This shoot was mindblowing. Not just because of the adorable kids who did the bulk of the singing but because of the location, the reason why it’s there in the first place, and who lives at Woodbridge and attended the shoot. The Woodbridge Housing Community is a series of housing units, many of which are inhabited by many former Motown superstars and all the streets are named as such. As a Motown superfreak, I needed sedation just to drive through the intersection of Temptations Lane and The Supremes.
In attendance were three of The Contours and a Vandella. Hand me an oxygen tank I was so excited! I worshipped the records both of these historic Soul groups made because of all the Motown acts The Contours and Martha Reeves and The Vandellas were the rawest. They made records that were serious party anthems – “Do You Love Me?”, “Dancing In The Streets”, records that sounded like a bunch of people were stuffed into a basement having the time of their lives. My favorite Contours song was a little known Smoky Robinson tune, “First I Look At The Purse”. I had a thrill of my lifetime singing it with the Contours in attendance this day.
To learn more about “The D”, the record, video, and feature length documentary go here.
