Bruno Mars and Motown Style

Bruno Mars sings several styles of music, mixing reggae and soul music, but his standout style is Motown. Some people complain about Mars’s version of Motown being phony, but perhaps the problem is that it’s not exactly Motown. It’s really an exciting new interpretation of Motown rather than being a true Motown core or imitation. It’s Motown for a younger crowd, in a new generation, combining fresh pop in the mix to create something else entirely.

One thing’s for sure: Mars has natural talent, with a smooth, controlled voice, and a James Brown/Michael Jackson mix of dancing ability. He often uses those talents to create something reminiscent of traditional Motown, while managing to have a fresh new sound. So how does Mars’s style match up against the traditional Motown style of the 70s?

The sound

The velvety singing voice and big band backdrop are what pull in the Motown feel to Mars’s music. One of the things that causes it to diverge into a boy band type of pop arena, however, is the beat. Mars tends to go for a hard back beat to form the backbone of a song. He also does not use tambourines to accent the back beat, as was part of the traditional Motown sound.

His singing style in many songs, such as “The Lazy Song,” and “Just the Way You Are” (non-Motown-style) moves along with the hard back beat to form more of a quick-moving dance pop song rather than the slightly slower, slightly more emoting sound of traditional Motown. Traditional Motown always had an R&B; touch, but many of Mars’s songs are all about fun, and getting people up to dance. They are not as much about really putting his soul into the song in a way that makes you feel the intent, and the “groove.” There are some exceptions, however, such as his song, “Grenade.”

The big band

The band is what adds to the Motown look, sound and feel of the group more than anything else. Multiple instruments, harmony, and coordinated dance moves are all part of traditional Motown music. The main difference from traditional Motown is the unexpected bit of flair the band gives to a set, sometimes giving the expected Motown flavor, and sometimes diverging from it.

The movement

Bruno Mars and the band tend to mix things up. Traditional Motown usually had coordinated dance moves, a la The Supremes. Mars sometimes goes with that formula, but usually takes a different track. For example, during a performance of “Locked Out of Heaven,” on “The Graham Norton Show,” Graham Norton and his other guests were taken by surprise when Mars and the band did a short segment of dancing in unison, after doing their own thing for most of the song.

His music videos almost always stray from the traditional Motown formula, even for songs that have the clear Motown sound. The music video for the song “Grenade” is one of his most Motown-sounding songs, but seems like a completely different type of music while you’re watching the video. If you listen to it without watching the video, however, you can imagine “The Jackson 5″ singing and performing the same song.