Historic Motown office and archives destroyed by idiots

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5170641

― sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 01:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Its amazing how fast they tore that thing down. Actually, apart from any "archives" that may have been in the building, it holds relatively little historical significance to Detroiters, who mostly didn't know it was the "Motown building" (not its actual name). When Gordy and co. skipped town, they really didn't give care about it at all. Actually, it wasn't until relatively recently that they started giving a real shit about Hitville USA

― peepee (peepee), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 02:02 (eighteen years ago) link

If you feel like scrolling through a bunch of listserv messages, here's what the archivist community has to say (scroll down to #43):

http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A1=ind0601d&L=archives

There was a ton of music history in paper form there...

― sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 02:04 (eighteen years ago) link

another big music-history landmark was just demolished last year: brooklyn's 2001 odyssey disco, where saturday night fever took place (it became a gay nightclub called spectrum in the '80s and beyond).

― dancing chicken (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 02:15 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=346
http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=345
http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=342
http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=113

― Andy_K (Andy_K), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 02:30 (eighteen years ago) link

If you demolish a building and then find Marvin Gaye's signature on the 1971 recording notes for the album What's Going On on the rubble then YOU DONE WRONG!!!!!

― musically (musically), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 02:41 (eighteen years ago) link

music history landmarks are records, fules

― senseiDancer (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 02:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Wrong in so many ways. What about forgotten master tapes that are only referenced in written notes? To just barely scratch the surface.

For another utterly horrifying archive-destruction story, complete with master tapes being bulldozed, check this article out:

http://www.billholland.net/words/vault.html

― sleeve (sleeve), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 03:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Don't forget that Pilgrim Baptist Church recently burned down, and with it some of its archives and sheet music of Thomas Dorsey.

― patrick bateman (mickeygraft), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 17:17 (eighteen years ago) link

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.