Post by Emerald City on May 9, 2005 17:20:27 GMT -5
By James Sanford
Features: The Velvelettes
People were bopping and hopping Sunday as the Velvelettes brought Motown to Camelot Music in Portage's Crossroads Mall. The '60s girl group, which got its starting singing at Western Michigan University's Maybee Hall, appeared at a CD signing.
Though the group scored regional hits with their singles "Needle in a Haystack" and "He Was Really Saying Something" (a tune successfully covered by the English trio Bananarama in the early 1980s), the Velvelettes never never put out a full-length album. "The Very Best of the Velvelettes," released last month by Motown/Universal Music is the first collection of their recordings.
"It's timeless music," said Brad Adams, sales associate at Camelot Music and a long-time Motown a ficionado. "It's happy music. You put in on anywhere, anytime and watch people start doing this..." He bopped back and forth. "It never fails."
Velvelettes Barbee McNeal, Caroline "Cal" Gill Street and Norma Barbee Fairhurst were on hand for the signing and to receive a proclamation from the city of Kalamazoo. Mildred Gill Arbor, now a registered nurse at Flint's McLaren Hospital, was unable to attend because of work.
Also on hand was author Susan Whitall, whose book "Women of Motown: An Oral History" (Avon Books) includes a chapter devoted to the Velvelettes. Whitall was brought in from Detroit by Waldenbooks for a book signing session of her own.
"Diana Ross always called the Velvelettes 'college girls'," noted Whitall, a music writer for the Detroit News. "She accused them of using lots of 10-dollar words." Ross' bitterness stemmed from competition, Whitall added.
"(Motown founder) Berry Gordy loved to put his artists up against each other in shows," she explained. "So you'd have the Four Tops versus the Temptations, and the winner would be determined by applause." Ross and the Supremes twice went up against the Velvelettes, and both times the Velvelettes were victorious.
Kalamazoo Mayor Robert B. Jones sang the praises of the Velvelettes Sunday in a proclamation recognizing their "numerous musical contributions" and "their links to musical history that began in the city of Kalamazoo."
Features: The Velvelettes
People were bopping and hopping Sunday as the Velvelettes brought Motown to Camelot Music in Portage's Crossroads Mall. The '60s girl group, which got its starting singing at Western Michigan University's Maybee Hall, appeared at a CD signing.
Though the group scored regional hits with their singles "Needle in a Haystack" and "He Was Really Saying Something" (a tune successfully covered by the English trio Bananarama in the early 1980s), the Velvelettes never never put out a full-length album. "The Very Best of the Velvelettes," released last month by Motown/Universal Music is the first collection of their recordings.
"It's timeless music," said Brad Adams, sales associate at Camelot Music and a long-time Motown a ficionado. "It's happy music. You put in on anywhere, anytime and watch people start doing this..." He bopped back and forth. "It never fails."
Velvelettes Barbee McNeal, Caroline "Cal" Gill Street and Norma Barbee Fairhurst were on hand for the signing and to receive a proclamation from the city of Kalamazoo. Mildred Gill Arbor, now a registered nurse at Flint's McLaren Hospital, was unable to attend because of work.
Also on hand was author Susan Whitall, whose book "Women of Motown: An Oral History" (Avon Books) includes a chapter devoted to the Velvelettes. Whitall was brought in from Detroit by Waldenbooks for a book signing session of her own.
"Diana Ross always called the Velvelettes 'college girls'," noted Whitall, a music writer for the Detroit News. "She accused them of using lots of 10-dollar words." Ross' bitterness stemmed from competition, Whitall added.
"(Motown founder) Berry Gordy loved to put his artists up against each other in shows," she explained. "So you'd have the Four Tops versus the Temptations, and the winner would be determined by applause." Ross and the Supremes twice went up against the Velvelettes, and both times the Velvelettes were victorious.
Kalamazoo Mayor Robert B. Jones sang the praises of the Velvelettes Sunday in a proclamation recognizing their "numerous musical contributions" and "their links to musical history that began in the city of Kalamazoo."