Temptations are stronger than ever

[Jonel]

Solid Gold: It's not just your imagination: Temptations are stronger than ever



Who: The Temptations
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 9
Where: Reno Hilton Theater
Cost: $45 and $35
Details: 789-2285 OR [phone]


Reno Hilton





By Neil Baron
Reno Gazette-Journal

When the Temptations broke onto the top 40 charts in 1964 with “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” America was a country in turmoil.

With the first of its more than 40 top 40 hits, the Temptations provided relief to a grieving nation.

“We found this to be very true and evident during the Vietnam War,” said Temptations founder Otis Williams by phone from his home in Woodland Hills, Calif. “People were coming to our show because they didn’t want to just constantly sit at home, watch TV and be reminded how our forces were getting killed and fighting over there in the jungles of Vietnam.”

Now, after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Williams said the Temptations and other entertainers are more important than ever.

“People need a kind of escapism,” he said. “They need to be able to get away and be reminded that life is to be lived.”

Williams, who turned 62 on Oct. 30, also notices a big difference in how the Vietnam War was perceived in comparison to the current battle situation.

“There’s definitely a big change,” he said. “It’s one thing to look at the television and see our fighting forces over there in Vietnam. It’s a whole other things now since Sept. 11. That happened to us in our own backyard. It gave us a sense of reality that we never thought would or could happen here. It was definitely a rude awakening. Things will never be the same as they were before Sept. 11.”

And just as people need entertainment to escape the insanity of war, entertainers need an escape, too. Williams said he finds that each and every time he steps on stage.

“When we are on stage and see the (fans’) faces and how they’re truly enjoying what we’re doing, we feed off of that. It makes us feel good that we make them feel good. That we can help them forget for a time what we’re going through. They can leave the show and go home, play our records and try to get back to some sort of normalcy of life and realize that life must go on and we cannot be intimidated to where we have to start living our lives very scared,” he said.

The Tempts, as the all-male, vocal-harmony group is fondly called by its fans, is moving on. Like many of its peers from the 1960s and 1970s, the Temptations continue to perform regularly. Williams said the band averages about 200 shows a year.

[Jonel]

But unlike most of its peers, the Temptations remain a viable source of new music. In March, the group won its fourth Grammy Award for its album, “Irresistible.” Three years ago, the group’s album, “Phoenix Rising” sold nearly 2 million units.

Of course, the Temptations don’t need to record new music. It can’t even play all of its hits at a concert because there isn’t enough time. And now, the band is set to release “Awesome” Nov. 20 on Motown Records.

So why does the band continue to go into the studio and record?

“We still enjoy it,” Williams said. “When you have albums go over like (the last two), it gives you encouraging signs to continue. And when your company still wants you to record ... we have a lot of peers we know of our genre and age that catch hell. They can’t get a deal. No label will sign them. So we don’t take it lightly or for granted. We go in with the eye of the tiger like we’ve never had any success record-wise.”

The Temptations, who receive radio airplay on adult contemporary stations, already have received positive reviews on the first single, “Four Days.”

Williams, who is the only remaining original member, said “Awesome” would fit in nicely with the group’s older work from the 1960s and 1970s.

“I think it would have fit real well back then. No problem, because all of our albums are pretty much in the same order. We have ballads and social commentary message songs. This album is kind of ballad-heavy. Although there are a few up-tempo songs, it’s one of those albums that women would really like to have and listen to. I think it’s a very good album, though I find it hard to be objective.”

However, fans shouldn’t expect to hear more than one song off the new album at the Temptations’ live show.

“We learned something a long time ago and that is you don’t do anything off a new album until it’s out for the people to hear. We did that once before and they were cordial (Williams claps slowly and politely in the background), but it was like, ‘Yea, Tempts. That was nice, but we don’t know it.’ Naturally, we’ll do whatever the single is, but we won’t get into doing the other songs.

“We already have people from time to time in the audience calling out for us to do songs that we have long since stopped doing. With the repertoire of material we have, we could be on stage half the night trying to sing all of them. It’s almost like a blessed curse to have so many (hits), but only be able to do fraction of them in a short amount of time.”

However, some songs will never be taken off the Temptations’ play list, Williams said. Those songs include “My Girl,” “Just My Imagination” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” which Williams said is one of his favorite Tempts’ songs.

When Williams was asked how many times he think he has sung “My Girl,” he laughs.
“I was just thinking about that the other day,” he said. “I have no idea. A lot.”

However, he said the group resists any temptation to change the arrangement of a song to keep it fresh for the singers.

“Oh no, one of the worst things an artist can do is to try and change a song that the world has come to identify and love in its original form. So we don’t mess around with it and try to be slick and stay up-to-date,” he said. “That’d be just like messing around and trying to turn ‘My Girl’ into rap because rap is so popular today. People would be cussing us out, booing us and be very disappointed.

“Instead, what we do to keep the enthusiasm is we feed off the public. When we start singing all the hits we do, you can see the people just really light up and show their appreciation and love for that song. That’s what we feed off of.”

Williams, who has had about 20 people come and go from the group, said he gives thanks to God and the audiences that continue to support the group’s music. After all, he said, the group was supposed to be finished a long time ago.

And when he was asked to compare the group’s current lineup to the one from the 1960s and 1970s, he didn’t hesitate to answer.

“This is a very strong lineup,” he said. “I won’t say it’s the strongest because the original Temptations were just a phenomenon. I don’t do a comparative thing because that wouldn’t be fair. The original Temptations, all truth be told — in fact, I even tell the guys with me now — had some kind of magic. I could feel it on stage. It was like we were a piece of hard, forged steel on stage that could not be stopped. But this is a very good lineup of guys that I have.”

Neil Baron is a free-lance writer.


www.renotahoefun.com/news/entertainment/1005162526.php

[AKA THE FUF]

As always Jonel, good information and article. Everyone on this board could have told that writer that The Temptations are stronger than ever. Whether you love the classic group or any one thoughout the years, they are still the badest group throughout the land. It's a damn shame, some people are just getting to know how great they are. But I say, better late then never. No one is too young or too old to enjoy The Temptations.