Hitsville: The Making of Motown (2019)
Overview
The remarkable story of the legendary Motown Records is told through exclusive interviews with the label’s visionary founder, Berry Gordy, and many of its superstar artists and creative figures, as well as rare performances and behind-the-scenes footage unearthed from Motown’s vaults and Gordy’s personal archives.
Production Companies
Additional Info
| Budget | $0.00 |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $0.00 |
| Original Language | en |
| Popularity | 0.836 |
Directed By
Gabe Turner
Ben Turner
Crew
Heather Greenwood
Paul Monaghan
Ian Arber
Michelle De Vries
Pip Sansom
Charlie Wuppermann
Steve Barnett
Leo Pearlman
Berry Gordy
Marty Bandier
Ethiopia Habtemariam
Gabe Turner
David Blackman
Michelle Jubelirer
Ben Turner
TOP CAST
Berry Gordy
Self
Smokey Robinson
Self
Miller London
Self
John Legend
Self
Robin Terry
Self
Eddie Holland
Self
Brian Holland
Self
Lamont Dozier
Self
Jamie Foxx
Self
Valerie Simpson
Self
Rosalind Ashford
Self
Mary Wilson
Self
Jermaine Jackson
Self
Marlon Jackson
Self
Otis Williams
Self
Neil Young
Self
Tito Jackson
Self
Jackie Jackson
Self
Similar Movies
Dreamgirls
A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.
The Merry Girls of Tyrol
A girls only hotel in Austria, run by a man-hating grandmother. Her daughter and three pretty grand daughters are chased by men, nevertheless (and chase the guys themselves), so everything is back to heterosexual normality in the happy ending. It's a musical.
The Definitive Elvis: Elvis and the Colonel
One of the dominating figures in Elvis Presley's life was his manager, who was known as the "Colonel". No other relationship in Elvis' life was as controversial and misunderstood as the one he had with Colonel Tom Parker. The truth about their unique friendship is revealed in this documentary.
Rockin' at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock
This documentary pays tribute to the contributions and importance of the title watering hole in the creation of the psychedelic dancehalls that littered the West during the late '60s and helped launch such super groups as The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and The Quicksilver Messenger Service. Music by Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the Charlatans is also featured. The Red Dog Saloon had its genesis in 1964 when a group of free-thinking, LSD-enhanced Northern California students and young folks had a party and began thinking about starting up a saloon that would evoke the old West. They decided to build their saloon in Virginia City, Nevada, a once prosperous town that was by then nearly empty. The ambience of the saloon blended Old West sensibilities with modern psychedelia, go-go girls and plenty of illegal drugs. The film is comprised of interviews with surviving founders, actual archival footage, and even a performance of some of the musicians who appeared there.
New Wave Lovers
Freddy wants to be a star. He writes and performs his own songs, but has no record contract yet. He has an idea to form a group of back-up vocalists and recruits four beautiful girls who also happen to be his former lovers. They name themselves "THE FOUR PIN-UPS." But even this doesn't work because Freddy wants the spotlight for himself. However, by chance, the girls find themselves onstage without Freddy; they start singing and capture the audience and sign a contract with a big producer. They seem to be on the road to success with their own sound and a new wave image. Except the dream begins to lose its glow; scandal, conflicts, and disenchantment start affecting the group. They go from number one to...
The Sparks Brothers
Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.
Sparkle
Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.
BadPuss: A Popumentary
An Honest and hilarious look at the music industry through the eyes of an all girl rock band.
The Cavern Club: The Beat Goes On
Presented by Paul McGann, The Cavern Club and LA Factual have come together to produce "The Cavern Club: The Beat Goes On" - a unique documentary feature, telling the untold, complete and colourful story of the 'greatest club in the world'.
Northern Soul: Living for the Weekend
The northern soul phenomenon was the most exciting underground British club movement of the 1970s. At its highpoint, thousands of disenchanted white working class youths across the north of England danced to obscure, mid-60s Motown-inspired sounds until the sun rose. A dynamic culture of fashions, dance moves, vinyl obsession and much more grew up around this - all fuelled by the love of rare black American soul music with an express-train beat.
King of the Hill: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective of Cincinnati’s King Records
James Brown was the jewel in the crown, but the throne of Cincinnati’s King Records always belonged to its irascible founder, Syd Nathan. This is the 70th anniversary of the legendary record label and studio. It closed shop nearly 40 years ago, in a now long-neglected warehouse on the neighborhood border of Evanston and Walnut Hills, but its impact still reverberates across today’s music.
American Pop
The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.
Elvis
The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee
An improvised comedy, shot over five days by Shane Meadows, devised with and starring Paddy Considine. Rock roadie and failed musician, Le Donk has lived, loved and learned. Along the way he's lost a girlfriend but he has found a new sidekick in up-and-coming rap prodigy Scor-zay-zee. With Meadows' fly-on-the-wall crew in tow, Donk sets out to make Scor-zay-zee a star...
Heaven Tonight
The film covers the conflict between a father and his son both being musicians. The father is the leader of a band making rock-music from the 60s but his son becomes a star of techno-pop music.
Show!
A surprisingly intimate portrait of how the dream of running one’s own business can take on monstrous contours. Managed by the father of one of the singers, over the course of five years the girl band 5Angels had reached the gates of pop fame. But it is a path paved not only with the songs of Michal David, but also with the dogged determination of a man who loses any notion of where his role as manager ends and his role as parent begins. An emotionally moved Karel Gott, five angelic girls, and one overly involved father, thanks to whom the behind-the-scenes pre-Christmas atmosphere melts away just as rapidly as the fat should disappear from the belly. “A singer can’t be a lard bucket!”
The Wigan Casino
Documentary covering the famous Wigan Casino northern soul venue and the working class kids who spend all their money not on alcohol but on records and dancing all night.
Slave Trade: How Prince Remade the Music Business
In the mid-1990s reports emerged that Prince had fallen into dispute with his record company. Having signed what was ostensibly a new, 100 million dollar contract just a couple of years before, Prince was now demanding - not unreasonably to most commentators - control of his masters and the freedom to release what he wanted when he wanted. After a bitter war of words, during which the star scrawled Slave across his cheek whenever he appeared in public and routinely dissed his label, the parties finally settled and Prince henceforth was free to take full control of his music and the way it was sold to consumers. Prince approached this task with devastating foresight as he routinely created new marketing concepts which, with time, became the norm across the music world.
Welcome to Death Row
The record label Death Row Records has, since its creation in 1993, been synonymous with the American hip-hop climate. Formed by ex-bodyguard Suge Knight, the label has released seminal rap albums from luminaries including Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and the famous hip-hop martyr Tupac Shakur. WELCOME TO DEATH ROW is a fascinating, well-researched documentary which explores the history of this intriguing and incredibly significant company.