Hey marv,don't be too hard on otis,as far as i know his book[temptations]is the most complete history of the group to date,of course if you've read a better history let me know.
The only thing I will say is that without Suzanne DePasse is there are a lot of things that I enjoy today that would not have come to light. She was instrumental to Motown in the day of entertainment moving pass just records. If memory serves me right Cindy was the wonder who introduce her to the right folks at Motown to begin the marriage of Motown, DePasse and Gordy. Things could have been a bit bad without her.
Without Suzanne DePasse Motown would probably still have a presence in Detroit. Some of the Gordy's may still own and be involved in the company. Cindy introduced her to Mr. Gordy. When Cindy was working at Motown in a non -musical capacity, Ms. DePasse and her staff looked down on her and made things rougher than they had to be. So much for true friendship I guess. Anyway this thread was about factual errors found in the Temptations Movie.
Yes we would have and it may have been an even better show because it would have included far more members of the Motown family. Especially the artists and staff that built the company from Detroit. It would have just been someone else producing it and hopefully someone far more competent!
Here is an error I did not pick up on the first time:
When Otis gets off the tour bus and comes over to kiss Josephine, his hair changes from processed to natural, before he kisses her. LOL!
They must been having some audio problems because when lead singer Dennis Edwards' voice is totally different when singing "Cloud Nine" than it is when he is singing "Psychedelic Shack." you can tell that it is a completely different singer's voice.
Here's a big lie Suzanne DePasse told about David Ruffin in the movie. David Ruffin is portrayed as missing a Reunion tour date by engaging in a crack cocaine binge. While the tour occurred in 1982, crack cocaine did not appear on the streets until 1984 and mainly in 1986 in Philly where I was living and where David supposedly O'd several years later. What was up with that?
More of her sloppy work on this film includes the following......
The beginning of the film is supposed to take place in 1958, yet the song played over the opening credits is "I Just Can't Help It" by Jackie Wilson, a record that was recorded and released in 1962. How was that possible?
^^ That was actually pretty libelous. We knew Ruff was missing gigs but they over dramatized it as they often do.
I alway thought that the reason they weren't included was that he and eddie cussed out the excecs at the meeting.
That was not true as for what I heard. But if it were, then they provoked him! They may have put that out there. I know how rude and condescending Suzanne was to Mary Wilson when discussing participating in the show. I heard that Eddie asked about their inclusion and was told to go buy a ticket and sit in the audience! It was also put out that Eddie and David were in no condition to perform which was a lie. The performed splendidly with Hall & Oates at the Apollo. Motown also excluded them from the show "Motown Returns to the Apollo".
Cat of the Marvelettes told me they didn't even call any of them. Gladys Knight & the Pips boycotted the show for other reasons, so did Rick James!
Last edited by marv2; 11-07-2015 at 12:57 PM.
A lot of these factual errors were picked up by many other people and they have posted them around the internet. These people do not have a bone to pick or an axe to grind. They just noted sloppy production work.
Thanks for clearing that up,it was said that rick was on tour and couldn't make it,i know about gladys and it was a damn shame the marvelettes weren't included,i know the show was for charity and that's cool but it wasn't done right because the artist after doing a medley should've come on and do one of thier classics,can you imagine the temps singing[my girl]with david.
Nope , this is what he said out of his own mouth during an interview I saw on television in Denver at the time. He said that he did not want to appear on a show with a bunch of artists that had left the company just for more money. He said he did not want to appear as a hypocrite pretending to celebrate something that they ran away from. At that time Diana Ross had left Motown for RCA to everyone's disbelief, so folks thought his comments were mainly directed at her. I don't know. Gladys and them refused because they felt that it should have been the artists that were being celebrated and honored rather than Mr. Gordy and the company!
After the taping Marvin Gaye called Cat of the Marvelettes and asked her where were they? Cat told him that she and the others were not invited. He blew a gasket after hearing this.
And what f##k was adam ant doing there anyhow?
I'm sure Marvin was ticked off in more ways than one. Also, Suzanne didn't want Marvin doing "Sexual Healing" but she didn't have a problem telling the King of Pop that he can do "Billie Jean". Marvin, from what I recalled, was very disgusted by that since "Sexual Healing" was a hit at the same time as "Billie Jean" and was still in the top 40 [[I think) when Motown 25 was taped.
I thought it was weird when instead of Rick James, they had High Inergy. It's understandable why DeBarge was there but High Inergy was already on the downwards slope when they appeared. And Adam Ant being featured is one of the biggest head scratches in entertainment history. I like Adam's music but he didn't fit Motown at all.
Add to that Linda Ronstadt being allowed to sing two songs with Smokey, whereas the one solo promised to Mary Wilson was withdrawn before rehearsals even started. TG Shepard got a spot on stage , but not the Contours, Ruffin & Kendricks, Kim Weston, Brenda Holloway, Marvelettes, Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, Rare Earth, Marv Johnson and on and on and on........ Mary Wells , Jr. Walker and Martha Reeves got what? Something like 20 -30 seconds a piece!
Yeah, it was just outright despicable. And then at the end, it wasn't any of the old Motown acts or Berry Gordy himself that got the biggest news. Once MJ came and went, nothing else mattered, really. And the show afterwards became quite forgettable, not that it was that memorable minus J5/MJ and Marvin Gaye's performances [[probably the only great performances of the night).
As you can see from the photo below, Suzanne DePasse is a very large woman:
Attachment 10651
That is not how Suzanne DePasse got into Motown Records. Suzanne DePasse was the talent booker for a [[now defuct) disco in New York City called "The Cheetah". She had trouble booking Motown acts into the club she wrote letters to Berry Gordy himself detailing her frustrations and criticizing Motown's business practices. These letters were brought to Gordy's attention, who was impressed with her business acumen. They met and he offered her a job as his creative assistant.
Cindy was still in the Supremes and Diana had not yet left the group when Gordy hired DePasse. DePasse was hired in 1968 around the time that Motown was branching out into TV with the Supremes/Tempts special, "TCB". DePasse was present at the rehearsals and tapings of the special.
Last edited by SupremeBoy; 11-10-2015 at 01:11 PM.
And don't get me started on Billy Dee Williams as Berry Gordy.
Here is Suzanne DePasse in 1969 with the J5.
I owe you an apology marv2. When I am wrong I am man enough to own up to it and admit it. I mis-read your original post. I thought you wrote that Cindy introduced De Passe to Gordy when she was working for Motown in a non-Musical capacity.
I would never question Cindy Birdsong's integrity.
I believe that Cindy did introduce De Passe to Berry and she was still in the Supremes. Suzanne was actually working for the Howard Stein Talent Agency by that time.
Some sources state that De Passe was working at the Cheetah and some state she was already at Howard Stein, some mention Cindy's introduction of the two, some leave that fact out.
So, again I do apologize to you marv2.
Hey gang,we have fun laughing at the missteps in the movie,but it wasn't all bad what are the favorite things...she girls alright with me-beauty's only skin deep,the highlights for me the actors do a good job with those two.
Smokey Robinson did not sing at Melvin Franklin's burial. He was in Europe at the time.
When eddie left the temps paul was still there,for a while.
In an early scene otis walks into the barbershop and[bad girl]is playing only problem-the scene is from[1958]bad girl came out in[1959].
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