Were the Spinners invited to Motown 25?

[sup_fan]

all of us here on the forum would have loved a more comprehensive show focusing on all of the many wonderful artists, performers, musicians, etc. But the avg American might not have been and therefore the ratings wouldn't have been as strong. as broadcast, it won an emmy

this was never really about documenting and celebrating everything of motown. For christ's sake - it wasn't even really the 25th anniversary. it was only the 24th. it was meant to be a publicity juggernaut surrounded by the veil of a benefit for sickle cell that would hype the legend of motown, sell a tons of rehashed greatest hits and hopefully provide both the tv production dept and the current top artists on the label with some sales

there was absolutely 0 sentimentality around this - don't try to convince yourself otherwise

you can't tell me that they didn't have this full line of records and cassettes waiting in the wings to release the minute the special was done:

Attachment 14715

[midnightman]

all of us here on the forum would have loved a more comprehensive show focusing on all of the many wonderful artists, performers, musicians, etc. But the avg American might not have been and therefore the ratings wouldn't have been as strong. as broadcast, it won an emmy

this was never really about documenting and celebrating everything of motown. For christ's sake - it wasn't even really the 25th anniversary. it was only the 24th. it was meant to be a publicity juggernaut surrounded by the veil of a benefit for sickle cell that would hype the legend of motown, sell a tons of rehashed greatest hits and hopefully provide both the tv production dept and the current top artists on the label with some sales

there was absolutely 0 sentimentality around this - don't try to convince yourself otherwise

you can't tell me that they didn't have this full line of records and cassettes waiting in the wings to release the minute the special was done:

Attachment 14715

Right. Again the hardcore Motowners going on about how the special was about the legends when it really wasn't!

[marv2]

all of us here on the forum would have loved a more comprehensive show focusing on all of the many wonderful artists, performers, musicians, etc. But the avg American might not have been and therefore the ratings wouldn't have been as strong. as broadcast, it won an emmy

this was never really about documenting and celebrating everything of motown. For christ's sake - it wasn't even really the 25th anniversary. it was only the 24th. it was meant to be a publicity juggernaut surrounded by the veil of a benefit for sickle cell that would hype the legend of motown, sell a tons of rehashed greatest hits and hopefully provide both the tv production dept and the current top artists on the label with some sales

there was absolutely 0 sentimentality around this - don't try to convince yourself otherwise

you can't tell me that they didn't have this full line of records and cassettes waiting in the wings to release the minute the special was done:

Attachment 14715

The "Average American" is not that dumb!

[sup_fan]

The "Average American" is not that dumb!

i never said or implied that they were dumb. just that they frankly wouldn't care. not every single citizen on the US is a collector or historian of Motown. the avg American probably recognized It Takes Two. and maybe they'd know it was Marvin Gaye and some woman. there's no way the avg American has any name recognition of "Kim Weston."

and for most of the population that was under 20 at the time of the special, odds are the "oldies" weren't of huge interest. Sure Lionel was hot at the time, Debarge, Diana had had some big hits. Smokey had a couple recent ones. But Martha, mary Wells, Tempts, Four Tops, Jr walker, etc were not performers that a jr high kid would really have related all that much too. Adam Ant was current. Motor Mouth was current.

again, you're wrong in your assumption that this was a documentary or a historical synopsis of motown. this was a variety special celebrating the old and new of motown with the intent of driving commercial impact. there was a limited amount of air time and they made the decisions that they did based on creating a special that would drive interest and sales in motown material and be a rating success.

[marv2]

i never said or implied that they were dumb. just that they frankly wouldn't care. not every single citizen on the US is a collector or historian of Motown. the avg American probably recognized It Takes Two. and maybe they'd know it was Marvin Gaye and some woman. there's no way the avg American has any name recognition of "Kim Weston."

and for most of the population that was under 20 at the time of the special, odds are the "oldies" weren't of huge interest. Sure Lionel was hot at the time, Debarge, Diana had had some big hits. Smokey had a couple recent ones. But Martha, mary Wells, Tempts, Four Tops, Jr walker, etc were not performers that a jr high kid would really have related all that much too. Adam Ant was current. Motor Mouth was current.

again, you're wrong in your assumption that this was a documentary or a historical synopsis of motown. this was a variety special celebrating the old and new of motown with the intent of driving commercial impact. there was a limited amount of air time and they made the decisions that they did based on creating a special that would drive interest and sales in motown material and be a rating success.

But see you have it wrong. That special was not geared towards Jr. High School aged kids in the 80s. It was geared toward the Baby Boomers and those just a bit older as those were the largest demographic groups in America in the 1980s. Motown was the music that everyone heard and partied to just less than 20 years prior to the 1983 TV special.

[sup_fan]

But see you have it wrong. That special was not geared towards Jr. High School aged kids in the 80s. It was geared toward the Baby Boomers and those just a bit older as those were the largest demographic groups in America in the 1980s. Motown was the music that everyone heard and partied to just less than 20 years prior to the 1983 TV special.

yes the older music was definitely aimed at the older demographic which covers the "yesterday" part of the theme. but having Michael, Adam ant, debarge, High Inergy, Lionel and then even Diana and Marvin were all to bring in the younger viewers and the "today" element.

where you're mistaken is in your thinking that the special was only about highlighting the past. if it was, none of these younger artists would have been included and it would have been more like Motown 40 where they do a long retrospective of the history of the company.

The subtitle of this program is clear - Yesterday, Today, Forever. they're trying to sprinkle some of the magic dust from the past onto the current and hopefully future.

[marv2]

yes the older music was definitely aimed at the older demographic which covers the "yesterday" part of the theme. but having Michael, Adam ant, debarge, High Inergy, Lionel and then even Diana and Marvin were all to bring in the younger viewers and the "today" element.

where you're mistaken is in your thinking that the special was only about highlighting the past. if it was, none of these younger artists would have been included and it would have been more like Motown 40 where they do a long retrospective of the history of the company.

The subtitle of this program is clear - Yesterday, Today, Forever. they're trying to sprinkle some of the magic dust from the past onto the current and hopefully future.

This is where you take liberties with your own mind! LOL! Not once did I say that the special was only about highlighting the past. No, Diana and Marvin could not have been considered a part of Motown.."today" even in March 1983 when they taped the show. Both were no longer signed to the label by the time of the special. Their contributions were strictly "yesterday" relating to Motown and the music they recorded while there. I don't know anything about Adam Ant, but I do know that El DeBarge, Barbara Mitchell and I are all the same age. I was in my last year of college at that time so I guess we were the "today" demographic. Now, who represented Jr. High School aged children on the special?