The music played most around St. Louis was country-western and swing. Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of the country stuff on our predominantly black audience. After they laughed at me a few times, they began requesting the hillbilly stuff.

Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering "who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?" After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it.

Motown was about music for all people - white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone.

They [black and white musicians] jived between each other. All were artists, playing foolish, having fights and making love as if the rest of the world had no racial problems whatsoever.

The media dresses things up. There's a lot of inaccuracy.

If the people in the audience are talking, you're being ignored. If the people are gazing at you, you've got something they want to hear.