jobeterob
11-03-2014, 10:36 PM
Each of the major stars on Motown 25, the DVD, got a page written by a notable R & B writer in the booklet accompanying the DVDs ~ Smokey Robinson, Richard Pryor, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations & Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 and Diana Ross.
Here is the Diana Ross page:
Diana Ross's climactic appearance at Motown 25 is both right and righteous for one essential reason: Although Berry Gordy contributed mightily to the careers of Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, Diana Ross was undoubtedly his crowning achievement. He took more of a personal interest in her career than any of his artists before or since. As he once wrote, "I was her mentor, her manager, her boss. She was my protege', my artist, my star." Gordy ushered her into superstardom as a solo singer and actress. A decade later Ross left the label and signed with RCA, separating her - for the first time - from Motown.
Thus Ross's grand entrance down the center aisle is especially emotional. She does, after all, remain the first lady of Motown. The very fact of her electrifying aura brings home the message of this long musical evening: that the past is alive and well in present time.
In a present time, Diana - who earlier in the evening made a whimsical surprise appearance during Adam Ant's rendition of Where Did Our Love Go - calls her sister Supremes to the stage. Diana graciously puts her arms around Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong and introduces them by name. It is Diana who delivers the final proclamation that eloquently characterizes Motown 25 as an undisputed triumph.
"Berry has always felt that he's never been really appreciated," she reveals. "But it's not about the people who leave Motown that's important, but it's about the people who come back, and tonight everybody came back."
It is only Diana who can speak these words of warm appeasement with such sincerity that Gordy is persuaded to come to the stage to take his place as the patriarch of a family that stands together to offer him gratitude and love. Diana realizes the evening's emotional high point - a rollicking sing along of Someday We'll Be Together in which the glory of yesterday returns today with the promise that today will be forever.
DAVID RITZ
Here is the Diana Ross page:
Diana Ross's climactic appearance at Motown 25 is both right and righteous for one essential reason: Although Berry Gordy contributed mightily to the careers of Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, Diana Ross was undoubtedly his crowning achievement. He took more of a personal interest in her career than any of his artists before or since. As he once wrote, "I was her mentor, her manager, her boss. She was my protege', my artist, my star." Gordy ushered her into superstardom as a solo singer and actress. A decade later Ross left the label and signed with RCA, separating her - for the first time - from Motown.
Thus Ross's grand entrance down the center aisle is especially emotional. She does, after all, remain the first lady of Motown. The very fact of her electrifying aura brings home the message of this long musical evening: that the past is alive and well in present time.
In a present time, Diana - who earlier in the evening made a whimsical surprise appearance during Adam Ant's rendition of Where Did Our Love Go - calls her sister Supremes to the stage. Diana graciously puts her arms around Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong and introduces them by name. It is Diana who delivers the final proclamation that eloquently characterizes Motown 25 as an undisputed triumph.
"Berry has always felt that he's never been really appreciated," she reveals. "But it's not about the people who leave Motown that's important, but it's about the people who come back, and tonight everybody came back."
It is only Diana who can speak these words of warm appeasement with such sincerity that Gordy is persuaded to come to the stage to take his place as the patriarch of a family that stands together to offer him gratitude and love. Diana realizes the evening's emotional high point - a rollicking sing along of Someday We'll Be Together in which the glory of yesterday returns today with the promise that today will be forever.
DAVID RITZ