamela Sawyer & Gloria Jones , James Dean & William Weatherspoon , Johnny Bristol , Harvey Fuqua , Gil Askey , Stevie Wonder , and Gordy himself. The style created by
1034-539: A mainstream pop -influenced sound and appeal. Motown was the most successful soul music label, with a net worth of $ 61 million. Between 1960 and 1969, Motown had 79 songs reach the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100 . Following the events of the Detroit Riots of 1967 , and the loss of key songwriting/production team Holland–Dozier–Holland that year over royalty disputes, Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles, California and it expanded into film and television production. It
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#17328630801121128-472: A peak-popular hit of 1958. Between 1957 and 1958, Gordy wrote or produced over a hundred sides for various artists, with his siblings Anna, Gwen and Robert, and other collaborators in varying combinations. In 1957, Gordy met Smokey Robinson , a local seventeen-year-old singer fronting a vocal harmony group called the Matadors. Gordy was interested in the doo-wop style that Robinson sang. In 1958, Gordy recorded
1222-504: A photography studio at 2648 West Grand Boulevard and converted the main floor into a recording studio and office space. Now, rather than shopping his songs to other artists or leasing his recordings to outside companies, Gordy began using the Tamla and Motown imprints to release songs that he wrote and produced. He incorporated Motown Records in April 1960. Smokey Robinson became the vice president of
1316-544: A producer for Erykah Badu, became the head of the label, and oversaw successful recordings from Badu, McKnight, Michael McDonald , and new Motown artist India.Arie . Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and the Temptations had remained with the label since its early days, although all except Wonder recorded for other labels for several years. Ross left Motown for RCA Records from 1981 to 1988, but returned in 1989 and stayed until 2002, while Robinson left Motown in 1991 (although he did return to release one more album for
1410-521: A second label in 1960. The two labels featured the same writers, producers and artists. Many more subsidiary labels were established later under the umbrella of the Motown parent company, including Gordy Records, Soul Records and VIP Records; in reality the Motown Record Corporation controlled all of these labels. Most of the distinctions between Motown labels were largely arbitrary, with the same writers, producers and musicians working on all
1504-464: A sentence in a promotional leaflet for the indie rock band The Enemy. Eastgate has explained that for "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" he randomly "shouted lots of short phrases" and then tried to make sense of what he said. The process led to stylised lines like "Falling over aeroplanes and wanting to be a derelict". Fantasy Black Channel is largely built on sonic experiments and the use of studio and computer techniques. The opening track, "Hot Tent Blues",
1598-553: A similar arrangement, most significantly with United Artists . In 1958, Gordy wrote and produced " Come to Me " for Marv Johnson . Seeing that the song had great crossover potential, Gordy leased it to United Artists for national distribution but also released it locally on his own startup imprint. Needing $ 800 to cover his end of the deal, Gordy asked his family to borrow money from a cooperative family savings account. After some debate, his family agreed, and in January 1959 "Come to Me"
1692-627: A standard black vinyl copy in a gatefold picture sleeve. It was released a week earlier than the CD version and had the following track changes: The 2009 U.S. LP version was released concurrently with the CD version. Fantasy Black Channel was recorded between 2006 and 2008 in Sam Eastgate's bedroom in Castle Donington and at the following studios in London. The album's release history
1786-573: A subsidiary of Capitol Records . In late 2018, Motown began celebrating its 60th anniversary by reissuing numerous albums from their catalog. Motown UK launched in September 2020 under Universal UK's EMI Records (formerly Virgin EMI Records ) division. Motown Records joined Interscope Capitol Labels Group in 2024. Motown specialized in a type of soul music it referred to with the trademark "The Motown sound". Crafted with an ear towards pop appeal,
1880-484: A track had finished undergoing the studio effects process. No songs changed after this point, even when one of the parties had further ideas. At the time, in an interview with the band, Stuart Turnbull of the BBC Collective indicated that Alkan managed to "channel Late of the Pier's sonic attack into something more focused yet still undeniably different". The record was nearly completed by end January 2008. Late of
1974-501: Is an instrumental short which contains seven layers of electric guitar run through a Zoom 506 bass guitar pedal . "Broken" was conceived during a jam session between Eastgate's guitar riffs and Dawson's drumming, while a demo of "Space and the Woods" similar to the Nirvana song " All Apologies " was reworked and remixed in the studio. Eastgate credits Storm Mortimer, who used to drive Late of
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#17328630801122068-488: Is as follows: Album Singles "—" denotes releases that did not chart. Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group . Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town , has become a nickname for Detroit , where
2162-474: Is chronicled in the 2002 documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown , which publicised the fact that these musicians "played on more number-one records than The Beatles, Elvis, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys combined". Ashford later played on Raphael Saadiq 's 2008 album The Way I See It , whose recording and production were modelled after the Motown sound. Much of the Motown sound came from
2256-416: Is currently owned by Sony Music Publishing (Sony/ATV until 2021) through the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 (as a leader of the consortium and eventually assigned full ownership in 2018). During the 1990s, Motown was home to successful recording artists such as Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill , although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil. MCA appointed a series of executives to run
2350-537: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Focker (song) Fantasy Black Channel is the only studio album by British dance-punk band Late of the Pier . It was released on 30 July 2008 in Japan through Toshiba EMI and on 4 August 2008 in the British Isles on Parlophone , the band's primary label. Five tracks had already been released as singles in
2444-452: Is famous for playing broad genres of music and that he understands the properties and crossover of dance and guitar music. Alkan fully embraced the band members' ideas and immediately understood what they were trying to achieve. "Bathroom Gurgle" was recorded by the new collaboration and was released as a limited edition single in September 2007. The production process for Fantasy Black Channel gathered pace around December 2007. Late of
2538-540: Is hip." Despite losing Holland–Dozier–Holland, Norman Whitfield, and some of its other hitmakers by 1975, Motown still had a number of successful artists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Lionel Richie and the Commodores , Rick James , Teena Marie , the Dazz Band , Jose Feliciano and DeBarge . By the mid-1980s, Motown had started losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to MCA Records (which began
2632-550: The hip hop and R&B genres. Berry Gordy 's interest in the record business began when he opened a record store called the 3D Record Mart, a shop where he hoped to "educate customers about the beauty of jazz", in Detroit , Michigan . Although the shop did not last very long, Gordy's interest in the music business did not fade. He frequented Detroit's downtown nightclubs, and in the Flame Show Bar he met bar manager Al Green (not
2726-466: The soul singer of the same name ), who owned a music publishing company called Pearl Music and represented Detroit-based musician Jackie Wilson . Gordy soon became part of a group of songwriters—with his sister Gwen Gordy and Billy Davis —who wrote songs for Wilson. In November 1957, " Reet Petite " was released and became their first major hit. During the next eighteen months, Gordy helped to write six more Wilson A-sides, including " Lonely Teardrops ",
2820-424: The " KISS principle " (keep it simple, stupid). The Motown production process has been described as factory-like. The Hitsville studios remained open and active 22 hours a day, and artists would often go on tour for weeks, come back to Detroit to record as many songs as possible, and then promptly go on tour again. Berry Gordy held quality control meetings every Friday morning, and used veto power to ensure that only
2914-418: The 1960s, became its president in 1973. John McClain, an A&M Records executive, opined that Motown leaving its birth city marked a decline in the label's quality. "Something happened when [Motown] left Detroit and came to [Los Angeles]," he said. "They quit being innovators and started following trends. Before, Berry had a much more hands-on approach. And maybe you lose some of your desire after you get to
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3008-631: The 2009 NME Awards . Two tracks were also nominated: "Bathroom Gurgle" and "Heartbeat", in the Best Dancefloor Filler and Best Video categories respectively. In 2009, Clash placed Fantasy Black Channel at number 40 in its list of the 50 Greatest Albums, 2004–2009, while FACT included it at number 99 in its editorial staff list of the 100 Best: Albums of the Decade. All songs written and arranged by Sam Eastgate, unless otherwise stated. The 2008 UK LP version of Fantasy Black Channel comprised
3102-475: The 70s camp rock of Queen and Bowie to the primitive electronics of Gary Numan, with echoes of 90s computer games and snatches of modern house ". Fantasy Black Channel figured in several publications' end-of-year best album lists for 2008, notably, at number three by Clash , at number five by FACT , and at number 18 by NME . It was ranked at number 16 in HMV's Poll of Polls for 2008, which aggregates
3196-464: The Liars Club audience during the band's first ever gigs. Eastgate has explained, "I had these two themes, which looped round on each other which I sang very exasperated Annie Lennox style vocals over." The fast tempo of the first half of the song was juxtaposed against a section of "slow drama". Media response to Fantasy Black Channel was highly favourable; aggregating website Metacritic reports
3290-490: The Marvelettes scored Tamla's first US number-one hit, " Please Mr. Postman ". By the mid-1960s, the company, with the help of songwriters and producers such as Robinson, A&R chief William "Mickey" Stevenson , Brian Holland , Lamont Dozier , and Norman Whitfield , had become a major force in the music industry. From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 top 10 hits. Top artists on the Motown label during that period included
3384-592: The Marvelettes was one of four) and then Oriole American (" Fingertips " by Little Stevie Wonder was one of many). In 1963, Motown signed with EMI's Stateside label (" Where Did Our Love Go " by the Supremes and " My Guy " by Mary Wells were Motown's first British top-20 hits). Eventually, EMI created the Tamla Motown label (" Stop! In the Name of Love " by the Supremes was the first Tamla Motown release in March 1965). After
3478-769: The Motown musicians was a major influence on several non-Motown artists of the mid-1960s, such as Dusty Springfield and the Foundations . In the United Kingdom, the Motown sound became the basis of the northern soul movement. Smokey Robinson said the Motown sound had little to do with Detroit: People would listen to it, and they'd say, 'Aha, they use more bass. Or they use more drums.' Bullshit. When we were first successful with it, people were coming from Germany, France, Italy, Mobile, Alabama. From New York, Chicago, California. From everywhere . Just to record in Detroit. They figured it
3572-610: The Motown sound typically featured tambourines to accent the back beat , prominent and often melodic electric bass guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call-and-response singing style that originated in gospel music . In 1971, Jon Landau wrote in Rolling Stone that the sound consisted of songs with simple structures but sophisticated melodies, along with a four-beat drum pattern, regular use of horns and strings, and "a trebly style of mixing that relied heavily on electronic limiting and equalizing (boosting
3666-442: The Pier around London, as the muse for "The Bears Are Coming". She often sang impromptu and the frontman eventually borrowed a page of her songs and added an afrobeat -inspired rhythm to it. Eastgate and Dawson wanted to create a track that evoked the idea of "coming out of the jungle" and credit varied musical acts like Slagsmålsklubben , Prince , The Beatles , Mr Flash, FrYars, and Lutricia McNeal as inspiration. "Random Firl"
3760-500: The Pier did not record any further albums following the death of drummer Ross Dawson in 2015. Having officially formed a band under the name Late of the Pier in 2004, childhood friends Sam Eastgate, Andrew Faley, Sam Potter, and the late Ross Dawson initially developed the sound of their first album by listening to the alternative dance music of British ensemble The Prodigy and the grunge music of American band Nirvana . They soon branched out into listening to diverse genres from
3854-426: The Pier formally met renowned DJ Erol Alkan after seeing him play a set at the Liars Club. Alkan called them "THE most exciting band around" and offered the band members help in the recording process of Fantasy Black Channel . They accepted and made him producer for the album because of the immediate rapport that developed between the two parties. Dawson has explained the choice of producer by suggesting that Alkan
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3948-483: The Pier stopped recording to embark on a headlining UK tour during February, in which they previewed new material. "The Bears Are Coming" was released as a vinyl single in March 2008. The band toured until the end of April 2008 to promote another single—a double A-side containing a reworked "Space and the Woods" and "Focker"—from the as-yet-unreleased Fantasy Black Channel . Studio work with Alkan restarted in May 2008 to put
4042-492: The Pier usually proceeded by taking bedroom recordings into the studio, where they were refined by Alkan into "a more presentable package". They tried unconventional techniques in the style of avant-garde producer Joe Meek during the live studio recording sessions, including stamping in baths and re-amping guitars through air vents. When tracks were mixed after being recorded, the band members, Alkan, and engineer Jimmy Robertson worked in tandem and unanimously decided when
4136-697: The Sickest Kids , The Veer Union and Four Year Strong . Motown celebrated its 50th anniversary on January 12, 2009, and celebrated it in Detroit on November 20, 2009, in a black-tie Gala titled "Live It Again!" The event was hosted by Sinbad and included Stevie Wonder , Smokey Robinson , the Temptations , Aretha Franklin and Kid Rock . In mid-2011, Universal Motown reverted to the Motown brand after having been separated from Universal Motown Republic Group, hired Ethiopia Habtemariam as its Senior Vice President, and operated under The Island Def Jam Music Group . Artists from Universal Motown were transferred to
4230-690: The Supremes (initially including Diana Ross ), the Four Tops , and the Jackson 5 , while Stevie Wonder , Marvin Gaye , the Marvelettes , and the Miracles had hits on the Tamla label. The company operated several labels in addition to the Tamla and Motown imprints. A third label, which Gordy named after himself (though it was originally called "Miracle") featured the Temptations , the Contours , Edwin Starr , and Martha and
4324-610: The Supremes and the Temptations, Diana! with Diana Ross, and Goin' Back to Indiana with the Jackson 5 . The company loosened its production rules, allowing some of its longtime artists the opportunity to write and produce more of their own material. This resulted in the recordings of successful and critically acclaimed albums such as Marvin Gaye 's What's Going On (1971) and Let's Get it On (1973), and Stevie Wonder 's Music of My Mind (1972), Talking Book (1972), and Innervisions (1973). Motown had established branch offices in both New York City and Los Angeles during
4418-681: The United Kingdom: "Bathroom Gurgle", "The Bears Are Coming", " Space and the Woods " and "Focker" as a double A-side , and "Heartbeat". The record peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart , but failed to chart in the United States. The album was recorded in lead vocalist Sam Eastgate's bedroom in Castle Donington , England, and at several locations in London. It went through a fractured creative process that lasted more than two years. It
4512-909: The Vandellas . A fourth, V.I.P. , released recordings by the Velvelettes , the Spinners , the Monitors , and Chris Clark . A fifth label, Soul , featured Jr. Walker & the All Stars , Jimmy Ruffin , Shorty Long , the Originals , and Gladys Knight & the Pips (who had found success before joining Motown, as "The Pips" on Vee-Jay ). Many more Motown-owned labels released recordings in other genres, including Workshop Jazz (jazz) Earl Washington Reflections and Earl Washington's All Stars, Mel-o-dy (country, although it
4606-558: The album is listened to. Tim Chester of NME concluded, "It takes a certain kind of mind to make this. While others whinge about living and dying in cul-de-sac towns shackled by cul-de-sac imaginations, LOTP's vision is housed on Dubai 's ' The World ' island-creation project." Some reviewers classified Fantasy Black Channel into the British new rave genre and musical scene. Others claimed that they could hear impressions of Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry and musician Gary Numan in
4700-418: The company (and later named his daughter "Tamla" and his son "Berry"). Several of Gordy's family members , including his father Berry Sr., brothers Robert and George, and sister Esther, were given key roles in the company. By the middle of the decade, Gwen and Anna Gordy had joined the label in administrative positions as well. Gordy's partner at the time (and wife from 1960 to 1964), Raynoma Liles , also played
4794-412: The company, beginning with Berry Gordy's immediate successor, Jheryl Busby . Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motown's product adequate attention or promotion. In 1991, Motown sued MCA to have its distribution deal with the company terminated, and began releasing its product through PolyGram . PolyGram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later. In 1994, Busby
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#17328630801124888-857: The dissolution of Island Def Jam, and Motown relocated back to Los Angeles to operate under the Capitol Music Group , now operating out of the Capitol Tower . In 2018, Motown was inducted into Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Charles H. Wright Museum . In 2021, Motown separated from the Capitol Music Group to become a standalone label once again. On November 29, 2022, Ethiopia Habtemariam announced that she would be stepping down as chairwoman/CEO of Motown. As of 2023, acts signed to Motown include City Girls , Diddy , Migos , Lil Baby , Lil Yachty , Smino , Vince Staples , YoungBoy Never Broke Again , and several other artists in
4982-407: The fact that it should sound like an album. I think we recorded all the songs and then they were there and it was like, 'Oh, we have to kind of stitch this together and make it sound like one piece.'" The writing process for Fantasy Black Channel was largely unplanned. The verses of "Broken" were conceived late at night and are inspired by insomnia . It took Eastgate a long time to describe how he
5076-402: The finishing touches on the album; the final version was christened as "a compilation of hits" and "anti-pop pop ". The album was recorded during six months in different studios and the band members have admitted that the variety in venues partially explains why it sounds disjointed. The idea of having a single 45-minute track instead of a track list of songs was mooted at the end of May 2008, but
5170-512: The group's song "Got a Job" (an answer song to " Get a Job " by the Silhouettes ), and released it as a single by leasing the record to a larger company outside Detroit called End Records , based in New York. The practice was common at the time for a small-time producer. "Got a Job" was the first single by Robinson's group, now called the Miracles . Gordy recorded a number of other records by forging
5264-400: The high range frequencies) to give the overall product a distinctive sound, particularly effective for broadcast over AM radio". Pop production techniques such as the use of orchestral string sections, charted horn sections, and carefully arranged background vocals were also used. Complex arrangements and elaborate, melismatic vocal riffs were avoided. Motown producers believed steadfastly in
5358-457: The impact because acts were going all over the world at that time. I recognized the bridges that we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers that we broke down with music. I recognized that because I lived it. I would come to the South in the early days of Motown and the audiences would be segregated. Then they started to get the Motown music and we would go back and the audiences were integrated and
5452-581: The instrumentals were recorded, the band members purposefully decided to mix their own playing lower in certain sections of the song so listeners could hear the horns more clearly. "Focker" was created using a looped riff from "6/8 Focker". Eastgate then conceived a drum solo and remixed and rearranged the last twenty seconds of the song. "The Enemy Are the Future" was created during a hungover jam session, where all band members played individually and not in tandem. Dawson performed around 40 different beats one after another all in different timings. The session
5546-548: The kids were dancing together and holding hands. In 1967, Berry Gordy purchased what is now known as Motown Mansion in Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District as his home, leaving his previous home to his sister Anna and her then-husband Marvin Gaye (where photos for the cover of his album What's Going On were taken). In 1968, Gordy purchased the Donovan building on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Interstate 75 , and moved Motown's Detroit offices there (the Donovan building
5640-613: The label in 1999). The Temptations left for Atlantic Records in 1977, but returned in 1980 and eventually left again in 2004. Wonder finally left the label in 2020. In 2005, Massenburg was replaced by Sylvia Rhone , former CEO of Elektra Records . Motown was merged with Universal Records to create the Universal Motown Records and placed under the newly created umbrella division of Universal Motown Republic Group . Notable artists on Universal Motown included Drake Bell , Ryan Leslie , Melanie Fiona , Kelly Rowland , Forever
5734-513: The label was originally headquartered. Motown played a vital role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American -owned label that achieved crossover success with white audiences. In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla-Motown , the brand used outside the US) were the most prominent exponents of what became known as the Motown sound , a style of soul music with
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#17328630801125828-526: The last 40 years of music, including Motown and soul . Potter has treated their conception of Fantasy Black Channel as a reaction to "mediocre, complacent indie-schmindie bands who find a sound and stick to it; whose songs sound exactly the same", while lead writer and composer Eastgate has pointed out that they wanted to "take people past their own limits". The nascent recording stages took place in Eastgate's bedroom, where unconventional time signatures and experimental chords were performed because, at
5922-576: The less-than-dignified image commonly held of black musicians by white Americans in that era. Given that many of the talented young artists had been raised in housing projects and lacked the necessary social and dress experience, this Motown department was not only necessary, it created an elegant style of presentation long associated with the label. The artist development department specialized primarily in working with younger, less-experienced acts; experienced performers such as Jr. Walker and Marvin Gaye were exempt from artist-development classes. Many of
6016-491: The mid-1960s, and by 1969 had begun gradually moving more of its operations to Los Angeles. The company moved all of its operations to Los Angeles in June 1972, with a number of artists, among them Martha Reeves , the Four Tops, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and many of the Funk Brothers studio band, either staying behind in Detroit or leaving the company for other reasons. By re-locating, Motown aimed chiefly to branch out into
6110-524: The motion-picture industry, and Motown Productions got its start in film by turning out two hit-vehicles for Diana Ross : the Billie Holiday biographical film Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and Mahogany (1975). Other Motown films would include Scott Joplin (1977), Thank God It's Friday (1978), The Wiz (1978) and The Last Dragon (1985). Ewart Abner , who had been associated with Motown since
6204-533: The newly revitalized Motown label. On January 25, 2012, it was announced that Ne-Yo would join the Motown label both as an artist as well as the new Senior Vice President of A&R. On April 1, 2014, it was announced that Island Def Jam would no longer be running following the resignation of CEO Barry Weiss. A press release sent out by Universal Music Group announced that the label would now be reorganizing Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Motown Records all as separate entities. Motown would then begin serving as
6298-486: The publishing firm Jobete in June 1959 (incorporated in Michigan). He applied for copyrights on more than seventy songs before the end of 1959, including material used for the Miracles and Frances Burnett records, which were leased to Chess and Coral Records . The Michigan Chronicle of Detroit called Gordy an "independent producer of records", as his contributions to the city were beginning to attract notice. By that time, he
6392-480: The recording process without pressuring them to be commercially successful immediately. The record deal was followed by the recording of an EP titled Zarcorp Demo , from which a demo single, "Space and the Woods", was released in March 2007. Eastgate has claimed that the band members were influenced by the music of the 1980s during these formative stages of Fantasy Black Channel even though none of them were born before 1986. Sam [Eastgate] will ... make
6486-402: The recording. Pitchfork 's Adam Moerder commented that it contains several new rave compositions which are aesthetically dubious. Chris Baynes of PopMatters claimed that the band members "wear their influences pretty much inked onto their sleeves", but concluded that the album is exciting and excitable in equal measure. According to Late of the Pier, comparisons to Klaxons and new rave are
6580-432: The results of lazy journalism, especially for a scene the band has never been in. Eastgate has explained that musical influences are often subconscious, even though the band members tried not to listen to anything but their own work while recording the album. Nick Mitchell of The Skinny pointed out that the record is "an unrestrained, unclassifiable, unexpectedly triumphant romp through blaring influences and genres, from
6674-408: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Focker . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Focker&oldid=919713624 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
6768-804: The songwriting process of the writers and producers, one of the major factors in the widespread appeal of Motown's music was Gordy's practice of using a highly-select and tight-knit group of studio musicians, collectively known as the Funk Brothers , to record the instrumental or "band" tracks of a majority of Motown recordings. Among the studio musicians responsible for the "Motown sound" were keyboardists Earl Van Dyke , Johnny Griffith , and Joe Hunter ; guitarists Ray Monette , Joe Messina , Robert White , and Eddie Willis ; percussionists Eddie "Bongo" Brown and Jack Ashford ; drummers Benny Benjamin , Uriel Jones , and Richard "Pistol" Allen ; and bassists James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt . The band's career and work
6862-423: The songwriting trio Holland–Dozier–Holland left the label in 1967 over royalty-payment disputes, Norman Whitfield became the company's top producer, turning out hits for the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Rare Earth. In the meantime Berry Gordy established Motown Productions, a television subsidiary which produced TV specials for the Motown artists, including TCB , with Diana Ross &
6956-485: The time, no band member could play an instrument properly. Late of the Pier started using the album working title Interesting Adventure in 2006 after practising in Eastgate's bedroom for about a year and previewed their new material at the Liars Club in Nottingham. After receiving contract offers from Parlophone and Atlantic Records , the band members signed to Parlophone because the label gave them total autonomy over
7050-520: The use of overdubbed and duplicated instrumentation. Motown songs regularly featured two drummers instead of one (either overdubbed or in unison), as well as three or four guitar lines. Bassist James Jamerson often played his instrument with only the index finger of his right hand, and created many of the basslines apparent on Motown songs such as " Up the Ladder to the Roof " by the Supremes. Artist development
7144-535: The very best material and performances would be released. The test was that every new release needed to fit into a sequence of the top five selling pop singles of the week. Several tracks that later became critical and commercial favorites were initially rejected by Gordy, the two most notable being the Marvin Gaye songs " I Heard It Through the Grapevine " and " What's Going On ". In several cases, producers would rework tracks in hopes of eventually getting them approved at
7238-532: The votes of prominent British critics to decide the commercial group's Album Of The Year. Earlier in 2008, Rory Carroll of Artrocker claimed that the record would have been a late entrant for the Mercury Music Prize , and would have probably won the award, if nominations had been made in August rather than July 2008. Because of their work on the album, Late of the Pier received a nomination for Best New Band at
7332-445: The young artists participated in an annual package tour called the " Motortown Revue ", which was popular, first, on the " Chitlin' Circuit ", and, later, around the world. The tours gave the younger artists a chance to hone their performance and social skills and learn from the more experienced artists. In order to avoid accusations of payola should DJs play too many records from the original Tamla label, Gordy formed Motown Records as
7426-572: Was Barrett Strong's " Money (That's What I Want) ", written by Gordy and a secretary named Janie Bradford , and produced by Gordy. Many of the songs distributed locally by Anna and Tamla Records were nationally distributed by Chess Records (sometimes with Anna and Tamla imprints). Gordy's relationship with Chess fostered closer dealings with Harvey Fuqua , nephew of Charlie Fuqua of the Ink Spots . Harvey Fuqua later married Gwen Gordy in 1961. Gordy looked toward creative self-sufficiency and established
7520-425: Was a major part of Motown's operations instituted by Berry Gordy. The acts on the Motown label were fastidiously groomed, dressed and choreographed for live performances. Motown artists were advised that their breakthrough into the white popular music market made them ambassadors for other African-American artists seeking broad market acceptance, and that they should think, act, walk and talk like royalty, so as to alter
7614-424: Was acquired by Seagram , and Motown was absorbed into the Universal Music Group . Seagram had purchased Motown's former parent MCA in 1995, and Motown was in effect reunited with many of its MCA corporate siblings (Seagram had hoped to build a media empire around Universal, and started by purchasing PolyGram). Universal briefly considered shuttering the label, but instead decided to restructure it. Kedar Massenburg ,
7708-589: Was an independent company until MCA Records bought it in 1988. PolyGram purchased the label from MCA in 1993, followed by MCA successor Universal Music Group, which acquired PolyGram in 1999. Motown spent much of the 2000s headquartered in New York City as a part of the UMG subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group . From 2011 to 2014, it was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. In 2014, however, UMG announced
7802-420: Was demolished in January 2006 to provide parking spaces for Super Bowl XL ). In the same year, Gordy purchased Golden World Records , and its recording studio became "Studio B" to Hitsville's "Studio A". In the United Kingdom, Motown's records were released on various labels: at first London (only the Miracles' "Shop Around"/" Who's Lovin' You " and "Ain't It Baby"), then Fontana ("Please Mr. Postman" by
7896-496: Was designed by a friend of the band members from Brighton , Jon Bergman. A final EP containing material already released in 2007 and 2008, Echoclistel Lambietroy , was released in July 2008 as part of the marketing campaign for the forthcoming album. Potter has summed the record's conception by concluding, "I think in the three years to build up to the album, we never actually thought of a track list, and we never really kind of considered
7990-485: Was eventually produced by Eastgate and DJ Erol Alkan between 2007 and 2008. Fantasy Black Channel does not contain a unifying musical or lyrical theme; rather, it is a collage of all the ideas, genres, and studio effects that fascinated the band members and Alkan, especially during live recording sessions. The record was very well received by critics. It was often treated as one of the best British albums of 2008 because of its eclecticism and spirit of invention. Late of
8084-399: Was feeling "in a way that sounded original" for such a common theme in pop music. The lyrics in the chorus are about the first time Late of the Pier drove to London and got lost. "Space and the Woods" tries to weigh up what is more important: a person or an inanimate object, or an absence of anything, while "The Bears Are Coming" concerns "a silent threat". The idea for the lyric "A heartbeat,
8178-477: Was in the air, that if they came to Detroit and recorded on the freeway, they'd get the Motown sound. Listen, the Motown sound to me is not an audible sound. It's spiritual, and it comes from the people that make it happen. What other people didn't realize is that we just had one studio there, but we recorded in Chicago , Nashville , New York, L.A.—almost every big city. And we still got the sound. In addition to
8272-407: Was not followed through. Fantasy Black Channel' s track listing and UK CD release date of 11 August 2008 were confirmed on 11 June. Faley has claimed that "the album fell into place itself, like the songs basically told us where they wanted to go on the album". Late of the Pier picked the record's name at random after first contemplating using Peggy Patch and Her Sequenced Dress . The cover art
8366-400: Was one of Alkan's favourites and he persuaded Late of the Pier to re-record it like a classical piece of music rather than in a rock-oriented way. The vocal harmonies at the end of the song were added during one of the last days of recording when the pressure to complete the album was high. "Heartbeat" is based on an old acid house demo track that Eastgate created during his childhood using
8460-472: Was originally an R&B label), and Rare Earth , whose acts, including the eponymous band , explored blues-oriented and progressive rock styles. Under the slogan "The Sound of Young America", Motown's acts were enjoying widespread popularity among black and white audiences alike. Smokey Robinson said of Motown's cultural impact: Into the 1960s, I was still not of a frame of mind that we were not only making music, we were making history. But I did recognize
8554-422: Was recorded using a tape player and a track was moulded in the studio. Four different endings were recorded and three were spliced together at the end. "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", whose riff is based on an old French samba song, was borne out of an interplay between Eastgate on the guitar and Faley on the bass. The last track on the album, "Bathroom Gurgle", includes "a squelchy grind of the riff" purpose-built for
8648-510: Was released regionally on Gordy's new Tamla label. Gordy originally wanted to name the label Tammy Records, after the hit song popularized by Debbie Reynolds from the 1957 film Tammy and the Bachelor , in which Reynolds also starred. When he found the name was already in use, Berry decided on Tamla instead. In April 1959, Gordy and his sister Gwen founded Anna Records which released about two dozen singles between 1959 and 1960. The most popular
8742-459: Was replaced by Andre Harrell , the entrepreneur behind Uptown Records . Harrell served as Motown's CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient. Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGram's Mercury Records group, assumed control of Motown, and George Jackson served as president. By 1998, Motown had added stars such as 702 , Brian McKnight , and Erykah Badu to its roster. In December 1998, PolyGram
8836-476: Was the president of Jobete, Tamla, and the music writing company Rayber. Gordy worked in various Detroit-based studios during this period to produce recordings and demos, but most prominently with United Sound Systems which was considered the best studio in town. However, producing at United Sound Systems was financially taxing and not appropriate for every job, so Gordy decided it would be more cost effective to maintain his own facility. In mid-1959, he purchased
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