Berry Gordy

Diana Ross, out and about shilling her autobio, Secrets of a Sparrow, drops a bombshell on Monday's Oprah Winfrey TV show that isn't even in the book: That the oldest of her three daughters, Rhonda Suzanne, was fathered by Motown founder Berry Gordy, who fashioned the singer's rise to stardom. "Rhonda has two fathers," Ross tells Winfrey. "(First husband) Bob (Silberstein) is her father. He has raised her . . . yet Berry Gordy is her father. " Gordy acknowledges Rhonda, 22, as his own. In the book, Ross writes that during their marriage, Silberstein "was in a great deal of pain.

Ask Berry Gordy why Motown Records produced so many superstars and he'll tell you this: "Many of us are really great, but outside factors affect us," said the Motown founder. "I feel that less than 1 percent of all the people in the world ever reach their full potential. "All of us have raw talent. But raw talent isn't enough. It has to be nurtured and developed. And that's what we did. " An assumption we can safely make is that Gordy, a 64-year-old multimillionaire who lives on an estate in Los Angeles' Bel-Air section, is among that 1 percent of people who reached their full potential.

Esther Gordy Edwards, 91, who helped build Motown Records alongside her brother Berry Gordy Jr. and led efforts to turn its original Detroit headquarters into a museum, died Wednesday in Detroit. Mrs. Edwards was a Motown executive for nearly three decades, holding numerous leadership positions within the music company whose artists included Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and the Four Tops. Motown Records, which Berry Gordy started with a family loan in 1959, churned out scores of global hits from the building it dubbed "Hitsville, U.S.A.

MANY of Michael Jackson's most ardent fans believe he was most influenced by James Brown, Smokey Robinson, Fred Astaire and Diana Ross. But the skills and direction he assimilated from them were merely the icing on an explosive cake. That recipe was given to Michael by the unbelievable Frankie Lymon. The Lymon sound, energy and exuberant buoyancy were all incorporated by Michael, just as Lymon's group the Teenagers influenced the Jackson 5. What's more, two huge fans of Frankie Lymon were Berry Gordy and Quincy Jones.

SECRETS OF A SPARROW Diana Ross (Villard / $22) It's a shame that Diana Ross' memoirs, "Secrets of a Sparrow," aren't available on CD. If it were, you could fast-forward, getting 30- or 40-second snippets from each chapter and be done with it - rather than wading through all 280 pages. Which is not to say this is a bad book. It is to say that you have to looooooove Diana Ross in order to finish it without a couple tablets of No-Doz and an extremely high tolerance for overwriting.

Mary Wilson admits that at age 42, she is a little young to publish her memoirs. But there's quite a story packed into those years. "Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme" (St. Martin's Press, $16.95) tells about her experiences as one-third of Motown's most glamorous and successful singing group of the '60s. But Wilson, now pursuing a solo career, has hardly retired from show business. So why the rush to release her autobiography this month? The prologue of "Dreamgirl" holds a clue.

You might notice that your favorite comic strips or editorial cartoons have the same theme today. It's no coincidence. It's all part of a plan by more than 100 cartoonists to raise public awareness of the homeless. The participants include Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury), Jim Scancarelli (Gasoline Alley), Jim Davis (Garfield), Dik Browne (Hagar the Horrible), Mell Lazarus (Momma) and editorial cartoonists Doug Marlette, Paul Conrad and Mike Peters. "The goal of the project is to tug at America's heartstrings through its funny bone," said a spokesman for the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

FOREVER, DIANA Diana Ross (Motown) 1/2 Listening to Diana Ross' new boxed set of musical memoirs couldn't possibly give you the whole picture of why she was The Boss long before Bruce Springsteen. As the first real diva, black or white, of the rock era (The Supremes' first Top 40 hit was released the year before Barbra's, and Aretha was too countrified), her music hasn't been just about the music; it's been as much about the vogueing. And with her attitude, her gowns, her hairweaves, nobody - sorry, Madonna - could strike a pose better.

Despite knowing that it was hopeless, my affair with Tom Jones became more intense than ever. Ironically, Tom's devotion to his wife and child was one of the things about him I admired most. Never once did he even hint that he would ever leave her, but I couldn't let go. In October 1969 the Supremes hosted The Hollywood Palace, which meant that Diane (Ross) hosted and we just sang. On this show Diane introduced the Jackson Five in their first national television appearance. Diane's departure from the Supremes was announced in early November; the word had been out around Motown for some time.

A cadre of musicians, including Smokey Robinson , Claudette Robinson of the Miracles , Martha Reeves and Rosalind Ashford of the Vandellas , and the Four Tops ' Duke Fakir gathered at Detroit's Bethel AME Church on Wednesday to bid farewell to Motown Historical Museum founder Esther Gordy Edwards , who died last week at 91. Stevie Wonder , 61, sang a medley of "Sweetest Someone I Know" and "Isn't She Lovely," and a...

Esther Gordy Edwards, 91, who helped build Motown Records alongside her brother Berry Gordy Jr. and led efforts to turn its original Detroit headquarters into a museum, died Wednesday in Detroit. Mrs. Edwards was a Motown executive for nearly three decades, holding numerous leadership positions within the music company whose artists included Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, and the Four Tops. Motown Records, which Berry Gordy started with a family loan in 1959, churned out scores of global hits from the building it dubbed "Hitsville, U.S.A.

MANY of Michael Jackson's most ardent fans believe he was most influenced by James Brown, Smokey Robinson, Fred Astaire and Diana Ross. But the skills and direction he assimilated from them were merely the icing on an explosive cake. That recipe was given to Michael by the unbelievable Frankie Lymon. The Lymon sound, energy and exuberant buoyancy were all incorporated by Michael, just as Lymon's group the Teenagers influenced the Jackson 5. What's more, two huge fans of Frankie Lymon were Berry Gordy and Quincy Jones.

If I'm blessed to reach 56 years of age, I hope to be a better man than I am now, at 42. I hope to be more gracious, to have found some peace, hope not to be nursing ancient grudges. I hope, in other words, to be nothing like 56-year-old Diana Ross. Or, for that matter, her erstwhile fellow Supreme, the also-56 Mary Wilson. What was supposed to have been a triumphant tour reuniting the most successful American pop music group of the 1960s was canceled last week, a victim of microscopic ticket sales.

"Calling out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat?" - Martha and the Vandellas It's been 40 years now since the "brand new beat" was born. Forty years since sharkskin suits, pomaded curls and beehive 'dos that stabbed the sky. Forty years since sweet sugar met raw rhythm and soul music was born. Forty years since a song by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles ignited a fire called Motown. Forty years. And, as is usually the case on such occasions, we find ourselves gathered here, looking for legacy.

Virtually all her life, Rhonda Ross has known deep down she would follow in the footsteps of her Supremely famous mother, Diana Ross. "I have a wonderful picture, taken on a stage in London, when I was about 2 years old," recalled Ross, one of the guest performers at tonight's United Negro College Fund black tie (and sneakers) "Sports Ball" at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. "I'm in her arms, and it looks like I've just blown a kiss to the audience. " Growing up in Los Angeles and later New York with theaters, TV stations and recording studios as her playground, she had no concept at all of stage fright, said the now 23-year-old Rhonda.

Ask Berry Gordy why Motown Records produced so many superstars and he'll tell you this: "Many of us are really great, but outside factors affect us," said the Motown founder. "I feel that less than 1 percent of all the people in the world ever reach their full potential. "All of us have raw talent. But raw talent isn't enough. It has to be nurtured and developed. And that's what we did. " An assumption we can safely make is that Gordy, a 64-year-old multimillionaire who lives on an estate in Los Angeles' Bel-Air section, is among that 1 percent of people who reached their full potential.

SECRETS OF A SPARROW Diana Ross (Villard / $22) It's a shame that Diana Ross' memoirs, "Secrets of a Sparrow," aren't available on CD. If it were, you could fast-forward, getting 30- or 40-second snippets from each chapter and be done with it - rather than wading through all 280 pages. Which is not to say this is a bad book. It is to say that you have to looooooove Diana Ross in order to finish it without a couple tablets of No-Doz and an extremely high tolerance for overwriting.

FOREVER, DIANA Diana Ross (Motown) 1/2 Listening to Diana Ross' new boxed set of musical memoirs couldn't possibly give you the whole picture of why she was The Boss long before Bruce Springsteen. As the first real diva, black or white, of the rock era (The Supremes' first Top 40 hit was released the year before Barbra's, and Aretha was too countrified), her music hasn't been just about the music; it's been as much about the vogueing. And with her attitude, her gowns, her hairweaves, nobody - sorry, Madonna - could strike a pose better.