Richard Street, Tempestuous times of the Tempts

[kalisa2]

YAAY for whoever resurrected this post!!!! THANK YOU. And Thank you Ivory...remember, you keep asking me why I thought Richard left the Temptations AFTER Melvin died!! This is the article I found on the net lo these several years ago that gave me that impression !

Following the death of his cousin Melvin Franklin in 1995 of heart failure, Street felt it was time to go.

Which of course makes me wonder about the veracity of anything else he might say in this book we hope to see...something as easily verifiable as THAT inaccuracy, what about other inaccuracies that might creep into his story, that we can't prove or disprove so readily?

so, now in the same paragraph, we have Richard saying that, and this :
But worse still, an accounting of the group's finances revealed that he and other members had been significantly underpaid by its management..

Both true? (no) Both false? (?) . How do we pick? Also notice, he did NOT say "Underpaid by Otis".

[kalisa2]

Ivory said:

I have an LP interview of the Tempts where Melvin or Richard one talk about growing up together and, when they were kids, spending the night together and they'd lay in bed and sing.

Oh to have been a fly on the wall...........

Ivory...I don't have it on LP but I do have in print in a book Melvin talking about the same thing, and also saying that Richard is the one who taught him what to do with his voice to sing bass. .

[livesey00]

SoulStirrer said:

Or the Originals for backing so many songs.

*More padding the posts!!!*

Yeah but Soul Stirrer what you've got to remember is The Originals weren't just a backing group they were possibly the most underated group ever at motown.
I rate the originals as the best male vocal group ever next to the tempts & tops... They were that good and still are to this day.
The Originals would have gone a lot further if they had got more backing from Motown. Berry Gordy apparently treated the guys like sh*t.

[temptationsman]

Cheech© said:

Yes, I'm a singer. Are you?

Na-a-ah, only in my dreams, LITERALLY. I sometimes DREAM that I'm a Tempt (hey, the libe forms to the right)

T'Man

[temptationsman]

MikeNYC said:

TEXT
I was at that show also. Richard did say something like that to the audience.

Yeah [Mike] do you remember when Dennis was singing "Do you want to go with me?" The men AND the women were screaming on that one! Dennis picked someone from the audience to sing to and the other women were screaming because they wanted him to sing to them, and also they were screaming at what he was saying and how. The men (me too!) were yelling "TALK to her Dennis!" and wishing we were that smooth on stage (hey some of us are smooth OFFstage, right Mike ) I've rarely had so much fun.
T'Man

[Aba21]

temptationsman said:

Ah-h-h, I love these boards. I've had Richard, whose one of my all-time favorite Tempts, on the brain a lot -wondering about his health and career, etc. Then i was able to find this thread and get caught up. I love it. [CHEECH] , are you a singer? You MUST be. The comments that you and Aba make are just TOO wise for just plain seasoned listeners, and I've learned that Aba is a mean singer from reading your posts. One other thing, on Richard and Melvin being cousins, I saw a Tempts show at the Apollo theatre in Harlem in the summer of 1987 I believe it was. The roster was Dennis, Richard, Ron and the BIg O. Melvin was out ill, and Richard took a moment to explain that to the audience. He stated clearly and lovingly that Blue was his cousin with all of the other Tempts right there. The audience called out things like, "Tell him we love him", and "Tell him we said, get well" or something close. It was very touching.
peace out, The Tempts'Man

What! Me Sing? I can't carry a tune in a bucket! ;D ;D

[temptationsman]

Jonel said:

SATURDAY 1 FEBRUARY

The Legendary TEMPTATIONS Show
featuring “Richard Street” Lead Singer (‘71-‘95)
8.00pm (QLD Time)
Tickets: $20.00


Bookings Open

Richard Street's passion for The Temptations goes back to its origins in 1955 as a member of the Detroit doo-wop group The Distants, which included long-time Temptation, Otis Williams, as well as Richard's cousin, the late Melvin Franklin who was The Temptations legendary bass singer until his untimely death in 1995. Richard left The Distants in 1959 to form The Monitors and the other members eventually went on to record for The Temptations.

Richard always kept a hand in The Temptations band, assisting with recordings and lending his voice for the occasional track. In 1971 after a few changes to their line-up Richard was asked to replace the group's distinctive tenor vocalist Paul Williams.

The arrival of Richard, together with Dennis Edwards signaled a notable musical shift for the group and lead them to such songs as Take A Look Around, Ball of Confusion and the landmark Papa Was A Rolling Stone, which earned the group three Grammy Awards.

Richard has performed hundreds of shows with the Temptations in over twenty years, visited forty countries around the world and was part of the group when it was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989.

Today, Richard presents a show that brings all the great music of the Temptations to life and includes other classic hit songs that document the golden years of the Motown sound.

With only one of the totally original Temptations alive today (Otis Williams) this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to relive the magic.

You will hear all the legendary hits….My Girl, Treat Her Like a Lady, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, Can't Get Next to You, Aint Too Proud to Beg and Ball of Confusion.

Don't miss The Legendary Temptations with Richard Street at Twin Towns.

www.twintowns.com.au/resortdream.htm
www.twintowns.com.au/entertainment.htm

This is in Australia y'all.

Oh yeah -one more thing. I was talking with Maurice "The Voice" Watts recently (the night of his Glenn Leonard interview, before the show) and he told me that promoters are the ones who word fliers and advertisements and play up former Tempts' careers in order to sell the show. They often do it in a way that's uncomfortable to the artists themselves. He said that when he sang with Ali Woodson and the Emperors of Soul, that a promoter did it to them. So we shouldn't blame the artists, as they're rarely in control of such details, and he promoters only want to make money, even if it means being deceptive. :nono
peace,
Tempts'Man

[temptationsman]

Aba21 said:

What! Me Sing? I can't carry a tune in a bucket! ;D ;D

Let me know ehn you're forming a group!
T'Man

[temptationsman]

temptationsman said:

Na-a-ah, only in my dreams, LITERALLY. I sometimes DREAM that I'm a Tempt (hey, the libe forms to the right)

T'Man

I meant the LINE (of dreamers) forms to the right!

[temptationsman]

temptationsman said:

Let me know ehn you're forming a group!
T'Man

Let me know WHEN you're forming a group!
poor spellin' T'Man

[Aba21]

temptationsman said:

Let me know WHEN you're forming a group!
poor spellin' T'Man

ok....I will!


Boom Boom Boom, Boom Boom Boom
I'm the bass get down, Huh?!!!!

[AnnaKonda]

Third boom from the left sounded somewhat flat and weak
Try again, please

[Ivory Fair]

Which of course makes me wonder about the veracity of anything else he might say in this book we hope to see...

May explain why we haven't seen a book yet .........

So we shouldn't blame the artists,

Yeah, I don't TOTALLY blame the artist and I'll obviously conceede to Maurice's knowledge on this one but I STILL can't help but wonder if the artist can't do more to help stop the lying ............ let's call it like it is.......... from happening. I know Damon did a show on at least one occasion where he (Glenn was actually with him at the time) and his group was introduced on stage as "The Temptations" and he (Damon) was pretty perturbed. I just know that *I* (and it's easy for me to say) would make it VERY CLEAR to the promoter that I should NOT be billed as the Tempts or it would come back on him.

[MikeNYC]

Ivory said:

May explain why we haven't seen a book yet .........



Yeah, I don't TOTALLY blame the artist and I'll obviously conceede to Maurice's knowledge on this one but I STILL can't help but wonder if the artist can't do more to help stop the lying ............ let's call it like it is.......... from happening. I know Damon did a show on at least one occasion where he (Glenn was actually with him at the time) and his group was introduced on stage as "The Temptations" and he (Damon) was pretty perturbed. I just know that *I* (and it's easy for me to say) would make it VERY CLEAR to the promoter that I should NOT be billed as the Tempts or it would come back on him.

You can't fool the people. They know that when O & his boys come to town,they don't sound like the temptations that they identify with. I don't care what name they go by.

[MikeNYC]

kalisa2 said:

YAAY for whoever resurrected this post!!!! THANK YOU. And Thank you Ivory...remember, you keep asking me why I thought Richard left the Temptations AFTER Melvin died!! This is the article I found on the net lo these several years ago that gave me that impression !

Following the death of his cousin Melvin Franklin in 1995 of heart failure, Street felt it was time to go.

Which of course makes me wonder about the veracity of anything else he might say in this book we hope to see...something as easily verifiable as THAT inaccuracy, what about other inaccuracies that might creep into his story, that we can't prove or disprove so readily?

so, now in the same paragraph, we have Richard saying that, and this :
But worse still, an accounting of the group's finances revealed that he and other members had been significantly underpaid by its management..

Both true? (no) Both false? (?) . How do we pick? Also notice, he did NOT say "Underpaid by Otis".

Don't have to...the court paper says OTIS WILLIAMS,his name is in there along with management. temptsinfo.com/smilies/wtg.gif