London - We Got Nice Seats For The Musical Motown

At about 3 PM Thursday afternoon - we landed a nice pair of tickets to see the show - Motown. We paid 39 pounds each for 5th row middle. Since the show was at 7:30 PM - and it was 85 degrees out - we decided to take the subway home - get a shower - rest up - have supper - and then go to the play fresh.

It only took us 18 minutes from the ticket booth at Leicester Square to our apartment. Lulu even got a little nap in. At 6:45 PM - we let the apartment - deciding to take the bus all the way. We arrived at 7:20 for the 7:30 show. The Shaftsbury Theatre is a great old theatre that just experienced a $5 million renovation.

I am not a play critic - but I really enjoyed this show. When I was a kid collecting music - I was a fan of the British Invasion. I do not think I owned a Motown record. At the time it seemed you were one or the other. I liked when the Beatles - the Rolling Stones - and The Dave Clark Five did Rhythm and Blues Music. Many of the songs I heard tonight - we used to call "blue eyed soul" when the white groups covered them. The black songwriters did not mind because they made a lot more money from sales when white people sung the black songs.

They played segments of about 50 different songs made at Motown's Hitsville USA. The headquarters of Berry Gordy's company is preserved in Detroit as a museum. In 1972 - Motown moved to Hollywood.

Berry Gordy is 87 and still alive. He sold Motown Music in 1988 for $31 million. Most of the artists had left him to go on solo careers. He was married 3 times - and did have a child with Diana Ross of the Supremes - among others.

The above video of the finale was made on my iphone shooting from the hip.