Motown Historical Museum tour (con't)

But when you step inside there’s quite a bit of territory to cover.

There are several floors chock full of memorabilia – from Michael Jackson’s famous sequined glove to the original $800 loan letter that gave Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. the money he needed to start the studio.

He got that from his grocer dad and the family’s private business cooperative.

Berry Gordy in fact lived in an apartment in the house, and visitors can now walk through the restored space.

If you have a chance, take a tour, and after it’s finished come back and visit the artefacts individually.

These include a wide array of performers’ stage costumes, original sheet music, rare photos and press materials announcing some of the early and major artist performances – from Little Stevie Wonder to The Supremes.

There are also exhibits on Motown’s impact on the wider culture such as the civil rights movement.

But our tour guide emphasized that Motown was never about Black power but really about celebrating the equality of all races.

That’s why, he said, blacks as well as whites in North America and abroad instantly loved this highly contagious and eminently danceable music.

On the tour you will also see the original Motown business offices, where would-be stars sat by the reception desk nervously waiting to be auditioned.

There’s even the former telephone switchboard and adding machine used to calculate employees’ payroll.

And yes the building even had a time clock for employees – office staff and performers - to punch in and out.

As our guide said, Motown was nothing if not an efficiently-run business, Gordy taking his cue from the Ford assembly line where he had once worked.

The highlights for us were the control panel and adjoining Studio A.

It’s amazing to look at that control board and the large tape machines behind it and think that these are what recorded all those famous Motown hits.

Back in the day Studio A was open 24 hours, and was where singers and musicians jammed and recorded.

Our guide divided the 40 of us on the tour into male and female groups.

He had the women sing lines from the Temptations’ most famous hit My Girl.

The guys sang refrains, standing on the very floor where the singers who recorded those timely songs once stood, from the Four Tops to Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

The museum currently has a special exhibit on Marvin Gaye.

It runs until September and is a part of a rotating series of exhibits spotlighting Motown greats, the first being the Jackson Five.

The museum is especially popular on weekends.

There were buses of people from Chicago and even visitors from England on our tour.

The tour guides – who speak a mile a minute and even sing a few notes from time to time – are worth the visit itself.

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