This layered big-band mix was captured at different times on two homemade eight-track tape recorders a device first used at Motown Records that could separately record eight different tracks and mix them together into one cohesive whole Producers could bring in the rhythm section, horns and strings, background singers, and lead vocalists all at different times while recording, and this approach made all the difference in the final product. A young electronics wizard named Michael McClain built these eight-track facilities, and Motown was one of the first record companies to use this approach to recording. Most other companies were still using two- and four-track recording systems.

Like Aldon Publishing, Berry Gordy and Motown employed several songwriting teams who were responsible for writing most of the major Motown hits in the 1960s. Brothers Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier (known collectively as Holland-Dozier-Holland or HDH) wrote and produced all of the Supremes' hits from 1964 and to early 1968. They also wrote most of the material recorded by the Four Tops and the Isley Brothers during the years between 1965 and1968. They composed several tunes for the Miracles and for Martha and the Vandellas. Typically, Eddie Holland worked with the vocal leads in the various groups, Lamont Dozier helped with vocal backgrounds and instrumental tracks, and Brian Holland handled the overall composition and assisted with backup vocal tracks. Another important songwriting duo at Motown was that of Strong and Whitfield. Barrett Strong gave up a singing career to write songs for others. He and writer-producer Norman Whitfield had a string of hits for Gladys Knight and the Pips and the Temptations. They also penned Motown’s biggest hit of the 1960s, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine ♫," which was recorded by Marvin Gaye.