All language subtitles for When.Motown.Came.To.Britain.2023.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

It's my pleasure to introduce
three girls

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

who made a tremendous impact in
America and in the charts here too.

Welcome to Martha and the Vandellas.

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

# Calling out... #

People always reference Motown
as being, you know,

the pinnacle of achievement.

These young people
changed music forever.

So I was like, I wonder
who these American groups are?

I've never heard them, the kind of
funny names.

The Miracles and Marvelettes.

Dave was fairly well
single-handedly responsible

for bringing
Motown to the British public.

He helped in every way
that you can possibly imagine

to further our career.

It was bringing heaven to your
hometown. It was extraordinary.

And I got on stage and there was
Stevie Wonder, waiting.

"After show, went backstage
and met everybody."

"What a day!"

Well, this middle bit was totally
empty.

Well, they called it the Ghost Tour.

Motown was more than just
great music.

It was a total game-changer

in terms of perception
of what black people are.

That was the power of Motown.

That was the power of the music
that was coming from Motown.

So much energy,
so much presentation.

I mean, we're just going,
"Oh, my God, this is the future."

A man called Dave Godin
lived at Church Road.

Dave was a guy who set a base
for soul music in the UK.

In the '60s as I was
growing up as a teenager,

there wasn't much opportunity

to hear rhythm and blues and soul
music on the radio,

and Bexleyheath was kind of the
catalyst,

if you like, for actually bringing
rhythm and blues

to a wider set of ears.

When we talk about Motown coming
to Britain,

who would imagine

that it was in a terraced
house in Bexleyheath

that the whole thing started?

Dave Godin was a young
lad born in Peckham.

His dad was a milkman.

His mother was a cleaner.
And when he was six, he realised

he was totally different
to everybody else,

but he didn't know why.

He saw things a different
way to other people and...

And that's how he lived
the rest of his life.

He was a pacifist, an anarchist,

human rights, animal rights
activist.

He joined any club he could
get his hands on.

# Mama

# He treats your daughter mean... #

Dave Godin, he's going to the Silver
Lounge ice cream parlour

in Bexleyheath every Friday
night for a knickerbocker glory.

It was like a school treat.

He got a brand new jukebox set
up in the corner,

spanking, brand-new, shiny
American jukebox.

And this great music was belting
out of it.

And it hit him straight,
the only thought, "What's this?"

# Oh, Mama

# He treats your daughter mean... #

And the chap who'd put it on,
he said, "Do you like that record?"

I said, "God, it's marvellous."

And he said, "Oh, that's
American rhythm and blues."

# ..meanest man I've ever seen... #

I couldn't believe it.

The lyrics, it was...

It was a female singing
like a woman.

"He treats your daughter mean."

"He's the meanest man
I've ever seen."

It was a road to Damascus moment.

# I believe it's breaking

# Mama, I've stood about all that

# I keep saying what's the matter
with this man...

It's about soul, the voice.

There's something there that draws
you in

that is authentic and real.

It's not just a singer singing a
song for entertainment's sake.

It's something else going on there.

And I think that's
what attracted Dave.

And that music really set him
on a path

that we know led
ultimately to Motown.

# ..I've ever seen. #

To understand what happened
with Motown,

you kind of have to know a little
bit

about how it came about.

# Oh, yeah

# Come on

# Little girl

# Yeah, yeah... #

Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown,

was a songwriter.

It wasn't a business like
the existing record company.

# I'm so lonely... #

You had this building
on West Grand Boulevard

and it was in a racist country.

You had a black man

start a record company

that the motto was not
the sound of black America,

it was the sound of young America.

# You know I miss you baby

# Well, I just come when... #

Berry's early work experience was,

he worked on the assembly line in
Detroit for Ford.

And he'd basically seen
the way the cars are put together.

# Come to me... #

He thought, "If I could watch a
piece of metal come on one side"

"and go through all these steps

"and come out a car,

"why can't I take an artist

"and mould
them into becoming a star?"

# Hey, hey

# You know I miss you, baby... #

It was a lot of fun for us

because we'd never really been in a
recording studio before.

So when Motown, Hitsville came
about,

you know, it was like, whoa!

You know now we've really,
really made it here.

# ..the lights are burnin' low... #

You get the writers, then you need
the performers,

but then you need
the producers to kind of polish it.

And then you need marketing people.

You know, and so he did it in a kind
of assembly line-type way.

So that was the
creative vision behind Motown.

# ..no more

# Come to me

# Oh, I miss you... #

It's a little house, but everybody
came there

wanting to do great things.

So, you can imagine
what it was like in there.

I mean, when you listen
to some of the Motown records,

you can literally hear the drum kit
moving around.

And they left it in!

They left all that stuff.

But those things is what made
it sound so...

..different.

It was that rawness.

# ..you've been gone too long

# Tell me that you're coming... #

There was no question what was going
to happen from day one.

Berry Gordy was going to conquer
the world.

# Wait a minute, Mr Postman

# Wait... #

At that point in the '60s,

we'd just shaken off the aftermath
of the war

and young people actually
stopped looking backwards.

They started looking forward.

# Mr Po-o-ostman... #

I think most people in Britain
really had no idea

of what Motown was then.

# There must be some word today... #

The number of people who were into
early Motown was tiny.

It really was like a
fairly obscure cult.

# Is there a letter,
a letter for... #

There was a magic.
There was an intensity.

# ..standing here waiting... #
You know, it got its hooks into you.

It just really was extraordinary.

I mean, it was unlike
any other pop music

that you would hear
on the radio in Britain.

# ..saying he's returning
home to me

# Please Mr Postman... #

You know, the first time Dave Godin
ever heard the Marvelettes,

Please, Mr Postman, he went mental.

He once played it ten times
non-stop in a row

because he liked it that much.

# Whoa, yeah... #

It presses buttons inside your head

which you can respond to.

You may not be able to put
it into words...

..um...

..but you feel it.

It communicates in an invisible way,

and it doesn't just communicate
through the head,

it communicates through the guts as
well.

Nobody really knew other
than the, you know,

the devotees, the weirdos,
the nerds,

the ones who needed to know

about this music and loved it.

People didn't necessarily know
what the Motor City of Detroit was.

# So many days,
you've passed me by... #

You felt like you were part
of a kind of niche.

You had your own music
and your own way of doing things.

# By leaving me... #

If you lived outside
of, certainly the big cities,

you were unlikely to have come
across Motown.

If you lived in Liverpool,

you probably did because records
came in in the ports, you know.

Then you really didn't hear anything

except the mainstream pop

that was being played on the radio
at the time.

# In a matter of moments

# In a matter of moments,
in a matter of moments... #

You have to put pop music
in the early '60s in the context

of where and how will people
go to hear it.

There were limitations.

There was... it was difficult.

You know, you really...

The BBC wasn't the place
to hear pop music very much

and what they played tended
to be a lot of British music.

There'll be a Cliff Richard
or the Shadows or Marty Wilde

or any of the big pop stars
of the day.

# In a matter... #

I don't think music was exciting
before Motown for me.

I really didn't like Frank
Ifield and Cliff Richard.

Sorry.

# Then the world is yours. #

Drab.

It really was drab.

So what happened was, originally, the
BBC had kind of ignored pop music

and along came offshore radio
and they were playing, you know,

pop 24 hours a day, basically.

# Like a baby boy... #

Radio Luxembourg was
a medium wave station

broadcasting from Luxembourg.

And so the reception was very,
very patchy.

# ..to give you all I know... #

And Radio Caroline was
our pirate radio station,

anchored off in the North Sea.

# And I'm tellin' the world... #

Somehow, I was listening to the
radio

and in amongst all this strange
stuff,

you heard Pride and Joy by Marvin
Gaye.

Or Mickey's Monkey by the Miracles.

And it was just fantastic.

Those days, nearly every artist
had a fan club,

but they'd
be amateur fan clubs.

It wouldn't be anything to do with
the record label in particular.

Dave Godin wrote
to Berry Gordy and said,

"Can I start a fan club?"

# Come on... #

A shock surprise letter came back.

"Yes, you can."

Wow.

It became the Tamla-Motown
Appreciation Society.

# ..one more chance #

# Shooby dooby... #

Berry Gordy had a whole family of
little soul labels -

Tamla, Motown,

Gordy, Soul,

VIP.

Dave was the first person to use
the expression Tamla Motown.

# ..Cos you don't know

# What to do... #

Everything was done in this, like,
12x12 bedroom

in a house in Bexleyheath.

# ..all of my pain... #

Dave typed every single issue
himself, did the layouts.

The lettering was done
with a product called Letraset.

# You said move, mister man,
cos you don't know

# What to do... #

Cut and paste, little diagrams
here and there.

The days where you had to cover your
mistakes with a bit of Tipp-Ex.

# Hey, well now I love you baby... #

It's the life of the artisan.

You own the means of production,

and Dave was hot for that.

# You better take another look
There's something in your eye... #

See, I do actually see art
as having a didactic purpose.

I do feel that art, in a sense,
should be a vehicle

for conveying ideas.

# You said move... #

And you look at these magazines now
that he produced, they're iconic.

# What to do... #

He didn't get paid.
He just did it for the love of it.

# Pay no attention to the other... #

Five shillings, I think it was.

So, I sent off my postal order...

..to Church Road, Bexleyheath, Kent.

And a few days later, got a little
sort of handmade card.

# You better take another look
There's something... #

You've got a badge
which said "Swinger and friend",

with two fists on it.

# Thinkin' that everything was
really all right... #

Little newsletter coming through
the letterbox

was your way to find
out about this whole other world.

# ..cos you don't know... #

It was spreading the word, spreading
the gospel about the music.

Yes, it was sort of quite obsessive.

# ..come on... #

Dave was fairly well
single-handedly responsible

for bringing Motown
to the British public.

Little Stevie Wonder was the first
Motown artist to appear in the UK.

He performed on Ready, Steady, Go
in December, 1963.

# Playin' my harmonica
in a mellow way... #

Ready, Steady, Go was THE pop show.

It was, you know, the most important
one.

And we always used to watch
it because, you know,

any pop fan would.

# I call it pretty music
But the old... #

He was 13 years old and Dusty
Springfield and myself

had gone to the Olympia in Paris
basically to see the Shirelles,

but we didn't know that the package
included Dionne Warwick,

who was absolutely fabulous,
and little Stevie Wonder.

And we went back afterwards
and talked to Stevie's people

and said, "What are you doing
after the Olympia?"

And they said, "Going home."

And we said, "No, no, no,
you're coming to London first

"to be on Ready, Steady."

And they said yes. So, that was
the first Motown artist

on Ready, Steady, Go.

# I couldn't figure out what they
was sayin'

# They couldn't understand
what I was playin'... #

So much energy, so much
presentation, included the audience.

They loved him, and so did we.

I mean, we're just going,
"Oh, my God, this is the future."

It is my pleasure to introduce three
girls

who made a tremendous impact in
America and in the charts here too.

It's welcome to
Martha and the Vandellas.

The Ready, Steady, Go
was absolutely essential.

If you were in the pop music
business in the early 1960s,

you needed
to be on that TV show in Britain.

It was... The Beatles did it,
The Stones did it.

All of the big stars.

So, as you say,
you had a record ready, but no name.

It's an unusual step...

We were fortunate enough to
get a recording before a record.

There was a sense of pride,
if you like,

because as a black person,

there weren't many people of your
kind of background and colour

to even look at.

You know, so when you saw people

and they were really good,

that was a real bonus.

So we sat down together,
the three of us,

including Berry Gordy, our boss,

and we put the words together
and made Vandellas.

# Whenever I'm with him

# Something inside

# Starts to burning

# And I'm filled with desire. #

Friday night ritual was watching
Ready, Steady, Go.

Not just because of the British
artists that were on there,

but of course, of the American
artists,

because we got to see people that
even in America

didn't necessarily get to be on,
like, a major Friday night TV show.

It was amazing.

# ...blood pressure got a hold
on me

# Or is this way love's supposed
to be?

# It's like a heatwave

# Burning in my heart

# Like a heatwave...

We would have meetings and we would
listen to the records

and people would say, "I love that."

Sometimes I'd have to argue and say,

"I'm going to book it
whether you like it or not."

But not very often.

Usually, everybody was agreed on
what we could and should do.

# Nothing you could say could
tear me away from my guy... #

Motown really didn't mean
anything in Britain

until, you could argue, 1964.

I mean, the first hit that Motown
had in Britain

was Mary Wells, My Guy.

Top five in the British charts.

# Like birds of a feather,
we stick together... #

And Motown was fortunate in
following it up fairly swiftly

after My Guy with the Supremes.

# Baby love, my baby love

# I need you, oh, how I need you

# When all you do is treat me bad

# Break my heart and leave me sad

# Tell me, what did I do wrong... #

When you have hits, people
want to know more about you

and then, so what is Motown
and who is Berry Gordy

and where do they come from?

# Been missing ya,
miss kissing ya... #

The Supremes definitely paved
the way for every girl band

that's ever existed ever since.

# Let's do some kissing and
making up... #

You couldn't have had
Destiny's Child

if you never had the Supremes,
right?

# In my arms, why don't you stay?

# Need ya, need ya...

Baby Love, or, you know,

anything that the Supremes did,

you just wanted to be them.

They looked great.

# Baby love, my baby love

# Why must we separate, my love

# All of my whole life through... #

I remember clearly seeing
the Supremes on Top Of The Pops.

# Why you do me like you do?

You know, to see black people
on the television

doing their music and singing
so... so beautiful songs

and songs that reminisce
with you as a black person,

oh, God, yeah, it was - it was
amazing.

You go to work in the morning
and your shoulder would be high up,

sort of, you know,
seeing those black folks.

# ..my baby love

# I need you, oh, how I need you

# Why you do me like you do

# After I've been true to you

# So deep in love... #

Bands of the '60s, there's so
few black musicians.

I remember Georgie Fame
and the Blue Flames

had a black percussion player,
and that stood out to me.

People would say, "Is that your
uncle?",

because they didn't see
any other black people either.

You know? So that's how rare it was.

# Don't throw our love away... #

The truth is that at that time,
black people basically didn't count.

I lived in a place called
Whitehaven.

Very appropriately named back then.

And we were basically the only black
family in the town.

The minority was such a minority
that it wasn't a consideration.

We were invisible.

I think one of the things
that was a theme and a strand

that ran through Dave Godin's
life was being radical.

He was obviously very aware
of race as an issue.

Then he realised that he couldn't
just champion black American music.

He also had to fight racism
along the line as well.

They were hand in hand.

We've got a big war on here.
We've got to fight you both.

We've got to champion the music

and get rid of the racism
that goes with it,

and he would not stand for any
racism whatsoever

in his entire life.

What I loved about black American
music was,

I mean, politically, I'd been aware

of the struggle of black American
people.

The injustice that black
American people had suffered.

You know, Dave Godin felt a
sense of a need for black music

to get that recognition.

That was part of what drove him.

Berry Gordy was very clear
that when the Supremes

had their first hits in Britain,

his whole attitude completely
changed.

So it just changed his whole
perception

of what could be possible.

And I think that that
really was the catalyst, in a sense,

for him wanting to bring
Dave over to America.

I think Berry Gordy was impressed

by the way Dave handled
himself in Britain,

the way he'd published a magazine.

They were intrigued by this fact

that there was this guy on the other
side of the Atlantic

who seemed to know quite a lot

about the music
and who they were.

They sent him a telegram,
inviting him to visit the US.

I mean, can you imagine
what he must have felt like?

And they showed him all
around the buildings,

then Marvin Gaye turned up, and
he sat talking to Marvin Gaye,

and he's meeting everybody in there.

Martha Reeves, all this sort
of stuff.

And he became massive friends
with them all.

Dave was probably the greatest
example

of love and pushing forth our
career, for sure,

because he took such an interest

in who we were
and what we were doing.

We corresponded often.

We had a very close relationship
where I felt like I could share,

you know, intimate details

that you wouldn't do
with just anybody.

I think Berry Gordy brought him
over

because Berry Gordy was a smart
businessman,

and he saw an amazing opportunity

for this whole stable
of artists that he was building.

And the idea of having someone
in Britain

who would be an advocate
for that obviously appealed to him.

Berry Gordy came to rely on him,
came to trust his opinions.

He had Berry Gordy's ear.

The fact is, they put Dave
on the payroll

and he got paid to do the Tamla
Motown Appreciation Society,

and he got paid to do
the magazine Hitsville USA.

So that was obviously
a business move.

Dave actually said,
"You've got too many labels."

"You need an identity for what
you're selling in Britain."

And he literally wrote all Berry
Gordy's label names down

on slips of paper, chopped them up,
moved them around on a table

until two words came together
that said Tamla Motown.

And Gordy loved it. He says,
"Yeah, that's great."

And a lot of people don't realise
that actually,

that was a British thing.

There is no Tamla Motown in America.

So it is quite safe to say

that if Dave Godin had never
existed,

we would not have the label
Tamla Motown.

This came in an envelope one morning
and I thought, "What's this?

"Why am I getting a record?"

It was a treasure to behold.

This is the Hitsville USA

greeting Tamla Motown
Appreciation Society members,

the record that was sent to TMAS
members by Dave Godin

on behalf of the Motown Recording
Corporation.

Greetings to all of you,
swingers and friends.

This is Berry Gordy Junior.

It was a real pleasure meeting Dave
and getting first-hand information

about the music scene over there.

A cherished memory.

It was like hearing from old
friends

that they'd taken the time
and the trouble

to go into the studio and record
the dedication to us.

And, yeah, I was there.

I'm pleased to say I was there.

Hi there, swingers and friends.

This is Billy Smokey Robinson
of the Miracles,

extending our greetings to all the
Tamla Motown fans in England.

We're looking forward to coming
over and seeing you very soon.

# Nowhere to run to, baby

# Nowhere to hide... #

There was a big to-do,
you could say,

about the fact that there was going
to be this review coming to Britain,

with all these artists from Detroit.

It was in the NME.

When I saw it advertised,
I was on the bus downtown...

..to get my tickets.

I could never have imagined
seeing them in real life.

For me, as a fan,

learning that those artists were
coming to the UK,

I was going to be
able to see them in concert,

you know, it was bringing
heaven to your hometown.

It was extraordinary.

The artists, in the second week of
March, began to fly into London.

Martha and the Vandellas, and Stevie
and the Miracles, and the Supremes,

Earl Van Dyke and the band,

and The Temptations,
who came in only for promotion.

They didn't join the tour.

We were in awe, a state of awe,
because it was a shock to us

to see that we were being received
so wonderfully well

by the English people.

That was the power of Motown.

That was the power of the music
that was coming from Motown.

I was a newspaperman at
the Detroit Free Press,

and one day one of the Motown
guys said,

"Hey, we're all going to London.

"Why don't you come along
and write stories about it?"

I thought this was really exciting.

And so I ended up going with them.

Even as a 30-year-old journalist,
I'd spent time

with consequential people.

What made this group so unique
was its accessibility.

You could sit and have a
conversation with anybody,

and they were young and open,
and in so many ways innocent,

and would answer almost
any questions you'd ask.

We were beyond excitement, because,
you know,

you're talking about actually
another world,

something outside of the United
States, you know, another country.

They'd come off that plane, and all
of a sudden

there was all these kids
with these little bunches of flowers

and chocolates and banners
saying, "We welcome you."

You wouldn't get that these days,
would you?

Nobody would do that.

It must have been a very magical
moment for Dave Godin.

You are watching
The Sounds of Motown.

Introduced by Dusty Springfield.

The Ready Steady Go special was done
basically by Dusty Springfield.

She loved the music.

Elkan Allan was my boss. I sat down
and said,

"You won't believe this, but they're
absolutely great.

"The music is incredible."

And he said, "Let me stop you.
Will Dusty present it?"

I said, "Oh, yes."

I thought, "She'd better", because
we hadn't even discussed it.

I said, "Yes, she will."

So he said, "OK, let's do it."

And so we did the first
Motown special.

And this next artist, he
really lives up to his name.

He was born blind, but he has
a fantastic musical talent.

He plays organ and piano
and harmonica and drums.

You name it, and he plays it.
And he's still only 15.

Here with his great new record,
Kiss Me, Baby, it's Stevie Wonder!

I mean, everybody was having a good
time.

# All you gotta do is hold him
And kiss him

# And love him
And show him that you care... #

Dusty was a wonderful spirit.

She was a great door opener
for Motown, for Motown's acts,

for Motown's music, the acceptance
of Motown.

So she was that kind of a power
hitter and power player,

that she really showed
and appreciated the love of Motown.

And with her being who she was,
people would listen.

# Thinkin' and a-prayin'
Wishin' and a-hopin'

# Just wishin' and hopin'
And thinkin' and prayin'... #

She was in her element.

It also was lovely because back
then,

Dusty was very new to everything
and she really enjoyed things.

# So if you're thinkin'
how great true... #

Like, just having fun.

And you can hear when she sings
the duet with Martha

on Wishin' And Hopin',

you could actually hear Dusty
laugh in the middle.

# Just do it... #

I mean, what a joy to hear that.

#..he likes to do

# You gotta wear your hair
just for him...#

Because Dusty and Martha
were friends,

I think they just arranged it
themselves

and nobody else got a look-in.

# You will be his. #

Just everybody was excited.

We knew that we were doing something
that was a...

It was kind of a miracle

because who on earth would let us

have this many American black
artists on one show?

# Like the tale by the time
it's been told by more than one

# Woo, it's growing... #

We invited the Motown Appreciation.

Dave Godin was so important

and so much part of the birth
of Motown,

and little David Nathan,
who was probably 15 or 16

at that stage.

# Oh, how it grows and grows... #

It's true to say that
I had never seen

that many black
American artists all on one show.

I mean, I don't think anyone
had at that point,

unless you were going to America.

So it was an exciting experience.

What is it about Motown?
What is it about soul music?

It's the pain and the pleasure.
It's what's in there.

It's the pleasure and the pain.

I've been openly gay since 1967.

So the struggles,
the challenges of being, you know,

being gay in the '60s...

..I do sometimes think that if
I hadn't found this music,

hadn't found me, or I hadn't found
it, I don't know how easy

it would have been for me
to make it through life.

Honestly, I really mean that.

# And then she said, "Just because
you've become a young man now

# "There's still some things
that you don't understand now

# "Before you ask some girl for her
hand now..." #

The tour opened in two shows
in London, Finsbury Park, Astoria

and the Hammersmith Odeon.

And then they went out pretty
much every night

for the next three weeks.

They did 20 cities and towns
across England, Scotland and Wales,

went to Bournemouth, Wigan, Cardiff,
Manchester, Leicester.

Every major music city got to see
the Motown show that year.

Seeing it in my hometown
in Bristol, I'd be surprised

if there were 50 people
in the audience.

It would have been better
to have more people there.

But, however, people can only go

if they know you're going
to be there.

And getting the word out
was not the easiest always.

You know, you can't always expect
something to happen

that... If you don't know about it,
how can you show up?

So what happened was, on British
radio and television,

there were hardly any black people
at all.

So you can understand
that when you had these records

coming in by, ostensibly, a black
music record label,

people didn't really know what to
think.

Were they going to give
this the same treatment

as they were giving the normal
pop stuff?

Or were they going to think,
"Well, I'm not too sure about this,

"it's going to have to prove
itself"?

And I think they took the latter,

which is, "It's going
to have to prove itself."

Motown fans were in a real
minority

and they saw
the world slightly differently.

You know, they just thought,
"Oh, this is great music."

# There's still some things
that you don't understand now... #

I was a couple of rows
from the front, and I looked back

and if I saw 50 people, so what?

All I cared about was who was on
stage in front singing that music

that meant so much to me.

I mean, it was like at that moment,

I could have died and gone to
heaven.

# My mama told me

# You better shop around

# Oh, yeah, you better
shop around... #

The price of the tickets on the
Motortown Revue live performances

were like a couple of bob
more than the Stones were charging.

And I don't know who thought
that that was a good idea.

Because the sales
were really not good,

they added Georgie Fame
to shows out of town.

So, Georgie, you know,
helped sell some tickets.

# Every evening
when all my day's work is through

# I call my baby
and ask her what shall we do

# I mention movies
but she don't seem to dig that

# And then she ask me
Why don't I come to her flat... #

Early '65, we'd just had our first
number one hit.

So we were kind of flavour of the
month at that particular time.

# That's what I say
I say yeah, yeah... #

We were tickled pink, I think
is the phrase, just to think

that we were of the same importance

musically to be part of that, too.

# She never misses
She gives it all that she's got... #

We were in two coaches.
It was the musicians

who were on one coach,
and the artists on another.

Well, touring was awful because
there were no motorways

to start with.

So you were travelling
on country roads.

Each theatre had a catchment area
which was 50 miles around it,

so you couldn't do two consecutive
dates within 50 miles

of one another.

So you had to go north, south,
up town, all over the place.

#..you and me
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... #

It was pretty much
a really gruelling tour.

Some of the places were quite
a distance, and having the schedule,

you know, you wanted to make sure
that you did your very best

and not only just doing your best,
but while you were there, you know,

so you present yourself
well to your audience.

You didn't want to appear
like you were so tired,

you could barely make it
off the bus.

The tour bus was like a home,
but everybody got along.

Everybody knew that this was part
of the job.

Now, there were little spats
and all those kind of things

that happen in any household,
but this was one of those households

that would just... gloss it over.

Everybody would move on.
"It didn't happen."

There were games, there was singing.

There was, like, a lot of joking,
telling stories, you know,

all of the above that you could
think of to keep you entertained.

And not only just entertained,
but probably many times, awake.

I took my camera everywhere.
I was trying to film everything.

It was a hobby. It was something
else to do rather than music.

Bolex H8, I think it was called.

Pete Coe, the saxophone player,
and myself both bought cameras

around the same time.

We were trying to make little
documentaries

and all sorts of things, but on that
particular tour,

it was just filming
what was going on.

There were card games going on,

there were stories being told,
and just general banter.

It was great. It was very...

There was really no difference
between the American musicians

and the UK musicians.

We were all musicians.

So we all had the same interests
and the same...

The same long, boring coach
journeys.

I guess at the time, you don't
realise that you're shooting

a piece of history.

It was a great time to be someone
coming from the Caribbean.

You'd come here to watch a black
performance,

and that was something
that didn't happen regular.

1965, the year that the Motown
was here.

# Put on your red dress, baby

# Cos we're going out tonight... #

There was Stevie Wonder
on the stage, and I jumped on stage.

I was very young and agile at that
time, but now times have changed

and I can't jump as much
as I would like to.

And I got on stage,
and there was Stevie Wonder...

..there waiting.

# Put on your high-heel sneakers

# And wear your wig-hat on your head

# Oh, yeah... #

And I thought, "Here's my
opportunity to go up."

I shook his hand and went up.

"Hello, Stevie,
can I have your autograph?"

And he had one of those things
that blind people have,

and he signed the autograph.

# Some teacher seemed to have
gathered around

# Tryin' to figure out what I was
puttin' down... #

You could tell, from the
performance, that these guys are...

You know, something, something
mega is going to happen

to all these singers.

# Ain't that pretty mad? #

I'm a very lucky person,

very lucky person to be
born at that time.

I got to be one of those lucky
persons, and very fortunate as well

to have shook Stevie Wonder's hand,

have his autograph signed.

# Baby, everything is all right

# Uptight, out of sight... #

Another thing that touched me
about this group

was little Stevie Wonder.

I mean, he was really small.
He was really little.

He was just such a ball of energy,
such a dynamic performer.

Quite, quite extraordinary.
Quite an extraordinary talent.

# I guess that's
what you might say

# I guess her folks brought
her up that way

# The right side of the tracks... #

The Motown Revue, they're actually
doing two shows a day.

But one thing that Stevie remembers
was that when they went to Glasgow,

he actually lost the suit
because, after the first show,

somebody came out and said,

"Oh, suits for cleaning,
suits for cleaning,"

and whoever
was looking after Stevie at the time

gave them Stevie's suit to get
cleaned.

And, of course, it never came back.

So there's somebody in Glasgow
with a little Stevie Wonder suit.

I hope they appreciate it.

# The best things in life
are free

# But you can keep them
for the birds and bees

# Now give me money
That's what I want

# That's what I want
That's what I want #

The Beatles have a lot to do
with Motown.

And, of course, you know, we
shouldn't forget that the Supremes

did an album called
A Bit Of Liverpool.

# Your love give me a thrill... #

It was actually through the Beatles

that I became aware
of American R&B

and what would later become soul
music, and specifically

because they used to do cover
versions of Motown songs.

Money, You Really Got A Hold On Me,
and Please Mister Postman.

And what was great is,
they mentioned the names

of the original groups
on the sleeve notes

at the back of the LP.

So I was like, "I wonder who these
American groups are.

"I've never heard of them.
They've kind of funny names,

"The Miracles, the Marvelettes."

I'm like... I was kind of
intrigued, like, "Yeah, wow!"

# That's what I want... #

Groups like the Beatles,

they came from the same
working-class background that I did.

I think it was like the struggle
that people have

for making it in life.

And maybe one of the connecting
tissues

between Motown and the working-class
kids of Britain

was the sense of struggle, because
the odds were not in our favour.

Liverpool was really quite buzzing

with all the music stuff
that was going on.

Groups were big then.

It was the Mersey sound
and everything going on.

It was thriving, wasn't it, Frank?
Yeah.

It was on the map.

# It's been a hard day's night... #

A lot of my friends, they worked
in NEMS, a record store

which is owned by Brian Epstein.

Then they said, "Do you want to come
to these parties

"up on Parnham Street?"

Motown was like an underground
force.

It was the whole black community,
really, you know?

They weren't allowed in the clubs
in the city centre -

the white clubs, in other words.

And they started their own.

I didn't feel like I was in
Liverpool

because it was all purely
American music

and it was
so different to where I lived

in a village on the Wirral.

I felt very proud of the fact
that we were onto something.

Chance to meet like-minded people.

Being a Motown fan helped establish
the relationship with Frank.

Frank Collins and Harold Carter.

They were in a band
called The Excels.

It's a lifelong friendship through
all of Motown, I would say.

I thought they were as good as any
of the Motown acts.

They were incredible,
and they never, ever sounded

like a white group at all.

You could have just put them
on Motown

and nobody
would have known the difference.

It was through Motown and,
you know, being huge fans

and being so inspired by Motown,
we did form The Excels.

Everyone was following the Beatles
sort of sound and whatever,

Gerry and the Pacemakers
and all that lot.

But we were just big Motown
fanatics.

After you.

Frank, how are you?

Yeah, where have you been
all my life?

I was sitting in the back.
In the cheap seats.

And you were in the posh seats.
I remember...

And all this middle
bit was totally empty.

We were down there.

Well, they called it the ghost tour.

Apparently.

I just remember, we were so excited.

It was amazing, wasn't it, to see
all those artists in one place?

I think we'd all gone backstage,
you know, trying to get autographs.

But I think they'd already gone.

Anyway, we decided to make our way
home.

We saw Stevie Wonder and his tutor
and his musical director

having dinner
through the glass door.

Anyway, we decided to burst out into
On the pavement outside.

We started singing this song called
I Wonder, which was a Crystals song,

but it had the name Wonder in,
so that's why we chose it.

And Stevie Wonder comes
out with his tutor, saying,

"Sign them up, sign them up."

Anyway, from that, they invited us
to the Chester show,

and we ended up auditioning in
Stevie Wonder's hotel room.

Wow, what a memory.

Isn't it great
we can still remember it, though?

They were big moments in our
lives, all that, you know?

Still
Yeah.

I'll just never forget those times.
What was it? Mama...

We've got to find the right
key for her.

# Somebody I could call my own

# So when the stars are
shining bright

# I'll dream about the boy
who's gonna hold me tight

# And I

# Wonder who he'll be

# Wonder if he'll be good to me

# Wonder, gosh, oh, gee

# Wonder if he'll love me for ever

# I wonder for ever... #

What?

# Stop! In the name of love

# Before you break my heart

# Think it over

# Think it over

# I've known of your
Your secluded nights

# I've even seen her
Maybe once or twice... #

This is my 1965 diary,

and the entry
for Saturday, 3rd April.

"Tamla Motown Revue, City Hall,"
it says at the top.

"The Beatles were on Thank Your
Lucky Stars, but I missed that.

"Went to town with M around
11.30.

"Had dinner..." That's lunch.

"..in the Pit..."
That's the Paletta.

"..then went to City Hall.

"Saw all except Miracles and Stevie.

"After show, went backstage
and met everybody.

"What a day."

Absolutely.

It was very exciting.

I had heard a couple of the live
albums they did

of the Motortown Revue,
and I'd read about it.

And, you know, you talk
about the Apollo, Harlem

and places like that.

Newcastle City Hall didn't seem
quite the same.

It just seemed amazing to me
that it wasn't completely full.

I did go and buy Diana Ross
some pantyhose.

They were just getting
their beautiful gowns

and everything sorted out.

And Diana Ross had got a snag
in her pantyhose.

She said, "Oh, I need some
pantyhose."

And I said, "I know where
I can get some.

"I know where I can get some."
So I dashed out.

Shops shut at 5:30 in those days.

So you couldn't even rush out
and buy anything.

In the main street in Newcastle, in
Northumberland Street,

there was a machine
that sold tights.

And they only had one size
and one colour.

So I got...

I got this little box
of pantyhose tights and rushed back

and handed them over, and I believe
she put them on.

It was the days of tights
in machines.

If only they had them now.

It was just extraordinary

how personable they were

and how these people who'd made
these extraordinary records

were so nice.

# Haven't I been sweet to you?

# Stop! In the name of love

# Before you... #

Berry would love to give
gifts to some of his talent.

At the end of the tour, he gave me
a handful of money and he said,

"I want you to take the girls..."

Which means The Supremes.

"..out and make them happy.

"Tell them how much I appreciated
all that they've done."

So I marshalled the three girls
together and I said,

"We can go to a great restaurant,

"we can go to the best museum,

"see the finest art in the history
of mankind.

"What would you really like to do?"

And one of them said, "Buy shoes."

And they all sort of jumped
with joy.

So we got in a cab, went to a shoe
store,

and they just bought and bought and
bought.

And it was one of the nicest
events of my life.

# Think it over

# Think it over... #

They were lovely young people
and they were just, you know,

a few years out of a housing project
in Detroit.

They didn't know a lot
about the world,

but they were already professionals.

They knew that what they sang
was important to a lot of people,

and they wanted to do it right,

and they were willing to do it
every night, night after night.

# Stop! In the name of love

# Before you break my heart

# Stop! #

Any time you look at the history
of Motown in Britain,

you have to think about that 1965
tour in so many respects...

..because it was a milestone,

and it was a milestone partly
because of failure,

but partly because there's a
fascinating story to it.

And clearly, Dave Godin's enthusiasm

for seeing those artists
come to Britain was part of it.

It was premature,
because most ordinary music fans

didn't really know what Motown was.

In a sense, it was the right
thing to do.

It was just the wrong time.

# One, two
Lum de-lum, de li-i

# Lum de-lum, de li-i

# Lum de-lum, de li-i

# Lum de-lum, de li-i... #

The Sound Of Motown was recorded
on March 18th, and it went out

on April 28th, two weeks
after they'd left the country.

So it was, it was a tragedy
that that was the case.

You know, and part of it is

that it wasn't necessarily
considered particularly commercial

by some of the regional franchise
TV stations around the UK.

That whole show took your breath
away. It really did.

I mean, even now, thinking about it,

it's unbelievable that so much could
be done

in such a short space of TV time.

The sad thing was that it was after
the live show,

so we didn't help
the sales of the live show,

but we certainly helped the future
sales of records and performances.

# Ooh, I bet you're wonderin'
how I knew... #

Who these artists have become,
you know, those Motown artists

that Dave championed all those
years ago.

How many of them have gone on
to become, really, living legends?

When you hit the stage
and then you are accepted,

that is the greatest feeling ever.

# Don't you know I heard it through
the grapevine? #

The 16-year-old me had no idea
what Motown would become.

It has become one of the cultural
forces in music.

Even now, like, little kids know
Motown songs. They came out

with this whole new music

and this whole new style that
appealed to every race.

That was beautiful.

# Very superstitious

# Writing's on the wall

# Very superstitious... #

Motown changed my life because it
gave me a drive,

a desire to be part of a world that
created something like Motown.

# Broke the looking glass

# Seven years of bad luck... #

And every time I saw Stevie Wonder
on television, I think,

"I know him, I know him, I met him,"
sort of thing, you know?

Yeah. Great, great, great moment.
Great moment.

# 13-month-old baby

# Broke the looking glass... #

It was Motown that whetted
our appetite for singing

and doing music.

Singing, just like with
the artists in Detroit,

was my meal ticket out of Kirby.

# You don't want to save me

# Sad is my song... #

The fact that Berry Gordy

was prepared to give little
Stevie Wonder a chance

then had that knock-on effect for
me.

So it's definitely changed my life
in that way.

My life has been about my dedication
and passion for this music.

I would say that that music
saved my life.

It really did provide
me with what I needed as a teenager.

# Very superstitious

# Nothing more to say... #

He was, and I have to say is,

forever and ever an amazing, awesome
gentleman

who helped the careers
of so, so many people.

It's one of America's greatest
cultural gifts

that's enriched
the life of Britain.

# That you don't understand

# Then you suffer

# Superstition ain't the way

# No, no, no. #