This episode has a companion playlist on Spotify here: https://spoti.fi/2xWoCEy In this episode, David talks with Sarah about the early days of Motown, one thread of his sweeping book on Detroit in the early 1960’s, Once in a Great City.
This episode has a companion playlist on Spotify here:
https://spoti.fi/2xWoCEy
In this episode, David talks with Sarah about the early days of Motown, one thread of his sweeping book on Detroit in the early 1960’s, Once in a Great City. They discuss how Motown founder, Barry Gordy, Jr., figured out melodies while working on the assembly line at Ford Motor Company; the public school music programs that fostered young musical talent such as Diana Ross and Martha Reeves, and stories from the first Motown Review, a 56 day bus tour across America, with the backdrop of the Cuban Missile, racism, and a virulent strain of the flu that struck the tour’s headliner, Smokey Robinson. As Detroit once again faces a disproportionate burden of a national crisis, David and Sarah discuss what the city gave America and the world: cars, civil rights, worker’s rights, and music. As a bonus, David made a Spotify list of Motown songs that complement the episode.