A Motown Timeline: 1974
IN HOLLYWOOD, FEWER NUMBER ONES WITH A BULLET
He played an exhibition match – doubles – with Lola Falana during the exclusive Roger Wagner Tennis Exhibition in Beverly Hills, against Wagner himself and partner Rosemarie Stack. He was present at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion to watch the televised Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier fight with Linda (Deep Throat) Lovelace and other guests. He dropped into the high-falutin’ cocktail party hosted by best-selling author Harold Robbins to honour a U.S. diplomat. And he had his name attached to that of the former Miss World, Marjorie Wallace, who kept a little black book with the track record of all her boyfriends.
The founder and architect of Motown Records, Berry Gordy, was not accustomed to such media interest being paid to his social life, as it was (see above) in 1974 – two years after his company’s relocation from Detroit.
Such is the nature of show business in Hollywood.
In Berry Gordy's world? Marjorie Wallace, taking tea (photo: Alamy)
Gordy made the move west to be part of the movie capital of the world, of course, and given the Oscar-tinted acclaim which accompanied his company’s first production, Lady Sings The Blues, he should not have been surprised at the attention. Yet the bulk of his $45 million business in 1974 was still in records – and it was a busy, busy year for those in charge, including president Ewart Abner.
(Another senior executive to which Gordy handed responsibility was Berle Adams, appointed chief operating officer of the parent corporation, Motown Industries. Previously, Adams was president of, uh, WMA Sports, a division of the William Morris talent agency. He took up his new post in March of ’74.)
On the surface, Motown was motoring. Three of its biggest stars – Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye – were generating impressive ticket sales for their concert appearances in the year’s early months. Ross was playing Vegas, Wonder was returning to the stage after a near-death auto accident, and Gaye, too, was resuming live performances after years of little such activity.
Moreover, Motown Records was expanding its agenda, setting up a new country music label, connecting with the jazz artists of producer Creed Taylor, and aligning itself with British rock labels like Manticore and Gull. Plus, it formed its own company in Canada, and sought to get some American business for an act it had recently signed in the U.K., Phil Cordell, whose instrumental “Dan The Banjo Man” had topped the German charts.
Still, Abner’s team delivered just one chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 in ’74, compared to five in 1973. On the R&B listings, they secured five Number Ones (seven in ’73). In an increasingly competitive industry – giants like CBS, RCA and Warner Bros. were by then seriously investing in black music – Motown struggled to break new acts on a par with its 1960s hegemony. And the hit machine that had been the Jackson 5 from 1970-72 was cooling, notwithstanding the 1974 smash that was “Dancing Machine.”
THE SECOND TIME AROUND
In Britain, Motown’s second most important market, much energy was still being expended on reissues, just as it had been a few years earlier. Some second-time-around singles in ‘74 (by the Supremes and Jimmy Ruffin) proved popular. Others (by the Contours, R. Dean Taylor, Marvin Gaye) did not. An unexpected result with a new act came when the Commodores’ “Machine Gun” shot into the Top 20 in the U.K., where nobody knew who they were.
Back across the Atlantic, Motown sought to generate kudos and cash from continuing releases in its multi-LP catalogue series known as Anthology. The line was introduced the previous year with the Temptations’ 3LP set; by the end of 1974, there were five more such offerings. “They must have needed some money,” said former sales chief Barney Ales years later. “They used that for the distributors to show they were still in business. The Anthology title tells the whole story – it reminds me of someone who’s dead.” (Ales was no fan of Abner.)
A week in the news: Stevie Wonder
Meanwhile, Berry Gordy was continuing his big-screen dreams with the production of Mahogany, the second Diana Ross/Billy Dee Williams vehicle. For a moment, he might have been distracted by those trying to make a movie based on Number One With A Bullet, a novel with characters said to mirror those at Motown, and not in a good way. But by the end of 1974, Gordy had other challenges. One, how to replace Berle Adams, who didn’t last but nine months in his high-powered Motown Industries role. And two, who to replace as the director of Mahogany, since he had to fire Tony Richardson in the face of a deteriorating relationship.
It was all a long way from telephoning Smokey Robinson in the uncivil hours of an October morning to re-record “Shop Around,” 14 years earlier.
Now, to the detail of 1974. Below is an attempt, selective rather than exhaustive, to convey the year’s flavour at the hands of Motown’s music makers and backroom believers. It’s divided into three sections: the first, a chronological run-down of significant dates during those 12 months, followed by examples of notable single and album releases. If a 45 or album topped the Billboard R&B or pop (and, in this case, country) charts, that entry is shown in bold-face italics.
MOTOWN 1974
January 1: In California, the Jackson 5 take part in the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, with their own float. More than one million onlookers crowd the parade route.
January 2: Diana Ross performs at a special concert at Detroit’s Masonic Temple for the inauguration of Coleman Young as the city’s first black mayor. Co-chairman of the concert organising committee is Motown’s Esther Edwards.
January 2: Luther Allison opens a five-night run at Chicago’s The Quiet Knight nightclub. His Motown album, Luther’s Blues, is released on February 25.
January 4: Marvin Gaye plays California’s Oakland Coliseum, with Ashford & Simpson as the opening act. The concert is recorded and released as Marvin Gaye Live! in June.
January 7: Berry Gordy is said to be considering a movie based on the life story of heavyweight boxer Lorenzo Pack. (In 1966, Pack unsuccessfully sued Holland/Dozier/Holland, claiming that “Baby Love” plagiarised his song, “I’m Afraid.”)
January 24: Stevie Wonder electrifies London’s Rainbow Theatre, just days after performing at the annual music industry marketplace, MIDEM, in Cannes – his first concert dates anywhere since a near-fatal auto accident the previous August.
February 1: Diana Ross begins a two-week engagement at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She previously played the venue in 1973, when the show was recorded for release (see notes below).
Diana in Detroit, with mayor Coleman Young (photo: Detroit News)
March 2: Innervisions earns one of four 1973 Grammys bestowed on Stevie Wonder at the annual awards ceremony in Los Angeles. His others are for “Superstition” (two) and “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life,” while Innervisions co-producers Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil are honoured for best engineered recording. Another Motown Grammy gainer is Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “Neither One Of Us.”
March 5: Smokey Robinson makes his acting debut in NBC-TV’s Police Story, in an episode entitled The Wyatt Earp Syndrome.
March 23: Motown Records Canada opens this month, according to Billboard. Heading the unit is Ron Newman, who is currently setting up its independent distributors across the country.
March 25: Stevie Wonder plays Madison Square Garden to a sellout crowd of 21,000. For the finale, he is joined by Eddie Kendricks, Sly Stone and Roberta Flack. Part of the proceeds benefit a Harlem organisation which helps disadvantaged children.
April 1: Soul magazine reports that Marvin Gaye must pay $13,000 (worth more than $65,000 today) to The Function nightclub in Boulder, Colorado, for missing a ten-night booking there in March 1969. The singer swore that he was “too ill” to appear.
April 2: Diana Ross is among the hosts for the 46th annual Academy Awards ceremony, held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. She is the first black woman to co-host the Oscars.
April 10: The Jackson 5 make their Las Vegas debut at the MGM Grand, kicking off a two-week run. Siblings Randy (11 years old) and Janet (7) join them for takeoffs of Sonny & Cher and Mickey & Sylvia.
April 26: It’s revealed that Marvin Gaye and Esther Gordy Edwards are among the 33 owners of the Detroit Wheels in the recently-formed World Football League. But when the league shuts down in 1975, both lose their investment; in Gaye’s case, it was $90,000.
May 11: Mary Wilson marries Pedro Ferrer at the Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.
May 11: Stevie Wonder’s “He’s Misstra Know-It-All” hits the U.K. Top 10. Like Diana Ross’ “All Of My Life,” which reached the Top 10 in February, it was not released as a single in the United States.
May 21: Marvin Gaye plays the Carib Theatre in Kingston, Jamaica, with Bob Marley & the Wailers as the opening act.
May 30: Elaine Jesmer’s provocative Number One With A Bullet is published. It’s said to be based on Motown, with whom she had dealings as an independent publicist. In September, news reports suggest a movie will be made from the novel – despite Motown’s alleged opposition – by Albert Ruddy, producer of The Godfather. It never is.
June 1: Motown declares this to be Diana Ross Month, with her new Live at Caesar’s Palace LP as the campaign centrepiece. Meanwhile, her duet album with Marvin Gaye is in its 29th week on the Billboard Top 200.
June 15: R. Dean Taylor’s “There’s A Ghost In My House” reaches the Top 3 of the British charts. Its success is largely credited to initial exposure at the Wigan Casino discotheque by DJ Russ Winstanley.
July 7: The New York Times profiles Motown Industries, including comments from board vice chairman Michael Roshkind (but not Berry Gordy). Sales for 1973 are put at $43 million, and the company is said to have 375 employees, of whom more than 50 percent are black.
July 26: Motown announces the acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to producer Creed Taylor’s jazz labels, CTI and Kudu. The artists covered include Hubert Laws, Grover Washington Jr. and Esther Phillips.
August 27: Diahann Carroll opens at the Venetian Room in San Francisco. Four months earlier, Motown released her self-titled debut album, produced by her boyfriend, Joe Porter.
August 31: Rufus’ “Tell Me Something Good,” written by Stevie Wonder, is Number One on the Cash Box Top 100 (in Billboard, it peaks two slots lower). The group opens for Wonder on dates of his autumn tour, which begins next month.
September 13: The Jackson 5 play the Anhembi Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before moving on to shows in Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro.
September 14: A re-release of the Supremes’ “Baby Love” hits the U.K. Top 20 while a reissue of Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” spends its fifth week in the Top 10 there.
September 26: Tuxedo-clad Marvin Gaye kicks off a week-long engagement at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Total ticket sales for the run exceed $400,000.
September 27: Detroit mayor Coleman Young declares this to be Stevie Wonder Day. The Motown star is given the keys to the city.
October 20: “Machine Gun” by the Commodores becomes the band’s first Top 20 pop hit in the U.K. – and anywhere in the world.
October 22: Motown unveils its new country music operation, Melodyland, with the release of Pat Boone’s “Candy Lips.” The song was co-written by Boone and produced in Nashville. Two weeks later, the label issues T.G. Sheppard’s “Devil In The Bottle,” which goes on to top the country music charts in 1975.
October 28: Newsweek magazine runs a cover story about Stevie Wonder, “Music’s Wonder Man,” written by Maureen Orth.
November 9: Britain’s Manticore Records is to be distributed in the U.S. by Motown. Its roster includes PFM and Stray Dog, rock bands from Italy and the U.S., respectively. Another U.K. rock label, Gull, does a similar deal.
November 16: Former Motown executive VP and general manager Barney Ales is opening his own label, Prodigal, in Detroit, according to Billboard.
November 23: Jackie Jackson of the Jackson 5 marries Enid Spann at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. To date, he is the third of the brothers to wed.
November 30: Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are married in New York.
December 6: Smokey Robinson appears in Smack, an episode of NBC-TV’s Police Woman, as a high school athletics aide.
December 17: Tony Richardson is replaced as director of Mahogany by Berry Gordy, according to press reports. The movie, starring Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams, has already begun production.
SELECTED SINGLES (by release date)
January 2: Marvin Gaye, “You Sure Love To Ball,” Tamla 54244
January 10: The Originals, “Supernatural Voodoo Woman (Pt. 1),” Soul 35112
January 17: Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye, “My Mistake (Was To Love You),” Motown 1269
January 17: Charlene Duncan, “All That Love Went To Waste,” Motown 1285
January 24: Willie Hutch, “If You Ain’t Got No Money (You Can’t Get No Honey) Pt. 1,” Motown 1287
February 12: The Temptations, “Heavenly,” Gordy 7135
February 14: The Undisputed Truth, “Help Yourself,” Gordy 7134
February 19: The Jackson 5, “Dancing Machine,” Motown 1286 (#1 R&B, #2 pop)
February 21: Dan The Banjo Man, “Dan The Banjo Man,” Motown 1293
February 28: Bottom & Company, “You’re My Life,” Motown 1291
March 14: Stevie Wonder, “Don’t You Worry ’Bout A Thing,” Tamla 54245
March 19: Willie Hutch, “Theme of Foxy Brown,” Motown 1292
April 4: Diana Ross, “Sleepin’,” Motown 1295
April 16: Eddie Kendricks, “Son Of Sagittarius,” Tamla 54247
April 18: Smokey Robinson, “It’s Her Turn To Live,” Tamla 54246
April 23: The Commodores, “Machine Gun,” Motown 1307
May 2: The Originals, “Game Called Love,” Soul 35113
May 14: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, “Dancin’ Like They Do On Soul Train,” Soul 35110
May 16: The Temptations, “You’ve Got My Soul On Fire,” Gordy 7136
May 16: Rare Earth, “Chained,” Rare Earth 5057
May 24: Gladys Knight & the Pips, “Between Her Goodbye And My Hello,” Soul 35111
May 28: Yvonne Fair, “Funky Music Sho’ Nuff Turns Me On,” Motown 1306
June 16: Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye, “Don’t Knock My Love,” Motown 1296
June 20: The Miracles, “Do It Baby,” Tamla 54248
June 25: The Undisputed Truth, “I’m A Fool For You,” Gordy 7139
July 2: Eddie Kendricks, “Tell Her Love Has Felt The Need,” Tamla 54249
July 16: Smokey Robinson, “Virgin Man,” Tamla 54250
July 19: Stevie Wonder, “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” Tamla 54252 (#1 R&B, #1 pop)
August 1: Thelma Houston, “You’ve Been Doing Wrong For So Long,” Motown 1316
August 22: The Dynamic Superiors, “Shoe Shoe Shine,” Motown 1324
August 27: Syreeta, “I’m Goin’ Left,” Motown 1317
September 5: Marvin Gaye, “Distant Lover,” Tamla 54253
September 12: Yvonne Fair, “Walk Out The Door If You Wanna,” Motown 1323
September 19: The Boones, “Please Mr. Postman,” Motown 1314
October 1: Jackson 5, “Whatever You Want, I Got,” Motown 1308
October 1: The Commodores, “I Feel Sanctified,” Motown 1319
October 10: David Ruffin, “Me ’n Rock ’n Roll Are Here To Stay,” Motown 1327
October 22: Pat Boone, “Candy Lips,” Melodyland 6001
October 23: Stevie Wonder, “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” Tamla 54254 (#1 R&B, #3 pop)
November 7: Smokey Robinson, “I Am, I Am,” Tamla 54251
November 7: T.G. Sheppard, “Devil In The Bottle,” Melodyland 6002 (#1 country, #54 pop)
November 12: Jerry Naylor, “Is This All There Is To A Honky Tonk?” Melodyland 6003
November 15: The Miracles, “Don’t Cha Love It,” Tamla 54256
November 21: The Temptations, “Happy People,” Gordy 7138 (#1 R&B, #40 pop)
December 23: Jackson 5, “I Am Love,” Motown 1310
SELECTED ALBUMS (by release date)
January 15: Edwin Starr, Hell Up In Harlem, Motown 802
January 16: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Anthology, Motown 793
January 16: Gladys Knight & the Pips, Anthology, Motown 792
February 25: Gladys Knight & the Pips, Knight Time, Soul 741
February 25: Luther Allison, Luther’s Blues, Gordy 967
February 25: Bobby Darin, Bobby Darin 1936-1973, Motown 813
February 25: Eddie Kendricks, Boogie Down! Tamla 330 (#1 R&B, #30 pop)
March 15: Smokey Robinson, Pure Smokey, Tamla 331
April 1: Diahann Carroll, Diahann Carroll, Motown 805
April 1: Willie Hutch, Foxy Brown, Motown 811
April 1: Various, Save The Children, Motown 800
May 15: Diana Ross, Live At Caesar’s Palace, Motown 801
May 31: Diana Ross & the Supremes, Anthology, Motown 794
May 31: The Originals, Game Called Love, Soul 740
June 19: Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye Live! Tamla 333 (#1 R&B, #8 pop)
June 19: Martin & Finley, Dazzle ’Em With Footwork, Motown 797
June 19: Syreeta, Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta, Motown 808
July 22: The Four Tops, Anthology, Motown 809
July 22: Jr. Walker & the All Stars, Anthology, Motown 786
July 22: Stevie Wonder, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, Tamla 332 (#1 R&B, #1 pop)
July 22: The Commodores, Machine Gun, Motown 798
July 22: The Undisputed Truth, Down To Earth, Gordy 968
August 21: The Miracles, Do It Baby, Tamla 334
August 21: Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, Anthology, Motown 778
September 5: The Jackson 5, Dancing Machine, Motown 780
November 13: Caston & Majors, Caston & Majors, Motown 814
November 13: G.C. Cameron, Love Songs & Other Tragedies, Motown 819
November 13: David Ruffin, Me ’n Rock ’n Roll Are Here To Stay, Motown 681
November 13: Eddie Kendricks, For You, Tamla 335
Music notes: given the volume of recordings – good and, uh, less so – which Motown released in 1974, compiling a playlist is bordering on the absurd. Nonetheless, here’s a small, subjective selection, including one of Nick Ashford & Valerie Simpson’s finest songs, “Shoe Shoe Shine,” and an impossibly-anodyne version of “Please Mr. Postman” by the Boone Family. Pat was signed to Melodyland, as noted above, but little or nothing from the label appears to be available on streaming services – and, oddly, that includes T.G. Sheppard’s chart-topping “Devil In The Bottle” (although you can find his re-recording of the track). And, of course, you hardly need any playlist to remind you about Fulfillingness’ First Finale, Boogie Down! or Marvin Gaye Live!
Caesar’s notes: Supremes aficionado George Solomon points out that Diana Ross’ Live At Caesar’s Palace (listed above) was recorded in 1973, and originally scheduled by Motown as a double album to capitalise on the anticipated Academy Award win for her performance in Lady Sings The Blues. It was scheduled numerically to follow the Lady Sings… soundtrack (and one entire side of the set contained songs from the movie). When Diana didn’t triumph at the Oscars, the 2LP was set aside, then reconfigured for release in May ’74 as a single LP. George adds that the original, four-sided album tapes are still mixed in the Motown vaults.