'Oo Baby Baby:' Motown's 50th launched with a high-spirited soiree
Susan Whitall / Detroit News Music Writer
A three-year Motown party kicked off Saturday night with a five-hour bash at the Detroit Marriott, as Berry Gordy Jr. and his Motown family gathered to toast the coming 50th anniversary of the now-legendary record company Gordy founded on the near west side.
"We're celebrating three things, one is Smokey (Robinson's) and my 50 years as great friends, also 50 years of the Miracles being together, and 50 years of Motown and what it meant to us and the world," Gordy said after dinner.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick addressed the audience. "I wasn't around when you were making all this music," he told the audience, which included the original Miracles. "Good thing you put it on vinyl! I was dancing in the living room with my mom." He also thanked Smokey Robinson for the song "Oo Baby Baby" and those "blue lights in the basement" parties, "Because I think it's the reason I'm here."
Among the assembled were Detroit City Council member Martha Reeves; the Velvelettes; songwriter/producers Brian and Eddie Holland; former Motown sales executive and president Barney Ales; producers Robert Bateman and Clay McMurray; former executive Billie Jean Brown; secretary and songwriter Janie Bradford and Motown's A&R director Mickey Stevenson.
Smokey Robinson reunited onstage with his surviving Miracles -- Bobby Rogers, Claudette Robinson and Pete Moore (Ronnie White died in 1995) -- for the first time since Motown 25, he reckoned, to sing "Tears of a Clown."
Later Robinson sang a song he'd composed about his friendship with Gordy.
"It's a love story between two straight guys," Robinson said, to startled laughter.
His friendship with Gordy was based on love, Robinson explained, but the two are also fierce competitors.
In fact, Gordy beat Robinson in golf recently, and when the Motown boss gave a brief speech about Motown's plans for the coming three years, he gleefully mentioned the win.
A shout could be heard from Robinson's table.
"What? That had to be Smokey," Gordy said.
"Tell the truth!" someone yelled.
"Who are you?" Gordy demanded, peering at the heckler. "OK, so he beat me at chess. But golf is his favorite sport, and I beat him at golf."
After Robinson finished his song, he came over and hugged Gordy for what seemed like 5 minutes, broke the hug, then started hugging him all over again.
"He wouldn't let me go!" Gordy joked afterward.
Also in town for the weekend's events was Suzanne DePasse, the producer of Motown 25 and all the other Motown reunion TV shows, as well as "The Temptations" movie. The Los Angeles-based writer/producer was sitting at the main table with Gordy and Robinson. She explained why it was so important that a documentary film on Motown based upon Gordy's own memories should be done.
"He's been silent for so long, and with 'Dreamgirls' (which fictionalized Motown's history) and a lot of other stuff, that intimate first person narrative is what's been missing. This is the perfect occasion for us to bring it forward, next year."
DePasse said that there will also be a feature film on Motown, a stage musical and the '80s Motown reunion shows will be released on DVD.
"And there's a big concert we're looking at doing, possibly in China, celebrating the music around the world."
Teena Marie, the diminutive, funky singer who invigorated Motown in the '80s with Rick James and on her own, served as the main entertainment.
She performed some of her early songs, like "I'm a Sucker For Your Love" and "Square Biz," and did an homage to her mentor Rick James that had her Motown colleagues all up and dancing.
On Friday, Motown alumni gathered at the Motown Historical Museum on W. Grand Blvd. for a ceremony marking the designation of a section of the byway "Berry Gordy Jr. Blvd." That night there was a jam session at a Southfield jazz club, where etiquette teacher Maxine Powell boogied as Motown guitarist Dennis Coffey played "Scorpio." Gino Parks performed a smoking "Money," the Gordy-written song first done by Barrett Strong in 1960, and later Councilwoman Reeves could be seen doing the Funky Chicken.
Gordy told the audience that he walks every morning, and on Saturday morning he'd walked up and down the new River Walk outside GM world headquarters and the Marriott, and was impressed with what he saw.
"I was happy to see Saint Antoine street, I was raised on Saint Antoine and Farnsworth," Gordy said. "Detroit is a wonderful, wonderful place."
Offstage, Gordy elaborated. "Being born in Detroit was a very big blessing for me," Gordy said.
"No, really! We were stronger than other people! Just getting to work, cleaning your tires, getting the chains off when we finally got to work, we'd already done half a day's work! When we went around the country and the world, we found out that our team is stronger, we're smarter, because we'd gone through a lot of stuff."
You can reach Susan Whitall at (313) 222-2156 or at swhitall@detnews.com
