2 posts tagged “motown”

Steviewonder

Born: May 13th, 1950
Birthplace: Saginaw, Michigan
Career Start: In 1962, at the age of twelve, Wonder was introduced to Ronnie White of the popular Motown act The Miracles. White brought Morris and his mother to Motown Records. Impressed by the young musician, Motown CEO Berry Gordy signed Morris to Motown's Tamla label with the name Little Stevie Wonder.

Fact you may not know: A multi-instrumentalist, Wonder plays the piano, synthesizer, talk box, harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, bass guitar, organ, melodica, and clarinet.

Stevie

Career Accolades: He has nine U.S. number-one hits to his name and album sales totaling more than 100 million units. Wonder has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well.  Wonder has also received an Academy Award for Best Song for "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red. In 1989, Wonder was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wonder received the Polar Music Prize and Kennedy Center Honors in 1999.

His Unique Talent: Wonder's songs are renowned for being quite difficult to sing. He has a very developed sense of harmony and uses many extended chords utilizing tensions such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, b5s, etc. in his compositions. Many of his melodies make abrupt, unpredictable changes. Many of his vocal melodies are also melismatic, meaning that a syllable is sung over several notes.  Some of his best known and most frequently covered songs are played in keys which are more often found in jazz than in pop and rock. For example, "Superstition", "Higher Ground" and "I Wish" are in the key of E flat, and feature distinctive riffs in the E flat minor pentatonic scale

Check out more information on this artist at steviewonder.net

Marvin Gaye

Born: April 2nd, 1939 - April 1st, 1984 (Died at age 44)
Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
Singing Debut: Beginning his career at Motown in 1961, Gaye quickly became Motown's top solo male artist and scored numerous hits during the 1960s
Fact you may not know: Motown Records president Berry Gordy signed Gaye first as a session drummer for acts such as The Miracles, The Contours, Martha and the Vandellas.  Marvin most notably played drums on The Marvelettes' 1961 hit, "Please Mr. Postman"

Marvin Gaye Album

Career Accolades: Gaye released many hits at Motown, among them "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and several hit duets with Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By", before moving on to his own form of musical self-expression.
During the 1970s, Gaye would release several other notable albums, including Let's Get It On and I Want You, and had hits with singles such as "Let's Get It On", "Got to Give It Up", and, in the early 1980s, "Sexual Healing".

Awards: Before his death, Gaye won a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the single, Sexual Healing on February 23, 1983 on the Grammy Awards 25th Anniversary.

Check out more information on this artist at MarvinGayepage.com