Reviewed on Sunday June 14
I once wrote a university history paper on the Motown Sound. I don’t remember how that assignment ended up, but what I do remember is poring over everything I could find on this groundbreaking era of popular music and wanting to know more. When I found out that Mary Wilson, one of the original Supremes, would be performing at a low-key jazz club in Newtown, I had to be there.
Wilson met fellow bandmates Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Betty McGlown at the age of 12 at the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects in Detroit, where they each lived. Initially, the goal for the group was to have a hit that would allow Wilson to avoid having to go to college. At The Supremes’ height in the mid-1960s, only The Beatles rivalled their popularity. Even today, they are America’s most successful vocal group.
This Up Close tour chronicles Wilson’s favourite songs that have held particular significance to her throughout her life. There’s a scattering of some wonderful jazz standards such as ‘The Girl From Ipanema’right through to contemporary hits like ‘Don’t Know Why’ by Norah Jones. ‘I Am Changing’, a track made famous by Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls – a film largely based on The Supremes – is a fitting tribute to a former bandmate, the late Ballard.
Tonight Wilson also pays tribute to Lena Horne, herself a trailblazing entertainer, vocalist and civil rights activist. Before long, Wilson is rocketing through a number of classic songs – a catalogue that would be the envy of most artists. ‘Where Did Our Love Go’, ‘Baby Love’, ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’, ‘Stop! In The Name Of Love’ and ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ are still as resplendent and important as ever, more than half a century on.
By the end, everyone young and old is in a frenzy, tapping their feet and mimicking long-forgotten Supremes dance moves, thankful that Wilson decided to skip out on college.
