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Melvin Davis: "I'm hoping this will be the beginning of us celebrating our history and our legacy because we are truly the headquarters of rhythm-and-blues." (Photo by Leanne Rumsey)
Passionate soul music fans from the United Kingdom and elsewhere help Detroit singer Melvin Davis "see the city through new eyes."
This weekend is particularly eye-opening for Davis and other vintage recording artists who earn standing ovations from "about 300 visitors, mostly British, who have descended on Detroit for what many called a once-in-a-lifetime dream trip," as pop music writer Brian McCollum describes it in the Freep.
The out-of-towners came from Britain, France, Australia and a few U.S. states for Detroit A Go Go, a five-day celebration of what they call northern soul.
They saw the Motown Museum, visited record resale shops and heard music at the St. Regis Hotel and Bert's Warehouse Theatre. The nostalgiafest wraps up Monday night at the Marble Bar, 1501 Holden St.
For Davis, a 75-year-old who has a 2010 anthology of his 1960s material titled "Detroit Soul Ambassador," the interest and applause are sweet validation. He tells the Detroit journalist:
"I want my city to realize its value. And we don't!
I can understand it, because I didn't [before touring Britain]. . . . I'm hoping this will be the beginning of us celebrating our history and our legacy because we are truly the headquarters of rhythm-and-blues."
Performers also included J.J. Barnes, Pat Lewis,Lorraine Chandler, Spyder Turner, Carolyn Crawford, Willie Kendrick, Yvonne Vernee and Tobi Lark -- "little-known stateside, but regarded as stars among the northern soul crowd," McCollum writes.
The Free Press writer sees the enthusiasm as "a vivid reminder of just how deeply [Detroit] music has affected people around the globe."
The festival was organized by Englishman Phil Dick, a DJ and northern soul devotee who threw his wedding at the Motown Museum in the '90s. Traveling fans paid $680 apiece, not including airfare, to book a place.
