The cast of Motown The Musical were joined by guests including Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson to celebrate the opening night of the new musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre last week.
The show, based on Gordy’s career and the founding of his label Motown records (Tamla Motown in the UK) which signed artists including Diana Ross and the Supremes, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, is directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and features Lucy St. Louis as Diana Ross and Cedric Neal as Berry Gordy.
Robinson’s role in what was a novel venture when it was first mooted should not be overlooked. He was an executive at Motown, then known as Tamla Records, and songwriter and producer of the early hits of many of the label’s artists.
At the same time he led his own band, The Miracles, who were among the first to sign with Gordy. And in 1960 they recorded Shop Around, the label’s first million-seller, which Robinson says he wrote in just half an hour.
“That was the quickest song I ever wrote in my life,” says Robinson, adding: “It came out in about 30 minutes.”
Shop Around is one of dozens of songs that appear in the West End show based on the life of Berry Gordy.
Gordy set up his record label in Detroit in 1959 with an $800 (£562) loan from his family. Apart from Robinson’s Miracles, Motown’s list of artists included, The Temptations (formerly The Primes), The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, who was recruited as a session drummer, ‘Little’ Stevie Wonder and later the Jackson 5.
At the show’s premiere, Robinson recalled how Gordy called him in the middle of the night to demand The Miracles re-record Shop Around – even after it had been released as a single – because he wasn’t happy with the sound.
“He told us to go to the studio right away, so everybody showed up at three o’ clock in the morning – except the piano player – and we changed the beat and sound and it was our first million-selling record.”
The 76-year-old singer said that while Shop Around had taken 30 minutes to write, his solo 1979 song Cruisin’ had taken five years!
Gordy said he was delighted to bring the show to the West End because the UK had always welcomed the Motown sound.
“The UK has meant so much to Motown. It’s the first place in the world outside of America that discovered us, loved us and backed us,” he said.
“We’re so proud of the young kids who used to listen to pirate radio and formed the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society. It grew from there. The UK was the gateway to the world and we will never forget that.”
He added: “When Smokey would sing he was so romantic. He is responsible for more babies being born than anyone I know. And not all of them were his!”
