Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9503020005
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY McSHANE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The Temptations, five sweet singers who blended for one soulful sound, burst onto the charts in 1964 with ``The Way You Do The Things You Do.'' More than three decades later, they remain one of Motown's signature groups, with a vocal mix that has never been duplicated.
``They could outsing, outdance and outdress every other group in the business,'' Paul Grein wrote in the liner notes to ``Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection.''
``They were the tempting Temptations, the essence of cool in the 1960s and the most successful R&B group of all time.''
The numbers back up the claim: 43 top 10 singles over 25 years, more than 22 million records sold. Throw in a seemingly endless string of classic songs, from ``My Girl'' to ``Just My Imagination'' to ``Ball of Confusion,'' and the Temps supplied a soundtrack for the nation's turbulent 1960s and '70s.
On Thursday, the fourth member of the Temptations' most successful lineup died. Melvin Franklin, 52, died of heart failure in Los Angeles; already dead were Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin (drug overdose) and Paul Williams (suicide).
``They helped integrate America,'' said Bud Akers, Kendrick's attorney, after his client succumbed to lung cancer in 1992. Indeed, people of all colors and creeds could respond when the Temptations took the stage.
Only Otis Williams remains of the five young men who Motown once billed as ``the tall, tan and tempting Temptations.'' The group has continued performing through the 1990s with different lineups.
The Temptations were a Detroit band, but their music was truly international.
It resonated in Philadelphia, where it inspired a young singer named John Oates. After Kendricks' death, Oates recalled that ``the sound of the Temptations changed my life. The blend of those five great singers was like nothing I had ever heard.''
It crossed the Atlantic to England, where the Rolling Stones did a raucous cover of the Temptations' ``Ain't Too Proud to Beg.''
It traveled to Vietnam, where countless soldiers with countless eight-track players listened to countless Temptations' classics halfway around the world from Motown.
Music critic Leonard Pitts Jr. once called the Temptations ``a vocal version of the basketball Dream Team - an all-star at every position.'' Franklin provided the booming bass; Kendricks supplied a creamy tenor falsetto; Paul Williams added his baritone; Otis Williams displayed his versatility; Ruffin delivered the distinctive lead vocals.
But more than their sound, the Temptations provided a show. Each tune was accompanied by innovative choreography; the ``Temptations Walk,'' a seven-step stage move, became their trademark. And along with the Supremes, they became one of the pillars of Berry Gordy's Motown empire.
The group exuded confidence, and with good reason. Franklin once boasted that the Temptations needed only ``a light, a microphone and a plain wood floor'' to captivate an crowd.
``We don't need a whole lot of props to do it at its rawest, rarest form,'' he said.
Franklin was right.
by CNB