How could they ever have imagined what astonishments lay ahead for them?
It was all so very unlikely.
No, make that impossible.
His neighbors were respectable strivers: Sykes Hernia Control Service and Phelps Funeral Parlor.
Gordys troupe had mustered for the kickoff of the Motortown Revue, the companys first extensive tour.
The trio were thrilled to be going but worried that they hadnt truly earned their seats on the bus.
But unless you had a hit record, you were nobody at Motown.
Nearly everyone else on the tour already had a hit.
They were joined by newly signed 12-year-old phenom Stevland Hardaway Judkins rechristened a more showbiz-sounding Little Stevie Wonder.
Also aboard, at 19, was Mary Wells, who had been crowned the Queen of Motown.
She was regal with her Cleopatra eyeliner yet sweetly vulnerable on vinyl.
Babies, the factories or daywork.
The odds of escaping the factories or minimum wage work for any young person of color were dismal.
Those who made the cut were ambitious, pliant and eager to just.
In the Artists and Repertoire department, Martha Reeves was secretary and muse to 17 staff songwriters and producers.
Gordys hit factory ran 24/7.
A pot of chili bubbled in near perpetuity in the kitchen.
The Hitsville troupe were a family of sorts boisterous, competitive and tight.
The bus was a broken-down Trailways with no toilet, she remembers.
We had to lean on the window or on each other to try and sleep.
He announced his ambition on the buildings facade:Hitsville U.S.A.
The lettering was painted in bold Motown blue, the same saturated hue on their now-iconic record labels.
