[audiobook] Dancing Star: The Story of Anna Pavlova by Gladys Malvern at Arts-Photography

Description

In 1959; twenty-nine-year-old Berry Gordy; who had already given up on his dream to be a champion boxer; borrowed eight hundred dollars from his family and started a record company. A run-down bungalow sandwiched between a funeral home and a beauty shop in a poor Detroit neighborhood served as his headquarters. The buildingrsquo;s entrance was adorned with a large sign that improbably boasted ldquo;Hitsville U.S.A.rdquo; The kitchen served as the control room; the garage became the two-track studio; the living room was reserved for bookkeeping; and sales were handled in the dining room. Soon word spread that any youngster with a streak of talent should visit the only record label that Detroit had seen in years. The companyrsquo;s name was Motown.Motown cuts through decades of unsubstantiated rumors and speculation to tell the true behind-the-scenes narrative of Americarsquo;s most exciting musical dynasty. It follows the company and its amazing roster of stars from the tumultuous growth years in Detroit; to the drama and intrigue of Hollywood in the 1970s; to resurgence in 2002.Set against the civil rights movement; the decay of Americarsquo;s northern industrial cities; and the social upheaval of the 1960s; Motown is a tale of the incredible entrepreneurship of Berry Gordy. But it also features the moving stories of kids from Detroitrsquo;s inner-city projects who achieved remarkable success and then; in many cases; found themselves fighting the demons that so often come with stardommdash;drugs; jealousy; sexual indulgence; greed; and uncontrollable ambition. Motown features an extraordinary cast of characters; including Diana Ross; Michael Jackson; Marvin Gaye; Smokey Robinson; and Stevie Wonder. They are presented as they lived and worked: a clan of friends; lovers; competitors; and sometimes vicious foes. Motown reveals how the hopes and dreams of each affected the lives of the others and illustrates why this singular story is a made-in-America Greek tragedy; the rise and fall of a supremely talented yet completely dysfunctional extended family. Based on numerous original interviews and extensive documentation; Motown benefits particularly from the thousands of pages of files crammed into the basement of downtown Detroitrsquo;s Wayne County Courthouse. Those court records provide the unofficialmdash;and hitherto largely untoldmdash;history of Motown and its stars; since almost every relationship between departing singers; songwriters; producers; and the label ended up in litigation. From its peaks in the late 1960s and early 1970s; when Motown controlled the pop charts and its stars were sought after even by the Beatles; through the inexorable slide caused by their failure to handle their stardom; Motown is a riveting and troubling look inside a music label that provided the unofficial soundtrack to an entire generation.From the Hardcover edition.