Try to imagine in your mind’s ear what it is that defines the numerous subgenres that form what can be collectively considered popular music. What do you hear inside your head when the terms “punk”, “grunge” or “British Invasion” pop up in everyday conversation? Personally, I hear (respectively) the swaggering accented snarl of Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer; the rusty, pained croon of Vedder and Cobain, and (it’s obligatory) the Scouser tenors of John, Paul…and preferably, George*. In other words, I hear the voices – and you may as well.
Let’s try it together: MOTOWN.
What did you hear? There’s no right or wrong answer, of course, but what I heard was a booming, powerhouse baritone – raspy, rough and unruly but an altogether conspicuous presence. What it lacks in “technique”, it certainly makes up for in sheer emotion. Phrases packed with lyrics such as “Baby, I need your lovin’” and “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch, you know that I love you” – how can you not believe him?
The “him” is Levi Stubbs – a vocalist we’re all very familiar with. Don’t think so? Heard of the Four Tops? He was their front man. It’s impossible to credit a single voice with establishing what we refer to now as the “Motown Sound”, but if the choice had to be made, I’d go with Levi. The sheer power and sincerity in his delivery on some of Motown’s biggest hits – Reach Out (I’ll Be There) and It’s the Same Old Song to name just two – established a vocal tradition that carries on to this day. Not only was this tradition continued in the hallowed halls of Hitsville, USA’s studios, but even across other planes of pop music from then and now. The primal bellow of Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant, the emotive yearnings of Bono – despite the differences in musical style, these gentleman, and any frontman/woman who bears their soul unashamedly through their song, owes a debt to Levi Stubbs.
For you musical theatre fans, he’s also known as the voice of “Audrey II” (yeah, the big man-eating plant” in the film version of Little Shop of Horrors.
His emotional connection to the words and music crafted by Motown forefathers Holland-Dozier-Holland** provided a gold standard to which anyone who stands at a mic under the lights and thinks they can change the listeners’ minds about love, loss and everything in between. So next time you find yourself in that position – try to channel some Levi – at the least, it’s a sure-fire way to win a Karaoke contest. At best, you may change our minds after all.
Levi Stubbs passed away 17 October 2008 at the age of 72.
NOTES:
* – Sometimes Ringo.
** – Another set of names that the public-at-large is, sadly, often unfamiliar with. Might as well start here.
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