Philles/Motown Gary
09-28-2014, 04:51 PM
Disc 3 is titled "Reunion". Somehow, I had imagined the TV cameras running non-stop backstage, capturing the Motown artists meeting, greeting, and hugging each other for the first time in several years. What a thrill that would have been! Instead, Disc 3 contains yet another round-table discussion with Suzanne dePasse and the producers/directors of Motown 25. Now, don’t get me wrong. This segment has its moments, and at times it’s even quite funny and comical – even at 4:00 a.m. when I was still viewing it! But, there were a few behind-the-scenes stories that Suzanne and Don Mischer had already told and, at times, it felt like a repeat of Disc 2. If I hadn’t been expecting the back-stage patter among the Motown stars, I would have enjoyed this round-table discussion much more, as I do enjoy Suzanne dePasse and the inside-Motown stories that she has shared.
Another discussion takes place between Smokey, Duke [[Four Tops), and Otis [[Tempts). This, too, was interesting, yet I felt like I had already been there from Disc 2.
There are also separate, individual interviews from Smokey, Duke, and Otis. What I REALLY enjoyed the most was the interview with Claudette Robinson. She is just the sweetest, down-to-earth lady you can imagine. And, like Smokey, she doesn’t look a day over 50, especially given her long hair which was new to me. I don’t know how they do it! Her stories about the early days with The Miracles and the Motown Picnics were most enjoyable. I also enjoyed the Martha Reeves interview. Martha was especially interesting when she was talking about the various artists at Motown [[Smokey, The Temptations, and the first time she met Stevie Wonder). Strangely, come to think of it, Martha didn’t talk about The Vandellas, yet her interview was interesting as always, although I must admit she lost me when she was talking about her political/council work for the city. I guess I'm just more music-minded than civic-minded.
I’m half-way through the 6-disc deluxe Motown 25 DVD set. We’ll see what Disc 4 brings. As I mentioned before, I’m becoming a bit concerned that I haven’t seen any previously-unreleased Motown 25 footage that was promised. Suzanne said something in one of the interviews about certain segments of Motown 25 being longer than what was originally televised [[which could mean the songwriters' segment while sitting around the piano, or longer versions of any of the other segments which were already aired. It left me wondering -- Did I already see the previously-unreleased footage on Disc 1 without realizing it? When we were promised 30-minutes’ worth of previously unreleased footage, most of us assumed that to mean entire segments which were filmed but never-before-shown [[like Mary Wilson’s heart-felt tribute to Flo, Paul, and the other Motown alumni who had passed on prior to that time.) I’m wondering if we jumped to the wrong conclusion? A lot can happen between Disc 4 and Disc 6. We’ll see.
Another discussion takes place between Smokey, Duke [[Four Tops), and Otis [[Tempts). This, too, was interesting, yet I felt like I had already been there from Disc 2.
There are also separate, individual interviews from Smokey, Duke, and Otis. What I REALLY enjoyed the most was the interview with Claudette Robinson. She is just the sweetest, down-to-earth lady you can imagine. And, like Smokey, she doesn’t look a day over 50, especially given her long hair which was new to me. I don’t know how they do it! Her stories about the early days with The Miracles and the Motown Picnics were most enjoyable. I also enjoyed the Martha Reeves interview. Martha was especially interesting when she was talking about the various artists at Motown [[Smokey, The Temptations, and the first time she met Stevie Wonder). Strangely, come to think of it, Martha didn’t talk about The Vandellas, yet her interview was interesting as always, although I must admit she lost me when she was talking about her political/council work for the city. I guess I'm just more music-minded than civic-minded.
I’m half-way through the 6-disc deluxe Motown 25 DVD set. We’ll see what Disc 4 brings. As I mentioned before, I’m becoming a bit concerned that I haven’t seen any previously-unreleased Motown 25 footage that was promised. Suzanne said something in one of the interviews about certain segments of Motown 25 being longer than what was originally televised [[which could mean the songwriters' segment while sitting around the piano, or longer versions of any of the other segments which were already aired. It left me wondering -- Did I already see the previously-unreleased footage on Disc 1 without realizing it? When we were promised 30-minutes’ worth of previously unreleased footage, most of us assumed that to mean entire segments which were filmed but never-before-shown [[like Mary Wilson’s heart-felt tribute to Flo, Paul, and the other Motown alumni who had passed on prior to that time.) I’m wondering if we jumped to the wrong conclusion? A lot can happen between Disc 4 and Disc 6. We’ll see.