How Detroit's Working Class Built the Sound the Whole World Stole | Living for the City Ep. 1
Living for the CityShow Notes
Detroit’s music didn’t come from nowhere. It came from working people who carried the rhythm of the city with them long after the shift ended.
In the debut episode of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib traces the thread between labor and art that runs through everything Detroit has ever made. Berry Gordy IV reflects on his father modeling Motown on the assembly line and what it meant to build stars the same way Detroit built cars. Kevin Saunderson breaks down the early days of proving parents wrong in a blue-collar town that didn't yet believe in them. Don Was recalls playing bar gigs for $10 a night before becoming one of the most important producers in the world. And Bob Seger's longtime tour manager Bill Blackwell explains what Detroit pride actually looks like when autoworkers show up at a golf tournament holding Live Bullet albums.
Detroit, Hanif argues, is a stamp of authenticity. You had to go through something to get here. And what came out the other side became techno, rock, Motown, hip hop. Something the whole world is still listening to.
This one starts at the source.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - The Engine of the City: How Detroit Built Its Sound
04:18 - Techno Boulevard: Three Teenagers Who Invented a Genre0
8:20 - The Motown Blueprint: How Berry Gordy Built Stars Like Cars
11:00 - The Grind: Don Was, Bob Seger, and Earning Detroit's Respect
15:00 - Day Job Artists: Working the Plant and Making Records
19:04 - The Democratization of Genius: Dilla, Aretha, and Detroit's Spirit
22:05 - Next Time: The Buildings That Built Detroit's Music
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TAGS/KEYWORDS: Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit music documentary, techno history, Motown history, Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Berry Gordy, Don Was, Bob Seger, Bill Blackwell, J Dilla, DJ Minx, Detroit techno, Detroit labor, assembly line music, working class Detroit, Detroit hip hop, Detroit rock, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, Detroit musicians, Belleville Three, techno origin story, Motown assembly line, Dennis Coffey, Detroit pride, music and work, artists and day jobs, Detroit creative community, 2025 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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