MARCH 1980

Let’s leave the ’70s behind – as referenced in the last few Motown Spotlight columns –  and shift up a gear into the next decade when I was working for Motown, and had moved apartment to North London as the owners of  48 Chepstow Road, Bayswater, where I rented a flat, wanted to sell the whole house. I was really sad to leave my memories behind, as, despite fighting a constant battle with damp patches in the bathroom  – which I invariably covered with Motown posters (although having Smokey Robinson looking down on me while I was splashing about in the bath was a little disconcerting!) – it was home to me for nearly ten years.  And, of course, so central to everywhere, and because of this, I was very much in demand or, should I say, my sofa was!

We’re hitting 1980 when Motown celebrated its twentieth anniversary (even though it was a year short) and to push home the occasion,  records and merchandising carried a specially-designed logo to celebrate the fact. More artists visited the UK than ever before and due to the high quality of music, the company enjoyed its best year since the sixties.  And what an absolute joy it was to work for Motown at this time.

Like its parent company, Jobete was also celebrating its twentieth anniversary.  To recap, the European branch of the publishing house was controlled by Motown’s International Department’s offices based in London which in turn, was part of the American Division based in Los Angeles. The lovely Peter Prince became vice-president of Motown International when Ken East left in 1979.  A music veteran of nearly thirty years, Peter worked as a Motown promoter in its early stages of the label’s existence in Europe. In 1980, he was responsible for Motown being licensed in thirty-four countries using eighteen different companies. Each licensee was reviewed every three years whereupon Motown was free to seek another.

Motown’s anniversary also coincided with the surprise return of The Temptations (Dennis Edwards, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Richard Street, Glenn Leonard) from their recording tenure at Atlantic Records. The group’s return was actually instigated by the beforementioned Smokey.  Otis remembered, “He was the revolving door as we called him because he helped us leave Motown and then helped us come back….The wheels were put in motion to reunite the two recording institutions. We just aired our differences, knowing that if we’re going to get back together, we’d better make sure the sheets were clean. Motown is like a father who really wants to do right.”  The first releases were the “Power” single and album, where the inner cover pictured the group, suitcases in hand, walking into Hitsville, 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Motown’s original home of course.

In spite of a huge marketing and promotion campaign, their return didn’t attract as many record sales as hoped.  Otis said he believed the single’s content had a lot to do with the disinterest, because it was highly political. ”We got caught up in the riots in Miami and the jocks were saying ‘oh no, five black guys talking about the masses and moving mountains.’  They just didn’t want to go back to the sixties stuff (when) everybody was marching and protesting and the jocks couldn’t hold back on what people wanted to hear.  It’s not that way now.”

Then there was Jermaine Jackson, the only remaining brother at Motown and husband to Hazel Gordy, who had his first taste of major success with his biggest selling hit ever “Let’s Get Serious” taken from the album of the same name, released in March 1980. The single, a top ten UK hit, was written by Stevie Wonder and Lee Garrett for Stevie to record, but Berry Gordy heard it and insisted his son-in-law record it. ”As well as Stevie writing and producing the three songs for the album he also involved himself in the songs I did for myself,” Jermaine explained at the time. “So much so he wanted his songs to fit my concept.  He said that my songs inspired him to write two completely new tracks ‘Let’s Get Serious’  and ‘Where Are You Now’ (with Renee Hardaway) and the third, ‘You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me’ which I recorded years ago with the Jackson 5, and sang lead on.”

The “Let’s Get Serious” album, which went on to sell two million globally,  was dance-orientated much against Jermaine’s wishes. He believed disco had damaged the industry, with record companies saturating the market with a basic four/four beat at the expense of other types of music. Actually, he probably had a point there. However, he conceded when he realised this could be his most successful album to date despite his two year absence from the recording studio.  “I decided to stop what I was doing and go over my past to make sure ‘Let’s Get Serious’ was the best. I’m the first to admit that the previous albums I did on my own didn’t do as well as I hoped, but they did give me valuable experience and I learned from those. The lack of my success forced me into searching for the right ingredients and I believe that’s what has made this new album so acceptable.”

The single was a typical Stevie Wonder composition.  Listen, he even sang the middle chorus, therefore when Jermaine and his wife Hazel, who he married in 1973, flew to London to promote the single on British television, Jermaine was forbidden by Stevie to sing the song ‘live’. However, small screen exposure was later possible via a Continental video featuring Jermaine actually singing Stevie’s part, unbeknown to the Wonder man.  Mr. Jackson’s UK promotional tour was a squeaky tight schedule of daytime media interviews and night-time personal appearances. I remember one evening over the rest. At The Empire Ballroom in London’s Leicester Square, he was mobbed by hundreds of enthusiastic fans, losing his shirt and jacket as he and his wife fled towards the Ballroom’s exit and into the safety of the waiting limousine which had been driven onto the pavement to meet them.  I wasn’t that far behind them.  Once again, Jackson-mania hit Britain, but this time fans flocked to see the shy, deep-thinking brother with the nervous stutter.

The follow-up to “Let’s Get Serious”, which was nominated for a Grammy in the best R&B Male Vocalist section, was “You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me” in June, while Motown/EMI issued another dance track “Burnin’ Hot” (originally titled “I’d Rather Dance, Disco Fever”) in July with the US follow-up in the September. “Berry Gordy said the song was a smash hit but we weren’t singing about anything. He changed the title because by the time the album came out, disco was finally burnt out.  So we changed it to ‘Burnin’ Hot’, added a little sex appeal and so forth.”  The single, although a good seller, failed to repeat its predecessor’s success, stalling in the UK top forty.  Sadly, this was to be Jermaine’s only period of continued success while at Motown, even though his future releases maintained a high standard.  However, working with Stevie gave him the confidence to later release an album of his own work (except one track) titled “I Like Your Style” in 1981.  In case you’re wondering, the exception was “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)”, which he believed to be one of Stevie’s best.   Jermaine explained one time here”I have always liked his writing and I wanted to see how I could do that particular song.  Working with him is very different.  He wants everything done his way. He’s a very powerful producer.  But sometimes you can go for that and miss the whole boat. However, I stress that in Stevie’s case, it works.  I just prefer to go with what feels good rather than what I am supposed to do.”

Just an aside here. During 1983 Jermaine produced Syreeta’s “The Spell” album which was a comfortable working relationship according to her because both men were perfectionists.  But, she added, “Jermaine is far more organised.  If he says he’ll be there at noon, he’ll be there at eleven thirty getting things ready.  With Stevie, noon could easily be six o’clock that evening.”

We in the Motown office became very fond of Jermaine, particularly myself and Noreen Allen, and as he was a regular visitor to the UK where he invariably acted as his father-in-law’s spokesman, he spent a lot of time with us. For example, Berry sent him to London in December 1980 to host Motown/EMI’s Twentieth Anniversary champagne party held at the EMI Records headquarters in Manchester Square.

Anyway, back to March 1980. “The Best Of Michael Jackson” was released in the STMR series, following “The Temptations Sing Smokey” and the Four Tops’ “Second Album” a month earlier.   Of the UK singles, Mary Wilson’s “Pick Up The Pieces” and Stevie Wonder’s “Outside My Window” joined Teena Marie’s “Can It Be Love”.  And this nicely leads me into “Lady T”, the second album by the white, blonde Californian who was one of the most exciting signings by Berry Gordy this decade.  It was co-penned and produced by the singer and the late Minnie Riperton’s husband, Richard Rudolph. By all accounts, Teena was fond of Minnie’s work and asked him to work with her.  She added, “All the songs on ‘Lady T’ are personal to me and reflect what goes on inside, though I may use my imagination and write about things I haven’t experienced.”  The magnificent album spawned the afore- mentioned single, and her biggest selling disc, “Behind The Groove” which she promoted by visiting London with her manager Winnie Jones, during August 1980 when I had the pleasure to work with her, despite a few hiccups.  A story for another day I reckon. 

If I may, here’s the back story of Teena joining Motown.  As lead singer of Truvair, a band she had formed in/around 1974, she came to the attention of producer Hal Davis a couple of years later.  This led to an audition for a film that Motown was developing.  When the project was shelved, Berry, impressed with her singing but having no need for another vocal group, decided to sign Teena as a soloist.  As such she recorded material with a number of different producers, yet nothing was deemed suitable for release. A year after Teena’s death in December 2010, a twenty-six track CD was issued by Hip-O Select which was a snapshot of those recordings as she took baby steps into her career.  Included in the compilation were acoustic demos, numerous ‘musical experiments’, Berry Gordy productions and so on, as Motown strove to find the right producer to unlock her considerable talent.  Then she met Rick James.  A match meant to be. Together they recorded “Wild And Peaceful”, her debut album.

“While walking through Motown one day I heard this beautiful voice,” he wrote in The Confessions Of Rick James. “I looked in the office where it was coming from and sitting at the piano singing was this little white chick named Teena Marie.  She was shy, even bashful as she introduced herself to me. I asked her what she was doing there, and she said she was signed to the company.  We talked a little longer, then I left.”  The rest, as they say, is history, because they collaborated on “Wild And Peaceful” with Rick writing and producing the whole project.  The lead track “I’m A Sucker For Your Love” became the first single.  The two worked and toured together now and then, enjoying a relationship that was, according to Rick, both treasured and turbulent.

“Wild And Peaceful” didn’t include her picture on the front cover, so when she was pictured in a beautiful, elegant pose on the front cover of “Lady T”, I bet some folks were surprised. I’ll put my hands up to that, as previously I only had black-&-white promotional pictures of a young, shy looking girl to work with. “Lonely Desire” was the final track to be extracted for single release. “Now That I Have You” (which Richard had written for Minnie), “Young Girl In Love” and “Too Many Colors (Tee’s Interlude)” were among other tracks on this album dedicated to Minnie Riperton.

I realise I’ve meandered sometimes from March 1980.  I fear that’s the way my brain works these days.  Some particular thing comes to mind which leads on to something else, and before I know it, I’m immersed in an unrelated subject.  Nonetheless, I hope you’ve found something of interest in returning to the early part of Motown’s anniversary year, when we had something to celebrate and shout about.  As I wrote previously, it was a great joy to work at Motown, and, boy, did we work!

I’m planning to catch up with Scherrie Payne and Lynda Lawrence in the near future to have a long overdue catch up session, another anniversary to celebrate too if I’m not mistaken.

But meantime, here’s a message from my lifelong friend Martha Reeves “The official announcement is just out.  I will receive my honour on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on 27 March at 11.30 am PST.  I want to thank everyone who donated and helped spread the word.  It has meant so much…..Love to you all and God bless.”  She added that fans can livestream the ceremony at walkoffame.com.  It goes without saying that I’m thrilled for her, the lady who, among other things, continues to be a Motown ambassador on so many levels.

And finally, a very happy birthday to Diana Ross who reaches eighty years old this month.  She’s another artist who has been in my life since I was a teenager and who I first met briefly, erm, in 1968 after The Supremes’ performance at London’s Talk of the Town.  Phil Symes was among my ‘crowd’, and it was through him, when he was Diana’s publicist, that I became involved in her memoir and other projects.

Many congratulations and love to both ladies!

Sharon Davis