Chris Sotomayor & The Pips, by Michael Davis – Straight No Chaser #186
September 24, 2010 Michael Davis 23 Comments
A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about a deal I was excited about. The deal has not closed and I’m still excited but I forgot my own hard learned rule which is, ‘a deal takes as long as it takes.’
I hope my enthusiasm has not put a damper on the deal but who can say? It’s a great project being done by great people and what will be will be.
I’m feeling pretty good after a rough week because, this evening, I’m going to see TWO of my favorite groups in concert. The legendary O’Jays and Gladys Knight & the Pips! Then I get to hang out with them!
Yeah, that’s how I roll. 🙂
I LOVE these two groups I mean LOVE THEM!
I grew up with these groups and have more than one memory of their importance in my life.
As an example, I once knocked myself out dancing to the O’Jays song; Living for the weekend. I was around 16 and I was dancing alone in my room, spun around (yeah, I was doing Michael Jackson or trying…) hit my head on the wall and woke up sometime later. On another occasion in my studio I played Gladys Knight and the Pips song; If I was your woman for HOURS. Over and over and over…
Ask Chris Sotomayor; I think he was ready to kill me.
For some reason I could NOT stop playing (and singing) that song. Everyone knows that Chris is one of the best colorists in the business but what a lot of people don’t realize is he is completely self-taught.
That takes a hell of a lot of discipline, but not nearly as much as fighting the urge to pick up a lamp and bash me over the head after around the 3rd hour of the same song.
Ahhhh good times.
I seldom go to concerts, it’s just not my thing. I saw U2 earlier this year and I was bored to death. This show however is part of my childhood and I’m going to scream like a little girl watching the Jonas Brothers…except these groups can sing.
Wish you were here Chris, without the lamp.
Doug Abramson
September 24, 2010 - 5:55 am
MOTU, I think that I hate you just a little bit right now. Have fun.
Vinnie Bartilucci
September 24, 2010 - 6:59 am
I think the Pips are one of the earliest examples of The Darrin Effect. Utterly replaceable and interchangeable with no serious notice or reaction. I mean, honestly, unless you’re a hardcore fan, can you name a SINGLE Pip?
OK, Billy Mumy, that’s it.
(Look it up, that shit was hilarious)
Nowadays you have many bands who are basically one person and some nebulous “others” that come and go faster than ozone molecules in the troposphere. The non-Beyonce members of Destiny’s Child, Nine Inch Nails, Primus, I could go on. Hell, the Village People saw a bunch of staff changes, and only the biggest fans (i.e. The Wife) could codify them for you.
John Tebbel
September 24, 2010 - 7:26 am
Vinnie: It’s all make believe. Some acts get the personal buildup and some acts are just a name. The Pips, though, are family to Gladys Knight and, though unknown, are perhaps not the best illustration of this phenomenon. I interviewed Ben E. King once and he described his surprise when a manager entered the room and told him and his group “You are now the Drifters” and would be performing under that name. The original band members couldn’t make a deal and forgot the name was owned by other parties.
O’Jays are fab, too, but an instrument of the Gamble and Huff partnership and their Philadelphia International records label. Half of what I love about Backstabbers is the fabulous orchestral setting (performed by instrumentalists whose day job was with the Philadelphia Orchestra). Gamble and Huff’s straight orchestral outlet, MFSB is also a fave.
My problem with these acts live, seen them both, is the iffy quality of the backup ensembles. They usually travel with a core band and pick up the strings and brass locally. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Helps to be in LA or NYC, but it’s no guarantee. Great venue (Radio City) helps, too.
MOTU: Have a great time.
MOTU
September 24, 2010 - 8:34 am
Vinnie, John,
interchangeable Pips? Instrument of Gamble and Huff ? You guys sound like the GOP slamming health care! 😉
It’s the O’Jays Gladys Knight and The Pips in. concert, and that’s all it is tonight.
DOTAKEAWAYMYDREAM!!!!!!!!
I’ll get YOU a tee-shirt Doug.
stacey
September 24, 2010 - 8:50 am
Hey Dude, have fun! I’m looking for my heavy lamp. LOL kidding.
MOTU
September 24, 2010 - 9:06 am
Vinnie, John please forgive the haste in which I wrote my post to you. With all due respect and love I meant to say,
DONOTTAKEAWAYMYDREAM!!!!!!!
my bad.
Doug Abramson
September 24, 2010 - 9:42 am
MOTU, T-shirts make everything better. It should be one hellava concert. Have fun.
Mike Gold
September 24, 2010 - 9:59 am
John beat me to the Pips backstory, but the Billy Mumy reference was right on target.
I still think the name “the Pips” is hilarious, but were I in that position I probably would have been pissed.
David Quinn
September 24, 2010 - 10:43 am
Leavin’ on that midnight train who-hoo
Vinnie Bartilucci
September 24, 2010 - 12:01 pm
Back when WNBC was still a radio station, Soupy Sales was a DJ in the afternoon, with the assistance of comedian Ray D’ariano. One day, Soupy announced that he was being let go, and that Ray was taking over the shift. He made it VERY clear that he was not happy with said decision, had choice things to say about Ray (who, needless to say, was not there) and started to suggest fans write to the station. They went to a record, and when they got back, The Soupbone was GONE. Pulled off the show, replaced by programming director Randy Baumgarten.
When Ray took over the show, “The Backstabbers” got mysteriously added to the playlist. I always laughed mt ass off every time I heard him play it.
Marc Fishman
September 24, 2010 - 12:27 pm
Have fun at the concert MOTU.
Reg
September 24, 2010 - 1:12 pm
The mOTu said…”but I forgot my own hard learned rule which is, ‘a deal takes as long as it takes.’”
Ummm yes. Yes..I do seem to recall hearing that same credo from a wise man.
Vinnie asked…”unless you’re a hardcore fan, can you name a SINGLE Pip?”
Maaan, EVERYBODY knows Bubba!!
In respect to the luscious and beautiful Ms. Knight…she, Patti, and Nancy are my favorite old school divas. With Gladys and Nancy both carrying the crowns of elegance and class. But it’s the little crinkle in Glady’s lips and her unique vocals that keeps me mesmerized.
Enjoy the show, mOTu!!!
Chris Sotomayor
September 24, 2010 - 2:24 pm
HA!
I still remember that.
Thanks, Mike.
MOTU
September 25, 2010 - 2:01 am
No-thank you Soto for not clocking me one!
John Tebbel
September 25, 2010 - 5:54 am
My problem is that I am in love with the modern recorded sound, product of the X-track recorders (Thanks, Bing!) and all that they can do. A lot of what they do is make sonic tapestries that have nothing to do with what kind of sound can be achieved live. This is why I never went to see the Four Seasons. You can’t tour that kind of vocal performance. It takes four guys and at least three ladies to make it work every night at Jersey Boys.
A lot of what I love about the Philly sound is the slick, lush orchestra, miked within an inch of its life, with the dynamics the way the producer hears them. Strings always mixed up front. To get strings audible over an electric rhythm section in a live situation you’ve got to mike the strings perfectly, through a PA that can duplicate sounds of an acoustic instrument. Or use an overwhelming number of strings. In big cities you can have such events, but it’s nearly impossible to get a 50-piece band going on tour. [I’m still sorry I skipped Randy Newman’s early tour with a full orchestra. I thought they’d all be by next year.]
Lucky for some of us, part of what you get for bothering to live in New York or Los Angeles is access to world class venues where anything can happen. I’ve been to dogshows in classy places here, but everything else being equal, the big towns have the talent, the proven spaces, up to date, first class equipment, things you can’t always fit into the truck.
And, whatever the producers bring to the table, the O’Jays make it live. I can “sing” Frank Sinatra’s charts but that won’t mean a thing (cut to the last scene of Farenheit 451). They might have been putty in the hands of Gamble and Huff to begin with (like being Mozart’s favorite soprano) but you can’t get a career out of it unless you’ve got it going in. GK and the O’Jays are certified aristocracy of talent by now.
My memory is of standing in the waiting room at Philadelphia International (c.’74) working my non-starting job-getting strategy and, while awaiting their polite reply, hearing a full up band working in their on-site recording studio.
Felix Serrano
September 25, 2010 - 10:29 am
Sooooo…How was it?
John Tebbel
September 26, 2010 - 8:00 am
Yeah, how was it?
Reg
September 26, 2010 - 12:57 pm
Apparently, the mOTu is making his way to….Georgia.
MOTU
September 26, 2010 - 1:10 pm
It was WONDERFUL!! It ranks with some of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.
1. The Jacksons
2. Earth Wind & Fire
3. Prince
4. Michael Jackson.
5. O’Jays/ Gladys Knight & The Pips
6. Elton John
7. Black Eye Peas
8. Sting
9. The Rolling Stones
10.Barbra Streisand
Yeah, I like Streisand. I also eat quiche mofo.
McCarthy
September 26, 2010 - 9:28 pm
You only liked the Sting show because it helped you with your insomnia.
MOTU
September 26, 2010 - 10:29 pm
I only slept half of the concert smart guy.
Jill Serrano
September 27, 2010 - 4:54 pm
I LOVE THAT SONG! And the O’Jays too.. but I definitely would have bashed your head, if not the radio.
Jill Serrano
September 27, 2010 - 4:55 pm
**And I like the O’Jays too