<P> Despite losing Holland--Dozier--Holland, Norman Whitfield, and some of its other hitmakers by 1975, Motown still had a number of successful artists during the 1970s and 1980s, including Lionel Richie and the Commodores, Rick James, Teena Marie, the Dazz Band and DeBarge . By the mid-1980s Motown had started losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to MCA Records (which began a US distribution deal with the label in 1983) and Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million . In 1989, Gordy sold the Motown Productions TV / film operations to Motown executive Suzanne de Passe, who renamed the company de Passe Entertainment and continues to run it as of 2012 . </P> <P> During the 1990s Motown was home to successful recording artists such as Boyz II Men and Johnny Gill, although the company itself remained in a state of turmoil . MCA appointed a revolving door of executives to run the company, beginning with Berry Gordy's immediate successor, Jheryl Busby . Busby quarreled with MCA, alleging that the company did not give Motown's product adequate attention or promotion . In 1991, Motown sued MCA to have its distribution deal with the company terminated, and began releasing its product through PolyGram . PolyGram purchased Motown from Boston Ventures three years later . </P> <P> In 1994, Busby was replaced by Andre Harrell, the entrepreneur behind Uptown Records . Harrell served as Motown's CEO for just under two years, leaving the company after receiving bad publicity for being inefficient . Danny Goldberg, who ran PolyGram's Mercury Records group, assumed control of Motown, and George Jackson served as president . </P> <P> By 1998, Motown had added stars such as 702, Brian McKnight, and Erykah Badu to its roster . In December 1998, PolyGram was acquired by Seagram, and Motown was absorbed into the Universal Music Group . Seagram had purchased Motown's former parent MCA in 1995, and Motown was in effect reunited with many of its MCA corporate siblings (Seagram had hoped to build a media empire around Universal, and started by purchasing PolyGram). Universal briefly considered shuttering the label, but instead decided to restructure it . Kedar Massenburg, a producer for Erykah Badu, became the head of the label, and oversaw successful recordings from Badu, McKnight, Michael McDonald, and new Motown artist India. Arie . </P>

The first hit record for motown from 1959 was