Berry Gordy, Jr. and Suzanne dePasse on Tavis Smiley

[sansradio]

Just a tease, but here ya go:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tavis-smiley/my-conversation-with-berr_b_5882136.html?utm_hp_ref=black-voices&ir=Black+Voices

[Philles/Motown Gary]

A tease indeed -- but so, so tempting! Gotta see more!

[sansradio]

I know! The full show will air on PBS in the NYC area tonight at midnight!

[milven]

Suzanne said that the original plan was to have Stevie open the show, forgetting the principles of Stevie Wonderland. But the call came into director that Stevie was not going to make it that Friday, but would be in the first thing Saturday morning. But there was no tomorrow. It was Friday or nothing. So they had to strike the opening set and juggle everything.

Berry was asked how he kept his emotions in check. Berry said he had all kinds of emotions, joy, sadness and anger. He was angry at Suzanne for doing the show in the first place since Motown at the time was having financial problems. Suzanne did not know that Motown was in trouble.

Michael only wanted to do Billy Jean for the house audience, not the TV audience but after seeing it in rehearsal, Suzanne contacted Michael and said to let them tape it and he can come to the editing room and if doesn't like, they won't use it. He came and helped edit it, and they used it.

Berry said that if he had listened to his instincts and stayed home and watched the show on TV, he would have been the world's most miserable man. He was glad that Smokey convinced him to go. Smokey told him that the people left Motown to further pursue their dreams , just as Berry left Detroit to further pursue his dreams. But they were all coming back for that night to show him the love.

The only reference to the Supremes was when Suzanne was listing the groups that regrouped for the show. When she got to the Supremes, she said, "The Supremes, as brief as it was..."

Having seen MOTOWN THE MUSICAL a few times, it was interesting to watch this interview, since MOTOWN THE MUSIAL is bookended with the making of Motown 25.

This interview will probably be posted on the PBS site.

[sansradio]

Glad you got a chance to see it! I haven't yet. Tavis/PBS are good about posting episodes, so it should hopefully be up soon, if not already.

[Bokiluis]

Its great that Mr. Gordy is still with us to reap the rewards and accolades for a hit Broadway musical, a first class treatment of this iconic special, etc. There is not a single label that I can think of with the creative talent to secure a Grammy winning, Neilsen #1 Prime Time special. I cannot imagine a label today pulling this off. Thanks Mr. Gordy and label family for a lifetime of quality entertainment.

[REDHOT]

The big highlight of The Motown 25 was the reunion of The Supremes,but what a mess that was,so i'm sure Suzanne didn't want to talk about that,plus from what i'v heard,she and Mary Wilson are not the best of friends,i'm sure thats why Mary was not included in the interview's,from this Motown 25 dvd set,Mary is still working hard,she should have been included in this big Motown 25 event,Suzanne smh lol,but Michael Jackson stole the show.what a great show it was, Mary Wilson talked about Florence Ballard that night,i'm sure that won't be included in this Motown 25 dvd box set,thanks to Suzanne,anyway Motown 25 is History.

[jobeterob]

After all the tales about Billie Jean, here Michael didn't even want to do it for other than the audience.

This is a great product to have. Great times. Motown the Musical. My daughter in law saw it and I got a t shirt. All those Diana RCA CDs. And M25.

So great. Motown is truly forever.

[milven]

Here is the full episode of the Tavis Smiley Show with Berry and Suzanne.

http://www.thirteen.org/programs/tavis-smiley/

[dvus7]

Ms. De passe....Is lying!!!! When she stated that ALL the artist, did not object to Michael doing "Billie Jean"!!!! There is no-way that I believe that!!!

[marv2]

Ms. De passe....Is lying!!!! When she stated that ALL the artist, did not objected to Michael doing "Billie Jean"!!!! There is no-way that I believe that!!!

Dvus7, that is her reputation to lie. She believes it is being savvy or showing good PR sense, but it is still flat out lying.

[midnightman]

Of course Suzanne lied about that, Marvin Gaye was openly upset he couldn't sing "Sexual Healing" after hearing that Michael was allowed to do "Billie Jean". You know he was probably calling MJ all sorts of "little s**t" and all of that. :D

[marv2]

Of course Suzanne lied about that, Marvin Gaye was openly upset he couldn't sing "Sexual Healing" after hearing that Michael was allowed to do "Billie Jean". You know he was probably calling MJ all sorts of "little s**t" and all of that. :D

Exactly Midnightman! In fact, Marvin's song was much bigger than Michael's since he had only released "Thriller" several month's prior to the televison special.

[marv2]

He, Tavis Smiley said that she, Suzanne DePasse was with the label [[Motown) almost from the beginning. What a crock of s$%t!

[midnightman]

Exactly Midnightman! In fact, Marvin's song was much bigger than Michael's since he had only released "Thriller" several month's prior to the televison special.

Right. Plus "Billie Jean" was JUST released as the next single. Sure it was popular but I think it was only after Motown 25 that it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. And yeah for the first half of 1983, "Sexual Healing" was indeed a bigger hit at the time even if it missed the #1 spot on the Hot 100.

[midnightman]

He, Tavis Smiley said that she, Suzanne DePasse was with the label [[Motown) almost from the beginning. What a crock of s$%t!

I wonder if he was told to say it or did he actually believe it and why didn't Berry correct him? SMH lol

[marv2]

I wonder if he was told to say it or did he actually believe it and why didn't Berry correct him? SMH lol

I've learned that certain people are always trying to "up" their achievements and importance but fail because "we the people" know the truth! Berry was probably too tired to even care. LOL!

[marv2]

Right. Plus "Billie Jean" was JUST released as the next single. Sure it was popular but I think it was only after Motown 25 that it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. And yeah for the first half of 1983, "Sexual Healing" was indeed a bigger hit at the time even if it missed the #1 spot on the Hot 100.


I'll give it to Mike. He was smart enough to know that sentimentality aside, "Motown 25" was the perfect vehicle to promote his new material while at the same time rubbing salt into Motown's wounds! He didn't even want to be there or to sing with his brothers at all!

[REDHOT]

Suzanne was there from the start lol,she could have said,no i wasn't,but she didn't,i think Cindy Birdsong is the person,that introduced Suzanne to Motown,she was Cindy's friend first,i'm sure RCA was not happy that Diana Ross was on the show,not promoting her latest RCA release,i don't know if i believe,what Suzanne said about the Michael Jackson thing lol

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Here is the full episode of the Tavis Smiley Show with Berry and Suzanne.

milven, thanks so much for providing the link for the interview with Tavis, Berry and Suzanne. I really enjoyed it. - Gary

[jobeterob]

Awesome Gary. Thanks for all the work you've done on the M25 Showcase.

[midnightman]

I'll give it to Mike. He was smart enough to know that sentimentality aside, "Motown 25" was the perfect vehicle to promote his new material while at the same time rubbing salt into Motown's wounds! He didn't even want to be there or to sing with his brothers at all!

In a way it was definitely his "f you" moment to Motown... "you say I couldn't write a hit without y'all... well... now what?"

[marv2]

Suzanne was there from the start lol,she could have said,no i wasn't,but she didn't,i think Cindy Birdsong is the person,that introduced Suzanne to Motown,she was Cindy's friend first,i'm sure RCA was not happy that Diana Ross was on the show,not promoting her latest RCA release,i don't know if i believe,what Suzanne said about the Michael Jackson thing lol

Did you see where she also claimed that she did not know that the record side of the business was in trouble or that Motown itself was struggling at the time? Do you believe that? How about using the event as a charity event for Sickle Cell Anemia to encourage some of the artists to "come back" and turn around two years later and sale the video of the show on the mass market?

[REDHOT]

Marv,i'm 100%sure she knew that Motown was struggling at the time,another lie she told,you're right,they did say it was a charity event for sickle Anemia,i forgot about that,i knew they would never show the whole Supremes set,because it makes Diana look bad,Diana didn't know the words to Someday,We're Be Together,she messed it up,so Suzanne won't touch that either,they could have even included Syreeta,in the dvd box set,Gladys Knight wanted no part of Motown 25,i wish someone,other then Suzanne DePasse,had put the Motown 25 dvd box set together.

[marv2]

Marv,i'm 100%sure she knew that Motown was struggling at the time,another lie she told,you're right,they did say it was a charity event for sickle Anemia,i forgot about that,i knew they would never show the whole Supremes set,because it makes Diana look bad,Diana didn't know the words to Someday,We're Be Together,she messed it up,so Suzanne won't touch that either,they could have even included Syreeta,in the dvd box set,Gladys Knight wanted no part of Motown 25,i wish someone,other then Suzanne DePasse,had put the Motown 25 dvd box set together.


Redhot, she did what she always did; go behind Berry Gordy's back and did what she wanted and hoped everything would turn out ok and he wouldn't be mad enough to fire her. To me that is not very professional. Yes she glossed over the Supremes segment. Diana was very disappointing that night so in her mind it is best forgotten, but it, along with Michael Jackson's performance are what most people remember about the show. The only thing that would have made this offering somewhat interesting is if she had included all the old Motown television specials on the other 5 discs such as "The Smokey Robinson Show", "TCB", "GIT", "Jackson 5 Goin' Back to Indiana" and "Diana" from '71.

I mean who wants to pay good money to see a "long" interview" with Suzanne DePasse who?. I knew I was right when I heard about this "expanded edition" that she would go scrounging to find ways to fatten it up any way she could to justify charging people $90.00 for this old television special that most that are interested already have on tape or viewed hundreds of times already on the internet!

[milven]

It is hard to believe that Suzanne did not know that Motown was in trouble. Most people in the industry knew that independent labels and even the independent distributors were in trouble because of the massive consolidation that had already begun. Maybe she was aware of Motown's troubles , but was not aware of how serious they were.

I can't believe that no one was upset when Michael was able to perform his non Motown materiel but the other artists were not.

Does anyone have any knowledge of how this charity event was set up? Was it just from the profit of ticket sales to the event and the sale to the network for broadcast - or were the profits supposed to be paid in perpetuity to the charity for any future profits from VHS, DVD, CD, etc. and by successors of Motown? Did the network also donate its profit from the sale of commercial time?

[marv2]

The big highlight of The Motown 25 was the reunion of The Supremes,but what a mess that was,so i'm sure Suzanne didn't want to talk about that,plus from what i'v heard,she and Mary Wilson are not the best of friends,i'm sure thats why Mary was not included in the interview's,from this Motown 25 dvd set,Mary is still working hard,she should have been included in this big Motown 25 event,Suzanne smh lol,but Michael Jackson stole the show.what a great show it was, Mary Wilson talked about Florence Ballard that night,i'm sure that won't be included in this Motown 25 dvd box set,thanks to Suzanne,anyway Motown 25 is History.

Glaring omission when you consider that Mary Wilson is probably interviewed more than any other "classic Motown artist" annually! How could you not include her? DePasse made that big empty threat back in the 80's not to ever include Wilson again in any Motown related shows, but had to back down from that right away! Mary was featured on the 2 part "Motown 40" , the "Motown @45" special and just about every other program related to Motown or it's artists such as the Unsung series........

[Roberta75]

Here is the full episode of the Tavis Smiley Show with Berry and Suzanne.

http://www.thirteen.org/programs/tavis-smiley/

Thank you milven for this real nice interview. Tavis Smileh have such admiration and rsspect for Mr Gordy and it was real great to see Mr Gordy and Ms De Ppsse get they due. Ive order the Motown 25 dvd after watching this interview.

Yours, with every good wish.

Roberta

[skooldem1]

I like Suzanne. She has done some great things in the entertainment industry.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

I like Suzanne. She has done some great things in the entertainment industry.

I like her, too. Without her, we wouldn't have even had a Motown 25 nor any of the other Motown specials. Nobody's perfect, including the powers that be at Motown, but can you imagine our lives without them? Neither can I.

[Methuselah2]

I found it all spin, all advertising, all making everything palatable. Ultimately, nothing to come away with. No matter how hard they were trying.

[Methuselah2]

The Andantes and The Funk Bros. reportedly were not invited to M25. That's what I'll always remember about it.

[marv2]

The Andantes and The Funk Bros. reportedly were not invited to M25. That's what I'll always remember about it.

I will always remember that not only were David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Kim Weston, Rare Earth, The Marvelettes, The Vandellas, Brenda Holloway, Bobby Taylor, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, The Velvelettes, Jean Terrell, The Spinners, Marv Johnson, Scherrie Payne, Susaye Greene, etc,etc,etc were not only NOT invited to my knowledge, they were not even mentioned!

[vgalindo]

I like Suzanne. She has done some great things in the entertainment industry.
So do I. She has done some great work for Motown. I don't understand all the hate.

[jobeterob]

Suzanne is seen as one who pulled Motown away from Detroit. An outsider who helped a few of them walk without a good bye and went on to make millions along with about 3 others while most everyone else struggled.

It makes some sense but it isn't great to live a life holding a grudge.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

The Andantes and The Funk Bros. reportedly were not invited to M25. That's what I'll always remember about it.

I know. It bugs me, too. In fact, I so wanted to love "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown" as well. It was very well done, yet The Andantes, who were featured on nearly every Motown recording right along-side The Funk Brothers, were only given honorable mention in the closing credits. I couldn't believe it. Plus, the music contained therein wasn't even Motown recordings, but that's another story. All in all, the act of including some major Motown acts on Motown 25 while conspicuously leaving out others who were equally important makes no sense whatsoever. They did NOT all come home -- not if they were indeed locked out. Somehow or other, it always boils down to the shitty game of politics. But, then, again, I wasn't there. I can't judge what happened nor why. I've found that ya just gotta learn to keep the "artist" separate from the art [[so to speak). Otherwise, it'll eat you alive.