Clinton, Judd share memories of Motown

By Jeff Karoub and Mike Householder

updated 11:16 a.m. ET Sept. 5, 2009

For the 50th anniversary of the founding of Motown Records, The Associated Press over a period of months invited stars from the fields of music, politics and film to visit Studio A to talk about how the Detroit musical movement has affected them and the larger world.

Some were able to make it to the Motown Historical Museum, which houses the studio. Others shared their thoughts over the telephone or in interviews at various Detroit-area locations.

These are their stories:

BILL CLINTON
Clinton recalled the moment he was summoned to the stage — a make-or-break opportunity where the then-governor of Arkansas could join the big boys and show off his talents to a wider audience.

No, it wasn’t the 1988 Democratic National Convention, where he delivered a big speech. This was a governors’ conference in northern Michigan the year before. The command performance was to be delivered on his saxophone — during a show featuring Motown stars The Four Tops, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and Junior Walker.

“At the end of the concert, this guy came up to me and says, ‘They want you to come play with them.’ And I said, ‘You have a horn?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘What are we going to play?’ They said, “Dancing in the Street.’ You know it?’ I said, ‘Oh yeah,”’ Clinton said.

“I said, ‘What key is it in?’ He says, ‘I don’t have a clue.’ And I said, ‘Can I warm up the horn for 30 seconds?’ They said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’

The man who would be elected president five years later said he was handed a sax and “they put one of those damn microphones in the bell of the horn so that everybody would be able to hear me play, no matter how loud everybody else is playing.”

Once he got over the initial shock of playing with musicians he had idolized for more than two decades, Clinton told himself he’d “never have another night like this” and went for it.

Clinton, 62, went on to form close friendships with The Four Tops, who played for him — and he with them — at the governor’s mansion and later at the White House. He also golfs with Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. But each time, Clinton isn’t as much a global political leader as he is a star-struck fan with a horn and a dream.

“I happened to have been president, but mostly ... I think about being in high school and college, and I think about having an unforgettable opportunity to do three gigs with The Four Tops and listening to Junior Walker play his horn an octave higher than I ever could.”

Clinton says he never tires of the Motown sound — going so far as to order one of the label’s 50th anniversary compilation albums after seeing a television commercial for it one night.

“And you know, they dutifully sent it in the mail. I got it a few days later,” Clinton said. “I probably got a dozen different CDs of Motown albums. And I’ve got lots of songs on my iPod, Motown songs.”

TED NUGENT
Nugent and the Jonas Brothers.

Two musical acts not often seen written or spoken about in the same sentence. But the “Motor City Madman” made the connection during his visit to the museum.

The 60-year-old outspoken guitarist and hunter — clad in a triply camouflage shirt, hat and sunglasses — was in his element on the sunny Saturday, telling several passers-by that he was “Standing in the Shadows of Love!”

But how do those kings of teen/tween rock, the Jonas Brothers, come into play?

Nugent was discussing the legacy of Motown Records and its famous sound, arguing its influence can be heard in many a contemporary artist — everyone from Alicia Keys and Christina Aguilera to yep, you guessed it, the JoBros.

“I stand rather certain that they (the Jonas Brothers) have been touched by Motown,” Nugent said. “They’re playing with a sense of groove, a sense of tightness and cohesiveness that comes from that level of musicality.

“So I’d like to think that even what is considered to be in the most transparent pop music — and I’m not trying to sound a death knell for the Jonas Brothers — I betcha they’ve been touched by the spirit of this Hitsville, U.S.A.”

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