The Brief

To this day, Motown Records is still heavily associated with Detroit, Michigan. But in the early 1970s, the music empire made a shocking and strategic move — leaving Detroit for Los Angeles.

When Motown moved, a new legacy took shape. How did the move affect the music label? And what was gained and lost in the process?

The Jackson Five, one of Motown's biggest acts, photographed here in the U.K. in 1972, included the Jackson brothers (from left to right) Jermaine, Tito, Jackie, Michael and Marlon (Randy, who would join the group when it became the Jacksons later in the decade, is at the back).

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LAist's daily news program AirTalk, which airs on 89.3 FM, spoke with Motown historian Adam White about what the label's move to L.A. hoped to accomplish, and how it affected both its legacy in Detroit and the artists there who helped build it.

From Motor City to City of Angels

Motown Records made its permanent move to Los Angeles in 1972, but this was far from a sudden decision. The rumors had been swirling for some time. In the early 1960s, Motown's founder Berry Gordy opened an office in Los Angeles.

"It became apparent that he wanted to move the company there because he had ambitions," said White, who authored the book Motown: The Sound Of Young America. Those ambitions, he said were directly tied to something no other city could offer — Hollywood, and access to the film industry.

Even while the label still operated out of Detroit, Gordy started to build a presence in L.A. He bought a house in the Hollywood Hills in 1968, perhaps a foretelling of the permanent move to follow years later.

But how would a complete and permanent move impact the record label and its artists?

Widescreen ambitions

With the help of his colleagues, Gordy discovered a young and talented singer by the name of Brenda Holloway who grew up in Watts.

She would go on to record one of the earliest hits recorded in L.A. for Motown Records — "Every Little Bit Hurts." The song was a promising start for the label trying to make it in Hollywood.

At the same time, Gordy saw stars like Stevie Wonder and The Supremes begin to star in movies and TV specials. He began to realize that getting Motown stars into film and TV was important.

"I think it really was the television shows that some of his artists were doing that opened his eyes and began to really have an impact on the way the company was operating," White said.

"There was always a sense that Los Angeles represented a good base for Motown, a good talent source," White added. That talent source included the town's best writers as well.

In 1965, Motown signed L.A.-based songwriter Jimmy Webb to the publishing arm of the label. Webb went on to write top songs for the The Supremes. Slowly but surely, one thing was crystal clear to Gordy: access and resources in Los Angeles were undeniable.

Making a splash

The move seemed like a logical one. When Motown Records touched down in Los Angeles, the change was swift. Breakout star Diana Ross starred in Motown Production’s Lady Sings the Blues, the company's first feature film.

But the move wasn't without growing pains, White said.

"The most significant aspect of it, of course, was leaving Detroit [and] leaving the musicians who had created the sound that was indeed the sound of young America that was so memorable and had such an impact," White said.

Motown closed down its Detroit offices for good in 1972, the same year it moved to L.A., which marked the end of the era in which Motown rose to prominence. "There was certainly some bad blood around that situation. Most of the musicians did not move," White said.

Motown's sound changed when they left Detroit, but what they lost in a unified sound they gained in a flurry of remarkable West Coast musicians.

William King and Lionel Richie of The Commodores, a top Motown act, at The Brill Building in New York City, photographed in 1976.

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The sound of the West

Right before Motown's permanent move in 1972, Gordy created Motown's West Coast offshoot label, MoWest. This was one of the many subsidiaries of Motown Records that was created over the years.

"MoWest as a label didn't do particularly well," White said.

The up and coming group The Commodores were signed to MoWest at the very beginning, but the label struggled to produce a hit single and eventually folded. But the California dream was already alive and well.

"When you move your corporate headquarters across the country, a lot of the ordinary stuff gets affected," White said. "The stars? Not necessarily."

Over time, Stevie Wonder, Ross and many of the other big Motown starts moved to Los Angeles. Even Smokey Robinson, who White said "used to joke to Barry that he wouldn't do it because he was afraid of earthquakes."

From 1972 onward, Gordy's Motown ambitions forged ahead and so did his dreams of reaching as wide an audience as possible.

Motown artists Stevie Wonder (center left), Michael Jackson (center right), and Lionel Richie (far right) pose with singer Dionne Warwick (far left) and record producer Quincy Jones (center) after the 28th Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on February 25, 1986.

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Today, Motown Records is owned by Universal Music Group, but it's still based here in L.A. and churning out music. Its slate of current artists include multi-time Grammy winners Erykah Badu and Ne-Yo, as well as Long Beach's very own Vince Staples.

Listen to the conversation

Take accountability and move forward.

Those were the two points Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore hit repeatedly when speaking with LAist’s Larry Mantle this week.

On taking accountability, Moore said hazardous conditions and decisions made before the Palisades Fire erupted a year ago meant “our firefighters never had a chance” to arrest the fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

On moving forward, he emphasized that reform is already in the works.

“Things have changed since the Palisades Fire, and we're going to continue making big changes in the Los Angeles Fire Department,” said Moore, who was selected for the LAFD top job by Mayor Karen Bass in November.

Here are three takeaways from the interview, which aired on AirTalk on Tuesday.

1. Staffing decisions hampered fire response

The LAFD uses a so-called pre-deployment matrix to set firefighter staffing levels ahead of high-risk weather.

According to the department’s after-action report, however, staffing levels on the day the Palisades Fire began fell short of the LAFD standard for extreme weather conditions. The National Weather Service had warned of low humidity, high winds and dry vegetation, what it calls a “particularly dangerous situation.” It’s the highest level of alert the agency can give.

Despite the high risk, the LAFD report said the decision not to deploy more firefighters in advance was in part made to save money.

Moore said Monday that the department has updated its policies to increase staffing for especially hazardous conditions, but he said he doesn’t believe additional resources would have stopped a fire of the magnitude that leveled the Palisades.

To suppress that kind of fire, he said, the department would need to pre-deploy resources across the city’s vast geography — to places like Baldwin Hills, Franklin Canyon, the Hollywood Hills, the Palisades, Porter Ranch and Sunland-Tujunga.

Moore said the department has already made new policies to call for more resources when the Weather Service issues a “particularly dangerous situation” alert.

2. LAFD is mostly an urban firefighting department

Moore referenced a key finding of the after-action report regarding a lack of training in wildland firefighting, which contributed to confusion and struggles to effectively utilize resources during the fire.

Wildland fires pose a number of challenges that are different from what firefighters face in urban environments. Those include the need to coordinate a large number of resources over vast areas, all while dealing with fast-moving flames that can rapidly tear through dry plants and structures.

The department found in its report that fewer firefighters were trained in fighting these wildland fires in recent years and that “leaders struggled to comprehend their roles.”

Some leaders in the department had “limited or no experience in managing an incident of such complexity,” the report said. And some reverted to doing the work of lower positions, leaving high-level decision-making positions unfilled.

“What we're doing now is really furthering that training and reinforcing that education with our firefighters so that they could be better prepared,” Moore said on AirTalk.

3. Changes to the after-action report

Early versions of the after-action report differed from the version released to the public in October, a fact that was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. The Times also reported that Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, who wrote the report, wouldn’t endorse the final version because of the changes.

Moore acknowledged to the L.A. Board of Fire Commissioners at a Jan. 6 meeting that the report had been watered down.

“It is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of department leadership in that final report,” Moore told the commissioners. “This editing occurred prior to my appointment as fire chief, and I can assure you that nothing of this sort will ever again happen while I am fire chief."

Some changes were small but telling. A section titled “Failures” later became “Primary Challenges.”

Moore told LAist that changes between versions “ made it easier for the public to understand,” but an LAist review found the edits weren’t all surface-level.

In the first version of the report, the department said the decision not to fully pre-deploy all available resources for the particularly dangerous wind event “did not align” with their guidelines for such extreme weather cases. The final version said that the initial response “lacked the appropriate resources,” removing the reference to department standards.

The department also removed some findings that had to do with communications.

One sentence from the initial version of the report said: “Most companies lacked a basic briefing, leader’s intent, communications plan, or updated fire information for more than 36 hours.” That language was removed from the final report.

LAist has asked the Fire Department for clarification about why these assertions were removed but did not receive a response before time of publication.

Olympic organizers announced Tuesday that registration to buy tickets will run through March 18, with sales beginning in April. LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said that locals will get the first bite at the apple.

The registration period opens 7 a.m. Wednesday.

" Our host city communities here in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City will have the opportunity to be a part of a local presale," Hoover said outside the Coliseum while surrounded by Olympic athletes from Games past. "With our thanks and as part of our commitment to making sure that those who live and work around the games, where the games will take place, can be in the stands and cheer in 2028."

Olympic organizers also provided more details on ticket prices for the first time. One million tickets will sell for $28 a pop and around a third of tickets will be under $100, according to LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman.

That means the majority of tickets to the Olympic Games will run into triple digits. If the World Cup is any indication, some tickets could get astronomically pricey.

Interested fans can go to LA28.org to register. Those who are selected will get an email with a time slot to purchase tickets.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors took a step toward banning ICE from unlawfully operating on county-owned property and to post signage designating those spaces as “ICE Free Zones.”

The board unanimously approved the motion at Tuesday’s meeting, directing staff to draft the policy.

The draft could include requirements for county employees to report to their supervisor if they see unauthorized immigration activity on county property.

The city of Los Angeles passed a similar order last July, which strengthened protocols that prohibit ICE from operating on city-owned property. The agenda staff report points to an “ICE Free Zone” ordinance passed by the city of Chicago in October.

Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis co-authored the motion.

Horvath said the county will not allow its property to be used as “a staging ground for violence caused by the Trump administration."

Solis added that their action as a board could have a ripple effect on other city councils and local governments.

“Even though it's taken us this long to get here …I think it's really important for our communities to understand what we're saying is you don't have the right to come in and harass people without a federal warrant,” Solis said. “And if you use our property to stage, then you need to show us documentation as to why.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in an X post that the county cannot exclude federal agents from public spaces.

"Anyone who attempts to impede our agents will be arrested and charged, including county employees," Essayli said in the post. "We have already charged more than 100 individuals for similar conduct."

Since June, ICE raids have ramped up across the nation, heavily targeting certain immigrant communities like those in Los Angeles.

The motion directs the draft to include language that prohibits all types of ICE operations on county land, including staging and mobilizing without a warrant.

The motion cites an incident on Oct. 8, when county officials say federal agents raided the Deane Dana Friendship Park and Nature Center in San Pedro, arresting three people and threatening to arrest staff.

The motion also requires that the county post 'Ice Free Zone' signage on all of its properties.

Sergio Perez, executive director of the Center of Human Rights and Constitutional Law, told LAist the policy is enforceable under Fourth Amendment case law.

“You have to make sure that when you post that signage … that means that you routinely, or semi-routinely, assess who's coming in to the property, so that you can control access,” Perez said. “But if ICE shows up with a warrant, with a subpoena, then all bets are off, and they can enter into the property and do what they need to do.”

Perez said the county has moved “incredibly” slow on this issue.

“It's embarrassing that the county is moving six months later, given how we've been facing violent, aggressive, invasive and illegal raids now for so long here in Southern California,” Perez said, adding that local governments have not been fast or creative enough in protecting immigrant and refugee communities.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, one of the region’s largest immigrant advocacy groups, supports the motion.

"We do not want our county resources being used for federal immigration enforcement activities, which disrupt, uproot, and terrorize our communities,” Jeannette Zanipatin, policy director for CHIRLA, said in a statement. “It is important for all public spaces to be really safe for all residents.”

County staff have 30 days to draft a plan to implement the new policy.