Motown Sound Trivia Quiz

Answer: He was the founder of Motown Records

Berry Gordy Jr. was born in Nov. 1929 in Detroit.

He ended up being credited on 51 songs as the lead writer, and more than 230 songs as a co-writer.

In 1957 a song he co-wrote with his sister Gwen was recorded by Jackie Wilson and become a moderate success in the U.S. and a hit internationally.

He used the proceeds from that song to start Motown Records in 1959.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Answer: Detroit

Detroit was known as the Motor City because of its connection to the automotive industry. When Berry Gordy started his record company he named it Motown as a tribute to his own roots.

The city became known as "Hitsville, U.S.A." during the 1960s when Motown music was in its heyday.

Answer: At the time radio stations would only play one song an hour from the same record label.

Gordy was an innovator, and found a way around the restrictions of the time.

At a time when other labels were only getting a single artist airtime he had dozens of his artists getting regular airplay because they were technically on separate labels.

When it was nearly impossible for most companies to get more than one or two top ten songs due to the restrictions, Gordy at times had five or six artists atop the charts at any given time.

Answer: Janet Jackson

The initial five members were brothers Michael, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and Jackie. Younger brother Randy joined the group many years later when Jermaine left the group.

The group was initially formed as The Jackson Brothers with just Jackie, Tito and Jermaine.

Sisters Janet and LaToya and Rebbie each recorded solo albums but were never a member of the family group.

The seventh brother, Brandon, died a less than a day after he was born in 1957. The 11th child was the result of Father Joe Jackson's affair with another woman. Joh'Vonnie Jackson was born nearly a decade after the youngest member of the initial Jackson clan.

Answer: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson had been a member of the Motown stable from an early age as a member of the Jackson 5.

Jackson never made it big in Motown as a solo artist, instead he signed with Epic where his solo career moved from bubblegum pop to the music he was famous for as an adult, however his connection to Motown, from 1969 through 1975, remained a large part of his life.

He donated the hat and glove he wore the first time he performed his infamous moonwalk to the Motown Museum.

Answer: True

McCartney, most famous for his time with The Beatles was in Detroit in 2011. During his time there he was given a tour of the Motown Museum, and given the opportunity to play the famous piano.

Having not been used in more than 40 years, the piano was severely out of tune and not able to be played. McCartney himself then paid to have the piano restored.

Answer: False

In fact, Studio A is where most of the music the label was known for was made. It wasn't until years after the company started to become famous that a second studio and later an entire building were purchased to record in.

Studio A was in the basement of a residential unit in Detroit. Founder Berry Gordy lived in an apartment in the upper level and ran the studio out of the lower level.

Studio A was the company's principal recording studio from 1959 to 1972, even after the company headquarters moved to downtown Detroit in 1968.

Answer: My Guy

Mary Wells' "My Guy" was the label's first number one hit in 1964. It was written and produced by Smokey Robinson and came about less than five years after the company was founded.

Through the end of the 20th century Motown Records and its subsidiaries had more than 50 songs top the "Billboard Hot 100" charts.

Answer: The Miracles

All four groups were members of the Motown Record label. The Miracles and The Andantes were among the first to sign to the company.

The Miracles were made up of Smokey Robinson, Bobby Rogers, Ron White, Pete Moore and Claudette Robinson when they recorded "Shop Around" which was released in 1960.

That album was officially on the Tamla Records label, one of the Motown Records subsidiaries.

Answer: One day each

The songwriting and producing team of Holland-Dozier-Holland produced more than 200 songs for Berry Gordy's labels.

The team was Lamont Dozier and brothers Eddie and Bryan Holland.

They wrote the first three songs released by The Supremes in about a day each. Those songs were "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", and "Come See About Me".

The Supremes were the first group under the Motown umbrella to hit the top of the "Billboard" charts twice.