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The Metro Detroit area has a musical history spanning the past century, beginning with the revival of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1914. The major genres represented in Detroit's music include classical, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, rock, pop, punk, soul, electronic music, and hip hop.
Nov 22, 2023 · Present-day Detroit’s music culture is a vibrant and eclectic scene, no longer just identified with Motown and garage rock. All styles of music find their home here, from traditional jazz, blues, and techno to the growing popularity of hip hop, punk, metal, and indie music.
- The Birth of Detroit Music
- Detroit: A Jazz Hub
- The Motor City
- Detroit’s Blues Heritage
- Detroit, Country, and Rock ‘N’ Roll
- Detroit and Motown
- Motown Opens For Business
- Smokey Robinson
- The Secrets to Motown’s Success
- The Car Industry’S Impact on Music in Detroit
When construction began on the celebrated Orchestra Hall in June 1919 – a venue that is thriving again as home to the world-famous Detroit Symphony Orchestra – there were just under one million residents of a bustling port city that spans 143 square miles. A third of Detroit’s population were foreign-born. The hall opened in the mid-20s, by which t...
Detroit is well known as the birthplace of soul stars such as Jackie Wilson, Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross, but it was also where numerous top jazz musicians – many of whom recorded for Blue Note Records – were born. The stellar list includes guitarist Kenny Burrell, trumpeter Donald Byrd, harpist Alice Coltrane, pianist Tommy Flanagan, trombonis...
At the time, booming Detroit was often referred to as “the Paris of the West,” praised for its picturesque broad river, wide boulevards, Grand Circus Park, and the architectural delights of its buildings, including the Central Train Depot, Masonic Temple, Institute Of Arts, Guardian Building and Fisher Building. Despite its visual attractions, Detr...
During the Second World War, Detroit became a center for armaments manufacture. The Ford Motor Company made tank engines, army Jeeps, and nearly 7,000 B-24 Liberator Bombers. One man who worked as a laborer at Ford’s Rouge Steel Mill during the conflict was blues musician John Lee Hooker, who moved to Detroit as a teenager, joining a fresh wave of ...
Country music was popular in Detroit in this period, too, with bands such as Eddie Jackson And The Swingsters building on the appeal of the western swing of Chief Redbird. In the 30s and 40s, massive migration from the Appalachian states brought a bluegrass influence to Detroit music. In December 1953, The Motor City Jamboree made its debut at the ...
In the late 50s, rock’n’roll ruled the airwaves in Detroit. But one remarkable man would change all that: Berry Gordy, Jr. Gordy, the seventh of eight children, had been interested in the music business since the age of ten. One of his first songs was a ditty for the family business, Gordy Printing, and he spent a lot of time roaming Hastings Stree...
Gordy was 29 when he used an $800 loan from his family to put down a deposit on a small two-story wooden house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard. His neighbors in the run-down district included a funeral home and a beauty parlor. Gordy and his first wife, Thelma, lived upstairs and converted the garage into a recording studio and the kitchen into a cont...
One of Gordy’s key early signings was 19-year-old Robinson, a born entrepreneur, who helped get Tamla and Motown records played on influential Detroit radio stations such as WJLB, WWJ, and WCHB. The success of rock’n’roll had shown that DJs had a huge say in making or breaking musicians. The big stations, such as WWJ, reached half of eastern Americ...
Gordy built his company along lines that mimicked Ford in its division of labor and focus on a product suitable for a mass market. His Motown studio worked almost 20 hours a day, assembling hundreds of possible releases. Gordy imposed a system of strict quality control. At 9 am each Friday, he chaired a “product-evaluation meeting.” Producers and s...
The indelible link between the car industry and the city’s musicians carried on into the 60s and 70s, through rock stars such as Suzi Quatro and Bob Seger. Quatro’s father, Art, was a semi-professional musician who worked at General Motors. Seger’s father, Stewart, was a medical technician for Ford. He played several instruments and exposed his son...
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Dec 14, 2011 · Sort through the musical history of this swinging-rocking-funking-thrashing city and come up with, say, 100 key sites that have made Detroit what it is, spanning decades and genres, spanning the...
Jul 19, 2013 · Detroit has spawned more than five generations of musical heritage from the legendary sounds of Motown to the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop. The sounds of the city, which has now...
Jan 24, 2020 · The city that has given us a staggering 30 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees is an insane breeding ground of musical cross-pollination; just stop by one of pioneering DJ Carl Craig’s Detroit ...
The culture of Detroit, Michigan, has influenced American and global culture through its commercial enterprises and various forms of popular music throughout the 20th and 21st century. Its automotive heritage plays an important role in the city's culture.
