Motown 30: What's Goin' On! (1990) (TV)

A music special commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Motown recording label. The program features recording artists, as well as comedians and actors who have been influenced by the Motown sound. Taped before an audience at the world famous Pantages Theatre, this is a live musical tribute celebrating the achievements of entertainers from the late 1950s to 1990.

Personally, this is one of my favorites. A fantastic line-up with everyone's favorite, Whoopi as our host. From the first seconds the excitement builds as a full-blown college marching band comes down Vine and takes a raucous and rowdy left on Hollywood Boulevard aiming for their eventual target, the Pantages Theatre. And no side door cast and crew entrance here, this marching band goes through the front doors, into the lobby and down the main aisle blasting and blairin'. One of the all-time classic entries, from the opening shot it runs over 3 minutes! And this is before any musical acts, before the first words are spoken. Which, by the way, are hilarious. You'll understand, it's classic Whoopi. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING with both Gladys and Patti is okay in this household.

Motown 30: What's Goin' On! (1990) (TV)

Cast: Brandon Quintin Adams, Debbie Allen, Michael Bolton, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Cole, Kim Coles, Terence Trent D'Arby, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, The Four Tops, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Guillaume, Heavy D, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson, Sinbad, Meshach Taylor, The Temptations, Lily Tomlin, Robert Townsend, Denzel Washington, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Stevie Wonder

Motown 45 (2004) (TV)

By Gail Mitchell
Billboard
updated 4/6/2004 5:19:02 PM ET

LOS ANGELES  — Gladys Knight’s searing version of “Neither One of Us” and Smokey Robinson and newcomer Joss Stone’s cover of the Miracles R&B/pop classic “I Second That Emotion” are among the highlights of the upcoming ABC television special “Motown 45.”

Taped Sunday night at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, the special celebrates Motown Records’ hit-filled legacy, pairing the label’s original artists and contemporary singers with timeless Motown songs.

Co-hosted by Lionel Richie and Cedric the Entertainer, the event sported such notables as Dick Clark, the Backstreet Boys, comedian George Lopez and ’N Sync’s Joey Fatone introducing the various segments.

Though such key Motown players as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Rick James were missing, the taping still managed to serve as a mini-family reunion. Acts such as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas and Thelma Houston were able to catch up with former labelmates the Four Tops, Commodores and original Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, as well as formidable backing band the Funk Brothers.

Performances taped on Sunday included Destiny’s Child’s Kelly Rowland teaming with Wilson and Birdsong on a Supremes medley and with Richie on “Endless Love,” and Michael McDonald covering Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” Nick Lachey and Jermaine Jackson dueted on “I’ll Be There” and the Funk Brothers supported “American Idol” finalist Kimberley Locke on “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” and Gerald Levert on “Do You Love Me.”

Brian McKnight and Macy Gray were on hand to celebrate Marvin Gaye, with the former performing “What’s Going On” and the latter interpreting “Let’s Get It On.” Ashford & Simpson took part in the grand finale, joining McDonald, Knight, Robinson and Stone to perform “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

“I was there from day one,” Robinson said backstage. “To be here celebrating the 45th anniversary of Motown goes beyond all our wildest dreams.” ABC plans to air “Motown 45” in May.

Motown 45 (2004) (TV)

Cast: Nick Ashford, Cindy Birdsong, Wayne Brady, Cedric the Entertainer, Dick Clark, Macy Gray, Thelma Houston, Gladys Knight, Gerald Levert, Brian McKnight, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Valerie Simpson, Mary Wilson, Joey Fatone, Joss Stone, Nick Lachey

Motown Revue Starring Smokey Robinson, The (1985) TV series

'Motown Revue' a Reprise Of 60's Variety Shows
By Stephen Holden
Published: August 9, 1985

An eerie sense of time-warp permeates ''The Motown Revue Starring Smokey Robinson,'' NBC's amiable attempt to revive old-time television variety shows. Musically, the hour-long program gambles on the notion that Motown's 1960's song catalogue is a communal touchstone for millions of pop nostalgists who can't get enough of those oldies but goodies.

And the success of ''Motown's 25th Anniversary Special'' certainly suggests that such might be the case.

But ''The Motown Revue,'' which stirs together comedy skits and music into a familiar formula, lacks the explosive energy of a concert special. The Motown veteran Smokey Robinson makes a genial, but somewhat distant, host who doesn't have the vaudevillian razzmatazz of Michael Jackson moon-walking through ''Billie Jean.'' Singing his signature hits ''More Love,'' ''You've Really Got a Hold on Me'' (accompanied by a video of himself being tossed around the ring by a female bodybuilder), and ''Being With You,'' Mr. Robinson comes off as a sweetly genteel Mr. Nice Guy.

Much of the show's humor depends on a familiarity with 60's trivia. One running joke involves a record store clerk answering customers' questions about old Supremes hits. And the performing styles of Motown's 60's vocal groups are amusingly kidded in a mock-advertisement for ''The Detroit Institute of Choreography.'' Steering clear of any sexual suggestiveness, the jokes involve such things as Mr. Robinson's being mistaken for Lionel Richie, and Stevie Wonder's having been an air-traffic controller. Even guest star Vanity, Prince's explosively sexy former protege, is presented as a soft-focus romantic balladeer.

''The Motown Revue,'' which was produced and directed by Steve Binder, is the first show of a five-part musical-variety series. With its heart planted firmly in 1965, it is as wholesome as granola.

AVAILABLE EPISODES

Season 1, Episode 1

1965

9 August 1985

The Motown Revue Starring Smokey Robinson (1985) TV series
Host: Smokey Robinson