Overview

The biography of Sylvia Moy, Motown's first certified female in-house producer and songwriter, and one of the authors behind classic hits like ""My Cherie Amour,"" ""Uptight (Everything's Alright),"" and a slew of other time-honored tunes. Imagine a world without the music of Stevie Wonder. A world without hits like ""I Was Made to Love Her"" and ""Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day."" That's the world we would live in had it not been for Sylvia Moy, a woman whose legacy has been carefully tucked away within the annals of music history-until now. It's No Wonder examines the groundbreaking career of the pioneer who battled sexism and broke down barriers to become Motown's first certified female in-house songwriter and producer. As the lone woman in a room full of men, the odds were stacked against Moy from the start. Amidst racial strife at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, most African American women who were allowed into the music industry could only dream of a career as a singer. Nevertheless, the Detroit native found unprecedented success as both a songwriter and producer. In addition to single-handedly saving Stevie Wonder's early career at Motown, Moy solidified herself as one of the label's most prolific composers, penning many of Wonder's classic hits as well as songs for other Motown acts like ""Honey Chile,"" ""It Takes Two,"" ""This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You),"" ""My Baby Loves Me,"" ""(We've Got) Honey Love,"" ""Forget Me Not,"" ""With a Child's Heart,"" and countless others. Meticulously researched, fiercely feminist, and told with the cooperation of Moy's estate, It's No Wonder is a historical corrective that restores Sylvia Moy to her rightful place at the forefront of music history.

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9780306833632

Table of Contents

Reviews

""It's No Wonder is a gem of a book. We have Sylvia Moy to thank for gifting the world with some of Stevie Wonder's greatest hits. We have Margena Christian to thank for capturing that powerful legacy in the pages of this stellar biography.""--Michelle Burford, New York Times bestselling co-author of ""Cicely Tyson: Just As I Am"" and ""More Myself: A Journey"" by Alicia Keys ""It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy is not just a magnificently written biography, but also an endearing love poem to and for one of the great and unsung sheroes of American popular music and culture. With the sanctified tools of a journalist, historian, soul searcher, and educator, Dr. Margena A. Christian has un-erased Sylvia Moy, a woman, a Black woman, who created hit records for Motown legends like Stevie Wonder, Kim Weston, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Isley Brothers, and Michael Jackson, but has been largely forgotten--until this book. Both a songwriter and producer when few women were even given the chance, let alone their full credits, Sylvia Moy pre-dated and predicted giants like Carole King, Madonna, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift. Indeed, this is her-story, as only a writer of Christian's immense talent and compassion could produce.""--Kevin Powell, bestselling author, acclaimed cultural-music-political critic, Grammy-nominated poet ""A loving, detailed, and revealing biography of one of Motown's great singers and songwriters and an even more loving, detailed, and revealing account of Motown on its way to the top.""--Peter Benjaminson, author of ""The Story of Motown,"" ""The Lost Supreme,"" ""Mary Wells,"" and ""Super Freak: The Life of Rick James"" ""There have been many books on Motown Records but none before have given songwriter Sylvia Moy center stage. The co-composer of 'My Cherie Amour, ' 'Uptight (Everything is Alright), ' 'It Takes Two, ' and so many other Motown hits has been overshadowed by Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield, and Holland-Dozier-Holland. This biography by a former Ebony magazine staffer not only illuminates Moy's talents, but shines a harsh light on some of the internal business practices that obscured credits and cost younger songwriters money. Definitely a fresh perspective on the greatest hit making machine of the '60s.""--Nelson George, Grammy Award-winning liner note writer, cultural critic, filmmaker, and author of ""Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound""

""Drawing on interviews with Moy's family, her Motown peers, and the artists she helped shape, [Christian] offers a portrait of a woman whose persistence and artistry changed the course of popular music. Christian writes with both scholarly precision and deep affection, balancing archival research with vivid storytelling. More than a biography, It's No Wonder is a long-overdue act of recognition.""--Booklist (starred review) ""It's No Wonder is a gem of a book. We have Sylvia Moy to thank for gifting the world with some of Stevie Wonder's greatest hits. We have Margena Christian to thank for capturing that powerful legacy in the pages of this stellar biography.""--Michelle Burford, New York Times bestselling co-author of ""Cicely Tyson: Just As I Am"" and ""More Myself: A Journey"" by Alicia Keys ""It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy is not just a magnificently written biography, but also an endearing love poem to and for one of the great and unsung sheroes of American popular music and culture. With the sanctified tools of a journalist, historian, soul searcher, and educator, Dr. Margena A. Christian has un-erased Sylvia Moy, a woman, a Black woman, who created hit records for Motown legends like Stevie Wonder, Kim Weston, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Isley Brothers, and Michael Jackson, but has been largely forgotten--until this book. Both a songwriter and producer when few women were even given the chance, let alone their full credits, Sylvia Moy pre-dated and predicted giants like Carole King, Madonna, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift. Indeed, this is her-story, as only a writer of Christian's immense talent and compassion could produce.""--Kevin Powell, bestselling author, acclaimed cultural-music-political critic, Grammy-nominated poet ""A loving, detailed, and revealing biography of one of Motown's great singers and songwriters and an even more loving, detailed, and revealing account of Motown on its way to the top.""--Peter Benjaminson, author of ""The Story of Motown,"" ""The Lost Supreme,"" ""Mary Wells,"" and ""Super Freak: The Life of Rick James"" ""There have been many books on Motown Records but none before have given songwriter Sylvia Moy center stage. The co-composer of 'My Cherie Amour, ' 'Uptight (Everything is Alright), ' 'It Takes Two, ' and so many other Motown hits has been overshadowed by Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield, and Holland-Dozier-Holland. This biography by a former Ebony magazine staffer not only illuminates Moy's talents, but shines a harsh light on some of the internal business practices that obscured credits and cost younger songwriters money. Definitely a fresh perspective on the greatest hit making machine of the '60s.""--Nelson George, Grammy Award-winning liner note writer, cultural critic, filmmaker, and author of ""Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound""

Author Information

Dr. Margena A. Christian is a retired Internship Director for Undergraduate Studies and Senior Lecturer in English and Professional Writing at the University of Illinois Chicago. Previously, she worked as a former Senior Editor and Senior Writer with EBONY magazine, and before that, she served as the Features Editor, Associate Editor and Assistant Editor for JET magazine. She's based in Chicago.

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