Every decade has its musical phenomena. The ’60s had Motown…and Motown had The Supremes. Here, as in other times, culture and social movements were intertwined in compelling and, sometimes, surprising ways.
My Pop Culture lectures take you on a trip back in time, to an era when the music of Motown reigned supreme – as in The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Four Tops, Temptations, and on and on. At the same time, the impact of these and other of Berry Gordy’s Motown Records® artists reached deep into the social fabric of America. And the tumult of those times unquestionably helped shape the music of Motown, the ‘60s – and beyond.
“Motown and the Civil Rights Movement”
In this engaging multimedia presentation, I trace the development of, and interconnections between, the escalating popularity of The Motown Sound – “The Sound of Young America” – and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
- Were these two cultural and social movements working together to bring African-American culture into the white mainstream?
- Did Motown’s Berry Gordy use the more open climate of racial equality fostered by the Civil Rights Movement to achieve his goal of mass popularity for his artists?
- Or did the Civil Rights Movement use the popularity of the Motown Sound to further its causes?
- Why was Motown music so popular during the ‘60s, and how did it become “The Sound of Young America”?
- And why has Motown music remained popular to this day?
From my perspective as a pop music historian – with more than 25 articles published in popular music journals – and with the help of archival video and music clips, I explore these questions and more in this entertaining and enlightening presentation.
“Girl Power: The Supremes as Cultural Icons”
I grew up with The Supremes. Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t raised in Detroit’s Brewster Housing Projects, as were The Supremes – Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. And for sure The Supremes didn’t live in little old Middletown, NY, where I grew up. No. Our physical and cultural neighborhoods were hundreds of miles and a world apart.
But in 1964, when Diana, Mary and Flo burst into the American musical consciousness, I was just becoming aware of the music shimmering from my little transistor radio.
What started as the obsessions of this “white-bread boy” eventually led me to work with some of the biggest names in music history – the likes of Mary Wilson, Arlene Smith, Edwin Starr, Barbara Ann Alston, Carl Gardner and June Montiero – the very people I grew up listening to and idolizing.
Consider this a personal invitation to join me on a remarkable trip back in time, an engaging stroll through pop music history, to an era when the music of Motown reigned supreme.
Recently, Tom has given lectures at:
State University of New York at Geneseo
Albany (NY) Institute of Art and History
“…A number of my students commented on how much they learned from their exposure to Tom’s vast historical knowledge of a musical milieu that they were only dimly familiar with. What made his lecture particularly compelling was Tom’s personal connection to the topic….”
Dr. Jordan Kleiman, Assistant Professor of History, SUNY Geneseo
“You were passionate, humorous, serious and enlightening, all wrapped into one. Plus you were so upbeat and entertaining. I was totally caught up in it–I felt charged the minute I got there. Thank you so much for coming to SUNY Geneseo. It was a grand success!”
Mary Patricia Fennell, SUNY Geneseo Alumni Association
For more information, email me today at tom@ingrassiaproductions.com.
Museum/Gallery Exhibitions of Popular Music Memorabilia
As an avid collector of pop music memorabilia since the early ’60s, I have extensive archives of Motown music-related materials suitable for exhibition in museums and galleries, with a particular focus on The Supremes as cultural icons.
See images from the recent Lockhart Gallery Exhibit!
Click thumbnails for larger images.
Memorabilia from the Thomas Ingrassia Collection has been exhibited at:
Whitney Gallery, Los Angeles
Barbican Centre, London (part of the “Rock Style” exhibition, 2000)
Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Sharon, PA
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland
LBJ Presidential Library, Austin (part of the “Signs of the Times: Life in the Swingin’ 60s” exhibition, 2004-05)
Albany (NY) Institute of Art and History
Lockhart Gallery, State University of New York at Geneseo, “Girl Power: The Supremes as Cultural Icons,” an exhibition built entirely around the Thomas Ingrassia Collection
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