Timmy84 said:

Adisa said:

The reunion idea was cool, but first and foremost the songs on the album were all wrong given that it was 1982 and Motown had long lost it's magic for making hit songs.

S.O.T.T. is a killa song, but Rick's vocals took away form the magic of Dennis and David being on wax together. Other than that, the rest of the album is Berry should have hired Stevie and the DeBarge family to qwrite and produce. Or sought some outside producers to give the Temps something tio what Kool and The Gang were doing around that era.

You have to remember at this time in his life, Berry wasn't really all about the creativity in the music so much since he became corporate, which he really was all along but I think he was interesting during Motown's early years with his own contributions. He was looking for a quick buck. I don't think the Reunion album went gold, did it?

I doubt it went gold. It was probably just a reason to go out on tour. The reuninion album suffered because they failed to capture that distinct Temp sound with some good new material.

Adisa said:

Timmy84 said:

You have to remember at this time in his life, Berry wasn't really all about the creativity in the music so much since he became corporate, which he really was all along but I think he was interesting during Motown's early years with his own contributions. He was looking for a quick buck. I don't think the Reunion album went gold, did it?

I doubt it went gold. It was probably just a reason to go out on tour. The reuninion album suffered because they failed to capture that distinct Temp sound with some good new material.

True. It seemed all these Motown reunions were a failure waiting to happen:

1. The Temptations
2. The Supremes (Diana and Mary almost wrassled over the microphone while Cindy's all )
3. The Jackson 5 (we all know how that went )
4. The Four Tops (they battled with Berry Gordy when they returned to Motown lol)

Timmy84 said:

Adisa said:

I doubt it went gold. It was probably just a reason to go out on tour. The reuninion album suffered because they failed to capture that distinct Temp sound with some good new material.

True. It seemed all these Motown reunions were a failure waiting to happen:

1. The Temptations
2. The Supremes (Diana and Mary almost wrassled over the microphone while Cindy's all )
3. The Jackson 5 (we all know how that went )
4. The Four Tops (they battled with Berry Gordy when they returned to Motown lol)

The J5 was actually successful with their reunion.

The Supremes, lol.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Timmy84 said:

True. It seemed all these Motown reunions were a failure waiting to happen:

1. The Temptations
2. The Supremes (Diana and Mary almost wrassled over the microphone while Cindy's all )
3. The Jackson 5 (we all know how that went )
4. The Four Tops (they battled with Berry Gordy when they returned to Motown lol)

The J5 was actually successful with their reunion.

The Supremes, lol.

Technically they were. Because of Michael and all

But it sure proved to be the beginning of the end for them as a group.

Timmy84 said:

Adisa said:

I doubt it went gold. It was probably just a reason to go out on tour. The reuninion album suffered because they failed to capture that distinct Temp sound with some good new material.

True. It seemed all these Motown reunions were a failure waiting to happen:

1. The Temptations
2. The Supremes (Diana and Mary almost wrassled over the microphone while Cindy's all )
3. The Jackson 5 (we all know how that went )
4. The Four Tops (they battled with Berry Gordy when they returned to Motown lol)

The Four Tops did very well when they released "When She Was My Girl" in 1981 on the Casablanca label.

vainandy said:

Timmy84 said:

True. It seemed all these Motown reunions were a failure waiting to happen:

1. The Temptations
2. The Supremes (Diana and Mary almost wrassled over the microphone while Cindy's all )
3. The Jackson 5 (we all know how that went )
4. The Four Tops (they battled with Berry Gordy when they returned to Motown lol)

The Four Tops did very well when they released "When She Was My Girl" in 1981 on the Casablanca label.

I know. Should've stayed away from Motown, they were doing fine on their own.

As someone who was actually around when the reunion happened, I can remember feeling more excited about the fact that the Temps were hooking up with Rick James, who was the reigning king of "punk funk", than the actual "reunion". (To hear Rick call the Temps out on "Superfreak"...that was cool stuff) It was cool seeing Eddie and David, but I thought it would be the classic lineup of the Temps (of course, minus the late, great Paul Williams). I remember seeing the video and thinking, "that's a whole lot of Temps up there..."

The idea of a Temps reunion was intriguing but the actual album (which I had on vinyl) was a bit of a disappointment. It was more like David and Eddie tacked onto a few songs than a real honest to goodness "Temptations album". "Standing on the Top", though, in my humble opinion, is a classic. For me, that's what made the album worth buying.

It's easy to say in retrospect, that the Tempts should've worked with this group or that producer, but the Rick James pairing was definitely intriguing at the time.

Add me to the list of people who love "Standing on the Top"! Great song.

The Temptations Reunion was definitely a big deal among the dire hard fans of classic Motown, even if Rick James' funk sound did bring the group out of character to an extent.

[Edited 7/18/11 1:34am]

vainandy said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

YEah, I checked the charts, barley made a dent.

37 Pop and 6 Black. Of course it did much better than there previous album, 119 Pop and 36 black.

Hell, number 6 on the Black Charts was pretty good. As for the Pop Charts, fuck 'em. All that crossing over and trying to cross over by artists is what eventually killed funk and turned R&B into the rediculous, rythmless joke that it is today.

That's pretty much how I feel as well. The Temptations' vocals were intended for r&b/soul & funk. Make them go the adult contemporary pop route was pointless.

JesseDezz said:

As someone who was actually around when the reunion happened, I can remember feeling more excited about the fact that the Temps were hooking up with Rick James, who was the reigning king of "punk funk", than the actual "reunion". (To hear Rick call the Temps out on "Superfreak"...that was cool stuff) It was cool seeing Eddie and David, but I thought it would be the classic lineup of the Temps (of course, minus the late, great Paul Williams). I remember seeing the video and thinking, "that's a whole lot of Temps up there..."

The idea of a Temps reunion was intriguing but the actual album (which I had on vinyl) was a bit of a disappointment. It was more like David and Eddie tacked onto a few songs than a real honest to goodness "Temptations album". "Standing on the Top", though, in my humble opinion, is a classic. For me, that's what made the album worth buying.

It's easy to say in retrospect, that the Tempts should've worked with this group or that producer, but the Rick James pairing was definitely intriguing at the time.

They should have let Rick produce the entire album.Can you imagine how cool it would have sounded? The reigning king of punk funk producing an entire Temptations album!

There was for sometime on youtube great studio footage of the Temps working with Rick

on that reunion project. Dennis belting out and stuff. Hope it might pop up again.

[Edited 7/18/11 4:55am]

Shango said:

There was for sometime on youtube great studio footage of the Temps working with Rick

on that reunion project. Dennis belting out and stuff. Hope it might pop up again.

[Edited 7/18/11 4:55am]

I remember that footage. It disapeared around the time that some footage of Teena and Rick in the studio around the time of the Streets sessions also disapeared. Some of the T and Rick footage ended up in her Unsung episode. So, maybe the footage was purchased with a piece in mind and will show up in a documenatary somewhere.

vainandy said:

sosgemini said:

Uhh, isn't it during the song Square Biz where she sings, "Temptations sing"? And they sing backing?

That was her song "It Must Be Magic". I'm sure The Temptations probably came about on her album due to them being on Rick's "Super Freak" at the time.

When Teena or a Stone City Band member spoke on the Streets recording sessions they seem to have been speaking in terms of the Stone City family, Rick the Stone City Band, Teena, Mary Jane Girls ... and their various contributions. Whenever I heard Rick speak on Streets he was primarly focused on his self, which is understandable considering that he is the Father. But I believe Rick had folks working on such a great vibe that as a project Streets was the sum of its parts and then some.

Shango said:

There was for sometime on youtube great studio footage of the Temps working with Rick

on that reunion project. Dennis belting out and stuff. Hope it might pop up again.

[Edited 7/18/11 4:55am]

I saw bits of it on YouTube a while back.

SoulAlive said:

JesseDezz said:

As someone who was actually around when the reunion happened, I can remember feeling more excited about the fact that the Temps were hooking up with Rick James, who was the reigning king of "punk funk", than the actual "reunion". (To hear Rick call the Temps out on "Superfreak"...that was cool stuff) It was cool seeing Eddie and David, but I thought it would be the classic lineup of the Temps (of course, minus the late, great Paul Williams). I remember seeing the video and thinking, "that's a whole lot of Temps up there..."

The idea of a Temps reunion was intriguing but the actual album (which I had on vinyl) was a bit of a disappointment. It was more like David and Eddie tacked onto a few songs than a real honest to goodness "Temptations album". "Standing on the Top", though, in my humble opinion, is a classic. For me, that's what made the album worth buying.

It's easy to say in retrospect, that the Tempts should've worked with this group or that producer, but the Rick James pairing was definitely intriguing at the time.

They should have let Rick produce the entire album.Can you imagine how cool it would have sounded? The reigning king of punk funk producing an entire Temptations album!

I find it interesting he didn't voucher to produce the entire album and use the main lead vocals of Dennis, David and Eddie and found ways to use Melvin and Glenn Leonard and even Otis. I wonder if Rick had the same type of ideas for the Tempts like he had for Diana Ross: ditched the suits and go flashy like they did in the '60s and not make it seem like a "reunion" project.

SoulAlive said:

JesseDezz said:

As someone who was actually around when the reunion happened, I can remember feeling more excited about the fact that the Temps were hooking up with Rick James, who was the reigning king of "punk funk", than the actual "reunion". (To hear Rick call the Temps out on "Superfreak"...that was cool stuff) It was cool seeing Eddie and David, but I thought it would be the classic lineup of the Temps (of course, minus the late, great Paul Williams). I remember seeing the video and thinking, "that's a whole lot of Temps up there..."

The idea of a Temps reunion was intriguing but the actual album (which I had on vinyl) was a bit of a disappointment. It was more like David and Eddie tacked onto a few songs than a real honest to goodness "Temptations album". "Standing on the Top", though, in my humble opinion, is a classic. For me, that's what made the album worth buying.

It's easy to say in retrospect, that the Tempts should've worked with this group or that producer, but the Rick James pairing was definitely intriguing at the time.

They should have let Rick produce the entire album.Can you imagine how cool it would have sounded? The reigning king of punk funk producing an entire Temptations album!

That would've been off the funk charts! I wonder if that's one of the inspirations for Process & the Doo Rags...I have his autobiography...have to go back and revisit some chapters. Hilarious read!

As an aside, I've seen his tombstone up close at the cemetery in Buffalo. I'm no tombstone/headstone connoisseur, but it is a beautiful tribute to the king of punk funk.

I don't think the album did as well as they would have liked. I was in

the wrecka store last week checking out some vinyl and saw it the only

song i ever heard from it was the joint with Rick. I remember the Power

album Vain mentioned because my grandfather bought that one. My grandfather

was still hip to current music back then. He was a big Gap Band fan. His favorite was

Oops Upside Your Head. He also bought the Gap Band 4 and we both wore the hell

out of that album. Everytime i hear Oops Upside Your Head i think of my deceased

grandfather.(still have one living)

allsmutaside said: I remember that footage. It disapeared around the time that some footage of Teena and Rick in the studio around the time of the Streets sessions also disapeared. Some of the T and Rick footage ended up in her Unsung episode. So, maybe the footage was purchased with a piece in mind and will show up in a documenatary somewhere.

Timmy84 said: I saw bits of it on YouTube a while back.

Thanks for yours feedback. I never saw that footage of Teena & Rick on youtube though, interesting. Will look around for that Unsung ep.

phunkdaddy said:

I don't think the album did as well as they would have liked. I was in

the wrecka store last week checking out some vinyl and saw it the only

song i ever heard from it was the joint with Rick. I remember the Power

album Vain mentioned because my grandfather bought that one. My grandfather

was still hip to current music back then. He was a big Gap Band fan. His favorite was

Oops Upside Your Head. He also bought the Gap Band 4 and we both wore the hell

out of that album. Everytime i hear Oops Upside Your Head i think of my deceased

grandfather.(still have one living)

This is the only other song from the album I ever heard on the radio and I didn't hear it here in Jackson, I heard it on WDIA from Memphis that I used to be able to pick up late at night. It's another one of the reasons I bought the album and their version of this song puts Charlene's original version to shame....

Shango said:

allsmutaside said: I remember that footage. It disapeared around the time that some footage of Teena and Rick in the studio around the time of the Streets sessions also disapeared. Some of the T and Rick footage ended up in her Unsung episode. So, maybe the footage was purchased with a piece in mind and will show up in a documenatary somewhere.

Timmy84 said: I saw bits of it on YouTube a while back.

Thanks for yours feedback. I never saw that footage of Teena & Rick on youtube though, interesting. Will look around for that Unsung ep.

The footage of her is with a guitar while sitting at a piano bench, going back and forth between intstruments on different songs, chatting with Rick (who is behind the camera) now and then. She is singing originals like "Where's California?". The Stone City Band and Jill are sitting/lounging around the studio off to the sides and in the shadows. There is a boatload of footage on both of them sitting around somewhere.

phunkdaddy said:

I don't think the album did as well as they would have liked. the only

song i ever heard from it was the joint with Rick.

that's the only song that I ever heard from this album,too That's why I think they should have let Rick produce the entire album.He was red-hot in 1982.He could have given the Tempts the true comeback album that they needed.

I disagree that Rick should have produced the entire album.