This year’s nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are nothing if not an eclectic bunch. The list (which extends far beyond the traditional definition of “rock”) includes artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Iron Maiden, the White Stripes, Willie Nelson, a Tribe Called Quest, Kate Bush, George Michael. And—for the fourth time—the Spinners.
As of this writing, the singing group who spun ‘70s gold with such tunes as “It’s a Shame,” “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “One of a Kind (Love Affair),” “Mighty Love,” “The Rubberband Man,” “Ghetto Child,” “Games People Play” and “Then Came You” (with Dionne Warwick) are slightly ahead in the fan vote with aggro-rockers Rage Against the Machine.
And while the current touring lineup of the Spinners doesn’t include any original members from their first recordings in 1961 (and some members had been together since 1955!), or the ‘70s hitmaking machine from nearly half a century ago, they keep the catalog and the memories alive. They’ll be at the Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land on April 5 opening for the O’Jays on the latter’s “Last Stop on the Love Train” final tour.
Co-lead tenor Ronnie Moss has been with the group 10 years, replacing original member Bobby Smith after his death. And he’s well aware of the band’s legacy and the fan’s expectations being somewhat of Vocal Time Machines. Since music—more than any other art—has the ability to instantly transport someone to a time and place of the past.
“I have the high tenor. I’m the specialty guy! Spice up the show! And between the four of us, we do what it takes to make it work!” Moss laughs. In addition to Moss, the current lineup includes Jessie Peck, Marvin Taylor, and CJ Jefferson. They—along with sole surviving original member, 84-year-old Henry Fambrough (who only recently stopped actively touring)—put out some new music recently in the form of 2021’s Around the Block and Back.
It was largely recorded with everyone in remote locations due to the pandemic, spinning off three singles. Though, as is the unfortunate case with veteran groups putting out new material across a span of genres, it didn’t generate much in terms of sales and attention.
But even if the live set list is almost all songs of yesteryear, Moss says it’s important to stay creative. “We’ve been talking about doing a [new album] since 2014, but our touring schedule just wouldn’t let us do it. We couldn’t get the material quite right,” Moss says. “The opportunity actually came with COVID and it was a blessing in disguise. We had a great producer in Preston Glass and he and his guys wrote some great material. It was such an honor to do it with Henry. We’re really proud of it.”
As with a lot of the current editions of vocal groups who got their starts in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, the voices audiences hear onstage are often not the ones on the beloved hit records. Given the march of time, that’s inevitable—it’s the material that survives. But Moss says he’s not offended if someone asks him to sign a Spinners album he didn’t actually sing on, or mistakenly asks about recording certain songs.
“It’s funny, because we sign pretty much 95 percent of the albums they bring to the shows. The audience is so proud of us, they don’t forget about the originals, but they kind of mix us all together!” he says. “When Marvin and Jessie started, they were singing with two of the originals. And they [hand-picked] all four of us. We’re not a second-generation kind of act. We’ve got that real connection. We keep that spirit going.”
Moss adds that portions the current Spinners’ dance moves (and there is plenty of dancing involved) comes directly from the source: Famed Motown Records in-house dancer/choreographer Cholly Atkins, who taught it to Fambrough, who then passed it down to the current lineup.
Like the Jackson 5/Jacksons, the Spinners’ early recording was done for the Motown label (at one point they were even known as “The Detroit Spinners” to avoid confusion with an English group). But as the label already boasted vocal group hitmaking machines like the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Supremes, and the Miracles, the Spinners got kind of lost in the process.
In fact, according to Leo Sacks in the liner notes for the anthology A One of a Kind Love Affair, various Spinners would also serve as valets, road managers, and even chaperones.
“At Motown, the Spinners weren’t treated with the same love as the other groups. They had only had one hit before going there, ‘That’s What Girls Are Made Of.’ And then at Motown, Stevie Wonder had written ‘It’s a Shame’ specifically for them,” Moss says. “But it was Aretha Franklin, who loved their vocal harmonies, who told them they needed to get on Atlantic Records.”
Once the band jumped labels, they began working at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound studio with producer Thom Bell and songwriters/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff to inject the “Philly Sound” of smooth singing, killer songs and string arrangements. And then the hits mentioned earlier started coming one after another. Their last significant charters were oldies medleys: 1979’s “Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl” and 1980’s “Cupid/I’ve Loved You for a Long Time.” In addition to Fambrough, late ’60s/early ’70s member G.C. Cameron and late ’70s member John Edwards are still alive.
Finally, just why is Ronnie Moss Zooming from outside a shopping mall in Sunrise, Florida, just outside of Fort Lauderdale? It turns out that he and some of the other Spinners were involved in a very important task: Shopping for new stage clothes.
“We wanted something light that we could wear onstage during the summer!” he laughs. “And I have to give a shout out to Cotton Natural here at the Sawgrass Mills Mall. I told them I’d give them a shout out!”
The Spinners and the O’Jays perform at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 5, at the Smart Financial Centre, 18111 Lexington in Sugar Land. For more information, call 281-207-6278 or visit SmartFinancialCentre.net. $49.50-$129.50.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
