Motown Review Show -- Appearance Money

[jsmith]

We all know that back in the 60's just about every soul / Motown act made a living from their live show appearance money.
They'd just about all be playing the chitlin circuit, night after night. Not massive venues & not plush venues [[usually) but ones they would play for 3 / 4 / 7 nights to allow everyone who wanted to see them to get in to the venue.
... There were lots of shows that were staged for promotional purposes, for a radio DJ, for a civil rights cause or charity -- for those little or no fee was the usual procedure. But the good publicity or DJ's pleasure would lead to more spins for their next release ... which would help it be a hit ... which would result in lots of new live bookings.
On paid shows, no doubt say of the black theatres along the east coast, 7 nights in Norfolk, Baltimore, DC, Philly, New York, Boston ... a fee would be agreed upfront for each weeks hard graft [[up to 17 shows a week).
BUT, what was the situation with Motown Review packages ... no doubt some lesser acts would be doing it for little more than expenses & the good publicity. But the headline acts must have been drawing a decent salary [[though as Motown ran the booking agency, they'd get their 15% off the top before the artist saw any money).
Anyone know how payment for such reviews went on ??? AFTER ALL, lots of acts would start the tour dates but then leave the package to head back to Detroit for a recording session or the like. Their place would then be taken by another act for the remaining shows.
Or an act would get a new hit and so be added to a package part way thru the run of shows, or the hit would see them promoted up the bill and doing more songs in their section.
Then there's the matter of the backing band musicians; Popcorn Wylie's band, Choker Campbells band or Hamilton Bohannon's guys [[even EVD & the funk brothers on rare occasions). How were they paid [[by the show, by the week or by the tour ?)
..... An added complication then comes in with foreign tours. OK, the shows would probably run one after the other for say 10 to 14 nights. BUT, being in a different country, there'd be record label duties, meet the press duties, TV / radio show slots and the travel time itself [[12 hours on a plane followed by jet lag, etc.) and sight seeing time.
So 14 shows in the UK say would be undertaken over say a 21 day stay here. But the money would only be coming in from the 14 show fees.
LIFE MUST HAVE BEEN VERY COMPLICATED [[money wise) BACK THEN.

[jsmith]

I worked on the team that staged a UK soul weekender.
We wanted the O'Jays [[about 20 years back) & contacted them about playing our event. Coz the show [[one 60's tunes & then a 2nd one of 70's tunes) would have meant them taking up 4 / 5 days in all [[jetting across the pond, getting over the jet lag, rehearsing with the UK band & then going home), they wanted air fares, all expenses [[accommodation & food) + a lot more than their usual US standard fee to do our event.
We had to just pass on the project in the end [[too costly).

[jsmith]

On some Motown Reviews [[not many) they'd feature non Motown acts.
For instance, Rufus Thomas was on shows that were headlined by Stevie Wonder, the Miracles & Mary Wells.
Guess he was on a different scale to the Motown acts.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

You always have the most fascinating threads/subjects. I hope the ones who can really answer these questions will reply. These are things I had not considered before. Considering all the costs and overhead record companies has to factor in, it's amazing ANYONE cleared any kind of a profit.

[gman]

I don't know how anyone made money playing the Copa...it was rather small, wasn't it? I heard they had very overpriced Polynesian food and drinks...guess the loss was worth it for the publicity...all the NY newspaper / TV / magazine critics, and lots of other performer that either lived in NYC or were in town often showed up...

[jsmith]

... QUOTE ... playing the Copa...it was rather small .....all the NY newspaper / TV / magazine critics, and lots of other performer that either lived in NYC or were in town often showed up...
. . . . The trouble with critics & celebs, they turned up unannounced [[many times), expected to just 'walk in' [[no paying, queuing, etc) and also wanted the best seats. How club management dealt with such people is beyond me ... UNLESS the publicity of a celeb attending boosted ticket sales for later shows ... .. ... LAST NIGHT AT THE COPA, ELIZABETH TAYLOR WAS IN ATTENDANCE TO SEE THE TEMPTATIONS PERFORM ...
... the 1st big soul club I attended [[as a teenager) in northern England was run by Peter Stringfellow. He then went on to run successful clubs in Leeds & London before going international. He opened similar clubs in LA & Miami ... but both went bust as he said everyone who came along claimed to be a top celeb and wanted free entrance, free drinks, etc.

[BayouMotownMan]

I don't know how anyone made money playing the Copa...it was rather small, wasn't it? I heard they had very overpriced Polynesian food and drinks...guess the loss was worth it for the publicity...all the NY newspaper / TV / magazine critics, and lots of other performer that either lived in NYC or were in town often showed up...

I wondered why this booking was always so important myself, it was a small club that seemed to cater to the elite. When you played the Copa you "made it." The ticket prices must have been pricey to pay top acts like Sinatra, Martin, etc. By the mid 70s the club was dead.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

I wondered why this booking was always so important myself, it was a small club that seemed to cater to the elite. When you played the Copa you "made it." The ticket prices must have been pricey to pay top acts like Sinatra, Martin, etc. By the mid 70s the club was dead.

I think it's hard to fully grasp what the Copa meant in terms of prestige and status if you're like me, someone who grew up after this era. I like reading about many different musical artists and I'm finding that it's given me a better perspective, surprisingly, on many things Motown. Right now I'm into the life and career of Peggy Lee. The book I'm reading really explains how important those little nightclubs were, at least initially, to jazz singers and other pre 1950s rock-era singers/musicians. It was NOT really the size of these clubs that made the difference and not every club prospered. It was down to mystique, atmosphere, reputation, a whole host of factors. The Copa had long had a reputation AND mystique as much for it's patrons and owners as the artists who played there.

By the time the Supremes had their epic debut, the era for these intimate clubs was starting to decline. Rock and Soul were taking over and some of these old line nightclubs were losing patrons, in part because they had now started aging and preferred to stay home, watching THEIR music idols on television variety shows. To keep the doors open, these clubs started booking the younger Pop artists, which didn't always work because the kids wanted nothing to do with these old-fashioned places. [[Incidentally, this is precisely why Motown larded their artists' albums with schlocky standards. Many R&B artists who stopped having hits found that they could have a new career by developing a nightclub act, not based on their popular hits, but jazz standards - but that's a whole 'nother subject.)

But the Copa was still something special and somewhat very selective of who appeared there. Yes, it was incredibly small and tight but the money came from cover charges, drinks and probably at least a minimum you HAD to pay in drinks and/or food. Acts did several shows so you figure the clubs were making a nice sum just from all the nickel-and-diming they were making everyone pay. Plus, overhead must have been low because there wasn't the massive, complex lighting and sound systems that would come in later decades.

[jsmith]

I suppose the UK equivalent of the Copa was London's TALK OF THE TOWN ...
the Motown acts used to like to play there too ...

[jsmith]

Supremes doing well @ the ...