The Corporation: Gordy's Trademarked Team Behind I Want You Back and ABC

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After Holland-Dozier-Holland walked out of Motown in 1967 to start Invictus and Hot Wax, Berry Gordy concluded he had created what he called backroom superstars: writers and producers with enough name recognition to hold the label hostage. His first fix was the Clan, a collective credit used on Supremes singles such as Love Child and I'm Livin' in Shame. In 1969 he perfected the idea with a four-man team of Alphonso Mizell, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards and Gordy himself, credited on records only as The Corporation, complete with a trademark symbol.

The team was built to launch the Jackson 5, and between 1969 and 1971 it delivered I Want You Back, ABC, The Love You Save, Mama's Pearl and Maybe Tomorrow. Gordy, a songwriter before he was an executive, acted as editor: he demanded explosive hooks in the first 10 seconds and upbeat major keys suited to a pre-teen Michael Jackson, while Mizell, Perren and Richards supplied jazz-trained bass lines and rhythm tracks. By 1972 Gordy dissolved the unit and Hal Davis took over Jackson 5 production. Later compilations dropped the corporate credit and named the four men individually.

• Mizell and Perren were college friends with jazz and R&B training, while Richards was an established Motown guitarist and producer.
• ABC and The Love You Save both reached number one in 1970.
• Freddie Perren's wife Christine Yarian co-wrote with the team, including Give Love on Christmas Day for the Jackson 5's Christmas album.
• The Corporation wrote and produced Bless You, the final hit for Martha and the Vandellas before the group disbanded in 1972.
• The episode frames the team as a wartime cabinet, assembled for a crisis and retired once the Jackson 5 were established and artists like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye won control of their own work.