Temptations voted Best Male Group!

[AKA THE FUF]

Ebony magazine poll just voted The Temptations, Best Male Group Of All Time. No surprise here but it is always good to see that in writing. To all the voters, you have excellent taste. ;D

[janebse]

Wonderful to hear Temptations voted Best Male Group. No doubt about it, but still recognition is always nice.

Thanks for sharing the information with us.

[Ivory Fair]

Thanks for sharing that Jane!

[janebse]

I just wish I could move MY GIRL compilation to the #1 position and Awesome to the #1 position. Whoever posted the information about a recent (forget which one) Temptations single was released by Motown as being sung by a mystery Motown artist hit the nail. The purpose was to get the song played on the air. The record rose to the top, and then they told people it was the Temptations. The Motown person said if they had said Temptations in the beginning the stations would have said the Tempts did not fit their demographics.

No wonder record sales are going down, down. If they don't play the best songs, why should anyone listen or buy a record. Most have no heart and/or no soul. I guess I get so irked by people who use the demographics. Why not just good music.

[AKA THE FUF]

janebse, it was the "I'm Here" single. I remember because on the radio, the DJ's kept on asking, which Motown group is it. Some call-in's thought it was Boys 2 Men, after awhile they said that was The Temptations.
As you said, good music is good music.

[Ivory Fair]

I still say the Tempts should record a song that is about diamond jewelry, wheel rims, marijuana and strippers and they'd have a hit!!!

(at least around here they would)

[AKA THE FUF]

You're right Ivy, All that you mentioned makes the world go round. Maybe they will get a hint.

[janebse]

Ivory,

No, it wouldn' work, and the reason is the salvation of mankind. In spite of all we see, the good does win out.

We know about Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, etc., but do we know of the those who weren't that good. Only the good rose to the top and stayed there.

And in the "popular" music of the day, those songs are still around, only we call them folk music or ballads or something. But they've been around for centuries because they are good. Somehave changed a bit of their nature like one that has changed through the years and become St. James Infirmary, a blues song, and "The Streets of Laredo" a bit of western music--but all the same song.

Network TV is going down, down. Fewer and fewer people are watching. Why? Look at what's on network TV. Programs are an insult to one's intelligence. People are turning to the cables, to the history channel, to the sports channels, to the health channel, to the Discovery channel, and to my favorite, Animal Planet.

Why are more people watching Golf? Aha! Tiger Woods is really good.

The more I listen to the songs of The Temptations, the more I am impressed: the music, the arrangements, just everything about them. And if Boys II Men are popular now, they are using the techniques and harmonies originated by the Temptations in the '60's. The genius of The Temptations is that they grow and develop through the decades. I like the old songs; they're very, very good. But I also like the new things they do. It doesn't have to be one or the other. It's just amazing how much those harmonies to do to a song.

It's up to us to make DJ's play their music. We're the ones who rule the airwaves. Perhaps instead of doing so much "oohing and ahing" on the internet, we ought to call Radio Staions and make our desires known, "Play the Temptations." And get rid of this, "They're oldies" bit.

[Ivory Fair]

After reading my post above, it may not have been clear that it was made very tongue-in-cheek, sometimes I'm so sarcastic I forget that not everyone knows that.

But you're right, the Tempts are still filling concert halls because they we're good (and still are for that matter.) I doubt very seriously that Jay-z or whomever you want to name will be doing the same thing forty years from now.

But sadly the days of radio stations actually playing what listeners request are over. There were actual congressional hearings that stopped that. Now it's all regulated. Record companies determine what is played and subsequently, what sells.

[janebse]

What you say is true to a point. But the average man has an immense power IF he will use it. NPR stations actually have request shows so there is leeway. I forget where I read it, but it was very recently. There were reports on a song becoming popular by the force of the people. Stations were playing it because people were making them.

Just today I read where Jason Williams of Duke basketball fame responded to a reporter's comment that he might be chosen by the Chicago Bulls with their losing record and reports that their management were losers too. Williams responded, "Losing is not a word in my vocabulary." When Michael Jordan went to the Chicago Bulls, it was a losing franchise, very losing. "Losing" wasn't a word in Michael's vocabulary either.

Your comments reminded me of a John Wayne (or any Western) movie where he responds to a challenge, "Them's fighting words."

No company, no matter what kind, can make something successful. It's only the people who can do that. Oh, we might try something ONCE, but only once. Critics can say this book is excellent, this movie is terrific, this play is wonderful, this is the music you should listen to, but if people don't like it, it goes down the drain.

I have utter confidence in what people can do if they get off their rear ends and work at it.

Perhaps the first question is what do people want to accomplish. Is our first goal to make everyone realize how good Temptations music is? I agree it includes a lot of people. What has amazed me is how much credit Smokey Robinson gives to the Tempts for the songs. Apparently they wrote or composed or whatever a great deal of the final song. And others involved at Motown also give credit to the Tempts. They weren't just five guys given a song to sing and singing it like robots. So the first goal would be in defining what our goal is.

The second goal, at least for me, is in defining exactly what the concept of the Temptations means. For Melvin and Otis it was the group and the music they made, an evolving type of group whose music grew and developed with them. Perhaps I could say it was the evolution of music and the group was the means through which it evolved. I think of something like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The choir changes its membership and the way they sing or present their music but the concept of the excellence of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the concept of what they want to present through their music probably remains consistent. Is this what the Temptations came to mean to Melvin and Otis? IS this why the adjectives-- "class," "style," "excellence," and "consistency," "total package" came to be used to describe the Temptations.

We can achieve whatever we want to. But it does take a little effort.

[Ivory Fair]

You're much more of an optimist than I am Jane.

Have you seen the clip of Smokey talking about the Tempts where he calls them "the five deacons"? He says something like "I would let them do all the harmonies. You'd have Eddie WAY, WAY, WAY up here (pointing to the sky) and Melvin WAY, WAY, WAY down there (pointing to the ground) and all the harmonetics in between...."

and then his eyes get all big as he pronounces the understatement of the century... "Whew! Those brothers could blow!"

[sukkafu]

jane- first of all you are absolutely right. if you go into the post archives, look up our posts on cloning.

there is nothing ''optimistic '' aboutwhat you say. it is about being righteous. the tempts had their faults but the full length movie shows them praying and on awesome they say Heavenly Father you are awesome!
the tempts are the best male group but they give credit to the God of us all. the Tabernacle is always practicing and striving for excellence.
i wish everybody would strive for excellence in character
and in goodness. we spend too much time trying to prolong youthfulness, but spend too little time trying to
promote charity, love, and many things the tempts stand for.
the tempts aren't too old- i know lots of KIDS who like them! it is like janebse says, when people unite in a common cause, it makes a difference. pressure from a number of good people can make a big impression.
when deidre hall's character from days of our lives was killed off in 1981, nbc received 30,000 letters in one week protesting. miss hall has been back and going strong for 21 more years! if somethimg stupid like a soap opera can invoke such reaction, imagine if the people put the big time hurt on hollywood and radio
to put out wholesome uplifting music and programming.
jane. i support you fully-terrific posts from an intelligent woman!

[janebse]

Two things:

1. I picked up my USA TODAY and, lo and behold, there was an article on the fact that "Kelly Osbourne's "Papa Don't Preach" was at No. 28 in national top 40 radio airplay and climbing."

Since I've heard her sing the song, I was astounded to say the least. But after reading Ivory's comment that congressional hearings had stopped request programs, I was amazed to read the following words in the article:

"Osbourne's 'Papa' couldn't be any bigger. It's been the No. 1 or 2 most requested song on the station for a month solid."

Obviously radio stations do listen to people's requests and act upon them. People won't make Kelly a singer or her rendition anything but a novelty, but they can and did make the radio stations play her song. So there's our proof that we can make radio stations play what we want them to.

2. The problem is getting people to get off their rear ends and move.

Do we write letters? Do we telephone?
What is the most effective method of getting to the person who can do something?

Should we ask for just one or two songs?
Which songs? Past? Present?
Young people seem to like "Four Days."

I personally feel it would be best to concentrate on Top 40 stations. Specialty stations would be too limiting. And Paul Williams said their music was more rock-and-roll than rhythm and blue.

I personally hate the labels which are limiting. The Temptations music is universal as is all good music. What is this need to label something and fit it into a drawer?

I know I don't fit into any label or demographic.

But to be effective, I think we need to decide on an approach, goals, methods.

[janebse]

Yes, Ivory, I do have the video where Smokey says the Tempts did the harmonies. I also have one where David says Smokey gave them the basic melody and then they wouldn't seem him for another month and a half.

I'd like to know what he meant by "five deacons"? Well, I know what he meant by "five."

[janebse]

And I'm not up to par on slang of the '60's or whenever, but what did Smokey mean by "Those brothers could blow."

I know what brothers means. I am assuming he means "could sing." But I am interested in the derivation of the word "blow."

Before you wonder what in the world I am, I am fascinated by language and have studied and taught the development of language. I am forever stopping a conversation to ask where a certain word came from.

Does "blow" refer to a certain style of singing? All the clues you could give me would be appreciated. I have heard the term used in connection with horn players, but never with a violinist. Did it develop simply because singing is the act of expelling air?