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I don't ever balk at being considered a Motown person, because Motown is the greatest musical event that ever happened in the history of music.

Once you're a Motown artist, you're always a Motown artist.

I think that Michael Jackson, just as an entertainer, as a figure who embodies the contradictions of black identity and the possibilities of R&B music in the '70s and '80s, will continue to be one of the most recognized and formidable human beings that we've ever produced in our tradition.

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.

Motown will always be a heavy-duty part of my life because those are my roots.

I grew up when the whole Motown thing was huge. The charts in those days were dominated by groups more than solo artists at one point.

Even before coming into the industry, I was a big fan of Motown, the Jackson 5, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, Diana Ross and The Supremes.

Iconic artists are never straight ahead. Michael Jackson loved Elvis and Burt Bacharach, and uniquely blended both of them into what he did.

I grew up not far from where Motown was founded, maybe 300 miles from Detroit and I've always liked - I used to like the way they made records. I still do, I just haven't had a chance to hear as much. They used to entertain me.

Motown was the mecca. It was every writer's dream to work there.