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Stevie Wonder In Birmingham In 1963

Tacitus

Tacitus

master brummie
I wonder if you guys can please help me with this.

I am trying to find out when and where the 13 year old Stevie Wonder made a live appearance in the Birmingham area in 1963 (most likely August onwards).

This was the first visit to the U.K. by any of the Motown artists. It was 18 months before the Tamla Motown label was set up here and his records were released in the U.K. on the Oriole label.

But he had had his first Number 1 in the U.S. with Fingertips and was being hailed as a "child genius".

Somebody must have decided that the time was right to show him off to the world.

I first came across it when I read this comment by Bev Bevan:

In 1963 we opened for an absurdly talented 13 year-old singer, songwriter, pianist and harmonica player who was promoting his big USA hit Fingertips. His name was Little Stevie Wonder.

I've also seen it quoted in a Motown fanzine that he was in the U.K. in 1963 - but no mention in the one biography I have got hold of.

Bev Bevan used to play at places like the Ritz, Kings Heath, and the Plaza, Handsworth at the time - so could be one of those - but likewise he must have been playing at lots of other venues.

Any help or pointers will be greatly appreciated.

T
 
Colin B said:
Could it have been in 1965
https://www.birminghampost.net/life...e-collection-from-mary-wilson-65233-23081601/


Colin
Click to expand...
[FONT=<b><a href=&quot;javascript://&quot;>Arial Black</a></b>]Have the programe from the gig still.The Earl[/FONT] Van Dyke Six,Martha and the Vandellas,Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames,Smokey Robinson and The Miracles,Stevie Wonder and top of the bill The Supremes.The compare was Tony Marsh.This particular tour was during 1965,and Stevie would have been 16 by then.
hope it is of some help
 
Thanks fellas I know about the 1965 tour. I am a bit of an anorak about this stuff. The Tamla Motown record label was set up in the U.K. in March 1965 and the first 6 singles were by The Supremes/Martha & the Vandellas/The Miracles/The Temptations/Stevie Wonder & Earl Van Dyke. So the 1965 tour was basically a promotional tour for the new label.

It was a bit of an organisational debacle so they drafted in a British act - Georgie Fame - to generate more interest.

Do you remember there was also a T.V. special hosted by the wonderful Dusty Springfield. Here is a bit of it. Please spare 8 minutes to watch it through. You won't regret it!

[video=youtube;PpoAIDs604M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpoAIDs604M[/video]

But this is why I was so surprised to find that Stevie Wonder had been here a full 18 months earlier.

Any other info. much appreciated.

If all else fails I will have to go combing through the old Evening Mails at the Central Library.

Thanks again

T
 
>The Tamla Motown record label was set up in the U.K. in March 1965

Around 1963 & 1964, when I was about 14 or 15, me and a couple of my friends were really into Rhythm and Blues (probably because of the early Rolling Stones songs and albums).

I lived in London at the time and there was a specialist record shop in Wandsworth that sold R&B and similar music and we would go there every so often.

They had one section that had imported music from USA and I remember they had one rack that held imported singles, I can still remember to this day that they had singles from "Tamla" AND "Motown".

In those days Tamla and Motown singles were released on either Tamla OR Motown (this was never in the UK as these were imported singles from the USA).

I remember there were song like Can I get a Witness by Marvin Gaye and also I think songs by Martha and the Vandellas and others.

The first big Tamla Motown hit in the UK was My Guy by Mary Wells in 1964 which I remember I loved back in those days (and I still love it when I hear it today).

Always makes me laugh that she spends the whole song saying what he ISN'T (no handsome man will take me away from my guy, no muscle bound man etc) but still says he is "My Guy".

I still think Holland - Dozier - Holland's contribution to pop music is largely unrecognized. They wrote and produced so many of the great Tamla Motown songs.

A bit here about Tamla in the UK
https://www.georgwa.demon.co.uk/tamla_motown_records2.htm

Wiki Motown page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown
.
 
I remember seeing him at the Plaza in Rookery Rd Handsworth and if my memory serves me right i was about 17, making it 1963.
 
chucka said:
I remember seeing him at the Plaza in Rookery Rd Handsworth and if my memory serves me right i was about 17, making it 1963.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chucka - you're a star. I thought the Plaza, Handsworth was a strong possibility. It looks as if local group the Redcaps played as his band for the night and Denny Laine & the Diplomats were the opening act.

I will do my best to see if there was any mention in the local newspapers i.e. an advert or a review.

It's getting very interesting as I have asked about this on a couple of specialist music sites. A guy there thinks that SW might have performed at the Antibes Jazz Festival in the south of France in 1963 and another that he may have appeared with Whitney Houston in Paris.

So plenty of investigation still required here.

guilbert53 said:
>The Tamla Motown record label was set up in the U.K. in March 1965

Around 1963 & 1964, when I was about 14 or 15, me and a couple of my friends were really into Rhythm and Blues (probably because of the early Rolling Stones songs and albums).

I lived in London at the time and there was a specialist record shop in Wandsworth that sold R&B and similar music and we would go there every so often.

They had one section that had imported music from USA and I remember they had one rack that held imported singles, I can still remember to this day that they had singles from "Tamla" AND "Motown".

In those days Tamla and Motown singles were released on either Tamla OR Motown (this was never in the UK as these were imported singles from the USA).

I remember there were song like Can I get a Witness by Marvin Gaye and also I think songs by Martha and the Vandellas and others.

The first big Tamla Motown hit in the UK was My Guy by Mary Wells in 1964 which I remember I loved back in those days (and I still love it when I hear it today).

Always makes me laugh that she spends the whole song saying what he ISN'T (no handsome man will take me away from my guy, no muscle bound man etc) but still says he is "My Guy".

I still think Holland - Dozier - Holland's contribution to pop music is largely unrecognized. They wrote and produced so many of the great Tamla Motown songs.

A bit here about Tamla in the UK
https://www.georgwa.demon.co.uk/tamla_motown_records2.htm

Wiki Motown page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motown
.
Click to expand...

Guilbert

Weren't they great times.

Was there ever so much talent assembled in one place as at the Motown studios in Detroit?

I suppose every generation loves their own music - but I wouldn't have missed the 60's for the world!!

T
 
Just came across this as I was searching for Tamla Motown 65 show after Ready Steady Go programme yesterday 20.3.20 on BBC4. Hope the thread is still active!
i went to the Tamla Motown show at the Odeon on 26 March, 1965 with three friends. The auditorium was almost EMPTY so they let us move forward to get a better view. I remember Stevie Wonder who must have been about 15 being led onto the stage with his harmonica. He wore a shiny blue suit. Think he did “Fingertips” and “Can I get a witness”.
Wonderful lineup for the show - Miracles, Supremes, Georgie Fame, Martha and the Vandellas.
We went to the Stage Door to try and see these future stars. Absolutely no fans there and none of the stars came out, though my friend said she glimpsed Diana Ross in a fur coat!
 
I also watched Story of Ready Steady Go on BBC4 last night. 'Little' Stevie Wonder was on and he as 15. Gosh some of them looked old. But the music was fab.
 
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