The 1960s saw great acceptance of rhythm & blues by the American public in general. Although R&B in the 1950s had made substantial inroads into the mass market, it was its offspring rock ’n roll that enjoyed much of the financial reward. However, in the 1960s rhythm & blues, often appearing under the name soul music, took the popular market by storm. The music had such mass appeal that in late 1963 Billboard discontinued its rhythm & blues chart for over one year, apparently because it was similar enough to the more general Hot 100 music chart as to be redundant... However, beginning in early 1964 the British invasion had a major effect on the Hot 100 music charts. In that year, for example, nine of the twentythree number one singles were by British artists... The black record buying public was not drawn to this music, however, and none of these records was able to earn a position on the R&B charts. Much of the early music of the British invasion was derived from R&B and rockabilly styles of the mid 1950s, and by 1964 the musical tastes of black Americans had moved on. Some rhythm & blues artists of the 1960s figured out how to create a brand of music that appealed to a wide range of buyers, both black and white. To turn such a trick, these black artists and their record labels had to straddle a musical fence or risk losing their black audience entirely.
A few independent record labels were so dominant in R&B in the 1960s that they came to be thought of almost as majors. The Motown, Atlantic, and King record labels were all hugely successful during this period, they and their affiliates were responsible for an amazing 76 percent of the top twenty five R&B singles of the decade. Of these three labels it has sometimes been suggested that Motown created the whitest sound, and that Atlantic, with its affiliation with Memphis’ Stax Records, and King, with its mega star James Brown, kept much closer to the core style of rhythm & blues. There is little doubt that Motown had the greatest success of the three in the general market... some writers do not even consider the songs of Motown to be soul music but simply popular music performed by blacks that was aimed largely toward the white audience. Such generalizations do not tell the whole story of the music produced at Motown, however. Although the songs produced by Atlantic and Stax often exude a highly emotional, southern gospel based sound, a number of soulful records were also created by Motown.
Source: The New Blue Music: Changes In Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 by Richard J. Ripani
The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance
A few independent record labels were so dominant in R&B in the 1960s that they came to be thought of almost as majors. The Motown, Atlantic, and King record labels were all hugely successful during this period, they and their affiliates were responsible for an amazing 76 percent of the top twenty five R&B singles of the decade. Of these three labels it has sometimes been suggested that Motown created the whitest sound, and that Atlantic, with its affiliation with Memphis’ Stax Records, and King, with its mega star James Brown, kept much closer to the core style of rhythm & blues. There is little doubt that Motown had the greatest success of the three in the general market... some writers do not even consider the songs of Motown to be soul music but simply popular music performed by blacks that was aimed largely toward the white audience. Such generalizations do not tell the whole story of the music produced at Motown, however. Although the songs produced by Atlantic and Stax often exude a highly emotional, southern gospel based sound, a number of soulful records were also created by Motown.
Source: The New Blue Music: Changes In Rhythm & Blues, 1950-1999 by Richard J. Ripani
The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance
- Recorded in: 1983
- From the film: Beverly Hills Cop
- Songwriters: Allee Willis, Danny Sembello, Andy Goldmark
"Bonnie Pointer and June Pointer first formed a secular singing duo in the late '60s and began performing in clubs around the San Francisco Bay area, Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer later joined the group."
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