Soul's Hometown, Detroit's musical output dwarfs all others and is just to big for one show. Split in two parts we begin with Ms. Dirty Soul herself DJ Kim Sorise. She's been bringing the sounds of her hometown Detroit Michigan to Louisville for just about a decade. She is an expert on the rare 45 and represents the wealth of obscure Soul in general.
While Motown was a monolithic presence in Detroit many labels and artists flourished in the shadow of Motown. Session players, song writers and the African American church produced a treasure trove of talent that decades later continues to be unearthed. Kim Sorise has spent years in record stores and dusty basements digging through crates to bring the music to the light.
The "Motor Town" brought thousands of African Americans escaping the oppressive racism of the South to seek a better life in the car factories of the North. During this time Detroit expanded to the 4th largest city in America. Soul's heyday of the late 50's and 60's Blacks in Detroit experienced a true middle class. The standard of living in Detroit rivaled most American cities and armed with spending money the music scene in The D exploded. The perfect storm of singers skilled in the complex vocalizations of the African America Church, a thriving night life and young entrepreneurs looking to exploit these talents combined for a second Black Renaissance. Artists with seemingly limitless talent emerged: Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Wilson Pickett. This is to say nothing of the artist that recorded one 45 and quit. Motown Records would become Soul music and spread it's influence throughout the world.
Attached is the Google map of Detroit record labels. As you can see there is very little real estate and is a testament to the wealth of talent produced there. We ask Kim "What's in the Water?" "Why Detroit?" and "Who don't we know?". We'll discuss her First Friday Funk Party where she deejays Soul wax, working with Louisville's Derby City Roller Girls and keeping Funk alive.
New Orleans, Memphis, Chicago, New York, the Bay Area, Miami, Detroit and Philadelphia all had their own style and stamp on the formation of Soul. The Sound-Clash explores the cities that created Soul music, Friday nights at 10.