KALAMAZOO,
MI — The Velvelettes, the Motown girl group with Western Michigan University
roots, recently performed in Spain for the 2015 Mojo Workin' R& B Festival.
The four
singers spent five days in San Sebastian, Spain in March for the R& B soul
weekend.
"They
revere the Motown sound," said singer Cal Street. "Entertainers in
Europe are timeless. They don't care what age you are as long as you are well
and can still perform. They have a strong respect and appetite for music of the
late 50s, 60s and 70s."
Last year,
the group performed at Modstock in London.
Fellow
Velvelette Bertha Barbee-McNeal said, "They'll drive miles just to see
you. One young man, a journalist from Barcelona, drove five hours to see the
show. People will tell you things like that bring our 45 records from the 60s
for you to sign."
The two-night
festival was an all-female extravaganza, Street said. Other performers on the
roster included blues singer Mabel John, who coordinated the Raylettes for
"Ray," the Ray Charles movie, Maxine Brown, and Dee Dee Sharp of
"Mashed Potato" fame.
"We were
on the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour with Dee Dee and had not seen her in
more than 40 years," McNeal said.
The
Velvelettes, which also include singers Millie Gill-Arbour and Norma
Barbee-Fairhurst, sang 14 songs during their hour-long set.
The Velvelettes
were found in 1961, when Barbee-McNeal and Gill-Arbour were students at Western
Michigan University. The group scored a series of R&B hits including
"Needle in a Haystack," which peaked at No. 45 on the Billboard
charts.
"'Needle
in a Haystack' is what keeps us in demand," Street said. "It's the
oddest feeling, because we never expected to keep performing today from the
time we were teenagers."
Barbee-McNeal
and Street said being part of the Motown brand was a unique experience. In
addition to working dress designers to craft their group image and studying with choreographer Cholly Atkins to
create signature Motown moves, the singers were also expected to learn manners
from charm school teacher Maxine Powell.
"She'd
call us diamonds in the rough," Street said. "They prepared artists
to perform for the most insignificant person to kings and queens."
Today,
Barbee-McNeal and Street live in Kalamazoo, while the other members reside in
Flint. They look forward to their next overseas gig.
"We
feel like goodwill ambassadors," Barbee-McNeal said. "the more we
travel and get to see all of the different people, the more it makes you
realize how small the world is. It adds a bit of humility."
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