Watchout!, Sam

The first time I auditioned for a musical was my freshman year in college (one of two times in which I subjected myself to that embarrassing ordeal). I sang the nursery rhyme tongue-twister "Proper Cup of Coffee," and got cast in a one-line singing role, as I deserved.

The audition was my first exposure, really, to women singing. Sure, I had played in alt rock/emo bands throughout high school and was well acquainted with pubescent boys trying to be Rivers Cuomo or Chris Conley. That's to say, I was familiar with preteen men singing poorly.

What stands out from that audition was how good most people were—especially all the women. Maybe women's voices are biologically more pleasing than men's voices or maybe men may be fine enough if they tried to sing as opposed to squeak. Regardless, I was pretty impressed at the talent summoned to the Masque's rendition of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Ultimately, the wheat was separated from the chaff, and some people were deemed more talented than others. I'm sure the folks who missed the cut would have carried on admirably but they all lacked a certain element that would elevate the material. It may not be vocal ability, but some people possess a certain charisma that makes you want to hang around.

Such is the goal with pop music. Someone decided that Martha Reeves had something special, something unique enough to set her above the rest of the Vandellas. Like Diana Ross and the Supremes, it may not necessarily be vocal ability, but there's something that's different. Diana Ross, as previously covered in Record Club, had a swagger, a way with her diction, a flourish with her voice that set her apart.

Here, I didn't get that same feeling with Martha Reeves. Other than a few moments, she failed to differentiate herself from the Vandellas. That's not to say she was bad or the songs were unenjoyable. But it feels like a replacement level Motown album.

Maybe, we can blame the assembly line, workman-like style Motown became in later years. Watchout! was released in the last year that Motown heavy hitters Holland-Dozier-Holland and William "Mickey" Stevenson were writing at the label, and maybe they were going through the motions here.

Reeves shined the most on "Go Ahead and Laugh," which is the only song she's allowed to belt it, to improvise, to distinguish herself. Otherwise, the propelling baselines and light orchestration all kind of blended together for me.

If this was my first audition, I'd say Martha was great. Now, I'd say she's talented but unremarkable.