On the Road Again (and Cruisin’)
MOTOWN AMBASSADORS TRAVEL THE WORLD
How do you follow a 60th anniversary?
Why, with more anniversary celebrations, of course. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? And Motown has a track record in this regard. You may remember Motown 25, Motown 40, Motown 50…
To be fair, this year’s milestones are being marked by former Motown stars, not by the company itself – although its custodian, Universal Music, won’t mind the attention.
Those stars include Otis Williams and Mary Wilson, who have separately declared 2020 to be the 60th anniversary of the Temptations and the Supremes, respectively. As both were founder members, they’re entitled to do so (and more about the dates in a moment).
Diana in New Orleans, 2019 (photo: Charlie Steiner)
Wilson and Williams are perpetual performers, always on the road, where the “60th” branding can be deployed lightly or bigly. Whether Universal Music uses the opportunity to actively promote the groups’ recorded-music legacies remains to be seen.
Other stars of Hitsville U.S.A. have used dates to good effect. Just last year, Diana Ross put her 75th birthday to work with a “Diamond Diana” tiara of concerts across North America, plus the resurrection of her rain-drenched 1983 show in New York’s Central Park as a “one night only” cinematic event. The spruced-up film about it was entitled Diana Ross: Her Life, Love and Legacy, with 2019 moviegoers invited to be “part of the year-long Diamond Diana Celebration.”
The Jacksons chose 2017 for their 50th anniversary, cross-promoting their well-regarded coffee-table book, Legacy, with concerts and media appearances. They could have opted for other years – their first professional gig is said to have been in 1965 – but ’67 was when the youngsters won a talent contest at the Apollo Theater, and the big time beckoned.
Stevie Wonder didn’t wield an anniversary when he began performing his entire Songs In The Key of Life album in concert several years ago, but it sure was a celebration. Neither did Claudette Robinson when she worked with the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2016 to present an exhibit showcasing the Miracles’ legacy. The result was a delightful step back in time, nonetheless.
ROBINSON AT THE RODEO
So far in 2020, there’s no sign that Claudette’s “ex” is publicly going to mark his own 80th – birthday, that is. Yes, Smokey Robinson arrives at that age on February 19. He’s busy that month, including gigs in Chicago and Biloxi, Mississippi, but none on the day itself, it seems. Still, there’s “An Evening with Smokey Robinson” on February 22 at the Mesquite Championship Rodeo in Mesquite, Texas. And before anyone starts with the jokes, bear in mind that the show is part of a charity fundraiser to benefit teachers and students of the Mesquite school district.
(Before he gets to his 80th, Robinson might even have another reason for celebration. The 2020 Grammy awards will be handed out on January 26, and one of the contenders for best R&B album is Ventura by Anderson .Paak. It includes a track, “Make It Better,” on which Smokey sings.)
But back to Williams and Wilson. Otis, too, has a stake in the Grammys: the original cast album for Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations is one of five nominations in the Musical Theater Album category, and must be a favourite, given the show’s popularity on Broadway. That continues to set box-office records where it’s playing, taking close to $2 million a week in ticket sales.
Otis with his travel agents (yes, really)
What’s more, Ain’t Too Proud (which is based on Williams’ biography of the group) will undertake its first national tour this year. It will open in July in Providence, Rhode Island, followed by playdates across the country, including in Detroit. There’s even talk of a London production by year’s end, or soon after. At the ongoing Broadway edition, Ephraim Sykes, who plays David Ruffin, is leaving to play Michael Jackson in MJ: The Musical, which will debut in New York in August.
The popularity of Ain’t Too Proud obviously burnishes the Temptations’ appeal during their 60th anniversary year, which is predicated on when the five founding members got together as the Elgins. That same year, 1960, is when the Supremes stepped up to the plate, recording (as the Primettes) for Robert West’s LuPine label, before rebranding themselves and signing to Motown on January 15, 1961. Exactly four months later, the newly-named Temptations put pen to paper at Berry Gordy’s record company.
Williams’ group has begun a busy 2020 schedule: they’re due to perform this very night (17) in Phoenix, then again at shows booked across the U.S. for the next six months. In October, they resume their popular double-act with the Four Tops for a U.K. tour. Promotional material for that excursion shows five Temptations, but their own website now logs only four: Williams, Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks and Willie Green. A recent recruit, Larry Braggs, has apparently joined the long, long list of former members.
AT SEA, REMEMBERING THE MALT SHOP
Mary Wilson’s anniversary calendar is similarly stuffed with shows and appearances in the U.S. and Canada, from Alberta to Florida, from California to Connecticut. In addition to song, she has couture: her 2019 coffee-table book, Supreme Glamour, continues to attract attention for its dazzling display of costumes worn by the group over the course of 20 years.
If they’re lucky, Wilson will be willing to sign copies for fans on board this year’s Malt Shop Memories Cruise, a “floating music festival” which travels from Florida to Mexico and the Bahamas (and back) for a week in early November. The entertainment line-up also features many of the Supremes’ music contemporaries, such as the Righteous Brothers, the Tymes and Gladys Knight. Booked, too, is a version of the Miracles, albeit with no founder members. One of the latter – no less than Smokey himself – made an appearance on the Malt Shop Memories Cruise last year. (Can you guess what he sang?) A similar adventure, the Ultimate Disco Cruise, sets out to sea from Miami next month, with the Jacksons and the Commodores among those on board. Sail on!
Lionel takes Glastonbury by storm, 2015
Meanwhile, Diamond Diana continues to shine as a solo superstar during the Supremes’ anniversary year. She’s just completed a three-night stand with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Bannered as “NSO Pops: Diana Ross – Music Book 2020,” the set emphasised her solo repertoire, including “Home” and “Ease On Down The Road,” both from The Wiz. One reviewer suggested that the omission of significant Supremes hits – how could she not perform “I Hear A Symphony” with the NSO in back? – might have been “because of her bumpy past with the group.” Nonetheless, that same critic rated the show “impeccable,” and awarded Ross 10 out of 10.
During February and March, she will reach out and touch audiences across the U.S., then in April will present a new “residency show” at the Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Theater. Come June, she flies to Britain to perform there for the first time in 12 years with a “Top of the World” tour which takes in six major cities; at least half the dates are already sold out. A highlight of Ross’ U.K. itinerary will be her June 28 appearance at the Glastonbury festival, for what the organisers call “the legendary Sunday teatime slot” on the Pyramid stage, before an audience of more than 150,000 souls. Among previous such “Glasto” headliners have been Stevie Wonder (2010) and Lionel Richie (2015).
Richie returns to television’s American Idol as a judge next month, but he’s also travelling for much of the year, with multiple festival slots in the U.K. – including Hampton Court Palace and the Isle of Wight – as well as gigs throughout Continental Europe. These adventures are more than a foreign income opportunity: last June, the singer/songwriter was appointed as the first “global ambassador” for the international arm of renowned British youth charity The Prince’s Trust, established by future British monarch Charles, the Prince of Wales. “[Richie] will help us to scale up our work around the world,” said the Trust.
Both Richie and Ross have gone for years without new albums. In her case, the drought may end soon: she hinted last summer that a new recording project was under way. “I’ve been interviewing different writers and producers,” she said on stage in Las Vegas in June, mentioning Mark Ronson by name. Ross, of course, is no longer signed to Motown Records, but Universal Music would be a leading candidate to handle any new album – not least because the firm put out 2017’s Diamond Diana: The Legacy Collection and 2019’s vinyl reissue of her Wonderful Christmas Time set. Last year may have seen her 75th birthday, but doesn’t 2020 mark the 50th anniversary of her solo career?
There’s always a reason for a celebration…
More 2020 notes: in addition to the U.K., Diana Ross has summertime shows booked in Ireland and Spain. The Isley Brothers (Ronald and Ernie) have – guess what? – a 60th anniversary tour schedule, which includes American dates over the next several months, and a half-dozen in Britain during the summer. The pair might even include “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)” in their setlist. The Four Tops are playing U.S. shows in the spring, and team up with the Temptations on Staten Island in May. After February’s Ultimate Disco Cruise, the Jacksons jet off for the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta.
The fifth edition of the Blackpool International Soul Festival takes place on June 12-14, when G.C. Cameron is among those booked. At least three other Motown-blessed attractions – Chris Clark, Carolyn Crawford and the Elgins – are on the bill of Detroit A-Go-Go on October 23-25 when it touches down in Leeds in the north of England, after three years in the Motor City. The Grammy Museum exhibit, Motown: The Sound of Young America, finishes its run at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, at the end of this month, but is expected to show up elsewhere in due course.
If you prefer to stay at home, the 2019 film documentary Hitsville: The Making of Motown will likely play on British TV this year. It’s still running on Showtime in the U.S., while kiddie cartoon series Motown Magic continues its worldwide Netflix run. Speaking of home, that’s presumably where Stevie Wonder is staying for the moment, while waiting for that kidney transplant. His most recent appearance was in November, for the funeral of revered Detroit congressman John Conyers, Jr. On May 13, Stevie turns 70.