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MOTOWN RECORDS

In 1959,with a loan of $800, Berry Gordy jr started Motown records in Detroit,the home of Ford Motors. The music he released was aimed at the black market that lived locally and his first hit '" Money (That What I Want)" was soon followed up with the company's first million seller "Shop Around" by Smokey and The Miracles. With Smokey, the production and writing talent of Holland, Dozier and Holland plus artists such as the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Temptations, Mary Wells,Supremes, Marvelettes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas ,Jr. Walker and the All Stars ,Jimmy Ruffin and the Isley Brothers you would have thought that the BBC would be playing every new release. Wrong!     
it was the pirate ships and the mods who were tuned into the motown sound.

In the UK, the early Motown records were issued on a variety of labels,"Come to me" by Marv Johnson was the first Tamla Motown production record to be issued in the UK in May 1959, and it was on the London American label . London also issued the first EP "Shop Around" by the Miracles in 1961. In total London put out 11 Tamla Motown productions.
Fontana took over distribution and issued around four singles (including The Marvelettes " Please Mr Postman") up until March 1962 when they decided not to issue more records and an independent label named Oriole was where you would find tracks such as "Fingertips" "You Beat Me To The Punch", " The One Who Really Loves You" " Two Lovers" by Mary Wells (who was the first Motown artists to tour the UK) as well as "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" and "Pride and Joy" by Marvin Gaye Now all collectors items
Motown Records were then released on the Stateside label which issued around 40 singles from 1963 until March 1965 including The Supremes early hits "Baby Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go" and finally, in March 1965 EMI launched the Tamla Motown label, which issued only recording from Berry Gordy labels, Tamla, Motown, Gordy, Soul, VIP. The first issue was TMG 501 "Stop In The Name Of Love" by the Supremes but by then motown had become so well known that the mods were seeking other music.
Click on the button below to see a list of the Tamla Motown singles