Performance helps mark Motown’s 60th anniversary
Music legend Thelma Houston will help celebrate Motown’s 60th Anniversary Saturday, June 29, with a performance of “My Motown Memories & More,” at Dearborn’s Michael A. Guido Theater, beginning at 8 p.m.
In “My Motown Memories & More,” Houston shares her inspiring life story through an amazing musical journey that includes many popular Motown songs and insightful remembrances.
Houston began her long and storied career with the Art Reynolds Singers, helping create a new kind of sound—gospel rock—that groups such as The Byrds and the Doobie Brothers eventually made famous.
Houston signed with Capitol Records—home of the Beatles, Nat King Cole and Nancy Wilson—in 1967 and released her first hit song, "Baby Mine."
Her initial solo album, “Sunshower,” written and produced by fabled composer Jimmy Webb, became a critical success, leading to an offer from Motown Records.
Houston joined Motown Records during the peak of its popularity. With artists such as Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, Motown Records had 110 songs in the top ten during the 1960s and early 1970s, and helped change the face of popular music and the country forever.
While at Motown, Houston’s high-powered rendition of "Don't Leave Me This Way," made it to the top of the Pop, R&B and Dance charts and earned her the distinction of being the first solo female artist at Motown to win the GRAMMY Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
“My Motown Memories & More” is a lively, memory-filled show featuring a non-stop parade of instantly recognizable Motown hits, including “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “Get Ready,” “Uptight, Everything’s Alright,” “Dancing in the Streets,” “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch,” “Please Mr. Postman,” “Heatwave,” “Do You Know Where You’re Going,” “Cloud 9,” “Don’t Leave Me this Way,” “I Got the Music in Me” and “This is Your Life.”
Houston also pays tributes to her gospel roots and the iconic Jimmy Webb, and shares her adventures and near-misses in Hollywood.
Tickets, ranging in price from $25 to $44, are available at www.dearborntheater.com and at the theater box office, open Thursday through Saturday from 12-7 p.m.
For more information, call (313) 943-2354.