Classic Pop Icons

Smokey Robinson is to appear at the Roundhouse in London as part of the BBC’s Electric Proms week.

The soul legend will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the birth of Motown records by performing his greatest hits plus songs from his new album ‘Time Flies When You’re Having Fun’. Smokey Robinson and his band will be joined by the BBC Concert Orchestra. BBC Electric Proms has specially commissioned brand new arrangements of the classic Motown hits.

Robinson was integral to the success of the Motown label. As well as the series of classic hits with his band The Miracles, Smokey was also the primary songwriter for the Temptations from 1963-6, penning huge hits such as ‘My Girl’ and ‘Get Ready.’

The show will be broadcast live on Radio Two on Saturday 24 October from 20:00 - 21:00. Radio Two is available online at www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/ so you should be able to listen in if you live outside the UK.

If you are in the UK, you can also watch the performance on Sunday night from 23:00 - 00:00 on both BBC Two and BBC HD. It will also be available to watch online after the BBC Two show at www.bbc.co.uk/electricproms/.

To get you in the mood, here’s Smokey Robinson and The Miracles singing the classic ‘Tears of a Clown’.

For more videos of the great Smokey Robinson, go to the Classic Pop Icons Motown video section.

Head over to the Motown section of the Classic Pop Icons Forum to share your views on the Motown legend.

Pop megastar Michael Jackson sadly died in Los Angeles this afternoon after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center, but efforts to revive him failed. This will be a huge shock to Jackson’s millions of fans, but it will also be felt outside his fan base too because he was one of those few stars who came to define a generation.

Michael was rarely far from controversy in the last 15 years and his often unusual behaviour came to overshadow the music, but his talent was enormous and his musical legacy will live on.

My favourite Michael Jackson song is Billie Jean from the phenomenol Thriller album. On this day, let’s remember Michael in his prime.

Rest in peace Michael.

For more videos, check our Jackson 5 video section.

To share your thoughts on Michael, head over to the Jackson 5 section of the forum.

If you haven’t been listening to the Motown 50 Podcast series, it’s well worth checking out. The series, which celebrates Motown’s 50th anniversary, features interviews with Motown producers, songwriters and singers, including Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, the Commodores and more.

You will hear fascinating stories and exclusive insights about the label and some of its finest songs and artists.

Those with iTunes can subscribe to the series by clicking here.

Head over to our Motown video section to watch some of the all time Motown greats perform, including The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

The concert will be broadcast the following day on the PBS network as part of the Performance At The White House series.

Wonder has previous connections to Obama as the singer’s songs “Higher Ground” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” became mainstays during the Democrat’s presidential campaign.  He also performed at Obama’s inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial last month.

Source: UPI News