Gladys Knight & the Pips

Motown is a record company originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit. Now headquartered in New York City, Motown is a... subsidiary of The Island Def Jam Music Group, itself a subsidiary of the French-owned Vivendi subsidiary, Universal Music Group. Motown Records was also the name of Gordy's second record label; the first, Tamla Records, began on January 12, 1959. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music, by achieving a crossover success. In the 1960s, Motown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence. Motown has owned or distributed releases from more than 45 subsidiaries in varying genres, although it is most famous for its releases in the music genres of rhythm and blues, soul and pop.
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MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003. MCA's country division, MCA Nashville Records, is a still active imprint of... Universal Music Group Nashville. MCA entered the recorded music business in 1962 with the purchase of the New York-based US Decca Records , including Coral Records and Brunswick Records. As American Decca owned Universal Pictures, MCA assumed full ownership of Universal and made it into the top film studio in town, producing hit after hit. In 1966, MCA formed Uni Records and in 1967 purchased Kapp Records which was placed under Uni Records management. The U.S. and U.K. Decca companies were forced to sever their ties because of World War II. MCA's U.S. based Decca Records had the rights to the Decca name in North and South America and parts of Asia including Japan. U.K. Decca owned the rights to the Decca name in the rest of the world. After the war, British Decca formed a new U.S. subsidiary, London Records. During this time U.S.
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Vee-Jay Records is a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. It was owned and operated by African Americans. Vee-Jay was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a husband-and-wife team who used their... initials for the label’s name. Vivian's brother, Calvin Carter, was the label's A&R man. Ewart Abner, formerly of Chance Records, joined the label in 1955, first as manager, then as vice president, and ultimately, as president. Vee-Jay quickly became a major R&B label, with the first song recorded making it to the top ten on the national R&B charts. Major acts on the label in the 1950s included blues singers Jimmy Reed, Memphis Slim, and John Lee Hooker, and rhythm and blues vocal groups The Spaniels, The Dells, and El Dorados. The 1960s saw the label became a major soul label with Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, Dee Clark, and Betty Everett putting records on both the R&B and pop charts.
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