"Girl Groups" and CJW

Motown royalty graced the stage when I interviewed Martha Reeves at the Apollo Theater in November 2019. More than three decades earlier, I heard “Dancing in the Street” for the first time in Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound. I’d just entered first grade and it was among the first videocassettes that my sister and I rented from our local video store. “Motown was gettin’ down,” Darlene Love said in the film. Yes! Life seemed as much fun in black & white as it did in color when Martha Reeves & the Vandellas were on the screen.

Girl Groups sparked my lifelong love of music documentaries. It also introduced me to The Ronettes, The Shangri-La’s, The Shirelles, The Chantels, The Marvelettes, The Angels, The Dixie Cups, Little Eva, and The Crystals (and the fact that Darlene Love had sung lead on “He’s A Rebel”). My familiarity with other artists in Girl Groups came from a wide array of sources: I knew The Exciters’ “Tell Him” from The Big Chill soundtrack and I recognized Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time” because of a Cameo-Parkway compilation that my parents had. There were two Supremes LP’s in their collection, as well, but Girl Groups gave me the chance to see full performances of Diana, Mary, and Flo for the first time. Actually, one of the greatest moments for me was watching the clip of Mary Wells perform “My Guy” and suddenly realizing “That’s the lullaby mom sings to me as I fall asleep!”

I’m indebted to my mother for paying those three dollars every time we rented Girl Groups, which probably averaged once a month. That documentary transfixed me. It’s edited in a very straightforward but compelling way. There’s no narration. The vitality is all in the interviews with artists like Ronnie Spector, Mary Wilson, and Arlene Smith, plus songwriters (Ellie Greenwich and Leiber & Stoller), producers (Richard Gotterher), and record company impresarios (Don Kirshner). I was fascinated by the footage of how records were manufactured, and learned about the significance of places like the Brill Building, Gold Star Studios, and Hitsville U.S.A. Of course, I savored all of the classic clips that found a permanent place in my heart.

The past and present have always run parallel in the music I listen to. During the earliest years of my life, before I could read, I had no reference point for which songs were from the ‘60s or the ‘70s etc. I just played records, and if I liked the song, I kept playing the record. What’s interesting about that time, let’s say 1981-1985, is that artists who’d begun their careers in the 1960s were still very much a part of contemporary music, which was a tremendous revelation to me. My mind lit up like a sky full of fireworks when I realized that Dionne Warwick was the same woman who sang “Walk on By” and “Heartbreaker,” that Diana Ross was also in a group called The Supremes, and that Tina Turner used to perform with a man named Ike. I think it’s those artists, specifically, that made me appreciate music as a continuum of time rather than something with an expiration date.

Back to the Apollo Theater: I met Martha Reeves only fifteen minutes before sitting with her onstage for a panel I moderated about girl groups of the 1960s. It was my third time leading a discussion for Apollo Education’s “Live Wire” series, so I felt comfortable establishing a rapport — quickly! — with artists I’d just met. I’d also invited Sarah Dash and Joshie Jo Armstead to share their experiences in Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles and The Ikettes, respectively. What I loved about that night was seeing Martha, Sarah, and Joshie find common ground as they listened to each other’s stories. Some of those stories were shocking, many of them got the audience laughing, and all of them furnished a fascinating perspective about the era.

Girl Groups flashed through my mind a few times that night, and my 40 year old self sent a message back to 1985 — “Some day, young Christian John, all of these hours watching Girl Groups will mean even more than you can possibly know right now. Keep listening and learning ...”

Support and Buy Me A Coffee

Thank you for reading. More to come. [Photo of Martha Reeves and Christian John Wikane by Sekou Luke / Rebel Media.]