metro in Love With The Songwriter Allee Willis embraces her hometown with a catchy tune we all can sing. Allee Willis recording parts of "The D" song with Mary Wilson, a founding member of the Supremes, in Willis' home studio in Los Angeles Esther Allweiss Ingber I Contributing Writer CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 invited to recording sessions have an asso- ciation with that location. Enter Willis' "We Sing the D" project. It begins with "The D," an ode to Detroit that she wrote with frequent collaborator Andrae Alexander, the project's musical director. Noting the "incredibly cool and innova- tive things ... happening here Willis said she believes "it's the passion of the people themselves that will turn around the city. That's why I wanted to record this record with the people of Detroit. I know the power of music. If you have a song that everyone on the planet knows, it's a great way to get a message across and feel the passion" Willis said she wanted to write a "song to make people feel instantly happy" She's hop- ing that "The D" becomes Detroit's "official unofficial theme song" The project itself is being promoted as a "record, video and doc- umentary of a joyous, citywide singalong tribute to the Motor City and its people" The song features lush instrumentation. It's bouncy with a sprinkling of the Motown R&B sound so characteristic of Willis' style. Never able to read music, she said her "only music education was worshiping Motown" "The project really is a pretty unbeliev- able story because I've been working on it for a year and a half solid" Willis said. Before heading to Detroit for 20 days in September, some of Willis' celebrity friends recorded verses of "The D" in her home- based studio. Those lending their voices included Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves, Freda Payne, Leon Ware, Ray Parker Jr., Lamont Dozier and fellow Detroiter Lily Tomlin. On Sept 10, Willis and a professional crew from L.A. and New York — "who share a deep love of and belief in Detroit," she noted — joined local crew members, interns and volunteers for the songwriter's great adventure. They'll be in town through the month filming people singing the catchy, easily learned chorus of "The D." The complete song is at www.alleewillis.com/ WeSingTheD/. Other than the public event on Sept. 22 at the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, the people 12 September 26 • 2013 Di Detroit On Location Willis said the more than 40 Detroit-based sites on the filming schedule include "iconic outdoor locations ... museums, restaurants, schools, churches, synagogues, laundromats, car washes, radio stations, pawn shops, hat shops, hotels, recording studios, yoga stu- dios, weave salons — and we're even filming on a helicopter pad at Henry Ford Hospital, using a helicopter camera 100 feet up in the air" The crew is visiting places like Ebenezer Baptist Church, Detroit Yacht Club, Temple Israel, Fisher Theatre and American Jewelry and Loan, where a Willis favorite program, TruTV cable's Hardcore Pawn, is filmed with Les Gold and family. The crew had lunch and filmed at Chef Greg's Soul in the Wall, home of the legendary "Boogaloo Wonderland" sandwich, a takeoff on Willis' song. A few passes of the entire song occur at some locations while certain lines or shout- outs are captured at others. Participants sign a release form giving permission for possible inclusion in a music video and/or the fea- ture-length "making of" documentary, more components of "The D" project. Danny Franzese, seen in the film Mean Girls, is directing the documentary. The financial groundwork for the project included raising $20,000 in crowdsourcing donations through Indiegogo.com . Willis also attended two fundraisers this summer at The Whitney in Detroit and Vinsetta Garage in Royal Oak. The search for proj- ect sponsors continues, she said. However, the Heidelberg Project and Mosaic Youth Theatre, two local organizations, will receive all proceeds from the sale of "The D" mer- chandise. Hometown Haunts The crew visited two schools Willis attended while living on Sorrento Street with her parents, Rose and Nate. The youngest of three, Willis' brother is Kent (Barbara) of Farmington Hills and her sister Marlen (the Allee Willis with students at Detroit's Schulze Academy, once her former grade school, after recording the students singing the chorus of "The D" late Murray) Frost of Omaha, Neb. Willis also has five nieces and nephews. "My niece and nephew, Lara and Paul Witherspoon, are still here as well as my aunt, Ann Benderoff," Willis said. The Willis family attended Congregation Beth Abraham in Detroit before Rose died, and later Adat Shalom Synagogue after Nate, now deceased, moved the family to Southfield. "My mom's father was an Orthodox rabbi named Solomon Shulman in Detroit," said Willis. Although she rebelled and dropped out of Hebrew school, Willis said she "feels Jewish" understands key things in Yiddish and collects Jewish memorabilia. Seventy-five students brought their enthusiasm to the singalong at Willis' former elementary school, now Schulze Academy for Technology and the Arts. Alumni from Willis' Class of 1965 at Mumford High School, and some neighboring years, showed up in force, too, on their night to sing. The singers at new Mumford included Lynn Schavrien Pell of New York and local residents Martha Schlesinger, Elaine Weiss Markowitz, Daryle Roth, Beverley Harelik Wolgin, Annette Gantz Rosen, Jacqueline Kaplan, Barbara Ruznick Millman, Marilyn Markovitz Lantor, Joanne Parr Kraft, Sherry Erman Stewart, Carole Meyers Sweetwine, Shelley Chicorel Tauber, Jacqueline Kaplan, Gail Warren DeRoven, Lois Mentzel Freeman and the two guys: Ricky Stoller and Gary Fried. Singing classmate Jackie Kallen, famous as the first female boxing manager, found a kindred spirit in Willis when they were introduced in L.A. While the group knew Willis to varying degrees, even some friends didn't recognize her talent in high school. One woman said she remembers Willis for wearing "unusual clothes in a fun way, while the rest of us were pretty conservative:' Barbara Fealk Edelman of West Bloomfield said her father, Herbert, and Willis' dad, brothers-in-law, owned a scrap- yard business, Eastern Iron & Metal Co., on Mount Elliott in Detroit. Early on, their family sensed the creative potential in Cousin Alta (Allee's birth name). At the scrapyard, "she'd always be picking out things," said Edelman. "Where I saw junk, she saw art" Willis said Detroit inspired everything she does today — from art to music to throwing large, musical parties. An early adopter of the Internet, Willis' award-winning website is colorful, kitschy and comprehensive: the perfect reflection of her personality. "The D" will feature "not just the largest number of people ever on a record" — Willis anticipates tens of thousands — "but also the largest number of people [credited] as the original artist on a record" They'll all be showing their Motor City spirit, however they can, she said. "I'm doing this because, you know, I love Detroit" Willis said. ❑ 'The D' at Temple Israel The community may sing along with Allee Willis at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30, at Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut Lake Road in West Bloomfield.