AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT
For fans of Motown, Irving Arts Center has an early Christmas present: Shadows of the 60’s ^SM A Holiday Tribute to Motown, Dec. 3 at 7:30pm

The show features dazzling costumes and classic choreography, paying tribute to the legacy of Motown super groups, the Four Tops, Temptations, Marvelettes, Supremes and more. The show also packs in holiday classics performed with a Motown twist.  The show will leave audiences “dancing in the streets.”

“There’ll be swinging’ and swayin’ and records playing, dancing in the street…” 
-Martha and the Vandellas, Dancing in the Street (C) 1965

THE “MOTOWN SOUND”
Shadows of the 60’s ^SM A Holiday Tribute to Motown takes audiences back in time to experience the revolution in music that was fueled by the soul sounds coming out of a tiny recording studio in Detroit, MI.  Motown Record Corporation was dubbed Hitsville, USA by founder Berry Gordy Jr. and was impressive by any measure for the sheer number of chart-topping artists that recorded under the label. Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye. All were instrumental in creating what became the Motown Sound.

So what exactly was the Motown Sound? Great melodies, tambourines and hand clapping, blaring horns, a dynamic lead singer and great interaction between his or her backup vocalists, driving bass lines and kickin’ drums. In his still essential Motown history Where Did Our Love Go? Nelson George writes, “Motown chief engineer Mike McClain built a miniscule, tinny-sounding radio designed to approximate the sound of a car radio. The high-end bias of Motown’s recordings can be partially traced to the company’s reliance on this piece of equipment.” People listened on their car stereos and transistor radios and Motown engineers did what it took to make good songs memorable. Even if you couldn’t put your finger on it, when a Motown song came on, you knew it. And you couldn’t help but dance. 

HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY MOTOWN CHRISTMAS
So make plans now to take a trip down memory lane. Sing and dance along to truly timeless music, and have yourself a Merry Motown Christmas!

Shadows of the 60’s ^SM
Holiday Tribute to Motown
December 3, 2021 @ 7:30pm