Talk:Berry Gordy

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Contents 1 Length 2 Racial vandalism 3 Films 4 Meow 5 Motown museum wiki link? 6 Bias? 7 Naming convention

[edit] Length

Way too short!!!
You sound like my wife.71.193.225.92 (talk)

[edit] Racial vandalism

Whoever thinks it's very clever to write something like "he is the great black man in U.S history" should be reminded that Wikipedia is no place to jerk around. Deleted and replaced with the previous categories and links. Regards, Sven PS: Thx for editing the quote - nice one. Sven

[edit] Films

needs to mention his film career moves as well. Like Berry Gordy's Last Dragon, Mahogany, and Lady Sings the Blues

The Motown story is in NO way related to the Dreamgirls story. There was a formal apology from Dreamworks stating the insignificance of this movie from the actual Motown story. One must learn to differentiate between what one sees in a movie and reality. Don't believe everything you see in movies.

[edit] Meow

"meow meow meow" May somebody explain these interesting facts in the third-last paragraf? THX. <eg>

It's vandalism. Thanks for noticing, I have reverted it. Hyacinth 03:45, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Motown museum wiki link?

There is a wiki on "Hitsville U.S.A.", which is the Motown offices museum in Detroit. I think there should be a link from here, but am not sure where to put it. There is a lack of context in the article as it stands. Advice? Thanks. --Packrat1 21:21, 7 August 2006 (UTC)packrat1

[edit] Bias?

Little is there about his dictatorship control over artists and producers. While I don't know much on the issue, it seems he wasn't a man with his eye on creative genius, just a man with his eye on money. Can't blame him, but the article doesn't give both sides of the story Early Q 18:53, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Also, what about the payola allegations mentioned in the Dreamgirls articles? This article is far too laudatory... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.110.55.10 (talk) 04:49, 28 January 2007 (UTC).

Concerning the payola allegations, Smokey Robinson has refuted it. There is absolutely no proff--whatsoever--that Gordy took money or paid money. This is why "Dreamgirls" is a false movie.

It is very possible that Smokey Robinson was lying; he is, after all, human. The book Motown: Music, Money, Sex, and Power by Gerald Posner spends two chapters discussing alleged payola operations implemented by Gordy and the Motown executives, going so far as to dig up court documents and depositions by one of the individuals who alleges he was directly involved. As described, the alleged payola operations at Motown bear a strong resemblance to those used in Dreamgirls (which is of course a work of fiction and inherently "false" by its nature). Also discussed are longtime rumors that Motown was Mafia-controlled. Although no one associated with Motown was ever formally charged with payola, and the executive in question - Michael Lushka - wasn't said to be trustworthy, it's not much of a stretch of the imagination to consider that Motown, whether under Gordy's orders or not, participated in payola, especially since many other labels do the same.

What is certain about Motown and Gordy is that the artists were signed to substandard contracts and there was significant conflicts of interest (Motown ran its own management, booking,and financial consultant divisions for its artists, controlling the careers and expenses up to and including filing their tax returns). Much significant information about Gordy and Motown can be added to these articles. Why hasn't it been? Because this article isn't of much concern to most "Wikipedians", and as a result, no one's going to do too much work on it. I would, but I've found such efforts to be stressful and unappreciated without some form of assistance. --FuriousFreddy 00:48, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

I believe the payola scam should be mentioned, and this article seems biased and politically correct by omitting it. Darklight1138 15:41, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Naming convention

To prevent the back-and-forth I've seen here lately, can we settle this issue this way:

• Berry Gordy's legal name is "Berry Gordy, Jr." It's what's on his birth certificate, and most of his credited work.
• Technically, Berry Gordy, Jr. is actually "Berry Gordy, III", since both his father and grandfather were named "Berry Gordy", and his son his named "Berry Gordy, IV". However, he has never been addressed by this name.

Let's address Gordy by the name he was actually called, with no mention of the "Berry Gordy III" mess. --FuriousFreddy (talk) 01:23, 10 March 2008 (UTC)