2009 has been a year of extreme highs and lows for Motown. Earlier in the year UK fans were treated to extensive Motown coverage in music magazines and new documentaries on radio and TV all to celebrate Motown's 50th anniversary. By June the celebrations of soul turned sour as news of the death of Motown's most famous son, Michael Jackson spread throughout the world. 

At a time when the details of MJ's death were being splashed across the tabloids, author Alex MacKenzie released a book that focuses on the stories beyond the household names and shines a light on the lesser known stars of Motown.

The Life and Times of the Motown Stars attempts to do for the writers, producers and backing singers what Paul Justman did for the Funk Brothers in his award-winning documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) - to give credit where credit is due as MacKenzie explained to Stranger:

"To begin with, I just had loads of information and I'd go to Detroit and sit with people in the know who would help me put it into some kind of order. The one thing that everyone I met wanted the book to do was to give recognition to those people [at Motown] that wouldn't be known by the general public."
 
Alex MacKenzie has essentially created an encyclopaedia of Motown employees, from its founder Berry Gordy to The Andantes, Motown's uncredited session singers. A lifelong Motown fan, MacKenzie lived every fan's dream by researching the book in Motorcity itself and he has no doubt satisfied his collaborators as its pages are littered with Detroit-names that even the diehard fans amongst us may never had heard of. 

Bobby Rogers of The Miracles, who helped MacKenzie along the way, describes the tome accurately as the Motown family tree. Uncovering the histories of a business in which seemingly every receptionist became an international recording artist and where every room had more than its fair share of true musical genii, this book has most certainly been a true labour of love. The author's passion and enthusiasm for the label is evident - particularly in the researching of the more obscure Motown staffers - but sadly a number of typos and a host of poor quality images do let it down slightly.

Despite a few minor issues (which could easily be ironed out in a second edition) this book was obviously born out of passion and it's still a must-have for any true Motown fanatic's bookshelf. After all, in the words of The Temptations, "beauty's only skin deep". (Lotte Mahon)

The Life and Times of the Motown Stars
Alex MacKenzie
£17.99 (RRP)
Together Publications

Suggested further reading:
Where Did Our Love Go?: The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound by Nelson George
Calling Out Around the World: A Motown Reader edited by Kingsley Abbott
Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom by Peter Guralnick

Lotte Mahon presents Sunday Soul Sessions from 3 - 4:30pm every Sunday on The Source FM