3 Questions About Motown

1. Why was HDH not able to duplicate the chart topping success they had at Motown when they formed their own label?
- Although HDH were brilliant writers and producers on their own, they still suffered from a lack of charisma star performers. The Motown machine was able to produce stage ready stars by their first single; however HDH did not have the luxury of writing for polished performers with their new label. As a result, despite having mild short-term success, none of the artists on HDH’s new labels would come close to matching the careers of most Motown artists. Ultimately, without big name performers on their labels, HDH’s labels would eventually go out of business by 1974.

2. What was most responsible for HDH’s Motown success, why?
- HDH had some of the best performers in America singing their songs. Many of their songs were sung by superstars such as Diana Ross, The Supremes, and Marvin Gaye. Many other writers had similar success for the same reason. While the writing by HDH was very good, the songs could not be as successful as they were without the right artist. For example, Otis Redding’s “Respect” was a mild success but the song took off with Aretha Franklin’s rendition of it. Furthermore, the power that Motown wielded at the time ensured that their songs would be heard and available all around the nation. Every radio station and every record store would have the latest Motown records. HDH’s new label did not have this power and thus it was harder to reach a broad audience.

3. In the final analysis, do you think Motown would have had more hits had they kept HDH instead of firing them?
- ¬Although the key to Motown’s success was its artists, HDH was still an integral component of the Motown machine. Throughout their time with Motown, the team of HDH wrote 25 number one hits. However, HDH wasn’t the only successful writing team on the Motown staff. Surely without HDH, Motown would lose some hits but the label continued to be successful without the star writing trio. Once again, they relied on the star power of their performers, with many more number one hits coming from Diana Ross, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. The slowdown in the frequency of number one hits can be attributed mostly to the breaking down of Motown itself. By this time, the label had become too big for Barry Gordy to micromanage. Gordy could no longer oversee and control every aspect of Motown and as a result, the quality began to drop.