{"product_id":"motown-music-money-sex-and-power-9780375500626","title":"Motown: Music  Money  Sex  and Power","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 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 buildings entrance was adorned with a large sign that improbably boasted Hitsville U.S.A. 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 companys name was Motown. Motown cuts through decades of unsubstantiated rumors and speculation to tell the true behind-the-scenes narrative of Americas 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 Americas 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 Detroits inner-city projects who achieved remarkable success and then  in many cases  found themselves fighting the demons that so often come with stardomdrugs  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 Detroits Wayne County Courthouse. Those court records provide the unofficialand hitherto largely untoldhistory 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67600450519093,"sku":"ByrdShop_0375500626","price":34.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780375500626.jpg?v=1790971124","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/motown-music-money-sex-and-power-9780375500626","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}