Gloria gaynor story on lifetime tonight 2/8/25 at 8 pm

A film about Gloria Gaynor will be on Lifetime Channel tonight at 8 pm.

Tony Award winner Joaquina Kalukango stars as Grammy Award-winning singer



More info and a trailer at below link

https://www.channelguidemag.com/tv-n...tory-lifetime/

I still remember the thrill of finding those Greatest Hits packages in the racks back during my teenage years. You know the ones I mean with the same basic design but with each artist having their own color scheme?

Anyway, Marvin Gaye's was catalog Tamla 252 and the Marvelettes' was Tamla 253. Well yesterday I noticed that Marvin's album has a release date of 1964, whereas The Marvelettes' was released in 1966. It had to be that year because it included Don't Mess With Bill.

So did Marvin's really come out in 1964? If so, why such a delay before the rest of them came out, because I am pretty sure no one else released one until at least 1966 and some may have even been 1967 releases? Just seems odd to me that consecutive catalog numbers would have been released almost two years apart.

I`m a big Shorty Long fan and loved "Here Comes The Judge" but I had trouble enjoying "The Prime Of". It just didn`t hit me like the "Judge" I found it a bit of a drag because of the 2 openers "I Had A Dream" and "A Whiter Shade Of Pale".It brightens up after those two and I loved the rest.
I decided to burn a new copy opening with "I`m Walkin`", "Memories Are Made Of This" and then "I Had A Dream" which really stood out as the classy song it is. I buried "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" second to last.
I wonder any of you had the same experience accessing this now great album. Could the original line up contributed to it`s poor sales. Any views?

Pulled this lp out and gave it a listen, the first time in years. I always liked it but just never played it much. I was much more a Four Tops fan than a Tempts fan. But this, I think, is their best 70s albums.

At the time I had long grown weary of the Norman Whitfield albums they were putting out. The long instrumentals and socially conscious lyrics had worn thin. I think Side A of the 1990 lp was great music, but the B side was crap. In any event it was obvious the group needed a new direction.

Berry Gordy teamed up with Jeffrey Bowen for an lp that is fresh and versatile. Dennis Edwards is featured more on this lp and his range is amazing, from the grit of his vocal on Happy People to the tenderness in his delivery of the titular song. He really showed his stuff here. It turned out to be Damon Harris' last album and he gets in a few licks here and there, though I am not convinced he is on every track.

Side A is flawless soul music. This side flows and every track is worthy of single release. Only the first three tracks did get single issuance and for whatever reason only had modest success. Shakey Ground crawled into the Pop Top 30 and made it to No. 1 on the soul charts...their last on that chart. Perhaps America had gotten so accustomed to the Whitfield songs that they were slow to accept the new sound. Shakey Ground has been covered numerous times but the Tempts own this. I think The Prophet could have been a hit but the lyrics were foreign to most listeners.

Side B has its highlights but not all the tracks on that side are produced by Bowen. Memories is a gorgeous highlight and the Tempts enter the realm of songwriting on I'm A Bachelor. There is a stunning outtake from this album, Soulmate, also done by Bowen that mysteriously was omitted from the collection and turned up on a package over ten years later. I think the Woodford & Ivey Firefly might have fit the House Party lp that followed better than this set, and Soulmate would have been a stunning closer for the album.

I interviewed Lionel Richie in 1977 when the Commodores performed at LSU. A nice man, he was patient and forthcoming with great info. He told Berry Gordy in the early 70s that he really aspired to write music as well as perform it. Gordy bluntly said, "Ok hot shot, write me a hit on the Temptations." He came up with Happy People, a joyful precursor to the later feel-good track All Night Long. He said he was the primary writer on this song and those are Commodores providing the instrumental. The Happy People Instrumental that closes Side A are the funky Commodores.

Otis Williams said the album had some blood on it. A technical issue during production carried Jeffrey Bowen's voice into the studio where the guys were rehearsing when Bowen expressed exasperation with the guys. Williams was so upset he had a breakdown and wound up in ER. The next day a meeting was called with Gordy and Williams had to be held back from physical contact with Jeff Bowen. Additionally, Bowen took a preference to Dennis Edwards suggesting he take Edwards underwing for a solo career.

The album happily went platinum with great reviews. But the Temptations expressed no desire to work with Bowen again. When the follow-up House Party album did poorly, Gordy demanded another Bowen production. Wings Of Love was a decent lp but it pales in comparison to A Song For You

This October Soulful Detroit will be 23 years old, and except for varying subjects found in the Club House we have always been about music. Time to expand our horizons a bit. Right now, the United States is embroiled in a hot contest for the Presidency. I make no apologies for being a life long Democrat.
How could I not be? I was raised in a Blue Collar family. My father worked for The Ford Motor Company. An uncle was president for the Detroit UAW. My blood runs Blue.

I am interested to know what you forum members think of the situation. I am especially interested in hearing from our friends outside of the United States. Things are rowdy right now, but I am betting on a Democrat blow out making Kamala Harris our next president.