Post by ClassicSoul on Dec 5, 2005 15:08:01 GMT -5
Motown can't get no Bowl satisfaction
"To have the Super Bowl in Detroit and not have Motown music during the halftime show is unconscionable"
Adam Graham and Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
The NFL's announcement Monday that the Rolling Stones will entertain during the Super Bowl XL halftime show at Ford Field on Feb. 5 has many Motown fans angry over the snub to Detroit's hometown music.
League offices received so many phone calls Wednesday protesting the selection of the British rockers over local music talent that NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy wants to reassure Detroiters that Motown will indeed be represented at the Super Bowl -- just not during the halftime show.
"Motown music will be featured in the pregame show," McCarthy said Wednesday.
Specific performers won't be announced until closer to game day, he said, pointing out that pregame performances last just as long as the halftime show, and they're seen by just as many people.
Many of those angry phone calls were prompted by Mildred Gaddis, host of WCHB-AM's (1200) "Inside Detroit," who spent 75 minutes Wednesday morning railing about the perceived oversight and urging her listeners to call NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and complain.
"It's unacceptable," Gaddis told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "To have the Super Bowl in Detroit and not have Motown music during the halftime show is unconscionable."
"It's not as if we're not aware of Motown's influence. We're very cognizant of it," McCarthy said, adding halftime performances are rarely tied to the host city.
The Super Bowl has given Motown its due in the past. Both Super Bowl XVI and XXXII featured Motown tributes during their halftime shows, with the latter featuring performances by Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves and the Temptations. Stevie Wonder was part of the halftime "Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing" at Super Bowl XXXIII, and Diana Ross performed at Super Bowl XVI and XXX.
Still, many are up in arms. Popular morning host Tom Joyner talked with some dismay about the choice of the Rolling Stones on his national Tom Joyner Morning Show on Tuesday. The show airs in Detroit on WDMK-FM (105.9).
"Here you have the Super Bowl in a black city with Motown, and yet you have the Rolling Stones playing halftime?" said Oscar Joyner, Joyner's son and president of Joyner's Reach Media.
"That whole setup to me, it's politics," said A.J. Sparks of Detroit, a writer/producer who's worked with the Contours and Parliament-Funkadelic. "It's like Detroit, we just don't count any more. You've got too many great artists around here -- you've got Aretha, you've got Anita Baker, the Dramatics, you've got Dennis Edwards and the Temptations Revue. The Rolling Stones are great, but what are you bringing to the table from Detroit? I think the mayor should protest this."
The fact Motown music will be represented during the pregame performances isn't good enough, said Gaddis, whose ideal halftime show would include Aretha, Bob Seger, Stevie Wonder and Anita Baker. ("They might be kind and invite Smokey, too.").
"Second place just won't do," she said. "I just think it's important that people understand how sensitive this issue is. I'm sure people will say, 'Come on, folks, get over it. It's only a game, it's only a halftime show.' But Motown is such a big part of who Detroiters are, and people in Detroit feel disrespected as a result of this."
The NFL has been working to solidify the pregame and halftime talent since spring, and McCarthy said Motown was always going to be a part of the show.
One Detroiter who definitely won't be a part of the show is Eminem. The often-controversial rapper was "never in consideration" as a performer, McCarthy said.
www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/METRO/512010381
"To have the Super Bowl in Detroit and not have Motown music during the halftime show is unconscionable"
Adam Graham and Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
The NFL's announcement Monday that the Rolling Stones will entertain during the Super Bowl XL halftime show at Ford Field on Feb. 5 has many Motown fans angry over the snub to Detroit's hometown music.
League offices received so many phone calls Wednesday protesting the selection of the British rockers over local music talent that NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy wants to reassure Detroiters that Motown will indeed be represented at the Super Bowl -- just not during the halftime show.
"Motown music will be featured in the pregame show," McCarthy said Wednesday.
Specific performers won't be announced until closer to game day, he said, pointing out that pregame performances last just as long as the halftime show, and they're seen by just as many people.
Many of those angry phone calls were prompted by Mildred Gaddis, host of WCHB-AM's (1200) "Inside Detroit," who spent 75 minutes Wednesday morning railing about the perceived oversight and urging her listeners to call NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and complain.
"It's unacceptable," Gaddis told The Detroit News on Wednesday. "To have the Super Bowl in Detroit and not have Motown music during the halftime show is unconscionable."
"It's not as if we're not aware of Motown's influence. We're very cognizant of it," McCarthy said, adding halftime performances are rarely tied to the host city.
The Super Bowl has given Motown its due in the past. Both Super Bowl XVI and XXXII featured Motown tributes during their halftime shows, with the latter featuring performances by Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves and the Temptations. Stevie Wonder was part of the halftime "Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing" at Super Bowl XXXIII, and Diana Ross performed at Super Bowl XVI and XXX.
Still, many are up in arms. Popular morning host Tom Joyner talked with some dismay about the choice of the Rolling Stones on his national Tom Joyner Morning Show on Tuesday. The show airs in Detroit on WDMK-FM (105.9).
"Here you have the Super Bowl in a black city with Motown, and yet you have the Rolling Stones playing halftime?" said Oscar Joyner, Joyner's son and president of Joyner's Reach Media.
"That whole setup to me, it's politics," said A.J. Sparks of Detroit, a writer/producer who's worked with the Contours and Parliament-Funkadelic. "It's like Detroit, we just don't count any more. You've got too many great artists around here -- you've got Aretha, you've got Anita Baker, the Dramatics, you've got Dennis Edwards and the Temptations Revue. The Rolling Stones are great, but what are you bringing to the table from Detroit? I think the mayor should protest this."
The fact Motown music will be represented during the pregame performances isn't good enough, said Gaddis, whose ideal halftime show would include Aretha, Bob Seger, Stevie Wonder and Anita Baker. ("They might be kind and invite Smokey, too.").
"Second place just won't do," she said. "I just think it's important that people understand how sensitive this issue is. I'm sure people will say, 'Come on, folks, get over it. It's only a game, it's only a halftime show.' But Motown is such a big part of who Detroiters are, and people in Detroit feel disrespected as a result of this."
The NFL has been working to solidify the pregame and halftime talent since spring, and McCarthy said Motown was always going to be a part of the show.
One Detroiter who definitely won't be a part of the show is Eminem. The often-controversial rapper was "never in consideration" as a performer, McCarthy said.
www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051201/METRO/512010381
