By Scott Tady stady@timesonline.com
PITTSBURGH -- A fashion icon as a member of The Supremes, Mary Wilson says she'll wear something appropriately dazzling Dec. 16 when headlining the Pittsburgh Holiday Doo Wop concert at Heinz Hall.
"I still like glamour. I still have a lot of sexy, sequined gowns," Wilson said. "I'll try the best I can, at age 71-and-a-half, to look sexy. I've got to live up to that."
Wilson gets to showcase her singing alone in the spotlight in a set loaded with songs by the Supremes.
"I'll be singing all the Supremes hit records like 'Stop! In the Name of Love,' 'You Can't Hurry Love' and 'Where Did Our Love Go,'" Wilson said.
She's excited about the concert's supporting acts.
"I'm really looking forward to Tommy Mara and The Crests [["Sixteen Candles") and my favorite singer Shirley Reeves of the Shirelles [["Soldier Boy"). People I haven't seen in years. It's going to be, for me, a little reunion."
Of course, a reunion with fellow Supreme Diana Ross would be huge news, and while someday they may be together, it'll take some mending of feelings.
Wilson's 1986 autobiography, "Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme," characterized Ross as an attention-stealing diva.
"Diana always liked to be the center of attraction," Wilson wrote. "If you happened to be in her way while she was going toward the center, that was your fault."
As recently as a 2014 Huffington Post interview, Wilson said, "I think Diana is into her own stardom," though interviewed a dozen days ago, Wilson expressed no hard feelings toward the other original living Supreme, mentioning Ross in casual, matter-of-fact terms when discussing the group's career [[the third original Supreme, Florence Ballard, died from heart failure in 1976).
Ross had family members in western Pennsylvania whom she'd see on tour stops to the former Twin Coaches supper club in Rostraver Township -- the first spot Wilson thinks of when asked about Pittsburgh.
"When we used to tour in the late-'60s we'd play there," Wilson said. "These little weekend engagements. The place was always packed. It was such a wonderful place."
Asked to pick her favorite Supremes song, Wilson said, "It's kind of hard to say. I have four children and eight grandchildren and I can't say I love one of them more than the others, you love them all equally."
Though after a brief pause, she volunteered "Reflections" as one contender.
"Lyrically, it's so relevant today, more so than some people may realize," Wilson said.
The same goes for "Where Did Our Love Go," the Supremes' first hit, a song Wilson recognizes as a fan favorite though confesses, "that's the one where I like my voice least of all."
Modern-day dance clubbers have been digging Wilson's powerhouse pipes on a fresh remix of her solo single "Time to Move On" currently at No. 23 on the Billboard Dance chart.
"I was so surprised by that," Wilson said, adding that she co-wrote the original 2000 version with English soul musician/actor Leee John while they were hanging out in his apartment.
"We were just being kooky," she said. "Now it's a hit moving up the Billboard chart."
She hopes the newfound success of "Time to Move On" will prod her record company to put out her new solo album of original songs targeted initially for a 2015 release.
"Maybe this will give it a bump," Wilson said.
That new material has a jazzy sound.
"That's more what Mary Wilson is all about," she said.
Well, that and performing, which is something she still cherishes.
"I love being on stage. That's my first love performing for people, seeing them happy and enjoying themselves," Wilson said.
Since 1959, when classmate Ballard convinced her to audition for the group that would become the Supremes, "I knew that was my calling," Wilson said.
The response of fans keeps her going.
"People come up to me and say that music really made their lives happier or easier or better. Or then they'll say something like they got married to one of our songs or started dating someone because of one," Wilson said. "I'm so excited to be part of that and happy to still be able to put on a show."
Fans come to hear her sing songs from one of Motown's most magical acts, rightfully enshrined in the Rock and Roll and Grammy halls of fame. The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles displays 15 of the nearly 50 lavish Supremes gowns still owned by Wilson.
"Most of those gowns are in an exhibition that tours the world," Wilson said.
Fans who buy the top-end $99.50 tickets for the 14th annual Holiday Doo Wop show can attend a pre-show meet-and-greet with the artists that comes with a commemorative keepsake.
For any longtime fans headed to the concert, Wilson offers a message that looks to the future as well as the past.
"I hope they bring their children to the show," she said. "We've got to keep that good '60s music going on past our generation."
If You Go
What: 14th annual Pittsburgh Holiday Doo-Wop Concert starring Mary Wilson of The Supremes
When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16
Where: Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh
Tickets: $32.50 to $99.50.
Information: pittsburghsymphony.org
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