From the MCRFB news archive: 1965
‘HITSVILLE U.S.A.’ ACT IN DETROIT NIGHTCLUB A HIT
DETROIT — “Hitsville, U.S.A.,” the name of Berry Gordy’s talent firm, is presenting a swinging, solid show at the Driftwood Lounge here, situated on the second floor of Detroit’s popular 20 Grand. On the bill are Marvin Gaye, the Spinners, and the Earl Van Dyke Soul Orchestra (backed by Detroit blues orchestrator Choker Campbell).
While the show is centered on Gaye, there is more than enough talent to go around. Motown’s own Spinners come on five strong and weave their musical, soulful strut while on stage, a standout each time they perform. They are a good sight act as well as potent purveyors of pop music and rock, interspersed with smooth ballads. Kim Weston is a young Detroit performer who can really belt a ballad. With strong pipes, she holds a solid vocal projection, coupled with fine hit materials with a solid backing by the Earl Van Dyke orchestra to hold the evening Driftwood crowd entertained all the way.
Marvin Gaye has come a long way since his first Motown hit in 1962. He has acquired tremendous stage presence and he knows how to inject excitement before crowds with his fine, bluesy-at-times vocalization, into what has now turned out to be — a polished act. His strings of hits carries his audience along with enthusiasm and applause, and he also gets crowd rave response for his glitzy, colorful apparel-clothing changes during his stage act. His exciting performance can easily project him into class night-spot clubs around the country as well, and possibly gaining further career exposure with more television appearances on many of today’s best variety shows.
The show’s emcee is Detroit radio deejay Sonny Carter, while Motown’s own Earl Van Dyke’s group does an outstanding work in delighting the audience throughout each session and performance. END
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A MCRFB Note: The Driftwood Lounge, at the time owned by Bill Kabbus and Marty Eisner, was situated inside the 20 Grand multiplex facility once located at 14th and W. Warren Avenue in Detroit. While the former 20 Grand location is a vacant Detroit lot today, the 20 Grand Motel is still situated nearby on West Warren Avenue. During it’s heyday in the 1960s, the 20 Grand Motel became part-and-parcel with the 20 Grand Driftwood crowd after a night of entertainment at the club.
At that time, the 20 Grand Hotel was owned by Detroit’s other soul record-mogul great, Ed Wingate. Wingate owned Ric-Tic and Golden World Records. Many of Wingate’s top soul recording performers (Detroit Emeralds; J.J. Barnes; Edwin Starr; Reflections; Al Kent; Fantastic Four and others) went on to become popular headliners at the 20 Grand Driftwood Lounge in 1965, ’66, ’67 and 1968. — Jim Feliciano
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(Information and news source: Billboard; March 13, 1965)
