ONE of the true legends of soul will be heading to Manchester next month for the ultimate celebration of some of the greatest songs ever to come out Motown.

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas are to headline their first show in the city at the Ritz, more than 50 years after a young singer Martha Lavelle was discovered singing cover versions of popular songs at a nightclub in her home city of Detroit.

The singer so impressed the head of the Motown label Berry Gordy that she was signed immediately and the, rest, as they say is history.

Jimmy Mack, Heatwave, Nowhere to Run and Dancing In The Street are just some of the 26 chart hits enjoyed by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.

“I’m so happy to be coming back to England,” said Martha Reeves. “I am always overwhelmed at the reaction I get in the UK. Audiences there have such a great feel for the music, they sing every line and they dance throughout the show. As a performer that’s what you want, that’s why you do it.

“I always try and let the audience dictate the show to some extent. They will shout out songs they want and we will try to accommodate them.

“The musicians I work with all understand the songs and they always have the charts there to work from even if it’s something that might be a little different for them.”

As well as the Vandellas – “I’ll be working with two English girls I always use when I’m over there” – Martha will be backed by an eight-piece band.

“I’ve worked with up to 100 musicians in a big band before now,” she said. “But I’m glad we’ve got a horn section as that is such an important part of the sound.

“The Funk Brothers, the house band for the Motown Recordings, were such wonderful musicians and they have laid down the way that all those songs should be played for every musician since,” said Martha.

“It is such a joy to hear those songs live performed by musicians who rise to the challenge.”

With the Vandellas, Martha Reeves led the way for all-girl groups and her influence can be seen from the likes of Diana Ross and the Supremes to modern day female chart toppers.

But she is very modest about her own achievements.

“The skill was down to the producers at Motown who knew which artists to put with which musicians and then with which songs. They were the ones who created that little bit of magic,” she said.

“And it was the DJs who made us famous by playing our records and getting the music out there to as wide an audience as possible.

“Some of those DJs had programmes which were just like having a party with the music the played. We also benefitted from the pirate radio stations which would play music they liked and got our records known.

“To me the great joy is to see the reaction those songs still get from an audience, many of whom weren’t even born when they were first released.”

  • Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Manchester Ritz, Saturday, August 10. Details from the box office on 0844 248 5117.