Fact #104126
When:
Short story:
The Motown package tour arrives in the UK, with Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Miracles, The Temptations and Martha And The Vandellas, plus UK band Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames. The first show is at The Astoria, Finsbury Park, London, UK. Astonishingly, the show plays to half-empty venues in much of the UK.Full article:
Dave Godin (UK Motown representative) : This was one main issue that I disagreed with [Motown owner) Berry Gordy about. I said I thought that he should wait and not bring the whole tour until the artists were better known, but he thought that he had the Midas touch, and went ahead anyway. Well, the TV show, The Sound Of Motown, and the dates near London and the home counties, were great, but elsewhere there were a lot of empty seats and, consequently, I think that the tour lost a lot of money.
Barney Ales (Vice President, Motown Records) : It was rather disturbing for a lot of the acts at that time. It might have been too premature here. The same show that had been touring the States was more than successful.
It's hard for an act that commands a lot of attention or respect to come over and start all over again.
Diana Ross : We [The Supremes] weren't even talking to each other by the time we got to Europe. The pace of everything had gotten to us, I think. It was hard work and we were so young, it sort of surprised us, coming so fast and all.
Muff Winwood (Spencer Davis Group) : We saw the very first Motown package that came to England. We gigged in Newcastle and stayed overnight just to see it. Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Earl Van Dyke And his band, Smokey Robinson
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Barney Ales (Vice President, Motown Records) : It was rather disturbing for a lot of the acts at that time. It might have been too premature here. The same show that had been touring the States was more than successful.
It's hard for an act that commands a lot of attention or respect to come over and start all over again.
Diana Ross : We [The Supremes] weren't even talking to each other by the time we got to Europe. The pace of everything had gotten to us, I think. It was hard work and we were so young, it sort of surprised us, coming so fast and all.
Muff Winwood (Spencer Davis Group) : We saw the very first Motown package that came to England. We gigged in Newcastle and stayed overnight just to see it. Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Earl Van Dyke And his band, Smokey Robinson