BRENDA HOLLOWAY:TOO HOT FOR MOTOWN?

Brenda Holloway is my most favorite female singer of the Motown Era. I often wondered why she never charted like the rest of the "girl" groups. Berry Gordy and his "interest" in Diana Ross may have played a big part. Or Brenda's refusals to be just Berry's "girl" may have caused it. Most likely that Ms H had a very strong snarky sense of her own purpose, style and obvious singing talent.

Brenda like Mary Wilson (also too pretty for Motown) was pushed aside for Mr. Gordy's personal agendas.Read this fabulous article that tells the entire history of Brenda at Motown.

Brenda Holloway: Too Hot For Motown?

Well Brenda's been called the Most Beautiful Woman Ever Signed to Motown Records and no one's going to argue you that. Brenda Holloway had the beauty, and the voice. But it wasn't her voice that got her signed to Motown.

Berry Gordy happened to be there the night she lip-sync Mary Wells song "My Guy", even though Berry didn't hear her voice, he just had to her have her on his label, and he kind of figured she could sing because she had the emotions and attitude when she sung, plus he found her very attractive, and after that night she had a contract.

Berry showed a lot of interest in Brenda Holloway, groomed her for stardom, in her first time in Detroit, she stayed with various family members of Berry Gordy's. Berry Gordy was looking for another "MARY WELLS", and it certainly look like she could fill Mary Wells shoes.

Now let's talk about the Motown Years. It wasn't her voice that caught Berry Gordy's eye it was the skin-tight gold pantsuit that she filled out, but it was Brenda Holloway's voice that made her Motown's first major Los Angeles discovery.

Brenda had a lot of sex appeal, she was too sexy for Motown, in her live performances she would have the men yelling and screaming, but she was scared sometimes after shows because the women wanted to cut her throat for having their men yelling for her.

Brenda Holloway's looked up to Tina Turner, she didn't want to be like The Supremes, or Kim Weston, or The Vandellas, she wanted to maybe start a new image.

Berry was very much attracted to this youthful beauty, but Brenda put it bluntly that "Either I be your woman or I sing", After that, she said he never pushed me again. Brenda said a lot of the other women singers were jealous of me because I would stay with Gwen, Berry's sister and his parents.

Brenda Holloway yearned for fame and did everything asked of her (with a little back-talk) believing this could be the quickest route to success.
She got reputation for her stage outfits, they would come to see her sing, but mostly to see what she was wearing, onstage she dressed elegantly in shimmering tight-fitting gowns, she put The Supremes to shame, they couldn't copy her outfits.

She toured North America with The Beatles in 1965. However towards her 4 year stay with Motown it became apparent she was being ignored by the Motown offices. She had reverted to a second-class priority because she said "Motown's policy was to build one act at a time or their favorites.

When The Supremes were taking off, the company would pull in records so that The Supremes could go for the million. When I asked why my records were being pulled, Berry just simply said WAIT YOUR TURN, He just kept telling me that.

My records would go out of stock and stores were told to re-order. It was usually at a crucial point when the singles couldn't be got, so they weren't played and didn't go into the charts. I feel Motown really exploited me. For instance, they let The Supremes study my tapes and take songs from me.

Maybe Brenda Holloway wasn't meant for Motown, too hot, too daring, too sexy. Motown couldn't handle her, didn't know what to do with her. Motown of course wanted to keep their good, wholesome image. Brenda is getting her recognition now.

Her music is available in stores and online, the hit songs and the never-heard or released classics that should of became hits. You're in for a treat when you hear some of those classic soul songs. She lives in Los Angeles, California. She still working hard, still a main attraction and she still looks good in gold.


BRENDA HOLLOWAY

I COULD NEVER LOVE ANOTHER: DAVID RUFFIN

" I Know You Want to Leave Me But I Refuse To Let You Go!"

The Temptations were the most consistently successful of the guy bands at Motown. The original line up with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks as the lead singers in my opinion have never been topped. The many incarnations of the groups had future successes as well but that raw sexual voice of David Ruffin was irreplaceable.

Davis Eli Ruffin (January 18, 1941 – June 1, 1991)

FROM DAVID'S WEBSITE

Fabulous Soulful lead singer of The Classic Five (Original) Temptations from 1964 to 1968 David was the lead voice on such famous songs as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" and many more. Known for his unique sexy raspy and anguished vocals, Ruffin is one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 for his work with the Temptations.

Smokey Robinson saw Ruffin’s unique voice that was "mellow" yet "gruff". Robinson thought that if he could write just the perfect song for Ruffin's voice, then he could have a smash hit. That song, "My Girl" recorded in November 1964 and released a month later, became the group's first #1 single and its signature song, and elevated Ruffin to the role of lead singer and front man.

He was just home from a British tour with ex-Temptations Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards. Friends said he was carrying proceeds from the tour of somewhere between $10,000 and $40,000.

On June 1, 1991 after a whole evening of drinking in a Philadelphia bar, Ruffin purchased several vials of crack cocaine at 2:00 a.m., by 2:25 a.m., the cocaine was gone and Ruffin was unconscious. David's final performance in a crack house had lasted 25 minutes, and there would be no encore.

Twenty-five minutes later, he was dumped from a loaned limousine at the emergency room of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, the driver told hospital staffers that Ruffin had overdosed, then quickly left. By 4:00 a.m., fifty-five minutes after he was admitted, the 50-year-old former motown star, who once rolled up to concerts in a mink-lined limo apart form the rest of his group, was, dead, with $53 in his pockets.

It was only when the FBI did a fingerprint check that the singer was positively identified. His death was ruled accidental, due to an adverse reaction to cocaine and other drugs.

Ruffin had been in and out of rehabilitation centers since 1967, and in 1987 was sent to jail because of a drug-related parole violation.

Ruffin's funeral was held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, June 10, 1991, amidst huge crowds of mourners at New Bethel Baptist Church, during which members of The Temptations sung "My Girl" en masse. Following the services, David was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetary in Detroit.

MORE ON THE REAL GOODFELLAS

Henry Hill grew up in Brooklyn, New York and at an early age ran errands for the local Lucchese crime family. Being of Italian and Irish decent, Hill was never "made" into the crime family, but was a soldier of capo, Paul Vario, and participated in hijacking trucks, loan sharking, bookmaking and took part in the infamous 1967 Air France heist among others.

The Air France Heist

In 1967 mobster Henry Hill, aged 23, took part in the $420,000 burglary at the Air France air-cargo terminal in New York City's JFK International Airport.

 
The heist is memorable for its sheer audacity, and the oddness of the target, particularly in that an airline should keep such sums in storage at an airport: Air France was the carrier for American currency that had been exchanged in France by tourists and military personnel.

After Hill's close friend Tommy DeSimone vanished and he ignored warnings from his associates to stop dealing drugs, Hill became paranoid that he would soon be killed and became an F.B.I. informant. His testimony aided in the conviction of 50 criminals

Tommy DeSimone May 24, 1950 – January 14, 1979

MY FAVORITE CORVETTES

I NEED YOU: THE RATIONALS

This weekend as I was digging around in the archives at my rocker pal's house I ran into a picture of MGT and Scott Morgan the lead singer/guitarist of The Rationals and many more bands to come.

Dennis Thompson/Scott Morgan

I came home and flamed up You Tube searching for my favorite Rationals song "I Need You" and I found it! I LOVE THIS SONG

As a fearless teenage girl I hitch-hiked from Ypsilanti to downtown Ann Arbor one summer day with a pal and who picked us up? THE RATIONALS! They had a van full of guys and band equipment. They were on their way home from playing somewhere and gave us dizzy girls a ride to the Diag and off we went. Really nice bunch of guys and thanks for the ride in case we were too dumbstruck to say it then..

The Rationals had a big hit singing Respect, the famous soul tune first done by Otis Redding and of course our favorite diva Aretha Franklin. But to be honest as a girl from Ypsilanti I burned up my 45 copy of The Rationals version of RESPECT Last FM Love this one too Had You Told It Like It Was Scott's vocals on Respect are fabulous and it is blasting out of my 5.1 speakers right now as I write about Scott and his music.

As I have been delving into the life of Machinegun Thompson for his blog I keep running into Scott Morgan, Tony Slug and their bandmates online. They have a really hot band now THE HYDROMATICS Scott rocks harder than ever. CITY SLANG

By KEN SHIMAMOTO Whether you're a garage fanatic, an R&B lunatic, or a Motor City maniac (I claim all of the above), Scott Morgan's got the goods to satisfy your particular jones.When you think about sixties veterans with great R&B-inflected rock voices, the one that stands the tallest, in terms of uncompromising integrity and overall quality of recorded work, has to be the estimable Mr. Morgan.

Just look at the competition. Of his Detroit/Ann Arbor contemporaries, Mitch Ryder hasn't had it (IT being the confluence of talent, material, and band) since 1971's Detroit. Bob Seger started out like he might be the best of all (those songwriting chops!), but wound up spinning his pickup truck wheels in the morass of AOR pablum. Steve Marriott (RIP)? Paul Rodgers? Rod Stewart?

All of 'em had the pipes, the tunes, the bands; all of 'em enjoyed more commercial success, but somewhere along the line, all of 'em lost the essential spark that made them great to begin with. Scott is the noble exception. He's been kicking out the righteous jams since 1962, starting out as a junior high school kid in Ann Arbor, Michigan, fronting soulful garage kings the Rationals; moving on in the seventies to hard-rocking Detroit "supergroup" Sonic's Rendezvous Band (with Fred "Sonic" Smith from the MC5, Scott "Rock Action" Asheton from the Stooges, and Gary Rasmussen from the Up); soldiering on into the eighties and nineties, well below the radar of public consciousness, with his own vehicles the Scott Morgan Band and Scots Pirates (often in tandem with the unbeatable rhythm team of Asheton and Rasmussen). And he's still sho 'nuff doin' it. As garage bands go, the Rationals were almost too good to be true.

See Scott Morgan's Website HERE

 

NOTHING BUT A HEARTACHE: THE FLIRTATIONS

THE FLIRTATIONS!

A British-based R&B female group, who originally came from the USA. The Supremes were extremely popular during the late 60s, and record companies were keen to record any female groups who sounded like them. The Flirtations were the beneficiaries of this phenomenon.

The members were sisters Shirley and Earnestine Pearce and Viola Billups. The Pearce sisters had earlier been in the Gypsies, but after minor success the group broke up. Recording in England for Deram Records, the Flirtations had a notable US hit in 1969 with a Supremes-styled number, "Nothing But A Heartache" (number 34 pop), which sounded rather retrograde in the soul market, where it did not chart. The track later became a favorite in Northern Soul clubs.... and one of my most favorite songs from the retro vault....

The members were sisters Shirley and Earnestine Pearce and Viola Billups. The Pearce sisters had earlier been in the Gypsies, but after minor success the group broke up. Recording in England for Deram Records, the Flirtations had a notable US hit in 1969 with a Supremes-styled number, "Nothing But A Heartache" (number 34 pop), which sounded rather retrograde in the soul market, where it did not chart. The track later became a favorite in Northern Soul clubs.... and one of my most favorite songs from the retro vault....

The Flirtations had it all... the excitement, the gorgeous mod pop styles, great harmonies, and hot pop songs and arrangements supplied by Bickerton/Watterton. "Nothing But a Heartache"

Watch this ultra cool video and those outfits are too die for....

HELLO GORGEOUS: FUNNY GIRL!

Funny Girl is a 1968 musical film based on the stage musical of the same name. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.

Its original title was My Man. The screen adaptation, directed by William Wyler, paired Barbra Streisand with Omar Sharif in the role of Nick Arnstein, while Kay Medford repeated her stage role, and Walter Pidgeon was cast as Flo Ziegfeld.

The film was a commercial and critical success, gaining Streisand an Academy Award for Best Actress. It became the top grossing film of 1968, and received seven Academy Award nominations

FUNNY GIRL was the very first Barbra Streisand film that I saw in a theater in 1968. It was an amazing experience to watch Barbra sing for the first time. From the moment Ms Streisand comes into view the theater audience was mesmerized. We sat engulfed for the entire length of the movie. Applause burst at the conclusion by a happy audience. Even the soldiers applauded what was soon to become one of the top chick flicks of all time.

Even more mesmerizing was the appearance of Omar Sharif onscreen. Omar was so handsome in that film... It was easy to identify with poor Fanny Brice falling in love with the gorgeous gambler.

The music from the film was addictive. I have had 4 copies of the albums and played them till the grooves were shot. Now I have the soundtrack on cd and on my Ipod too.

Funny Girl had a completely different feel to it compared to other Hollywood films. Barbra Streisand didn't fit the bill of the average movie star of the time. She had imperfections. Her face, her body type, and her voice were totally different. All the more reason that I identified with her character. The sheer force of her talent and unique style drove this film.

If you have never seen this film watch the clip and then run to the video store and buy/rent Funny Girl. My favorite scene and song is My Man