By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 08:22 am:

HEY GANG,MOST OF US HERE HAVE SEEN AND IN SOME CASES WORKED WITH SOME OF THE GREAT GROUPS,AND TO ME THE NEXT BEST THING TO A GOOD SOUNDING GROUP IS ONE THAT MOVES WELL ON STAGE,SO WITH THAT IN MIND LET'S LIST OUR TOP TEN DANCING GROUPS,FOR ME[DRUM ROLL}..THE TEMPTATIONS,GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS,THE MANHATTANS,THE UNIFICS,THE ARTISTICS,THE FIVE STAIRSTEPS,THE JACKSON 5,OLLIE AND THE NIGHTINGALES,THE ETHICS,THE MIRACLES.YOUR TURN!

By John Lester (62.49.61.57) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 08:39 am:

Anybody who has seen the Motortown Revue at the Apollo show will undoubtedly agree with my suggestions

The Marvelettes
The Contours

The Velvelettes had a fabulous routine for "Bird in the Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush"! I just wish they show us how it should be done!!

By John Lester (62.49.61.57) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 08:43 am:

I forgot all about a performance I saw of the Vandellas - Rosalind, Annette and Martha. How could I forget...!!!

Rosalind (who was no spring chicken at the time) was shaking her butt in a red frilly short skirt that had the crowd screaming for more. It was one of my most memorable concerts.

By STUBASS (205.188.209.38) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 09:31 am:

R&B: "THE TEMPTS" OF COURSE...BECAUSE THEY WERE THE FIRST...IN MY OPINION...TO INCORPORATE "SOPHISTICATED" ROUTINES INTO THEIR PERFORMANCE!!!..."THE JACKSONS"...VERY WELL POLISHED!!!...ALL THOSE YOU MENTIONED...BUT THE MOST ELABORATE AND COMPLEX ROUTINES THAT I EVER SAW WOULD HAVE TO HAVE BEEN "THE PRECISIONS"...THEY WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE WITH MOVES THAT ONE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE IN BALLET OR MODERN JAZZ...ALTHOUGH I'M HARDLY THE EXPERT!!!...THE THING ABOUT THE TEMPTS THOUGH...WAS THAT DESPITE THE COMPLEXITY OF THEIR DANCE MOVES...THEY WERE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THEIR SINGING ABILITY WITHOUT SOUNDING TOO OUT OF BREATH!!!...STU

By TonyRussi (68.18.49.228) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 09:54 am:

My fave groups with great dance & stage routines would be1.Tina Turner & the Ikettes2.Martha & the Vandellas 3.Miracles(Mickeys Monkey & Come On Do the Jerk were the best routines)4.Marvelettes 5.Temptations 6.Gladys Knight & the Pips 7.Contours 8.Five Stairsteps 9.Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 10.Delphonics

By JoeR (170.148.92.53) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 10:11 am:

Here's my list:

o Temptations (hey... they set the standard didn't they? LOL)
o Teenagers (they can still step)
o Cadillacs (these guys still go the moves)
o Jacksons
o Blue Magic

JoeR - http://mypages.netopia.com/channels

By stephanie (64.63.221.102) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 01:15 pm:

The EARLY Isely Brothers
Jackie Wilson
Blue Magic
Jackson Five
The Four Tops amaze me they are the ONLY group I can think of who has been doing the same steps for 40 years and the crowd (including me) still eats it up. I dont know what it is about them!!!
I have never seen a group do the same steps and it becomes a part of them and you expect it and you never get tired of it. I dont think any other group could get away with that.
Stephanie

By Eli (141.151.88.16) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 01:32 pm:

Let us not forget the most underrated group of all time ...The Vibrations.
The Tempts "borrowed" their Sloop Dance and called it the Temptation Walk!!
They did summersaults , cartwheels, you name it.

By STUBASS (152.163.188.68) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 01:39 pm:

STEPHANIE: IT'S THE "SAME OLD SONG"...AND STEP..BUT YOU GOTTA ADMIT...THE TOPS LOOK SO "CUTE"...IF I MAY...DOING THAT LITTLE HAND AND ARM WAVING ROUTINE...AND YOU CAN TELL BY LOOKING AT THEM DO IT...THAT THEY KNOW IT'S LAME...BUT IT SURE HAS WORKED OVER ALL THESE YEARS...AND REALLY...WHEN LEVI STARTS TO SING...PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT THE DANCING ANYWAYS...BECUASE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SINGING!!!...STU

By MEL&THEN SOME (195.219.7.85) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 01:50 pm:

Apart from all the well known artists that are rightly mentioned above,
a group that really cut the mustard when I saw them appear live(and have mentioned it before)were
Liverpool's the Real Thing.
They Obviously took a leaf out of the Tempts etc,
but nobody knew much about there stage act.Until they took to the stage at The Torch and by all accounts were very impressive indeed.

I didnt see them at The Torch,but a few months later caught them at The Whitchurch all-dayer.And was not let down.

Another great dancer I saw was Arthur Conely.
Totally superb.
I saw the Temptations,be it in 1985ish,but were still outstanding,no matter what the Line up was.
Although I never saw them live,
they reckon Sam and Bill were pretty mean on the old dance steps.
(HOOFER)MEL.

By TonyRussi (68.18.49.228) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 02:33 pm:

Oh, I forgot to put Little Anthony & the Imperials in there as they have always had great routines.

By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 03:22 pm:

HEY MEL,I SAW SAM AND BILL WHEN..FLY ME TO THE MOON,WAS A HIT AND THEY WERE PRETTY GOOD.

By Nish (66.119.34.39) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 03:29 pm:

I also like the Flamingos', they dance GREAT on "Jump Children!" (You can see footage on one of those Alan Freed movies).

The Miracles' (as mentioned) are up there too, their moves on "You Really Got A Hold On Me" are too much! And Claudette, of course fell right in with the guys!

And how can we forget the Supremes? Subtle, ladylike movements. I particularly love the "I Hear A Symphony," "Reflections," "Stop! In The Name of Love," and "You Can't Hurry Love" routines.

I frequently hear the Whispers were great movers in the 60s as well, but of course, I've never seen any footage of them. I would have loved to see their moves for a song like "The Dip" or "You Got A Man On Your Hands" or "Needle In A Haystack."

By MEL&THEN SOME (195.219.7.12) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 05:19 pm:

Hey R&B,
you old son of a gun.
I have an early R&B Mag from the mid-sixties or a bit earlier that reviews Sam and Bill in it.
And it has a large pic of one almost on his knees as the other is in flight above the head of the guy on his knees and he is cartwheeling over him.
Must of looked impressive.
I also have a write up of the Contours first or just after there first ever live gig on stage.And what a write up.
It mentions them all just coming in at the side of the stage and all cartwheeling,doing the splits,knee drops etc to the music.
And I can never forget the guy finishing of the article where he states,
The Contours
These guys are going places.(magic stuff).

Just for the record R&B,
I still have Sam and Bill's record called 'I'll Try'.
Cheers mate.
Mel(still trying)

By JoeR (170.148.92.53) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 05:24 pm:

ELI - re: Vibrations,

The manager of the Chantels tells me he caught them around 1963 at the Brooklyn Fox and they were outstanding. And as you said, they were doing all sorts of acrobatics on stage.

On a sad note, he mentioned Ricky Owens passed away some time ago.

JoeR - http://mypages.netopia.com/channels

By R&B (138.238.41.128) on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 09:35 am:

I'LL HAVE TO SLAP MYSELF IF I DON'T MENTION..THE FAMOUS FLAMES!

By MEL&THEN SOME (195.219.7.46) on Saturday, March 29, 2003 - 11:25 am:

The Tams.
Stylistics.
The Tymes.
Sam and Dave.
Ernie K.Doe.
Rufus Thomas.
Jackie Lee.
Ikettes.
Raelettes.
Jimmy McCracklin.
The Platters.
The Olympics.
The Orlons.
Jess and James.
James and Bobby Purify.
The Ad-Libs.
Bobby Freeman.
The Chi-Lites.
The Pips.
The Capitols.
Delfonics.
Intruders.
The Dramatics.
The Metroes.
and Endless artists from the earlier years of Soul,R&B,Doo-Wop etc.
And all the mooooooovers that have hit the floor and are still hitting the floor at the rare/northern soul all-nighters and soul nights.

By Mark Speck (65.56.222.187) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 12:34 am:

As I mentioned in another thread, I saw the Spinners perform Saturday night and those cats can MOVE!

Best,

Mark

By 1wicked (24.126.64.120) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 04:44 am:

Heatwave with Johnny Wilder or J.D. Nicholas used to put on a very acrobatic, high energy show....one of THE BEST live acts I've seen.

By JSmith (212.39.231.20) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 05:39 am:

I remember being 16 yrs old & going to the Twisted Wheel, Manchester to see Ike & Tina + the Ikettes.
The stage area at this club was small (especially with so many on stage at once). I wasn't that tall and the stage area was higher than the dancefoor. I stood at the very front to watch the live performance.

The combination of my close proximity, the short lengths of the girls mini-dresses and their frantic dance antics made a lasting impression on me.

By RD (63.188.32.162) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 08:42 am:

The Whispers were a very acrobatic group in the sixties.

By Beebopman (67.38.92.14) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 08:05 pm:

The Precisions had some nice moves. I always thought they were getting choreography direction from someone at Motown.