motown and i chose motown.ore i went to motown, i called pastor, said listen, i need your blessings. like the elders. i need your blessings, the chairman, berry gordy. i thought it was a blessing and i thought that motown kind of lost some of its luster. by infusing it with new artists and taking it in a soulful direction, that's always been the music of young america, then i could help. >> what about the idea of -- and these are kind of urban legends, but many have said that you were the person who coined "neosoul." talk to me about the whole genre and dynamic and wave of what that did for black america. >> many people say it, but it is not many people. it is a fact. i did coin the phrase. i coined the phrase from a young artist that i put out that i was responsible for cultivating his image. deangelo. when deangelo came, there was to me a certain level of just ignorance out there. i don't want to say jerry curls or anything, but some of the culture had left. i said, you know what? deangelo, you should wear co

. ♪ whenever i'm with him ♪ something inside >> most people don't put kind of me and motown or me andwhere as that's the real -- that's the thing i started off listening to. probably "heat wave" to me is one song that just -- you know, captures what motown is, straight from the very beginning. i used to just buy anything that was on the label, because you could trust the labels, you know? you wouldn't be buying something that was going to interest you or find good. ♪ i won't be long yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ i won't be long yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah >> the first music for me, of course, was the beatles, you know? i was kind of 13, meet the beatles over here was probably my first, you know, album i went stupid over. but "it won't be long" was the opening track. when the needle went on the record, you would hear -- i used to play air guitar to that in the mirror, pretending i was john lennon or paul. fantastic period to grow up in, you know? ♪ i'll still be by your side >> i came across most of the tongs from the group called the action. i've got a favorite single of theirs is "i'll keep holding on

well, at that time, motown and tamla and those labels were not so successful. what was big then was disco, and especially in new york. so the big records on the radio were-- like, patrick juvet had a song called i love america. the village people had y.m.c.a., and there was a record pool, which i remember was the most influential in terms of getting records on the radio and from the disco, communicating the needs of the public, and that disco pool-- record pool-- was made up of 25 jocks who played in gay clubs, and-- you know, larry levan, larry patterson, and tee scott. i mean, it was all these popular disco deejays, and they were doing what-- the leader of that pool, judy weinstein, said that disco was black music made easy for white people to dance to. and that became-- the most important input on black radio was disco. and so, when you're in the ghetto, and you're listening to y.m.c.a. or i love america by patrick juvet on your black radio station, there's a disconnect, and what always happens when culture, you know, rises above the masses or rises to a dif

. >>> the rays save face, the bills sweep the braves, and a nifty double play in motown. plus, three is the magic number for jose lopez. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. >>> on this first one day of fall, we're tracking heat in the south and heavy rain in the northern plains. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, the baseball season winds down and the pennant races heat up, one team already knows which pitcher which start their postseason. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >> good morning. the minnesota twins were the first team to clench their division. even though the playoffs are two weeks away, they named francisco lariano their one game starter. they don't know who they will play but they are ready to go. great play in the third. reached behind his back, snared the comebacker with his glove. done after two innings. there was a two-hour rain delays. rays won it, 7-2, they're 1 1/2 back in the a.l. east. we sa

the soul music legend recorded her first top-10 single when she was just a teenager living in motown. her latest project is the critically acclaimed new cd called "interpretations -- the british rock songbook." from the project, here is part of the george harrison classic. ♪ pityain't it a for getting to give backe ity?t it a p we keep taking each other's love love, love, love ? ♪'t it a pity tavis: bettye lavette, an honor to have you on the program. >> thank you so much, tavis. i am honored. tavis: what the make of your voice? >> i cannot believe that suddenly people have discovered it. i think i waited for so long to hear them. this is my 48th year in show business -- not in life, show business. so to suddenly have people saying these things, the things they are saying, it is overwhelming to me they would suddenly discover me and say those things. i always kind of thought eventually they would discover me, but not that they would say the things they are saying. tavis: what the make of the fact you have been doing this almost 50 years and you are just now becoming critically acclaim

detroit has gone hollywood, find out why film and tv makers have found their new home and are turning motownthen a 55-year-old man suffered severe burns to both of his hands in a 2006 fire, he is only the third double hand transplant in the country and he's going to tell us how he's doing live on our show. >>> and the premiere of "snl," "saturday night live" starts it's 36th year, can you believe it, this weekend. what can we expect from the not ready for prime time players? we'll have a preview right here on "today." >>> before we get to that, we have got a lot of heat "today" and tomorrow? >> we have got warm weather along the eastern seaboard, sizzling in the southwest, showers in southern texas and it's going to be hot in the southeast. and then sunday, heavy rain along the southeastern atlantic coast. warm to hot weather f >> some fog in the area this morning but the more persistent cloud cover will be further north, along with rainshowers activity. we have a dry forecast but a >>> and of course, it's friday, that means we have to tell you about the biggest night of the week, sunday nig

. >> straight out of motown, a robot rocking the silicon valley by blending video came with social networking. >> also ahead tonight, some surprising news involving rodney king. the connection it a juror in his civil trial. >>> and why you may not want to stick with non-stick cookware if ntkids. potential danger for your little ones. we're back in two. >>> well, it is tough for parents to tell if doctors can't if that cough is a cold or something more serious. whooping cough is difficult to diagnose, and that's part of the problem in stopping the state's outbreak. dr. bruce hensel from our los angeles station reports. >> reporter: runny nose, sometimes just a little cough. it might not always sound like life-threatening, even to doctors, which is why sometimes they miss the diagnosis. several babies who went to doctors with these symptoms were treated for congestion or mild upper respiratory infections that turn out to be potentially deadly whooping cough. by the time they developed the telltale signs, it was too late. dr. jonathan fielding says we can prevent deaths if we're just more vigila

. >> reporter: motown legend smoky robinson was trying out something new too.l. you're in charge of what exactly? >> you name it. >> reporter: even the great soul singer has had to adapt to the decline of cd sales and the digital world. it's a new business, isn't it? >> it sure is. it's another whole new business. the record business is another animal now. >> reporter: what do you think of it? >> it's frightening. >> reporter: what frightens you? >> the fact that i think that it's almost like we're going back to the days of the minstrel where you just do music and nobody pays for it. >> reporter: a lot has changed since roland swenson co-founded south by southwest 24 years ago. at some point did you say to yourself, oh, my god, what have i done here? >> yeah, everyday, yeah. it took on its own life. i'm its servant. >> reporter: swenson a former band manager and journalist presides over the sprawling operation from a little office called director's hell in the back of austin's convention center. if there's a problem, it's his job to put out the fire. >> we don'

slacking off, smoking pot, shrugging down beers at break time in detroit a handful of motown auto workersn the act. pounding the brewskies and burning a lot more than rubber on the job. and the only reason these guys still even have a steady 9:00 to 5:00, because you, the american taxpayer bailed out the motor city. fox affiliate reporter rob wolchek with a gotcha, you will not forget. >> there ain't no party like a detroit party. the party in this park is off the hook. drinking, smoking. getting a quick buzz because this party is not at all minor. it is not even noon yet. hey guys. hate to be a buzz kill, shouldn't you guys be building cars? you know, the government spent a lot money bailing you guys out. >> get out of here. >> you're coming out here on your lunch break, drinking like this? this is chrysler's jefferson north assembly plant. more than three million square feet of factory. 2833 well-paid union auto workers pass through these gates. inside, they build one of the crown jewels of the chrysler line, the 2011 jeep grand cherokee. [applause] less than two months ago, president b

today he's sharing his soul with "going back" a new cd covering very faus motown tunes.earned so well ♪ ♪ in my youth >> it is phil collins and you said that's a carole king tun what did she say when she heard it? >> she was monitoring it on youtube. i got an e-mail, she was in tears. it's, you know, her and jerry guthrie from the 1960s. >> they were married at the time, weren't they? >> yeah. it is a beautiful song. and it certainly puts this whole album in somewhat -- >> i love the album for so many reasons. i was plang it in my dressing room. you leave the old classics the way they are. why did you decide to keep them that way? >> i guess it is two ways of doing it. there is the way you go in there and stamp something new on it, and i didn't think these songs could be really improved upon. i also bigger for me was the fact i never got a chance to sing them. it is a selfish album. i just wanted to sing em. i got some of the funk brothers that played on the original tracks. they came over and played. and it was just everyday it was just likewe were comparing the old stu