Q 01/05

Motown began operating on January 12, 1959 under which label name?

A) Tamla

B) Gordy

C) Soul

D) Rayber

Answer · why

A) Tamla

Tamla was a second choice: Gordy wanted to call the label Tammy, after the Debbie Reynolds hit, but found that the name was already taken.

Q 02/05

How much did Berry Gordy borrow from his family's savings fund to start the label that became Motown?

A) $80

B) $800

C) $8,000

D) $80,000

Answer · why

B) $800

$800 came from the Ber-Berry Co-op, the Gordy family's shared savings fund, and covered his side of the deal to release Marv Johnson's Come to Me.

Q 03/05

Hitsville U.S.A., the house Gordy bought in 1959, sits at number 2648 on which Detroit street?

A) Woodward Avenue

B) Gratiot Avenue

C) West Grand Boulevard

D) Jefferson Avenue

Answer · why

C) West Grand Boulevard

West Grand Boulevard turned into a Motown campus, as the growing company took over a row of neighbouring houses on the street for its offices.

Q 04/05

What was the Hitsville building used for before Gordy bought it in 1959?

A) A funeral home

B) A dentist's office

C) A grocery store

D) A photographers' studio

Answer · why

D) A photographers' studio

A photographers' studio at the back of the house was converted into the recording room, while Gordy moved his family into the flat upstairs.

Q 05/05

Under which slogan did Motown market its acts during the 1960s?

A) The Sound of Young America

B) The Beat of the Motor City

C) Hits from the Heart of Detroit

D) America's Hit Factory

Answer · why

A) The Sound of Young America

The Sound of Young America pitched the records at every teenager rather than one market, and the label's acts duly won Black and white audiences alike...