Celebrate with once in lifetime show . . . (From Bury Times)

Celebrate with once in lifetime show . . .

10:44am Thursday 11th June 2009

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MOTOWN is celebrating 50 years of top class music with a special tour featuring a handful of their legendary artists.

Harking back to the 60s when the Motown Revue travelled the US and UK, the Once In a Lifetime — Legends Live Tour 2009 comes to the Manchester Evening News Arena on Saturday, June 27 as part of a short, six-date UK tour.

For your money, you are getting not one, but five of the biggest name in American music.

Jr. Walker’s All Stars are known the world over as the Ultimate Motown Party Band, and with hits like Road Runner, Walk In The Night and Take Me Girl, I’m Ready to perform, you’ll be on your feet in no time.

With Smokey Robinson, The Miracles gave the label its first gold record. Tracks Of My Tears and Tears Of A Clown are a must for any self-respecting soul music compilation, and you’ll be able to hear them on the night as performed by The Miracles themselves.

When you hear Dancing In The Street, Jimmy Mac and Heatwave, the name of Martha Reeves will be in your mind. Starting out as an assistant at the record company’s offices, she went on to become the ultimate soul diva.

Mary Wilson was one third of The Supremes — arguably the best girl group in pop music history. Their hits include Stop In the Name Of Love, The Happening, You Can’t Hurry Love and of course Baby Love.

Mary has written two books and has performed at the White House; and when The Supremes were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, it was Mary who accepted it on behalf of the group.

The top of the bill started out their Motown career supporting The Jackson Five but later became one of the biggest selling bands of the 70s. Yes, it can only be The Commodores.

Hits like Brick House, Machine Gun and The Human Zoo showed them to be a hard funkin’ band. But with Lionel Richie taking the helm they had more mellow hits with Easy, Sail On and Three Times A Lady.

They were awarded a Grammy award for Nightshift that came after Richie had left.

The band’s core consists of original members William King, Walter Orange and J D Nicholas who joined after Richie left from UK hit-makers Heatwave.

The band were originally an instrumental band as William King explained from the studio where the band are recording a new album.

“We weren’t vocalists really when we started out,” he said. “The people we were playing to just wanted to dance to songs like Slippery When Wet. But we needed something slow every now and then.”

“However when we got the record deal we realised that we had to be different from all the other funk bands. We ended up having meetings at two in the morning about what direction to take our music.”

The band was originally called The Mystics and they merged with another band called The Jays, but they needed a new name.

“We kept coming up with unsuitable names and in the end decided to pick one out of the dictionary.”

It was here that the band almost came a cropper with their selection.

“That’s right,” William said. “I was blindfolded and told to open the dictionary and put my finger on a name. Luckily it was ‘commodore’.”

He laughed: “Half an inch above and we could have been called The Commodes!”

l The Once In a Lifetime — Legends Live Tour 2009 is at the MEN Arena on Saturday, June 27. Tickets are available from the box office on 0844 847 8000 or from www.men-arena.com or from the ticket hotline on 0844 847 1726.

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