By rockfan (67.24.158.154) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 12:37 am:

Does anyone know what the Velvelettes are up to these days? I love their recordings with Motorcity.

By Vickie (64.236.243.31) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 01:43 am:

Now to John Lester in the UK

Vickie

By Ju (205.188.209.38) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 01:43 am:

XTOWN KNOWS!!!!

By Ju (205.188.209.38) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 02:18 am:

Drumroll, please. He will be here any second now.......

By John Lester aka The Boy From Crosstown (217.40.210.33) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 03:25 am:

Well...what a change it is for me to be asked - normally I have to tell without being asked!

Cal, Bertha and Norma are coming over to see us all in the UK in May....in fact May 16 at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. They will be appearing in a "Battle Of The Stars" type show (with a live band) only it will be a Battle of "Sounds" with Motown on one side and Liverpool on the other. Representing Motown will be the VELVELETTES, Contours and Ali Woodson. Representing Liverpool will be Pete Best, Merseybeats and the Searchers. I reckon there is gonna be a real music battle here and I am not sure who is gonna win!!! I talked to Cal last night and she said that she was SO looking forward to it. We were discussing which songs are to be performed and I happen to know that the groups will ALL sing together in the show and she thinks this is a real neat idea..that means it is gonna be a high point.

Following the VELVELETTES appearance last year in the UK at Cleethorpes, they keep asking me to find ways for them to come over to the UK. Last year's concert was a revelation for them - they were gobsmacked at the overwhelming love, affection and loyalty of their European fans (yes, Cleethorpes had attracted fans from Spain, German, Greece, Portugal) and Norma told me she couldn't get over how so many people knew all the words to their songs...particularly Let Love, The Boy From Crosstown and Everybody Needs Love - songs that had only been released in the last couple of years. They had their breath taken away when the Cleethorpes crowd asked for an encore of "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I" as opposed to the more usual "Needle In A Haystack" or "He Was Really Saying Something" - that was a first and it was all the more special as it is groups' favourite song. The fans treated them like royalty and Cal said to me that it made them feel "significant". Of course, to me they are more than just significant!!!!

All the ladies have regular straight gigs these days but their number one task is still to care for their families. However, opportunities to perform in the US continue to be taken as they all still love singing for an audience. They work alongside the Contours much of the time in a similar fashion to the way the Primettes worked alongside the Primes - maybe they should be renamed the Contourettes! LOL

Off stage, the ladies are very down to earth people and quite endearing to all that they meet. Cal is a humble person and very warm. Sometimes when I talk to her, I have to pinch myself to remind myself that this lady is my idol. Her voice is still there and you only have to close your eyes when she sings "Everybody Needs Love" to feel as though you are a fly on the wall at Hitsville USA in 1967. Norma and Bertha are a riot when they get together - at Cleethorpes I have lasting memories of staying up late and talking about the old Motown days - clearly it was a lot of fun.

The promoter is so pleased with the ticket sales for the Liverpool concert that he told me he wished he had set up several dates. Nevertheless, he is thinking the right way and I need to work on him a bit more....hehehe

By Vickie (64.12.97.7) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 04:36 am:

John,
You do the ladies justice.
What a great spokesman you are..
truly...

wonderful

Vickie

By John Lester (217.40.210.33) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 07:07 am:

Now "I" am blushing....thank you Vickie!

By MEL&THEN SOME (195.219.7.113) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 08:02 am:

Great to see the city of Liverpool getting a mention on here.
Dont forget that Liverpool had the second highest fan base over here(apart from London)of the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society way back in 1963 and were out in force to welcome the Motown Revue when they visited these shores way back then.
Theres a lot of musical knowledge in Liverpool that far outweighs just the fact that the Beatles came from there.
They even had all-nighters there way back in 1962 at the Iron Door club.
And apart from all that the city has a brilliant football team called EVERTON!
Mel.

By Carl Dixon London (62.31.40.155) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 12:49 pm:

John, well done for all this. I wish I was around to see them, but I will be over in the US when they appear. Maybe the next time. The fans over here are forever in your debt, for bringing those wonderful ladies to our shores again and so soon.

It would have been nice to have met you as well Mel, had I gone to the concert. You have a great sense of humour and often have me dribbling all over the keyboard with your wit. I would have course have to arm myself with obscure questions I know nothing really about to try and catch you out, but I bet I never will.

By Vickie (205.188.209.38) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 12:51 pm:

I just tell it like it is John..
Your loyalty to them is admirable...
I know for me...I know more about them..because of you..

Bless you

Vickie

By Vandelron (24.44.20.172) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 01:04 pm:

Great job John--To me Lonely Lonely Girl is the epitome of Motown sound and Im so glad I bought it when it was released in US. I read that Cal was thinking of recording solo and had a producer and she said the others were thinking of winding down-any truth to that?

By stephanie (64.63.221.165) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 01:44 pm:

Man this is great the Velvelettes should move to the UK..
Stephanie

By John Lester (213.123.142.196) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 02:56 pm:

Cal would love to do some more recording and I keep telling her that she can do it with no problem. However, she always thinks of her pals and she likes them to share in the fun too. By the way, Cal is still in regular contact with Betty Kelly.

Although they are not all strictly family, the Velvelettes have a loyalty akin to the 4 Tops - a kind of togetherness that you only get by sharing good times and bad times for some 40 years.

There are no solo recordings in the immediate future .........although we do have something up our sleeve which is the next best thing! HE HE

By Promises Kept (12.227.139.195) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 06:34 pm:

John.......is it true that Cal and Diana Ross were/are good friends? Seems like I have read this several times over the recent years......

By Greeneyes (67.24.159.240) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 08:49 pm:

Diana Ross friends with anyone?

By John Lester (81.132.38.253) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 04:20 am:

Cal and Diana were really close buddies in the early Motown days. Both were "skinny" and they used to tease each other about who was the skinniest. They used to share dressing rooms together cos they used to get on so well together.

I suggested to Cal recently that she "reach out and touch" with Diana. I felt that what Diana needed more than anything was a true friend....

By Vickie (64.12.97.7) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 04:23 am:

That's a very sweet thing to share with us John..
Thank you....

Vickie

By MEL&THEN SOME9 (195.219.7.43) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 06:40 am:

Hey Carl,
We'll meet one day matey!
Mel.

By RD (63.188.33.33) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 08:18 am:

Cal and Diane also had an interest in the same fellow--Richard Street. Diane and Richard dated early on and Cal later married him.