The Motown Legends revue is touring the UK this week, different arenas each night for a week and last night was time to touch down in London at Wembley. I was a bit nervous about how full the arena would be but I shouldn't have worried - it wasn't sold out (boo!) but it was full, with a sprinkling of girls in their 20s and the majority of punters being aged 40+ determined to partay!
First up was Junior Walker's All Stars who did a few songs and then left the stage while swathes of the audience were still trying to find their seats (including us) in the darkened arena. Junior died in the '90s and I don't know who any of the current band are but they belted it out nonetheless. Next up were The Miracles, without Smokey (obviously) and with only one surviving original member who sat on a stool doing the arm movements but none of the dance moves (and I don't blame him at all). They were fun and a good act but a little bit tribute act. Then the real stars emerged...
Martha Reeves and The Vandellas were, it has to be said, utterly fab (as ever)! Martha was, of course, centre stage, flanked by sister Lois (who became a Vandella in 1968) and baby sister Delphine (a Vandella since 1980). They are utterly professional, curtsying at the end of each song, graciously accepting our applause and being delightful. Lois was being a bit flirty with the front rows and Delphine looks a bit sleeker than when we saw the lasses before Christmas and Martha was, well, Martha, commanding the stage and audience with astonishing show-womanship and complete confidence. I've seen her do it before, but I love the way she reels off big names who've covered 'Dancing In The Street' and repeats, 'But it's *our* song!'. It is indeed!
In an appalling lack of judgement on behalf of the musical director, Martha only had four songs - with their back catalogue that's a significant error. But they sang the biggies - 'Heatwave' (very appropriate at the moment), 'Jimmy Mack', 'Nowhere To Run' and 'Dancing In The Street', all classics. All the lasses were on top form, I just wish we'd been closer to the stage. I have fond memories of their show at the Bloomsbury Ballroom just before Christmas and the pleasure of meeting them afterwards.
Then it was the turn of Mary Wilson (billed as 'of The Supremes') to take the stage in a no-captives manoeuvre, striding back and forth in a figure-hugging red dress and using her powerful voice to amazing effect. She may have 'oo'd and ah'd' on the Supremes records, but this lady really can sing! Her voice is very different to Diana Ross's so her take on the songs sounded really fresh. She's also the only member of the Supremes who was in all the different incarnations through the '60s and '70s.
She sang a range of Supremes hits and medleys, packing in as many as possible - it's odd to think how many hits they had back then that I could sing along to without thought. There was a lovely moment in the last few songs when she mentioned the 'Dreamgirls' film and said it wasn't the story of the Supremes but that some of the stories were close, such as the character of Effie being close to Florence Ballard who died in the '70s. She then said she was sure that if Florence was alive she'd join her on stage and then sang 'I Am Changing'. That was very touching and received a much deserved standing ovation. She proudly said that she was 65 years old and Motown was celebrating its 50th year. She looks good on it, too!
Then there was a half-time so we headed to the bars to have a drink before leaving - the Commodores were headlining but I've never been that interested in them so I was happy to leave early. It was also a testament to the age of the crowd to have a queue for the men's toilet full of men in their 50s and 60s with (I assume) problems 'down there' - mind you, I was in the queue as well ...
Getting home is always the problem, with tubes and trains and buses, most of which seemed to have difficulties last night, so, after nearly two hours I was on the bus on the final leg and received the text about Michael Jackson. That was a damper on the euphoria generated by the Motown lasses.
I won't claim to be a fan because I wasn't. I preferred the Jackson 5 to the Osmonds in the early '70s and I liked the re-emergence of the Jacksons in disco heaven later in the decade. I liked Michael's singles but I didn't get any of the albums (no, not even 'Thriller'). Irrespective of the massive sales and global superstardom, Michael and Quincey Jones changed the face of pop music in the early '80s and we're still reaping the whirlwind of that and should be grateful that he opened up and explored new avenues for music. I may be in a minority (of millions) but I actually like songs like 'Scream'.
His death is sad. Let's hope that his legacy is about music and video and invention and re-invention rather than the more personal stories that have dogged him in recent years. I haven't read enough to have a view on whether any of his strangeness is real or not. I will remember Michael for 'ABC', 'Rock With You', 'Thriller', 'Bad' and 'Scream', for dance moves and strange vocalisations, for killer beats and stage presence. The rest of it I'll ignore. It was nice to hear the tribute on Radio 4's 'Today' programme this morning that ended with 'I Want You Back' and then silence.
Michael was born two years before me. Look at what he achieved and marvel.
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