Motown Retunes Its Sputtering Hit-Making Record Machine

It’s been a long time since Motown Records could call itself “Hitsville U.S.A.”--the nickname it used in the ‘60s. Motown has landed just five No. 1 hits on Billboard magazine’s pop singles chart in the last five years--all by Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder.

That hit-making pace pales compared to the ‘60s and early ‘70s, when the label was at its peak. Motown earned five No. 1 hits in 1965 alone, when the Supremes, the Temptations and the Four Tops were riding high. The label did even better in 1970, when the Jackson Five, Diana Ross, Edwin Starr and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles amassed seven No. 1 singles.

Last year was a particularly bad year for the once-mighty label. Motown earned just two gold albums in 1987, and slipped to eighth place on Billboard’s annual recap of the top labels in black album activity. If it weren’t for the annuity of one of the strongest music publishing catalogues in pop history, the privately owned label--which doesn’t make public its financial reports--would probably be losing tremendous sums of money.

But Motown is attempting to regroup. Berry Gordy Jr., the company’s founder and sole owner, has appointed a new management team that is overseeing a major reorganization. It marks a change of heart for Gordy, who in late 1986 considered selling the label to its distributor, MCA Records, amid speculation that he had tired of the music business.

Al Bell, the newly hired president of the firm’s creative systems division, said the company is being restructured “from top to bottom.” Seated in his office at Motown headquarters in Hollywood, Bell said the label’s top priority is to regain a leadership role in black music.

“We are taking the necessary steps to insure that the roots of this tree are well-planted,” he said. “We want to be sure we have a solid foundation in so-called R&B; music, since this is how the company was founded and built.”

Bell--part of a top management team that also includes label President Skip Miller and Motown Records Group President Lee Young Jr.--added that Motown will be looking at all kinds of R&B; music, not just the cosmopolitan pop-soul sound that has long been its specialty.

He said the label will be looking for artists in rap, blues and jazz--three areas in which it has little representation at present.

Motown recently laid off its vice president of pop promotion, Michael Lessner, and has announced no replacement. That prompted speculation in the industry--and a front page story in Billboard--that Motown was shifting its emphasis and financial resources from pop to R&B; promotion.

Bell denied this, saying that the label is in fact trying to lessen its reliance on both radio formats, and is seeking additional ways to promote its new releases.

“We are changing our approach to both urban contemporary (R&B;) and CHR (contemporary hit radio or Top 40) radio promotion,” he said. “We’re not going to do it the way we used to do it; the way it’s being done in the industry: You go to an urban station, you go to a CHR station, you get so many CHR stations and then you cross it over. We’re trying to come up with an approach that will allow us to popularize our product without getting caught up in this crossover madness.”

Bell, whose home and family are in Little Rock, Ark., noted, “As they say down South, ‘there’s more than one way to skin that cat.’ You can influence a radio station to play a piece of product without necessarily walking through the front door and saying, ‘Here’s my record.’ ”

The 47-year-old executive cited the innovative approach MCA took last fall with its 16-year-old discovery Tiffany. The label sent the Norwalk resident on a tour of shopping malls, where she sang her cover version of “I Think We’re Alone Now.” The tour was so successful that radio stations were forced to add the single, which went to No. 1 on the national charts. And that was just the beginning: Tiffany’s follow-up single (“Could’ve Been”) also hit No. 1, as did her debut album, which has sold more than 2 million copies.

“That’s a classic example of what you can do with a little imagination,” Bell said.”That was getting creative and putting excitement in the business, as opposed to simply asking, ‘Is it on this station?’ and ‘Is it on that station?’ ”

Most of the top stars from Motown’s heyday have left the label, including Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five (now on Epic Records), Diana Ross (on RCA) and Gladys Knight & the Pips (on MCA). But Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson have remained with the label, and the Temptations and the Four Tops have returned to Motown after up-and-down periods on other labels.

Motown, which moved its headquarters from Detroit to Hollywood in 1971, is currently represented on the black charts with hits by such newer acts as Georgio, Chico DeBarge and Stacy Lattisaw.

During Motown’s heyday, Bell was a top executive at Memphis-based Stax Records, working with such “Southern soul” acts as Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave and Johnnie Taylor.

Bell--whose deep, oratorical speaking style betrays his theological training--said that, in those days, Gordy was more to him than a competitor. “Berry was--and is--my role model. Berry Gordy and Motown were the lighthouse and direction-setter for me in building Stax.”

That sentiment is shared by other industry leaders in black music.

Jheryl Busby, executive vice president of talent acquistion and artist development at MCA Records--last year’s No. 1 black music label for both singles and albums--noted: “Having grown up with Motown music and artists, it’s a welcome feeling to see that company gear up and make a statement--and to hear that Berry is excited about the record group and making things happen. I wish them all the success in the world because of what they’ve represented to black music and the American music culture. They carved out a space that will never go away.”

Step Johnson, vice president and general manager of the black music division at Capitol Records--last year’s No. 2 black music label for albums and singles--made a similar point.

“Over the past few years, Motown has not been the Motown that it used to be. That’s obvious--the whole industry knows that. But they’re trying to regenerate that old spirit and make Motown stand for what it used to stand for back in the ‘60s.”