"NOSTALGIA" (MOTOWN ERA)

While Martha Reeves & The Vandellas were going on to fame and glory. The Supremes seemed to be stuck in a rut. The battle lines were drawn. Berry Gordy made the mistake of booking both groups on a show together at the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. with the Supremes as an opening act.

As the Supremes walked out onto the stage, radiant and proud in the new stage gear Diana purchased for them with money she begged Berry to wire her. Only problem, their dresses were identical to the one's Martha Reeves & The Vandellas had planned to wear that evening.

In the middle of their second number, Mary and Florence realized that two Vandellas were standing in the wings and glaring at them.

Florence would later recall that Diana was fully involved in her performance when out of the corner of her eye she noticed Martha Reeves standing just off stage to her right. Her fists were clenched.

When the Supremes came off stage, Diana dashed across the stage and made a hasty exit on the opposite side. "Quick, let's get to the dressing room!" she screamed as she raced down the hall.

As Mary and Florence followed, Martha Reeves sprinted across the backstage area, weaving in and out of the startled stage technicians who were standing in her way. The Supremes screeched in unison as they scampered up the flight of stairs barely out of Martha's reach. They dashed into the dressing room, slamming and locking the door behind them.

"I'm going to get you, Diana Ross," Martha yelled from outside. "You just wait!"

"You mean to tell me you found out where they got their dresses and bought three just like them?" Florence asked Diana inside the dressing room.

"Well, we looked good, didn't we?" Diana answered.

When Martha and the Vandellas hit the stage, they were attired in cheap, tacky stage wear because of Diana's stunt.

Source: "Call Her Miss Ross," by J. Randy Taraborrelli
----
Have to say I love Diana's style. She made all the lead singers in other girl groups wanna whoop her ass. That's what you call HUSTLING!

Martha was about to get in that ass!

bboy87 said:

She sure was!

Interesting story.
I liked both groups but looking back at Martha & the vandellas,
it would have been easy to pull for them because Martha seems really down to
earth and they were probably the underdogs at motown.

bboy87 said:

Yeah it was about to be a heatwave and diana's ass
was about to get stuck in quicksand.

Martha should have got on stage and whipped her ass Duck on, JT Mathews style. Speaking of which ...


The scene where they fight is from the Howard Theater in DC and they were fighting about clothes, [Asenio voice] make you say hmm.
[Edited 6/13/08 21:49pm]

phunkdaddy said:

I got their greatest hits!

The Supremes are cool too though.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Robert Townsend was reading all the soul music biographies HARD.

Timmy84 said:

Yep, check out the clip...

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I remember that scene. They were fighting twice, actually.

The first one, Duck accused JT of stealing EVERYTHING from him and JT accused him of acting like a bitch and they duked it out. And I loved Eddie's plan:

"If we can't do it, then let's not do it at all... BREAKDOWN!" RIP RIP RIP RIP RIP

And they had new outfits. SMOKIN'...

I wonder if the Temptations ever did that live, they probably wasn't fighting though. Motown groups controlled their emotions onstage in the sixties.

Timmy84 said:

Didn't Al bust a bottle in Paul's face because he didn't wan to go back on stage.


Al: Man I'm tired, hell I want some rest
Paul: If the boss wants to perform, then we gonna go out their and give them a show
Al: ... come here, let me show you something ...BOP
Otis: That's it, you outta here
Al: You ain't just gonna fine me $0.50.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I heard they did it at a Christmas show backstage. I don't know if Paul threw it or Al but Al left after that, Otis didn't fire him. I think Al asked to be let go so he could go and tend to his 9-to-5 job. The Temptations performed as a quartet with both Ruffin brothers (Jimmy and David) before allowing David in. But yeah, that's true that Al and Paul had a confrontation that resulted with a bottle being thrown.

Timmy84 said:

The Tempts actually didn't want David at all, Jimmy was their number one priority. He turned them down and told them to check out his lil bro.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Yeah, wasn't the reason Jimmy decided not to join them was because he had two left feet?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

EDDIE CAINE IN THE DAMN HOUSE!!!

bboy87 said:

It's sad but one of my ultimate favorite scenes is when Eddie confronts his old buddies drunk and he reveals his old Five Heartbeats wardrobe and he sings off-key (though that's really MICHAEL WRIGHT'S VOICE and not the lip-synced one):

"NIGHTS LIKE THIS... IIIII WISH, RAINDROPS WOULD FAAAAALLLL!!!"

Then Flash shows up and he looks at him glaring at him and two women who courted alongside him and he whispers to him, "how does it feel to be me?" And then he struts singing "Nights Like This" while his band mates look at him solemnly. FUNNY SHIT.

Eddie was truly the David Ruffin of the group. I think my ALL-TIME FAVORITE scene in the film is when Eddie first confronts Flash and tells Jimmy that he was playing him (sounds like a conversation David would've had with Berry).

And then he says to Flash: "I see through yo JIVE ASS LIKE GLASS, n***a!" And then when Flash jokes that Eddie needs to get detoxed, he slurs, "you want my spot, Flash? Hmm, scum-dwelling, scum-sucking, slug-ass motha*****! Ha-ha, you want my spot, Flash, huh? Well YOU ain't gonna GET IT, 'cause you...AIN'T...GOT IT! (SLAM)"

Now WHY he didn't get an Oscar nod after that I don't know why. Michael Wright was a fucking genius in that film.

Timmy84 said:

That's my fav scene in the whole film too. Me and my boys always crack up on that part. Just him taking off the robe and gong "CHING."

LittleBLUECorvette said:

I just fall off the seat laughing when it gets to that part. I can see how the film was somewhat of a comedy:

*Duck and J.T. fighting (except the one where Duck confronts J.T. during a 1972 award banquet)
*Duck and J.T. playing roles just to get girls (remember the scene where Duck tried to get a cute woman staring at him and J.T. actually tricked him into thinking he had her and then left with her, then HER MAN shows up out of nowhere and screams "I gotta fight every night to prove my love!" and confronts someone, I don't know if it was J.T. but Duck was like )
*J.T. outperforming Flash during a performance (Flash was PISSED!)
*Sarge choreographing 'em and telling Dresser his dancing "ain't shit".
*Eddie and "Bobby" escaping the gangsters after they cheated in a card game; J.T. making love to some woman and Duck hitting the broom to tell J.T. to get ready.
*And of course the Apollo performance where they tried to fuck 'em over and Duck basically kicked the piano man's ass to get on the piano while Choir Boy escapes with shit thrown at him.

Timmy84 said:

Even the scenes that ain't supposed to be funny, I LMAO at them.

-Scene where the Heartbeats are in that junkyard after Mr. Porter dies and Eddie saying "I didn't know" and Dresser hitting his ass like a female.
-The Five Horsemen scene(Four Horsemen little brothers)

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Yeah the second one you mentioned was FUNNY!

Both the scene where those guys sung "Nothing But Love" so fucking bland, the look on the brothers and Jimmy was PRICELESS! They ended up going to Big Red's company straight after that!!!!

And remember when Video Soul aired Flash and the Horsemen as a FUNK group? And Flash sounding like a funk singer?

I loved J.T.'s comment: "Sorry but they won't be watching FLASH at MY HOUSE." How was Flash able to continue with his career?

But that scene when Dresser confronts Eddie was still sad though I get what you mean with him hitting Eddie like a girl. I loved how he squealed at Eddie too:

"TELL HIM ABOUT WHAT CAUSED JIMMY'S ACCIDENT!?! TELL HIM ABOUT YOUR DEAL WITH THAT RED SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Eddie quit show business after Jimmy's death.
[Edited 6/13/08 22:42pm]

Timmy84 said:

How the hell did this turn into a Five Heartbeats thread?

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Your video did it. I'm as passionate about that movie as you are. Ironically that movie is the reason I fell in love with sixties soul music.

Anyway to get it back to the REAL MOTOWN:

Here's a story about how Berry's ex-wife confronted him with another woman:



Raynoma Gordy Singleton reveals in her book, "Berry, Me and Motown."

In 1959, Raynoma was Berry Gordy's girlfriend, pictured above. She was also a Motown songwriter, background singer, arranger and producer and she helped start Motown records.

Books credit her with convincing Gordy to open up a publishing company so they could publish their songs. Gordy selected the name "Jobete," for the publishing company.

In January of 1959, Raynoma went downtown (Detroit) to establish their publishing partnership.

About a week later, Raynoma was shocked when Berry asked her to go back downtown to change the paperwork, he wanted everything in his name, only.

She was stunned, she tried to respond but no words came out. Reluctantly, she did as she was told. This move caused her to miss out on untold millions over the years

On their wedding night, Raynoma prepared for her honeymoon by soaking in a luxurious long hot bath. After she finished bathing, she waited for Berry in the bedroom. Instead, Berry entered the bedroom, walked right past her on the bed, ignoring her.

Berry changed into a expensive suit. She asked him, "You're not going out, are you? He replied, "Yes, I am."

She said, we just got married, this is our wedding night. He said, "So? What's the big deal?" and proceeded to leave.

Later, she found out that he had spent their wedding night with a mistress.

According to Raynoma, Barrett Strong's sister informed her that the mistress was a girl named Margaret who worked in the "Hitsville," office. Raynoma claims, she started receiving hundreds of calls from Margaret bragging about her affair with her husband and Margaret also informed her that she was pregnant with Berry's child. Raynoma adds, Margaret even started referring to herself as Mrs. Gordy.

One evening, Smokey Robinson's then wife Claudette called Raynoma and invited her to go bowling. Like Raynoma, Claudette couldn't stand Margaret either.

When they entered the bowling alley, they see Berry, Smokey and Margaret. Raynoma storms over to Margaret and says, "Listen bitch, what are you doing here with my husband?" Margaret became nervous when she sees the gleam of the pearl-handled .25 in Raynoma's pocket. Raynoma told her, "Get up now bitch, and walk out. Make one whimper and I'm going to blow you away."

They walked outside. Raynoma planned to bash the handle of her gun into Margaret's face, she raised her hand to strike but a pair of strong arms locked around her from behind. It was Smokey. I screamed "let me go," as Margaret ran down the street for her life. Meanwhile, Berry glared at me from a distance.

Shortly after this incident, Berry and Raynoma divorced.

Source: "Berry, Me and Motown," by Raynoma Gordy Singleton

Damn Berry, fake as Bobby Womack. I always wondered why Jackie Wilson never joined the Motown/Tamala roster, you know why?

bboy87 said:

Actually, his name was Eddie KING Jr.!!!

Michael just prounounced it with a southern twang that made it sound like he was saying Caine!!!

That might be one of the biggest misconceptions in movies, because a LOT of people think it's Eddie Caine!!!

But check the Wiki, it's Eddie King!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...Heartbeats

LittleBLUECorvette said:

yeah....berry was a bitch for that

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Jackie probably didn't want any more drama. As you know, Berry Gordy was writing hits for Jackie Wilson prior to forming Motown and during a royalty dispute, he and his songwriting partner Roquel Davis got into a shouting match with Jackie's label boss Nat Tarnpol of Brunswick Records and in a huff, Berry and Roquel decided to ditch Jackie and the label and move on to do their own thing: Berry forming Motown and Roquel joining Chess Records. Jackie couldn't sign with Motown because he signed a long-term contract with Brunswick. Ironically, when he had a brief comeback in the late sixties with "Whispers Gettin' Louder" and "(Your Love Keeps) Lifting Me Higher and Higher", the Funk Brothers and the Andantes were on those songs with Jackie!

Berry controlled a lot of people, he whipped Diana Ross BAD:



Raynoma (Ray) Gordy (ex-wife of Berry Gordy) reveals the following allegations in her book, "Berry, Me & Motown."

"One day I received a call from my ex-husband, Berry Gordy. He said, "I can't handle being on the road with Diana Ross, "I would like you to go in and work with her. She opens tomorrow at the Cocoanut Grove and she's expecting you." After we agreed to financial terms, I accepted the job." This was before Diana got me fired.

"Amazingly, I thought, a lot of water had passed under the bridge since those days in 1960 when skinny little Diane and her group, the Primettes, came forward hoping to be part of Motown. Sweet, polite and respectful, Diane then knew me only as Miss Ray, her employer and her other employer's wife. Now, a decade later, she was an international star and she was a different person."

I greeted Diana in her dressing room, "Hello, Diana." Although she responded, there was no acknowledgement of our history or the dramatic reversal of our roles.

After the show, Diana asked to speak to me. Before I got a word out, Diana said, "Look, I know tonight was your first night but from now on, I would prefer that you refer to me as 'Miss Ross." I know that you have known me for some time but in my position I need to be treated with respect."

"My reaction was a strong mix of nausea and pity for her. In molding Diana into a superstar, Berry was shaping a monster."

I'd played some rough chess games in the past but this one took the cake. There was Diana, queen of Motown yet still playing to be Berry's queen-to be his wife and have his child. There was me, the ex-queen, the previous wife and already a mother of one of his children. It was an absurd game, brilliantly devised by Berry.

One night Berry showed up without notice. He gazed at me and said, "Ray, you look fabulous!" As Berry spoke those loving words of praise, I turned to see Diana, a woman who spent hours on makeup, standing in the wings with a look of horrified resentment.

When Diana opened at the Waldorf, Berry showed up again, unannounced. Diana had on a four thousand dollar Bob Mackie gown. Berry did his little tongue-in-cheek, cocked head look and said, "You know, you look just like a chicken in that thing." Diana ran into the dressing room in tears and I felt sorry for her.

Timmy84 said:

Damn that was harsh!

Was Raynoma around for the J5 days?

Paris9748430 said:

Well, I'll be...I had to put the movie on and look the credits on this one because I swear I always just knew it was Eddie Caine, Jr.

You learn something new every day around this place!