interviewsofrecordingartists.com
In interviewing legendary Motown recording artist Martha Reeves,of Martha &The Vandellas fame,there's one subject which sets Reeves off. Today's rock,pop and especially gansta rap music. She doesn't like it,she believes most of the material should be censored and Reeves claims the gansta rappers are directly ruining today's youth by force feeding them negative messages. "Today,these kids who are out there think they know it all,"Reeves said. "The majority of the kids think they have what it takes to be in show business,but they don't have any class. The influx of rap music,and I dare to call it music,is full of a lot of wildness and undisciplined musical structures that set popular music back. When I was a young lady,my heroes were gracious,strong men and women like Lena Horne,Count Basie and Duke Ellington. I hoped to one day be involved in a continuation of the Big Band Era in which we would have presented the music of the moment with fine touches. Today,"she said,"you can take one musician and go into the studio and electronically produce what they call house music or rap music and release it as such. I think that whenever the public buys this stuff,they're getting cheated,they're not getting quality. The people who are doing rap and getting away with this noise that they consider music,and taking old records and revamping them,are actually ruining the beauty of the originality that was created years ago. These rappers,are taking us back,they're not contributing to the progression of popular music. We're destroying a let of the wonderful warn things that come from music. I've seen rap artists stare out at the crowd,snarl their faces up and point their fingers their fingers at you,and come out on- stage with their pants half done. Let me ask you this. Where does rap music lead one? To jail,or to become a hard core drug user,or gangster member. Even the girls in rap aren't trying to be ladies anymore. They're trying to be what these rap guys say they are,and that's disgusting and a shame. It's taking us socially so far back." While many recording artists today are calling for no censorship on MTV videos or recorded albums,Reeves is pro-censorship and she is a staunch supporter of any organization which she believes is attempting to"retake"pop music back for decencies sake. "I think something should be done about all the profanity in rap music,"Reeves said. "The gangster intonations and the call to actions which lead the children to violence are appalling . I think the gangster related activity linked to rap music should be stopped,it's bad for our children." In the early '60's,Reeves,who is best known for the Motown hit "Heatwave",was schooled in perhaps popular music's finest establishment for developing young talent,Motown Records,under founder Berry Gordy. "It wasn't just something that somebody threw together,"she said. "Most of the musician's at Motown were learned professionals who had actually studied music and gone on in their education to obtain advanced degrees at college universities. That contributed to their ability to play on the records. In the studio,they were handed chord sheets and each musician was assigned to work with a specific artist in developing their own bass lines and piano structures or guitar riffs. Each artist had a distinctive sound developed for them and this contributed to the wonderful music which was recorded in the studio. It truly was a collection of all those efforts." There was much more which Reeves learned in Gordy's Motown school. Life skills which were not taught in public schools were a major part of the Motown curriculum. "We had an American Airlines representative come to Motown to teach us the art of fine travel,"she said. "We learned how to properly pack your wardrobe so that your clothes were kept cleaned and pressed day to day while on the road. We also had private tutors who made certain the younger high school and college aged artists had a good solid formal education. We had the best private tutors,musical instructors and personal trainers that could be found. I really didn't know how valuable those instructions were until after the fact of learning them." The legendary Motown stage shows,complete with the complex,in-synch dance steps in time with the music,were also a subject which Gordy had his Motown pupils tutored in and eventually master. "What was good was the dance choreography ,"Reeves said. "The dancing and singing at the same time is actually very difficult to do. We were trained by Charlie Atkins who was a Copacabana act." Reeves feels both blessed and privileged to have lived out her dreams. Her only wish is that today's modern rock and rap groups could have the same opportunity she was privileged to enjoy thirty years ago. "I feel bad about these new acts who are coming out,"she said,"because they don't have a clue. They don't know how to look,the history of popular music,or why they're even getting up on-stage in the first place. They don't even know who established show business in the first place,or what's the real reason for getting up on-stage and presenting talent. None's ever instructed them and that's sad."
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