I'd say I got into Marvin Gaye properly in college.
I would love to play Janis Gaye in the Marvin Gaye story. If they ever do the Marvin Gaye story, I would love to play Janis - just throwing that out there.
My dad was a soul fan and a singer himself, and he loved vocal harmony, stuff like the Beach Boys and Motown like the Four Tops, which was a big influence on me.
Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross and the Jackson 5, that's what I grew up on.
I really do love Diana Ross; I grew up listening to her records. I grew up in a little town in Mexico, so while we got the music, we never got the experience of watching her.
I grew up listening to oldies, like Motown. That's from my mom.
I worshipped Berry Gordy for the creative dreams he had made come true.
I listened to everything. To the early Motown groups - the Four Tops and the Temptations - to Johnny Mathis, Gloria Lynne - my sisters loved her. Sarah Vaughan. Everything.
Well, I had an after hours club in Vancouver and when any of the Motown acts would call.
Even though I loved the Fifties doo-wop, you couldn't hold on to it. You had to change, or you was gon' be antique real quick, like the Ink Spots. And then we were at Motown and you had the Rolling Stones, simple rock & roll became the new thing.
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.
I'd heard a lot of Motown and Stax when I was a kid, but the more well-known end of it. On Jam tours, we had a DJ called Ady Croasdell who ran a '60s club. He turned me on to underground stuff and what people call northern soul. It just blew my mind.
Guys like Clyde McPhatter used to sing their tail ends off!
'What's Going On' is one of the greatest albums ever made. I definitely wasn't aiming to make my 'What's Going On,' you know what I mean? That album is definitely deep in my DNA. I've probably listened to that more than maybe any other album ever in my entire life.
I always have something by Stevie Wonder in my CD player.
Berry Gordy is a music legend, and we all know that, but I don't think Berry gets enough credit for his involvement with the civil rights movement.
When I first got to Motown, Smokey was already a fixture there. To me, he is one of the greatest songwriters and poets, so anything they ask me to do for Smokey is going to get a yes.
The only biography I read was about Al Bell, of Stax Records. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Al Bell.
I think Berry Gordy is a genius, I really do, and it's not a word I throw around lightly. But with all that comes the idiosyncratic behavior of a self-made, talented, creative person, and that's not easy to come up against.
Nothing surprises me about Berry Gordy.
In the 1970s, for all the Stevie Wonders, I'm sure there were five artists that were making forgettable music.
I'm obsessed with the sound of today, but I was raised on the Motown sound.
I was in about in the 8th grade when I started recording R&B, so much of what was on was the Motown sound, and The Beatles had pretty much come over and taken America by storm.
Marvin Gaye is an inspiration to me. He was one of the first Motown musicians that my mom and dad introduced me to, and I always thought it would be a good idea if I was ever an artist, and now I am, to make a record called 'Marvin Gaye.'
Berry Gordy turned his house into a studio and discovered over 30 acts in the city. And we're famous all over the world.
