Martha, Lois and Sandra interview with Mike Douglas

[luke]

On Martha being so skinny and their move to NYC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQWRud0ghTs&feature=related

[theboyfromxtown]

Luke

Lovely and clear - thanks for this. Which one is Mike Douglas...is he the one not wearing glasses?

What did they sing that time?

[Kamasu_Jr]

Luke

Lovely and clear - thanks for this. Which one is Mike Douglas...is he the one not wearing glasses?

What did they sing that time?

One was a song about les bicycles... where Martha blew a lyric. It tickles me how luke is always posting video clips i've seen and had for years.

[midnight johnny]

Kamasu....why don't you tickle US by posting some of those clips?

[Kamasu_Jr]

I would, but they're not mine. They belong to pops, Motown Fan, and he hates YouTube. He spent a lot of money and time acculating videos and so many of them have ended up on YouTube for free.

[rod_rick]

Hey Kam was it a live performance? Would love to hear how Lois, Sandy & Martha sounded live

[Kamasu_Jr]

Hey Kam was it a live performance? Would love to hear how Lois, Sandy & Martha sounded live

The song
about the bicycles was live with Mike Douglas' band. I think the other song was Taking My Love, possibly sung over the Funk's instrumental backing on tape.

[theboyfromxtown]

I think the song you mean is Les Bicyclettes De Belsize. I know that Englebert Humperdynck recorded it....

Kamasu-I can understand how Motown_fan feels - I have 45's that I paid a fortune for [[and he probably witnessed me buying Saundra Mallet on Tamla!). But, just looking and staring ALONE at it, isn't half as much fun as sharing it with others.

[reese]

The other songs they sang in this performance [[besides LES BICYCLETTES) were FEELING GOOD and Martha's solo version of DIDN'T WE.

TAKING MY LOVE was done in another episode, along with SOUL APPEAL.

[theboyfromxtown]

Can someone tell me who the 2 interviewers are please?

Is it not deemed rude to talk openly to a lady about her body measurements....and with a tv audience as well! I'm surprised she didn't give him a slap.

[reese]

The guy without the glasses is Mike Douglas. I have no idea who the other gentleman is.

Re the weight question, I gather that's the sort of thing that tv hosts talked about with female performers back then. I've seen a clip of Mike interviewing Gladys Knight and the Pips. And he said something like "Wow, Gladys. Your hair is so long now." Most likely, she was wearing a different wig or hairpiece. She just laughed and said "It grows and grows."

[REDHOT]

Thanks LUKE,For posting this,
Please stay positive

[road runner]

Great clip. I believe the man with the glasses is opera singer Jan Peerce.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Reese is right. the other song was Soul Appeal. Reese was probably buying video material from the same slick video dealer that Motown Fan did. He said he paid something like $75.00 per tape for several Mike Douglas shows that were supposed to be rarities and are now just being given to YouTube. He feels he was taken advantage of. :-)

[reese]

The price had dropped considerably by the time they came my way. I paid only $20 for a Mike Douglas compliation at a NYC record show a few years back.

[Kamasu_Jr]

The price had dropped considerably by the time they came my way. I paid only $20 for a Mike Douglas compliation at a NYC record show a few years back.

Wow. Motown fan would be pissed. That's one reason why he stopped collecting and trading videos. He says he now knows some of the dealers were taking him.

[theboyfromxtown]

Kamasu

Your pops is not the only one who has been taken for an expensive ride. It happens to us all at some point. Make sure you keep him informed of what is happening at SDF cos I miss him!

[theboyfromxtown]

Thank you Reese and Road Runner for the identification

[jillfoster]

Wow. Motown fan would be pissed. That's one reason why he stopped collecting and trading videos. He says he now knows some of the dealers were taking him.

Then why does he hate Youtube? I would think he would like the idea of the the people who took him for too much money not being able to do it to anybody else. Not that it matters to me, I have them all, and didn't pay a penny for them.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Kamasu

Your pops is not the only one who has been taken for an expensive ride. It happens to us all at some point. Make sure you keep him informed of what is happening at SDF cos I miss him!


I'd rather him spend money on his grandkids. His buying videos was a major source of tension between he and my mother. Things are a lot quieter now. :D


On the subject of videos, will we see any more Motown DVDs from Universal?

[floyjoy678]

Anyone know where to get these Mike Douglas clips? I have always wanted to see the Supremes 1965 appearance where they sang "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Back In My Arms Again".

[theboyfromxtown]

floyjoy678

Are they not on youtube? I saw Soul Appeal and if I remember correctly, Midnight Johnny included it in his EXCELLENT extended version of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFvJqufeFIk

[topdiva1]

This was a good grouping for Martha. They really tried to kick it up a notch with this line up.

[luke]

Your welcome Redhot!

[randy_russi]

I saw them on the Dinah Shore Show, the same three, and one of the songs they did was "More Today Than Yesterday".
All these artists back in the 60s did songs other than their hits--Martha, Roz, Lois appeared on a TV special called
"Soul" and they did one number--Down By The Riverside.
Now when these artists get a TV gig they only perform their old hits. They should still show their versatility. They
hate being called "oldies" artists, at least most of them do.

[robbert]

Pity that the quality of the Mike Douglas Soul Appeal video is poor. And again, who is who in the background vocals? All the Motown girl groups suffered from the neatly ironed "Andantes"-sound in the late sixties. Many times I couldn't hear the difference between a Supremes, Marvelettes or Vandellas BG.
Are there recordings or videos where I can distinguish the BG-voices of Gladys Horton [[RIP) and Katherine Anderson, or the different Vandellas or Supremes? The story of the Supremes/Andantes BG is rather well documented by now, but not the story of the other girl groups'backgrounds.

I wonder if Roz has kept contact with Lois Reeves over the years, I mean, they were together in the group for a few years, before Sandra came aboard. And those two groupings [[Martha-Roz-Lois & Martha-Lois-Sandra) did well in the latter half of the sixties up until 1972, at least musically... I'm not talking about chart positions.

But given the fact that the two 'original' Vandellas Roz and Annette nowadays are touring with a new "Martha" and ther original Martha is touring with Lois and ?, gives me little hope for a reunion... oops, wrong thread, sorry, folks :cool:

[marv2]

I saw them on the Dinah Shore Show, the same three, and one of the songs they did was "More Today Than Yesterday".
All these artists back in the 60s did songs other than their hits--Martha, Roz, Lois appeared on a TV special called
"Soul" and they did one number--Down By The Riverside.
Now when these artists get a TV gig they only perform their old hits. They should still show their versatility. They
hate being called "oldies" artists, at least most of them do.

Randy, wow! I thought I was the only one that remembered that "Soul" TV special that Martha and the Vanellas appeared on. I was in grade school but would love to see that again if it were any way possible.

[reese]

Randy, wow! I thought I was the only one that remembered that "Soul" TV special that Martha and the Vanellas appeared on. I was in grade school but would love to see that again if it were any way possible.

The Paley Museum in NYC has a copy.

[theboyfromxtown]

Reese

Once upon a time, I was told that it was possible to watch these old American TV shows. Is that still possible? And is there a cost? There are lots of shows that we didn't get in the UK that I would love to see.

[reese]

Reese

Once upon a time, I was told that it was possible to watch these old American TV shows. Is that still possible? And is there a cost? There are lots of shows that we didn't get in the UK that I would love to see.

The Paley Centers for Media [[in NYC and CA) have a vast library of radio and television programs. Visitors get an allotted amount of time to watch items of their choice. If you aren't a member, you have to pay an admission fee. Members don't. But there's a yearly membership fee.

The last time I was there, I watched an old solo Martha appearance on THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. She sang [[I believe) FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, as well as a hits medley.

[marv2]

The Paley Museum in NYC has a copy.

Thanks Reese. I use to go there years ago, it's in the West 50's I believe. Since the internet, I had almost forgot about that place. I will have to check it out one weekend. Thanks again.

[loveblind]

Nice clip.
I forgot Martha had moved to NYC for a spell. She wasn't happy at Motown at this point and another record label was courting her and offering her a movie deal , ect in New York. Motown sent a spy to check things out and told Reeves to get back to the business of Motown as she was under contract.

!968 was the last big year she had there. They were still riding off the success of "Honey Chile" and headlining at important venues everywhere, but it was about to come to a halt and she knew it.

She kept going to Gordy asking for a push, but the company was going crazy trying get the Supremes back in the top 10 after H-D H left. Soon they [[Motown) was promoting Diana's departure from the SUpremes and TV specials. Martha sent her boyfriend at the time and father of her son up to talk to Gordy. By that time Motown was heavily promoting the New Supremes with Jean Terrell. After that wait,http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs307.snc4/40711_141308215906680_137706609600174_171819_18113 34_n.jpg Reeves was told they were putting a big push on the J-5 and once again she would have to further wait for her push. Martha decided to get a release from her contract and try her luck at MCA records.

[detmotownguy]

"By that time Motown was heavily promoting the New Supremes with Jean Terrell". Oh boy here we go, this is going to be an interesting discussion now! lol! There seems to be an argument on both sides on the promotion of the New Sups.
jon

[johnny_raven]

It's all relative

[randy_russi]

On the subject of background vocals, robbert:
Any of the early '60s recordings you can hear the Supremes, Marvelettes, Vandellas and hear the difference in the three
groups. Yes, as you stated, by the late '60s all the background voices were the same for the three groups on many
of the recordings.
Listen to Quicksand by Vandellas, Beachwood by Marvelettes, You Bring Back Memories by Supremes.

[theboyfromxtown]

Loveblind....you're always worth reading. Thank you for all your posts over the years.

As much as I feel for Martha's position, I suspect we can all understand why Motown continued to plough their resources into the Supremes. I suspect it didn't help that Martha and was quite happy to stand up to Mr Gordy whereas Diana wasn't quite so forthcoming!