Motown in Tinseltown marks 30th

October 24, 1990

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Berry Gordy Jr.'s Motown organization celebrated its 30th anniversary Monday night in its transplanted hometown of Hollywood with a star-studded television special celebrating the achievements of its entertainers from the late 1950s to the present.

Taped before an audience at the Pantages Theatre, 'Motown 30: What's Goin' On!" featured the Jackson State Marching Band, which boomed and boogied down Hollywood Boulevard to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine;" the electric energy of the Soul Children of Chicago Choir in a gospel segment that included Tramaine Hawkins and Gladys Knight; Michael Bolton and Patti LaBelle, who paid tribute to the music of the late Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell; and an elaborate dance history sequence choreographed by Debbie Allen, tracing the evolution of today's dance styles back to African tribal rhythms.

Other stars in Motown's anniversary constellation included Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Tracy Chapman, The Boys, Whoopi Goldberg, Terence Trent D'Arby, Denzel Washington, Wilhelmena Fernandez, Robert Guillaume, the dueling medleys of The Temptations and The Four Tops, and the Arthur Mitchell Dance Theater of Harlem.

The two-hour special is scheduled to air Nov. 25 at 9 p.m. on CBS-TV (Channel 2 in Detroit). Proceeds went to the Brotherhood.