Cover Story The One And Only A single Jewish singing group scaled the heights ofMotown. BILL CARROLL Special to the Jewish News B filled in the old days as "Motown's best kept secret," the Valadiers — Motown's only Jewish singing group — is making a comeback on the Detroit Jewish community's party circuit. Singing a cappella (without musical accompaniment), the then all-male teenage group, whose name means "strong men" in Latin, landed an audition with Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., then made appearances with many of the famous Motown singers and groups, such .. as Jackie Wilson, the Supremes, Platters, Temptations and Marvin Gaye. ' Berveen 1958-63, the Valadiers cut many recordings, with six of them scoring well on the charts. Their biggest hits were "Take a Chance" .and "Greetings, This Is Uncle Sam," which became popular after the 1961 Cuban missile crisis. "We were in the thick of the competition among , the manyMotown groups trying to get Berry Gordy's attention," recalls Jerry Light, one of the original members, who now serves as manager for the modern Valadiers. "Gordy really didn't have time to bother with you unless you had a song in the Top 40. But he always liked us because he said we were a white group with a black sound. Actually, we had a tighter, higher harmony sound." Motown insiders point out that Gordy tried to achieve cultural desegregation because he fretted over the Motown acts coming across as "too black," and he was always devising plans to sell to whites. Light, 59, formerly of Oak Park, has lived in St. Augustine, Fla., for the past 11 years. The other original Valadiers were Stuart Avig, Art Glasser, Marty Coleman and Gary Frenkel. Most of them work in the precious metals refining busi- ness. Avig, of West Bloomfield, is part of the comeback group, along with Don ReVels, Andy Alonzo and Sal Prado. Light is running ads in local newspapers for the group to sing Motown hits and mod- ern musical numbers at bar/bat mitzvahs, weddings and other special parties and func- tions. "All of us were on a cruise together recently to celebrate a special birthday and we started harmonizing in a men's room," he mused. Today's Valadiers — "Everyone remembered his part from the old original member Stuart days. We laughed that we were playing the finest Avig of West Bloomfield, toilets on the cruise ship. We also won the ship's center, along with Don talent contest." ❑ ReVels, Andy Alonzo and Sal Prado — are now playing on the bar/bat mitzvah and wedding circuit. 1/31 2003 84 To contact the Valadiers, call Jerry Light at (888) 771-9505. MR. EXCITEMENT from page 63 everyone he was, although this fact never really was documented. "There's no doubt in my mind that he converted to Judaism and was cir- cumcised," said Simon Rutberg, who befriended Wilson as a teenage fan and was close to him for the rest of his career. "He certainly spoke and acted like it all of the time. His sister told me on several occasions that he had con- verted." Rutberg has all of Wilson's records and owns the Hatikvah Music Store in the heavily Jewish Fairfax Ave. section of Los Angeles. "[Jackie] was very conversant in Yiddish, and used many Jewish expressions. He loved to eat chicken soup at delicatessens. He wore a Star of David, a mezuzah and a gold medallion of Moses with a diamond for each of the Ten Commandments. "No one could sing 'My Yiddishe Mama' better than Jackie — espe- cially when he opened for Georgie Jessel at the old Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. "He knew all about the Jewish holidays and traditions, but he rarely went to synagogues," Rutberg said, "mainly because he was traveling and performing most of the time. But the way he spoke and acted, I think he was just as Jewish as anybody." Motown's first public relations manager, Alan Abrams, now a Toledo-based freelance writer, recalls that Wilson used to call everyone "booby," short for bubbele. "He could even talk to my mother in Yiddish — in fact, so could Berry Gordy, because their association with Jewish people rubbed off on them," said Abrams. "Jackie really admired all of the Jewish people around him." Abrams is convinced that African- American entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., himself a convert to Judaism, played a strong role in encouraging Wilson to convert. "But the biggest Jewish influence on Jackie's life probably came from his manager, Nat Tarnopol. He was a very controversial figure, but Jackie really admired him," Abrams said. . A Fair Share? Tarnopol took over as Wilson's man- ager in 1957 when his previous manager died, just as the singer signed with Brunswick Records. Wilson's fans and biographers have questioned the fairness of the finan- cial arrangements Tarnopol set up for the singer throughout his career. The relationship resulted in law- suits and various charges being hurled back and forth. But Tarnopol had to implement astute managerial prowess to keep Wilson on course in his career, considering his erratic behavior, personal problems and scrapes with violence and death. After Wilson once tried to sever his connections with Tarnopol, the latter and some Brunswick executives were implicated in an incident in which Tarnopol's thugs allegedly let Wilson dangle out of a high-rise window while Jackie — pleading for his life — used his one free hand to sign a renewal of his Brunswick contract. "Some of these stories were myths, but they really weren't too far off," said Abrams. Rutberg said there are many sides to the Jackie Wilson story. "I was as close to him as anyone until the end, but there are some things you just don't discuss," he said. "There's an old saying, 'If you love a restaurant, don't go into the kitchen.'" Posner tells how Tarnopol, who used to hang out in Gordy's office, once told a group of auditioning teenagers called the Matadors to "come back after you've had more practice." But Gordy ran out into the hall and kept the 17-year-old lead singer from leaving, thus begin- ning a relationship with William (Smokey) Robinson. In The Jackie Wilson Story, Tarnopol never appears on stage, but he is talked about often. "The Tarnopol influence is sort of soft-peddled," said BET touring ensemble head Kabatznick, "but the overall Jewish influence is evident. There were many suspect characters in Jackie's life, and there are many allegations, but the show really focuses on Jackie himself, the great entertainer." ❑ The Jackie Wilson Story (My Heart Is Crying, Crying) runs 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4-9, at Music Hall for the Performing Arts, 350 Madison Ave., in Detroit. $22.50-$37.50. For information, call (313) 963-2366. For tickets, call (313) 963-2366 or (248) 645-6666, or go to the Web site at www.ticketmastencom.