Interviews & Performances with Dozens of Classic Motown Artists!

[marv2]

Everyone Is Here in This One! This is the video Ian Levine told me would not be available in America. Well.........This is the motherlode!

[marv2]

This is Part 2. I cannot believe he has finally released this footage.

[marv2]

These 4 hour videos have just about everyone in them [[close to 108 different Motown acts). Make you sure you get to see these videos before they get pulled.......

[thomas96]

I hate Ian Levine productions with a passion.

[thomas96]

And no Bobby Taylor in there?

[marv2]

And no Bobby Taylor in there?

Yes Bobby is in there. Several clips of him. One he explains how Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard discovered him and the Vancouvers. He talks about their 3 biggest hits for Motown etc. These videos are so long that you have to search through them slowly.

[marv2]

Bobby first shows up at 1:20:00 in the first video.

[thomas96]

Ahh thanks. I just noticed he wasn't listed in any of the descriptions.

[marv2]

Ahh thanks. I just noticed he wasn't listed in any of the descriptions.

You're welcome Thomas. There are so many people/artists in these videos, it's hard to keep up.

[Sharpmoves]

Thanks so much for posting this. I've just been watching some of Part One. Really interesting. Great footage of all the stars singing round the piano, and of Martha and Wanda meeting up on the steps of Hitsville USA, clearly old friends and bubbling over with excitement. Hours more enjoyment to come. Thanks again Marv2, for a really welcome post. It strikes me that this is exactly what YouTube is really about - making a shared cultural heritage available to as wide an audience as possible, and "free at the point of use" too.

[westgrandboulevard]

I think I may already have part 1 on a DVD set somewhere...but had no idea about part 2....which I shall really enjoy, when I have a quiet 4 hours to absorb it all!

Whether or not one appreciates the sound recordings produced by Ian Levine [[with some reservations, I do), the visual aspect of his project - as demonstrated here- more than justifies the time and expense he gave to it.

Thanks for posting them, Marv.

PS. I'm now wondering if the complete footage of the 'Legends of Motor City' UK tour from that time, and previously available on 3 VHS tapes, is included, or available elsewhere.....

[luke]

Bravo Marv--the find of the decade!! Huge props to Ian Levine for doing all of this!

[marv2]

Thanks so much for posting this. I've just been watching some of Part One. Really interesting. Great footage of all the stars singing round the piano, and of Martha and Wanda meeting up on the steps of Hitsville USA, clearly old friends and bubbling over with excitement. Hours more enjoyment to come. Thanks again Marv2, for a really welcome post. It strikes me that this is exactly what YouTube is really about - making a shared cultural heritage available to as wide an audience as possible, and "free at the point of use" too.

Sharpmoves , you are most welcome! I am really enjoying the local Detroit footage and local news interviews they did at the time.

[marv2]

Bravo Marv--the find of the decade!! Huge props to Ian Levine for doing all of this!

Thank you Luke. I actually remember some of the news interviews from local TV . The one they did with Jean, Scherrie and Lynda on Part 2. standing outside. I remember that was how they looked later that night when I saw them.

[Methuselah2]

Tons of fascinating footage. Thanks very much for posting, Marv. Irresistible to try not watching. But various comments made by some of the artists who participated later surfaced that add another dimension to the proceedings. Entertaining and very interesting stuff to see and hear in these videos--but do those who were there feel that way, too? Some have since said otherwise. So, watching the footage has a lot of things going on for me at the same time. But thanks again for posting. Very layered footage.

[marv2]

What I find disturbing is that Ian Levine went to Atlantic Records Sylvia Rhone [[who later headed up Motown under Universal) and she rebuked him when he tried to interest them in distributing the classic Motown Artists newer recordings.

She told him she did not want to hear any of it and that they were nothing but a bunch of old has beens..........

[luke]

OMG..didnt Sylvia end up getting the boot?

[marv2]

OMG..didnt Sylvia end up getting the boot?

I don't know but I sure hope so! Another case of someone not thinking that if it had not been for those "old hasbeens", she might not have had such a high and lofty position!

[marv2]

This is Part 2. I cannot believe he has finally released this footage.

A heads up! Do not miss Miss Bettye LaVette at 1:00:00 on this Part 2!!!

[marv2]

If you really want to get a good idea of what singers from Detroit went through prepping for a recording or adding a song to a live set, check out the Monitors in Part 1 at 2:10:49......amazing! The lead singer on this one is Smokey Robinson's nephew.