Miss Delite 3: Motown Records

Showing posts with label Motown Records. Show all posts

10/20/2008

Commodores

Machine Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m-I9eD2jQQ

Just to Be Close to You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o6A9VtT2Cg

Sweet Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbtmvgc2rqE

Easy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFHbGuSRAwg

Brick House
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5EmnQp3V48

Three Times a Lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7C_ocGy5tE

Sail On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg-ivWxy5KE

Still
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAgsIkL6ink

Lady (You Bring Me Up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxNRQ5U-3g4

Oh No
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHAbVzPiwZs

Nightshift
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlsfYDj2HWA

FYI
The Commodores were a highly successful funk/soul band of the 1970s and 1980s. The members of the group met as freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour.

The Commodores originally called themselves the Jays, but had to change their name because of the similarly named O'Jays. To choose a new name William King opened a dictionary and randomly picked a word. "We lucked out," he remarked with a laugh when telling this story to People Weekly Magazine. "We almost became The Commodes!"

Lionel Richie was an original member of the group.

"Nightshift" (a tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson) won the Commodores their only Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.

For more on the Commodores: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodores

8/15/2008

Shout!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL9xOLpwI0I

Twist & Shout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPivnegGtgg

This Old Heart of Mine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGyszX-Hs30

It's Your Thing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v2-DSKx3Eg

Love the One You're With
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1y4OatoR6s

Pop That Thang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0UemPDkGww

I'll Always Come Back to You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ66GVuIPc4

That Lady
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1DDgNCLD84

Hello It's Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHp1Tr_4_A8

Summer Breeze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl0g1y7irKk

Fight the Power
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmAkHRK2pI8

For the Love of You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd2sOqbIcaM

Harvest for the World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz_OsEISBGo

Footsteps in the Dark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DLnUwUpnb8

It's a Disco Night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyLptdeApq8

I Wanna Be With You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE8KsX5fqiI

Don't Say Goodnight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl2v9GrU35U

Between the Sheets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glhdcJ7K3XM

Smooth Sailin'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFW3TtBh6kE

Caravan of Love
(by Isley-Jasper-Isley)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ARl3dUyAyc

The Isley Brothers are a Grammy-winning American R&B/soul group who are one of the few groups to have long-running success on the Billboard charts placing a charted single in every decade since 1959 and as of 2006 was still charting successful albums performing under a repertoire of doo-wop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, soul, funk, disco, urban adult contemporary and hip-hop soul in the last six decades with a variation of lineups ranging from a quartet to a trio to a sextet to finally a duo.

Originally raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the original group consisted of the four elder sons of O'Kelly Isley, Sr. and Sally Mae Isley: Kelly, Rudy, Ronnie and Vernon Isley originally singing nothing but gospel music starting in 1954.
The group disbanded in 1955 shortly after a road accident claimed the life of Vernon Isley and reformed in 1957 with Kelly, Rudy and Ronnie, who recorded with small labels singing doo-wop and rock 'n' roll.
After modest success with singles such as "Shout", "Twist and Shout" and the Motown single, "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", and a brief tenure with Jimi Hendrix as a background guitar player, the group settled on a brand of gritty soul and funk defined by the Grammy-winning smash "It's Your Thing", in 1969.
After reforming the group as a six-member lineup in 1973 featuring younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and brother-in-law Chris Jasper, they became known to fans as 3 + 3 and charted gold and platinum success with albums such as 3 + 3, The Heat Is On, Go For Your Guns and Between the Sheets, while charting a succession of hit singles such as "That Lady", "Fight the Power", "For the Love of You", "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)" and "Between the Sheets", between 1973 and 1983.
After the younger brothers splintered from the group in 1984, the remaining trio continued recording until Kelly's death from a cancer-related heart attack in 1986.
Rudy left the group for a career in the ministry in 1989 disbanding the group once again with Ron releasing solo records, sometimes performing under the Isley Brothers name.
In 1991, Ron reformed the group with Ernie and Marvin returning to the lineup.
In 1992, the group was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Since 1997, after diabetes forced Marvin into retirement, the lineup has been Ron and Ernie, now on hiatus due to Ron's current prison sentence after a tax evasion conviction in 2006.

During his court case, it was revealed Ron Isley, now 66, has kidney cancer and failing organs. Isley's lawyers have tried pleading with the judge to give leniency to the singer, who was sentenced to serve 37 months (at least three years) in prison but have been denied. Isley is currently serving his sentence and will be released on a tentative date of April 2010.

In 2000 Michael Bolton unsuccessfully tried to buy the Isley Brothers' catalogue after the Isleys won a lawsuit alleging that Bolton's song "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" plagiarized their 1966 Motown track of the same title.

The Isley Brothers were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

Much like The JB's, Parliament-Funkadelic, DeBarge and Zapp, the Isleys are among one of the most sampled groups in hip-hop history with their recordings sampled by the likes of 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G.,Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg among others.

(Wikipedia)

8/08/2008

The Spinners

Cupid/I've Loved You for a Long Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4x7szPy7BI

The Spinners are a Detroit, Michigan-based soul vocal group (active since 1954), and most popular during the 1970s. The group still tours as of 2008. The band is also listed occasionally as The Motown Spinners, or (after they left the Motown label) The Detroit Spinners. These were their monikers in the UK to avoid confusion with a British group called The Spinners.

In 1954 a group of friends in Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Michigan, just outside Detroit, came together to make music and called themselves The Domingoes.The group renamed themselves The Spinners in 1961. This name was chosen after looking at popular car hubcaps and noting how they spun around on a car's wheel.

In 1964, they made their debut at the Apollo Theater and won instant acclaim, a rare feat at the time. But success mostly eluded them during the 1960s. During much of this decade the Spinners would be used by Motown as road managers, chaperones and chauffeurs for other groups, and even as shipping clerks.

In 1970, after a five-year chart absence they hit #14 with writer/producer Stevie Wonder's composition, "It's A Shame".

Legend has it that Atlantic Records recording artist Aretha Franklin suggested the group finish out their Motown contract, and sign with Atlantic. The group made the switch in 1972. Under the helm of producer and songwriter Thom Bell, The Spinners would chart five top 100 singles (and two top tens) from their first post-Motown album, The Spinners (1972), and would go on to become one of the biggest soul groups of the 1970s.

The Spinners were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

Today, the quintet is actively touring with three of its original members (Jackson, Fambrough and Smith).

(Wikipedia)

8/01/2008

Stevie Wonder

Fingertips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIfgwNJkCMI

I Was Made to Love Her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsLWiJVdWkU

One Little Christmas Tree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDWkqD1JP5w&feature=related

Someday At Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ1-duv_zNk&feature=related

For Once in My Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxVyaYuGYE

Superstition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZFf0pm0SE

Living for the City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSRyf5G2uI8

I Wish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYKYka-PNt0

Sir Duke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmUvVj2mxnY

Send One Your Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMvVYCV-d8E

Lately
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWYfRSfG8uA

Ribbon in the Sky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO2-kIqsGL4

Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. A prominent figure of 20th century popular music, Wonder has recorded more than thirty top ten hits, won 26 Grammy Awards (a record for a solo artist), plus one for lifetime achievement, won an Academy Award for Best Song and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. He has also been awarded the Polar Music Prize.

Blind from infancy, Wonder signed with Motown Records as a pre-adolescent at age twelve, and continues to perform and record for the label to this day. He has nine U.S. number-one hits to his name and album sales totaling more than 150 million units. Wonder has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well. Wonder plays the piano, synthesizer, harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, organ, melodica, and clavinet. In his early career, he was best known for his harmonica work, but today he is better known for his keyboard skills and vocals.

(Wikipedia)

7/31/2008

Gladys Knight & The Pips

If I Were Your Woman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9jiMY-oM44

Midnight Train to Georgia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78-ftcqpNw

Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FT5QF4JZUA

Gladys Knight & the Pips were an R&B/soul musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1967) and "Midnight Train to Georgia" (1973). The longest-lived incarnation of the act featured Gladys Knight on lead vocals, with The Pips, who included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and their cousins Edward Patten and William Guest, as backup singers.

(Wikipedia)

7/29/2008

Marvin Gaye

Ain't No Mountain High Enough
w/Tammi Terrell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-UvQYAmbg

What's Going On/What's Happening Brother
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDckI2P_DPA

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9BA6fFGMjI

I Heard It Through The Grapevine (A cappella)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87FjkqtK67o

Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an iconic two-time Grammy-winning American singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained international fame as an artist on the Motown record label in the 1960s and 1970s. Marvin began his career at Motown in 1961. He quickly became Motown's top solo male artist and scored numerous hits during the 1960s, among them "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and several hit duets with Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By", before moving on to his own form of musical self-expression. Gaye is notable for fighting the hit-making, but creatively restrictive, Motown record-making process, in which performers and songwriters and record producers were generally kept in separate camps.[1]

With his successful 1971 album What's Going On and subsequent releases including Trouble Man (1972) and Let's Get It On (1973), Gaye, who was a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, proved that he could write and/or produce his own albums without having to rely on the Motown system. He is also known for his environmentalism, perhaps most evident in his song "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)".

During the 1970s, Gaye would release several other notable albums, including Let's Get It On and I Want You, and had hits with singles such as "Let's Get It On", "Got to Give It Up", and, in the early 1980s, "Sexual Healing". Before his death, Gaye won two Grammy Awards: one for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and one for Best Instrumental Recording for the single, Sexual Healing on February 23, 1983 on the Grammy Awards 25th Anniversary. By the time of his death in 1984 at the hands of his clergyman father, Gaye had become one of the most influential artists of the soul music area. In 1996, Gaye was awarded (posthumously) with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on its 38th Anniversary ceremony.

Gaye's career has been described as one that "spanned the entire history of rhythm and blues from fifties doo-wop to eighties contemporary soul."[2] Critics have also stated that Gaye's musical output "signified the development of black music from raw rhythm and blues, through sophisticated soul to the political awareness of the 1970s and increased concentration on personal and sexual politics thereafter.

(Wikipedia)

7/28/2008

The Supremes

Baby Love
http://youtube.com/watch?v=23UkIkwy5ZM

Come See About Me
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SKE2r_CZW5g

You Can't Hurry Love
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DDCMbXtv9WM

Reflections
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jsufcpanMx4

The Supremes were an American female singing group, and the most successful vocal group of the 1960s, second only to The Beatles.[1] Active from 1959 until 1977, The Supremes performed, at various times, doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes and disco. The Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown Records' signature acts, and charted twelve American number-one hits between 1964 and 1969.[1] Many of their singles were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland-Dozier-Holland. The mid-1960s crossover success of The Supremes paved the way for future black soul and R&B acts to gain mainstream audiences.

The Supremes formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1959 and began as a quartet called The Primettes. Founding members Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Betty McGlown, all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit,[2] were the sister act to The Primes (with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who would go on to form The Temptations).[2] In 1960, Barbara Martin replaced McGlown, and the group signed with Motown in 1961 as The Supremes. Martin left in early 1962, and Ross, Ballard and Wilson carried on as a trio.

In the mid-1960s, The Supremes achieved success with Ross as lead singer. Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1967 and replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong. Ross left for a successful solo career in 1970 and was replaced by Jean Terrell. After 1972, the lineup of The Supremes changed frequently before the group disbanded after 18 years, in 1977.

The Supremes recorded the single "Where Did Our Love Go" in the spring of 1964.[14] The song was originally intended by Holland-Dozier-Holland for The Marvelettes, who rejected it.[14] Although The Supremes disliked the song, the producers coerced them into recording it.[14] In August 1964, while traveling as part of Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars tour, "Where Did Our Love Go" reached number one on the US pop charts, much to the surprise and delight of the group.[16] It was also their first song to appear on the UK pop charts, where it reached number three.

"Where Did Our Love Go" was followed by four more US number-one hits: "Baby Love"—also a number-one hit in the United Kingdom—"Come See About Me", "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "Back in My Arms Again".[17] "Baby Love" was nominated for the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" was awarded the 1966 Grammy for Best Pop single.[18] Between late 1966 and early 1967, the Supremes charted four more number-one hits in a row: "You Can't Hurry Love", "You Keep Me Hangin' On", "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone", and "The Happening".

Instead of plain appearances and basic dance routines, The Supremes' on-stage appearance featured high-fashion gowns and wigs, detailed makeup, and graceful choreography created by Motown choreographer Cholly Atkins. Gordy wanted the Supremes, like all of his performers, to be equally appealing to black and white audiences,[19] and he also sought to erase the image of black performers as being unrefined or lacking class.

The Supremes were international stars by 1965. They toured the globe, becoming almost as popular abroad as they were in America.[20][21] Almost immediately after their first number-one hits, they recorded songs for motion picture soundtracks, appeared in the 1965 film Beach Ball, and endorsed dozens of products, even at one point having their own brand of bread.

By the end of 1966, their number-one hits included "I Hear a Symphony", "You Can't Hurry Love", and "You Keep Me Hangin' On";[22] and their 1966 album The Supremes A' Go-Go became the first album by an all-female group to reach number one on the US album chart.

The Supremes were among the first black musical acts to become a complete and sustained crossover success. The black rock and roll musicians of the 1950s saw many of their hit tunes covered by white musicians, with the covers achieving more fame and sales success than the originals. Partially because of Diana Ross’ pop-friendly voice, The Supremes became extremely popular with international mainstream audiences. The group broke down many racial barriers, becoming one of the first black musical acts to appear regularly on television programs.Most notably, The Ed Sullivan Show between December 1964 and December 1969 featured The Supremes fourteen times. The group's crossover success helped pave the way for the mainstream success of label mates such as The Temptations, The Four Tops and The Jackson 5.

Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in early 1968 after a dispute with the label over royalties and profit sharing,[31] and the quality of Motown's output (and Diana Ross & the Supremes' records in particular) began to falter. From the release of "Reflections" in 1967 to the release of "The Weight" in 1969, only six out of the eleven released singles reached the Top 20, and only one of those, 1968's "Love Child", made it to number one.

The changes within the group and their decreasing sales were signs of changes within the music industry. The gospel-based soul of female performers like Aretha Franklin had eclipsed the Supremes' pop-based sound, which had by now evolved to include more middle-of-the-road material. In a cultural climate now influenced more than ever by countercultural movements such as the Black Panther Party, the Supremes found themselves attacked for not being "black enough", and lost ground in the black music market.

By 1969, Motown had begun plans for a Diana Ross solo career.Ross began to make her first solo recordings, with "Someday We'll Be Together" planned to be her first solo single. Gordy instead had the song released as the final Diana Ross & The Supremes single, despite the fact neither Mary Wilson nor Cindy Birdsong sang on the record. In November 1969, Ross' solo career was publicly announced. The following month, "Someday We'll Be Together" hit number one on the American pop charts, becoming not only the Supremes' twelfth and final number-one hit, but also the final number-one hit of the 1960s.

Diana Ross & The Supremes gave their final performance together on January 14, 1970 at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. After the stupendous Frontier Hotel performance, Ross officially began her career as a solo performer.
On Sunday June 12, 1977, the Supremes performed their farewell concert at the Drury Lane Theater in London and disbanded.

Although The Supremes were twice nominated for a Grammy Award – for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording ("Baby Love", 1965) and Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance ("Stop! In the Name of Love", 1966)–they never won an award in competition.[43] Three of their songs – "Where Did Our Love Go" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (both 1999) and "Stop! In the Name of Love" (2001) – have been named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.[44] The group' songs "Stop! In the Name of Love" and "You Can't Hurry Love" are among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[45] They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, and entered into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the group at number 97 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[46] The Supremes are notable for the influences they have had on the black girl groups who have succeeded them in popular music. Among these acts are groups such as The Three Degrees, The Emotions, The Pointer Sisters, En Vogue, TLC, Destiny's Child and Cleopatra.

(Wikipedia)

7/26/2008

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone::The Temptations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwUS9yjFYy8&feature=related

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a soul song, written by Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong as a single for Motown act The Undisputed Truth in 1971.
Later in 1972, Whitfield, who also produced the song, took "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" and remade it as a twelve-minute record for The Temptations, which was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973.

Friction arose during the recording of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" for a number of reasons. The Temptations didn't like the fact that Whitfield's instrumentation had been getting more emphasis than their vocals on their songs at the time, and that they had to press Whitfield to get him to produce ballads for the group. In addition, Dennis Edwards was angered by the song's first verse: "It was the 3rd of September/That day I'll always remember/'cause that was the day/that my daddy died". Edwards' father had died on that date, and although the song wasn't originally written for the Temptations, Edwards was convinced that Whitfield assigning him the line was intentional. Although Whitfield denied the accusation, he used it to his advantage: he made Edwards record the disputed line over and over again until Whitfield finally got the angered, bitter grumble he desired out of the usually fiery-toned Edwards (it was, however, one of the reasons Whitfield was eventually fired as the group's producer).

The Temptations' version of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" set a precedent for extra-length "cinematic soul" song mixes, and future songs like Donna Summer's fourteen-minute "Love to Love You Baby"expanded upon the concept in the mid-1970s.

(Wikipedia)

7/25/2008

My Girl::The Temptations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRwmgYEUr8

The Temptations are a Grammy-winning vocal group that achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.

Formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1960, the Temptations have always featured at least five African American male vocalists/dancers. The group, known for its recognizable choreography, distinct harmonies, and onstage suits, has been said to be as influential to soul as the Beatles are to rock.[1] Having sold an estimated 22 million albums by 1982,[2] The Temptations are one of the most successful groups in music history[3] and were the definitive male vocal group of the 1960s.[4] In addition, they have the second-longest tenure on Motown (behind Stevie Wonder), as they were with the label for a total of 40 years.

Like its sister female group, the Supremes, the Temptations' lineup has changed frequently over the years.

Over the course of their career, the Temptations have released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 14 Billboard R&B number-one singles. Their material has earned them three Grammy Awards, while two more awards were conferred upon the songwriters and producers who crafted their 1972 hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".

In January 1964, Smokey Robinson and Miracles bandmate Bobby Rogers co-wrote and produced "The Way You Do the Things You Do" with Eddie Kendricks on lead. The single became the Temptations' first Top 20 hit that April. While traveling as part of Motown's Motortown Revue later that year Robinson and another fellow Miracle, Ronnie White, wrote a song for the emotive Ruffin to sing lead on, which the group recorded in the fall of 1964. Released as a single on December 24, 1964, "My Girl", became the Temptations' first number-one pop hit in March 1965, and is their signature song to this day.

The group would alter their style several times over the years following their first Motown hit, adapting to the popular styles of the day while retaining their signature visual and vocal styles. The earliest Temptations recordings reflect the influence of producers Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, featuring a blend of black rhythm and blues and white pop music that came to be later identified as the "Motown Sound". Backed by Motown's stalwart studio band, the Funk Brothers, pre-1966 Temptations recordings were built around songs (usually ballads like "My Girl") with simple, direct lyrics supported by an R&B rhythm section with orchestral strings and horns added for pop appeal.

(Wikipedia)

7/22/2008

Home::Diana Ross

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8rY9zOd0f-k&feature=PlayList&p=59A2079B63475269&index=0

Broadway musical The Wiz opened in 1975,is based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum & exclusively features African American actors.
It ran for four years and over 1600 performances, and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Motown Productions acquired the film rights to The Wiz in 1977. Motown singer and actress Diana Ross asked Motown CEO Berry Gordy to cast her as Dorothy but Gordy declined, feeling the thirty-three year old Ross was far too old for the part. However, Ross contacted Rob Cohen of Universal Pictures, who offered to have Universal finance the film if Ross were to play Dorothy, at which point Gordy acquiesed.
The $22 million production was poorly received by critics and grossed only $12 million during its original theatrical release. Its commercial failure helped to bring to an end the stream of all-black films that had begun with the "blaxploitation film" era of the 1970s.
In later years, due to its recurrent broadcasts on television, The Wiz has become something of a cult classic among African-American audiences.

(Wikipedia)

Miss Delite 3