scriptgirl said:

Motown at The Apollo was in '85. It featured Debarge, Smokey Robinson, Patti Labelle, George Michael, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Debbie Allen, Boy George, James Brown, Rod Stewart, Bill Cosby, New Edition,



Diana and Patti


James




Stevie


Luther and Boy George


Debarge


George and Smokey

[Edited 3/1/09 19:37pm]

scriptgirl said:

Oh my god! You had to have seen this show which was called Motown At The Apollo, or Motown Goes To Apollo where DeBarge is the opening act and they perform "Rhythm Of The Night". It's the same one where he sings Jackie Wilson's "Teardrops" later on in the show.

Yeah, the stylist put him in those clothes but WHY did the stylist put him in a suit that doesn't even match what his siblings/group members had on. Usually, everyone in a group has on the same outfits or close to the same outfits, but in this program El's doesn't even come close to what his siblings are wearing. Check out the show on youtube and you'll see what I mean!

I can't watch the rhythm performance. I LOVE, LOVE Debarge, but that is one of the worst songs of all time.

bboy87 said:

Mr. Gordy had issue's with them too, after he stole and cheated most of his singers/musicians blind, go figure. Supposedly he was hurt/bitter because many of his artist jumped ship and signed lucrative contracts with other labels. The clip where Ms. Ross and others had to prod Mr. Gordy to go up onstage. Gordy wasn't trying to be modest, he didn't want to be up there with them. They had to begged MJ to show up, though for his on personal advancement, thank goodness he did.
[Edited 3/1/09 20:14pm]
[Edited 3/1/09 21:40pm]

TD3 said:

Michael had worked with Berry for The Wiz but aside from that, he issues with them on how Motown sued the family after they left the label. Michael also didn't want to do television, as Thriller had just come out and he had only done 2 minor interviews and 2 videos

Berry is a trip and he really fucked over Debarge.

scriptgirl said:

He screwed over alot of artists from Gladys Knight, Florence Ballard...the list goes on and on

bboy87 said:

Yeah, it wasn't just DeBarge he screwed over. He screwed over a lot of his acts. I always wondered how come Gladys Knight and the Pips aren't really talked about when Motown is mentioned. When Motown is mentioned, acts like the Jackson 5, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, but not Gladys Knight and the Pips.

scriptgirl said:

I actually like "Rhythm Of The Night." The ones I really don't like are "Who's Holding Donna Now" and "The Heart Is Not So Smart." Overall, DeBarge's music was better when they didn't let outside songwriters come in, IMO.

Slenderoni1978 said:

"Rhythm Of The Night" is one of the WORST 80s songs I always hated that song,it's dreadfully cheesy.It's crap and is not what I expected from DeBarge.Their 1983 album 'In A Special Way' is a masterpiece,filled with one soulful gem after another.The follow-up album 'Rhythm Of The Night' is overly-synthesized and too "pop-ish" and yes,it was a mistake to bring in all of these outside writers (Diane Warren...wtf??).

.
[Edited 3/2/09 6:18am]

Soul Alive, I agree with all you said

SoulAlive said:

Timmy84 said:

I wonder do they ever regret letting outside writers come in instead of writing their own material? And yes, "In A Special Way" is really good.

Slenderoni1978 said:

I have a feeling that Berry Gordy pressured them.He probably told them "You guys will crossover and become major superstars if we bring in some outside writers.Here,check out this song that I came across.It's called "Rhythm Of The Night"....it's got "hit" written all over it".


in retrospect,crossing over is part of what destroyed the group.

SoulAlive said:

I agree. I think they should've stayed with their signature R&B/soul sound.

Exactly. I don't think Rhythm was a huge hit with rnb audiences.

continue the discussion here: http://prince.org/msg/8/299597