The 42ND NAACP IMAGE AWARDS was announced during a live press conference from the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, CA. Actresses Kimberly Elise and Sanaa Lathan, actor rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, singer songwriter Smokey Robinson, actor Columbus Short and Actor Comedian Affion Crockett joined NAACP IMAGE AWARDS chairman Clayola Brown and 42ND NAACP IMAGE AWARDS executive producer Vic Bulluck to announce the categories and nominees.
Because Berry Gordy owned the company, it was not “tore up from the floor up.” It was something he built. It was not something that somebody else had and passed on to him; it was his and his family’s and all the people who were part of it who built this thing. That alone gives us a sense of pride.
Smokey Robinson:
Way before we started Motown, Berry said, “I’m going to work with you and your group,” and he just turned my whole life around. I played him about 20 of my songs, and he critiqued every song. He told me the songs made no sense because I was talking about five different things in one song; the first verse had nothing to do with the second verse, and the second verse had nothing to do with the bridge. He told me a song has got to be a short book, a small movie, or a short story. He taught me how to structure my songs.
Berry Gordy:
At Motown, I hired a white salesman to go to the South. I didn’t have pictures of black artists on the record covers until they became big hits. The Isleys had a cover with two white people on the cover. Smokey’s Mickey’s Monkey had a monkey on the cover. No one knew or cared; they thought it was brilliant.
Stevie Wonder:
The competition at Motown was not the competition that said, “I don’t like you.” It was more like the Brill Building: it was a challenge to come up with great music, great songs, and to me that was cool. I love Berry to pieces—Berry Gordy was, for my life, a blessing.
Smokey Robinson: One of the reasons Berry started Motown was because [the distributors] didn’t pay you [for record sales] in those days, especially if you were fledgling. We started Motown so everybody could get paid. And everybody was paid. The beautiful, wonderful, magnificent, incredible thing about Motown was that we began to bombard them with hits. The same distributors who hadn’t paid at first would pay us in advance just to get our records. The disc jockeys would call us and say, “Could we please have the record first?”
Lionel Richie, lead singer of the Motown group the Commodores and multi-platinum solo recording artist: In the creative world there were a lot of [black] singers. There weren’t a lot of [black] owners. This guy owned the company. Imagine, this is not happening in the 90s. This is happening during the civil-rights movement, during the 1960s—not exactly the greatest land of opportunity for a black businessman. To be a [black] businessman in America then, here’s political correctness: “Yes, sir, no, sir. Yes, ma’am, no, ma’am.” So here’s somebody who’s saying, “Go to hell.” This man took no shit.
To mark a year since the King’s of Pop’s passing, a host of musicstars will team up for a TV tribute on CBS News’ The Early Show on Friday (25Jun10).
Aguilera, Anthony and Robinson, as well as rapper LL Cool J and British singer James Morrison, will perform Jackson’s Man in the Mirror live during an hour-long special dedicated to the late superstar, according to Us Weekly.
Aguilera admits she is honoured to take part, saying, “Music wouldn’t be what it is without someone like Michael Jackson. I remember going to my high school talent show singing The Way You Make Me Feel and being a huge fan of his album Bad. I know all my dancers wouldn’t be behind me dancing if it weren’t for that.”
Anthony adds, “A Michael Jackson comes around literally once in a lifetime. They break the mold and I think there are people who just sacrifice their life, their personal life all for the arts. That’s what Michael did; he sacrificed his life for the arts.”
The tribute show will air in America on Friday (25Jun10).
Who’s Lovin’ You written by Smokey Robinson
Made famous by the Jackson 5
Introducing : The EnVogue Version
“Hold On” was the debut single from En Vogue’s debut album Born to Sing. “Hold On” was also the groups first single, reaching number one on the Hot Black Singles chart
The single became one of 1990′s biggest hits in the US and a major hit also in the UK (#2 in the US, #5 in the UK). It also reached #1 on the U.S. Dance chart.
The song opens with an a cappella rendition of the Motown standard “Who’s Lovin’ You”, written by Smokey Robinson and originally recorded by his group, The Miracles
Who’s Lovin’ You written by Smokey Robinson
Made famous by the Jackson 5
Introducing : The Lauryn Hill Version
In 1987 13-year old Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It’s Showtime at the Apollo. Hill sang her own version of William “Smokey” Robinson’s song “Who’s Lovin’ You?”. A nervous Hill sung with the microphone far away from her mouth and was heckled at first; but she persisted and finished her song to a standing applause.
REMOVE THAT SCARF! YOUR HANDSOME!
Awww…
