December 20. 2006
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Anika Noni R o se (from left), B eyonce Know les a n d Jennifer H udson sta r in 'D ream girls,' a film b a se d loosely on the S u p re m e s and
the m any girl groups from M otown in th e 1 9 6 0 s and 70s.
Step Back with
the ‘Dreamgirls’
Movie shines spotlight on Motown’s girl groups
(AP)--Set in the 1960sand'70s, "Dreamgirls"
doesn't profess to be a literal history of Motown
or any other music scene from the past.
But the film, which is loosely based on De­
troit chart-toppers the Supremes. does examine
the issues that confronted many girl groups
over the years. In this case: a calculating man­
ager, relentless ambitions and ego-driven
clashes among the artists.
Motown Hall o f Famer Martha Reeves says
she's glad that the film, which opened last
Friday in New York and Los Angeles and opens
Christmas Day across the country, is shining a
spotlight on the sound, glamour and elegance
of girl groups.
"Being a performer, I could identify with the
development of the talent, our personalities
and opinions and how judgments are decreed,”
said the 65-year-old former leader of Martha
and the Vandellas. whose hits included "Danc­
ing in the Street" and "Heat Wave". "But 1
couldn't say there was anything (in the film) like
my experience in Motown."
The film, adaptedfrom the 1981 Tony Award­
winning Broadway musical of the same name,
chronicles a fictional three-piece girl group
known as the Dreamettes. Its two main mem­
bers — Deena Jones ( Beyonce Knowles) and
Ellie White (Jennifer Hudson) — were inspired
by the Supremes' Diana Ross and Florence
Ballard, respectively.
The three, who are rounded out by Lorrell
Martha R e e v e s, the form er leader o f
Martha an d the Vandellas, in front o f the
M otown m u se u m in Detroit. (AP photo)
Robinson (Anika Noni Rose), are discovered
by managerCurtisTaylorJr. ( Jamie Foxxjand
offered a job as backup singers for hit-maker
James "Thunder" Early, played by Eddie
Murphy.
Taylor eventually establishes the trio as the
stand-alone act The Dreams and begins shap­
ing the women's hx>k and sound, a la Motown.
As Berry Gordy did for Ross, Taylor grooms
Jones for the spotlight, while the less photoge­
nic Effie is pushed out. (Ballard left the group
in 1967. ended up on welfare and died in 1976.)
Charles Sykes, an Indiana University pro­
fessor who teaches a class on the history of the
Motown music movement, said girl groups
rode a wave o f popular music that targeted an
emerging market of music-hungry teenagers.
He said most of Motown's girl groups didn’t
necessarily stand apart from the label's overall
talent roster until the Supremes began toemerge
as superstars in 1964-65 with hits such as
"Baby Love" and "Stop! In the Name of Love."
Many girl groups saw their declines come as
quickly as their ascents. Gaines said.
"They were horribly underpaid and exploited.
They had very few legal protections. They were
just easy prey for exploitation and some of them
met with very tragic circumstances."
Reeves, a member of the R&ck and Roll Hall
o f Fame who now serves on the Detroit City
Council, cited examples such as the Shirelles'
"Soldier Boy" and Freda Payne's "Bring the
Boys Home" to argue that Motown acts and
others rose Io popularity by singing about love
during a turbulent period in history.
"The girls had their way in the '60s. I guess,
because we sung through wars." Reeves said.
"I remember (he Korean War and the Vietnam
War. and people would come to me and say:
'Y our music took us through it."’
She added: "They were songs that took us
through a crisis and people could identify with
it."
Sykes, said he often compares lyrics of
Motown hits such as the Marvelettes' "Please
Mr. Postman," in which a woman eagerly awaits
notice from her faraway boyfriend, to modern-
day female lyricists and finds stark differences
in what he called "the empowerment of the
female image." But, he noted, girl groups capi­
talized on certain timeless elements of longing.
Marsalis Gets Political
Upcoming CD criticizes political leadership
It's not, ’Let me tell y'all how I'm
different from you.' It's a comment
on our way of life and our culture."
The CD "From the Plantation to
the Penitentiary" is due out March
6. Marsalis, 45, calls it his most
Wynton M arsalis
political album in years.
(AP) - On Wynton Marsalis’
"It's been in my mind fora while.
upcomingCD. he criticizes political Every decade I like to do one piece
leadership in America, cultural cor­ that has that kind of social involve­
ruption. and sex and violence in rap ment with American culture, "he said.
— and that's just on one song.
A look at some of the lyrics shows
"I'm a part of it, I'm speaking from Marsalis is disenchanted with that
inside of ourcullure." Marsalis said. culture. "The Return of Romance"
"We're not taking a moralistic view. appears to take rappers to task.
accusing (hem of being modern-
day m instrels with "song-less
tunes"; "Super Capitalism" chas­
tises those obsessed with material­
istic goals: and "Where Y'all At,"
among other things, criticizes '60s
radicals and ideal ists who have lost
their revolutionary slant.
"Where Y'all At" is notable be­
cause it features Marsalis as the
vocalist, delivering a sort of rap
chant.
"I always try and do something
different. I don't try to make any of
my records the same," he said. "I’m
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