Post by Jonel on Sept 19, 2002 21:27:12 GMT -5
September 15, 2002
The Temptations
Legendary soul singers kick off IU Auditorium season
By Steve Hinnefeld,
Hoosier Times
Bloomington
With their sweet harmonies and oh-so-smooth moves, the Temptations brought new levels of soul and class to American popular music in the 1960s.
Nearly 40 years later, they still perform, supplementing their signature hits with new songs. The Motown favorites will kick off the Indiana University Auditorium's 2002-03 season Thursday night.
"We're extremely excited about the Temptations being the first act on our season," said auditorium manager Doug Booher. "It's an opportunity to kick off the season with a smile, with a spring in your step and whistling something on the way out the door."
The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets, $37 and $27 for the general public and $22 and $17 for IU students, are available at the auditorium box office and iuauditorium.com.
The Temptations are best known for such hits as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and Booher said they can be counted on to sing the favorites Thursday. But they continue to produce new music for the contemporary market. They're touting their current record, titled Awesome.
"The great thing about the Temptations, I think, is that they've continued to perform and create new music," Booher said. "Each generation has a definite idea of who the Temptations are. But the hits are definitely a big part of their show."
Otis Williams, the lone surviving member of the original Temptations, leads the current group. Other singers include tenor Ron Tyson, an 18-year veteran, bass Harry McGilberry Jr. and lead singers Terry Weeks and Barrington Henderson.
"Our challenge is to live in the present while respecting the past," Williams says in a statement from the Temptations' press kit. "Our past is filled with riches only a fool would discard. At the same time, we thrive on competition.
"As a Motowner, I grew up in the most competitive musical atmosphere imaginable. But we also understand that for a group with history, no matter how glorious that history might be, reinvention is the name of the game."
The group formed in Detroit in 1961 from two local R&B groups, the Primes and the Distants. Motown founder Berry Gordy christened them the Temptations.
Produced in their early years by hitmaker Smokey Robinson, they turned out a series of hits including "Get Ready," "(I Know I'm) Losing You," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Cloud Nine" and "Ball of Confusion."
Early lead singers David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks left to pursue solo careers, and the run of soulful hits trailed off in the '70s disco era. Tragedy also haunted the group and its ex-members: Ruffin, Kendricks, Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin had all died by the mid-1990s.
But Otis Williams and the Temptations soldiered on, with the group winning induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
Williams calls current singers Tyson, Weeks and Henderson "three of the greatest leads in the proud history of the group."
"Positive energy is at the heart of everything we do," he says. "As a country, as a people, as a musical community, we face challenges every time we go to work. Vulgarity and disrespect have never been more prevalent. But we're convinced that real values — the real musical values and spiritual values — are as powerful as ever."
Booher, the IU Auditorium manager, expects the audience to include a lot of Baby Boomers who love the Temptations as the music of their youth, along with a considerable number of IU students and younger fans.
In a sense, he said, the auditorium season will begin and end with thematic bookends: the Temptations, a legendary African-American pop group; and Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, a theatrical history of black music and dance, will close the season April 29-30.
www.hoosiertimes.com/mv-to-top/index-rt.php3
The Temptations
Legendary soul singers kick off IU Auditorium season
By Steve Hinnefeld,
Hoosier Times
Bloomington
With their sweet harmonies and oh-so-smooth moves, the Temptations brought new levels of soul and class to American popular music in the 1960s.
Nearly 40 years later, they still perform, supplementing their signature hits with new songs. The Motown favorites will kick off the Indiana University Auditorium's 2002-03 season Thursday night.
"We're extremely excited about the Temptations being the first act on our season," said auditorium manager Doug Booher. "It's an opportunity to kick off the season with a smile, with a spring in your step and whistling something on the way out the door."
The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets, $37 and $27 for the general public and $22 and $17 for IU students, are available at the auditorium box office and iuauditorium.com.
The Temptations are best known for such hits as "My Girl" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and Booher said they can be counted on to sing the favorites Thursday. But they continue to produce new music for the contemporary market. They're touting their current record, titled Awesome.
"The great thing about the Temptations, I think, is that they've continued to perform and create new music," Booher said. "Each generation has a definite idea of who the Temptations are. But the hits are definitely a big part of their show."
Otis Williams, the lone surviving member of the original Temptations, leads the current group. Other singers include tenor Ron Tyson, an 18-year veteran, bass Harry McGilberry Jr. and lead singers Terry Weeks and Barrington Henderson.
"Our challenge is to live in the present while respecting the past," Williams says in a statement from the Temptations' press kit. "Our past is filled with riches only a fool would discard. At the same time, we thrive on competition.
"As a Motowner, I grew up in the most competitive musical atmosphere imaginable. But we also understand that for a group with history, no matter how glorious that history might be, reinvention is the name of the game."
The group formed in Detroit in 1961 from two local R&B groups, the Primes and the Distants. Motown founder Berry Gordy christened them the Temptations.
Produced in their early years by hitmaker Smokey Robinson, they turned out a series of hits including "Get Ready," "(I Know I'm) Losing You," "I Can't Get Next to You," "Cloud Nine" and "Ball of Confusion."
Early lead singers David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks left to pursue solo careers, and the run of soulful hits trailed off in the '70s disco era. Tragedy also haunted the group and its ex-members: Ruffin, Kendricks, Paul Williams and Melvin Franklin had all died by the mid-1990s.
But Otis Williams and the Temptations soldiered on, with the group winning induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
Williams calls current singers Tyson, Weeks and Henderson "three of the greatest leads in the proud history of the group."
"Positive energy is at the heart of everything we do," he says. "As a country, as a people, as a musical community, we face challenges every time we go to work. Vulgarity and disrespect have never been more prevalent. But we're convinced that real values — the real musical values and spiritual values — are as powerful as ever."
Booher, the IU Auditorium manager, expects the audience to include a lot of Baby Boomers who love the Temptations as the music of their youth, along with a considerable number of IU students and younger fans.
In a sense, he said, the auditorium season will begin and end with thematic bookends: the Temptations, a legendary African-American pop group; and Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, a theatrical history of black music and dance, will close the season April 29-30.
www.hoosiertimes.com/mv-to-top/index-rt.php3
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