ENTERTAINMENT
Since becoming Shakespear's
Sister two years ago, Marcella
Detroit has made much ado about
everything:
Marcella' s
Musical
Muse
STEVE HARTZ
Special to The Jewish News
n the 1970s, Mar-
cella Levy toured
the United States
as Bob Seger's
singing sidekick
In the 1980s, she
toured the world
as Eric Clapton's
song-writing sing-
er. But today, she's
rewriting history
as Shakespear's
Sister (yes, that's
Shakespear with-
out the "e").
co
0
Former Oak Parker
Marcella (Levy) Detroit
An •
Levy, who recently chang-
ed her name to Marcella
Detroit, has teamed up with
former Bananarama singer
Siobhan Fahey, and
together, they've struck
gold.
When their first album,
Sacred Heart, was released
last September, more than
100,000 copies were shipped
to England. Weeks later,
their single, "You're
History," was a top-10 hit.
"The song is now starting
to take off in Japan, Canada,
Australia and all over
Europe," said Detroit, who is
formerly of Oak Park and
now lives in Los Angeles. "I
was recently in Italy, pro-
moting the album there."
In the United States, the
album hasn't yet climbed
the charts.
"It's a different market (in
the United States). Our
records aren't the typical
kind of bop-pop stuff.
They're kind of quirky,
different and unusual.
England is more open to
different types of music than
we are here," she said.
However, Detroit has
found success singing and
writing for movies and tele-
vision shows in the United
States. She wrote and sang
"Every Inch of the Way" in
the film Mac and Me, "Come
and Follow Me" in Short
Circuit and several songs in
American Pop. With Robin
Gibb of the Bee Gees, she
sang "Help Me" in the film
Time Square. As a back-up
vocalist, she sang "Looking
for Love" with Johnny Lee
in Urban Cowboy and the re-
cent hit "Time of My Life"
with Bill Medley and Jen-
nifer Warnes in Dirty Danc-
i ng.
Her songs "One Way" and
"Turn it all Around" are
playing today on the soap
opera "Santa Barbara."
But one of the most suc-
cessful songs she ever wrote
came when Detroit was sing-
ing back-up with Eric Clap-
ton. The song "Lay Down
Sally" went gold, and the
album went to number one.
Years ago, she received a
Millionaire Award, when it
played 1 million times. Now,
the record has aired more
than 2 million times.
"Eric (Clapton) came up
with the title, and I just
went off and started writing
the melody and the words,"
she said.
When Detroit was growing
up in Oak Park, a radio was
always playing in the house.
Her father used to play the
ukulele, "and we would kind
of sing together."
At Oak Park High, she
sang in her school's plays.
"When I was 18, I
was sitting in a
park in Birmingham
. . .Ikind of made a
conscious decision
that I was going to
devote all of my life
to be a singer and
song writer."
And just a few years later,
she was singing on the TV
shows "Solid Gold" and
"Dance Fever."
"When I was 18, I was sit-
ting in a park in Birm-
ingham, trying to think
what I was going to do with
my life," she said. "I kind of
made a conscious decision
that I was going to devote all
of my life to be a singer and
songwriter."
After singing back-up with
Bob Seger for several years,
she joined Eric Clapton and
in 1982, Detroit released her
first solo album, "Marcella."
Since then, she has written
songs for Al Jarreau, Philip
Bailey, Rita Coolidge and
Chaka Khan, to name a few.
In the near future, Detroit
will appear in the movie
Beyond the Groove with
Dave Stewart of the rock
group Eurythmics.
She studied acting with
New York and Los Angeles
—
I GOING PLACES [
—
WEEK OF
DEC.22•DEC.28
JEWISH EVENTS
HILLF.L
FOUNDATION
Hill Street Cinema, 1429
Hill St., University of
Michigan, Festival of
Animation, through Dec.
23; Wizard of Oz, through
Dec. 23; Batman, through
Dec. 29; Gone with the
Wind, through Dec. 29;
admission, 769-0500.
SPECIAL EVENTS
GREENFIELD
VILLAGE
"Power in Motion,"
through January; "Fifty
Years of TV," through
Jan. 2, admission,
271-1620.
COMEDY
MOUNTAIN JACKS
24275 Sinacola Ct.,
Farmington Hills, The
Ron Coden Show, through
Dec. 31, free, 476-5333.
THEATER
DETROIT
REPERTORY
13103 Woodrow Wilson,
Detroit, Blood Relations,
through Dec. 31,
admission, 868-1347.
ATTIC THEATER
2990 W. Grand Blvd.,
Detroit, Sand Mountain,
through Dec. 23,
admission, 875-8285.
MARQUIS THEATER
135 E. Main, Northville,
Cinderella, through Dec.
30, admission, 349-8110.
PEANUT BUTTER
PLAYERS
New Center One
Building, The Atrium
(across from Fisher
Theater), Detroit,
Miracles, through Dec. 23,
admission, 559-6PBP.
SOMERSET
2801 W. Big Beaver, Troy,
Somerset Dinner Theater
at Sebastians, Fridays
and Saturdays, through
Dec. 31, admission,
643-6360.
WAYNE STATE
UNIVERSITY
Detroit, Hilberry Theater,
The Winter's Tale,
through Feb. 17,
admission, 577-2972.
FISHER THEATER
3011 W. Grand Blvd.,
Continued on Page 73
THE DETROIT .JEWISH NEWS 71 .