On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ, will present a special holiday concert entitled The Colors of Christmas. A holiday tradition, this year, The Colors of Christmas celebrates its 25th anniversary with a sparkling evening of holiday music and pop classics performed by R&B and soul singer Peabo Bryson (“Tonight I Celebrate My Love,” “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again”), pop legends Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., (“Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” “Up,Up and Away”), American Idol winner Ruben Studdard (“Superstar,” “I Need an Angel”) and trendsetting artist Jody Watley (“Looking for a New Love,” “Real Love”), all backed by a 12-piece band and a spectacular choir.
Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. made their mark as part of the legendary vocal group, The 5th Dimension, a quintet which won six Grammy Awards in addition to fifteen Gold and three Platinum albums. As a duo, the couple also earned a seventh Grammy for their song, “You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be in My Show).”
Marilyn McCoo was born in New Jersey, but Billy Davis, Jr. hails from St. Louis, Missouri. The couple came together while performing in a group called The Versatiles, a quintet which was offered a record deal by singer Johnny Rivers’ Soul City Records.
After changing their name to The 5th Dimension, the group enjoyed tremendous success with hits like “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Sweet Blindness,” “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,” and “Blowing Away.” But even after leaving the group, McCoo and Davis, Jr. scored a #1 hit with “You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be in My Show)” before going on to host their own national television series and McCoo going on to serve as the host of TV’s Solid Gold.
Spotlight Central recently had a chance to catch up with Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., who talked about their early lives and musical beginnings. In addition, they also discussed their work with The 5th Dimension and their upcoming Colors of Christmas holiday show at New Brunswick, NJ’s State Theatre.
Spotlight Central: So, Marilyn, we understand you were born in New Jersey — is that right?
Marilyn McCoo: [Laughs] Yes, in “Joisey” City!
Spotlight Central: [Laughs] Jersey City — fantastic!
Marilyn McCoo: Yes! I was born at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital — I don’t even know if it’s still there.
Spotlight Central: Well, that makes you a Jersey girl!
Marilyn McCoo: Yes, my mother grew up in Jersey City — and she became a doctor. And, as you can imagine, back in those days, there weren’t too many women doctors, but Dr. Edwards, the woman who inspired my mother to become a doctor, was an obstetrician. And, as a result, my mother said that she wanted Dr. Edwards to deliver all of her children.
So my mother and my father — who was a doctor, too — were living down in Columbus, Georgia, and they were practicing medicine there. But every time my mother was ready to have a child delivered, she would travel all the way back — on the train — to New Jersey and have the child delivered at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital by Dr. Edwards!
Spotlight Central: Wow! But with a family background in medicine, Marilyn, how did you end up becoming involved in music?
Marilyn McCoo: Well, my father really loved music. As a matter of fact, before he went to medical school — which is where my mother and father met — after finishing college, he and two other guys who sang together in a group from Alabama went up to New York. Known as The Jones Boys, they sang in New York for two or three years and, then, went out on tour with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.
So music was always in my father’s blood. And his father — my grandfather — was just like your father was with you, right, Billy? Do you remember how your father would always follow you around and be right there with you?
Billy Davis, Jr.: Yes, that’s right.
Marilyn McCoo: Well, my grandpa was just like that with my dad.
Spotlight Central: So music was always a part of your household growing up, Marilyn, but what about you, Billy? We understand that you’re from St. Louis, so you’re not from Jersey!
Billy Davis, Jr: [Laughs] Yes, but I’m from a place which is just as old as Jersey!
Spotlight Central: And you also got started in music thanks to your family?
Billy Davis, Jr.: That’s right, and at a very young age. My father was crazy about music. In fact, he tried to play the clarinet and the saxophone, but when that didn’t happen, I snatched them from him, and just started messing around with them. They didn’t end up being my thing either, so I learned how to play the guitar. And I ended up playing in a band — all those instruments — but none of them won out, because my main thing, by far, was singing.
Spotlight Central: Yes, and didn’t you sing in gospel choirs?
Billy Davis, Jr.: I did. I’ve been singing ever since I’ve been in Kindergarten. I sang gospel for years and R&B and pop, so music’s been a part of my life since I was five years old.
Spotlight Central: And, Marilyn, we understand that when you were young, you were in a vocal group called the Hi-Fis that toured as an opening act for Ray Charles.
Marilyn McCoo: I was. When I was in college, I got involved in a group — it was going to be a hobby, something just for fun — because I loved singing harmonies and things like that. And we would get together in the evening — you know, I was in school during the day, and then I would work at the phone company after that — but, at night, the group would get together and we would sing jazz.
And Ray Charles heard us and liked what we were doing, so he decided he wanted to manage us. And Ray was just starting a record label — which is what Johnny Rivers did with The 5th Dimension — but only Johnny Rivers’ company really happened; Ray’s record company never really took off the way that Johnny Rivers’ Soul City Records did.
And Ray even recorded a song with our group, but nothing happened with it. And, besides me, nobody else in the Hi-Fis was in school, so when everybody started saying, “Ray, if you’re going to manage us, we want to work!” Ray decided to take the group out on the road with him. So I decided to drop out of school for a semester, and that’s when I got a chance to really enjoy watching the genius of Ray Charles.
Spotlight Central: I’ll bet! And Billy, can you tell us about the early years of The 5th Dimension when you were still known as The Versatiles? What was it like to work with Johnny Rivers — who most people probably know as the singer of hits like “Secret Agent Man”?
Billy Davis, Jr.: Well, actually, we weren’t The Versatiles for too long with Johnny Rivers, because when he wanted to take us into the studio and he knew that we were called The Versatiles, he said, “Wait a minute! This name is kind of old — I don’t think this name is gonna work — we have to come up with a new name. So you guys go and think about it overnight and put some names in a hat and just come back tomorrow and we’ll see what you can come up with.”
And when Ron Townsend — one of the members of the group — and his wife came up with the name, The 5th Dimension, and we all heard it, we all agreed right away, “That’s got to be it!’
Spotlight Central: The 5th Dimension had the good fortune of recording compositions by some of the greatest songwriters in pop music history including Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and Laura Nyro. Marilyn, how did it happen that you got to sing Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s song, “One Less Bell to Answer?”
Marilyn McCoo: Well, Burt Bacharach and Hal David had the song. And whenever we’d get ready to record, we would have what we called “listening sessions.” Before the sessions, our producer, Bones Howe, would go through a ton of music — he had such an incredible ear, and he could hear songs that really had potential — and he would wade through those songs and bring us what he thought were the best ones for us to listen to.
And he brought us “One Less Bell” which, interestingly enough, was a demo that was performed by Dionne Warwick. And Bones played it, and he said, “I thought, Marilyn, that you could do this.” And I said, “Oh, I love it — you know, I love torch songs! But Dionne Warwick is singing it — why doesn’t Dionne Warwick record it?” [Laughs] And Bones said, “Well, we don’t know why she didn’t record it, but do you want to sing it or not?” And I said, “YES! I want to sing it!”
Spotlight Central: And it turned out to be such a great recording! And, Billy, what about recording Jimmy Webb’s songs — like “Up, Up and Away?”
Billy Davis, Jr.: Well, Jimmy, I think, was probably one of the most brilliant songwriters out there as far as his lyrics and how his lyric structure was concerned — it was just like poetry. Take “The Worst That Could Happen.” That song was done by The Brooklyn Bridge, you know….
Marilyn McCoo: … but, as a point of interest, the first recording of “Worst That Could Happen” was by The 5th Dimension with Billy singing it. The record company decided, however, that they wanted to stick with a “group sound” for the time being — because we were just getting launched as a group — and they said, “We don’t want to do any solos right now.” And, so, when the producer of The Brooklyn Bridge found that song and came to our record company and said, “Are you going to release that?” our record company said, “No, not at this time.” And, so, their producer said, “Can we record it?” [laughs] — and that’s how we lost that one!
Spotlight Central: [Laughs] And what about all of those brilliant songs you recorded by Laura Nyro. What did you think about her material when you first heard it?
Marilyn McCoo: Her material just fit the group.
Billy Davis, Jr.: Yeah, it was like putting on a well-made glove.
Marilyn McCoo: I know! Like when we heard “Stoned Soul Picnic,” the group had been having a lot of pop success. At the time that song came along, we wanted to cross over to R&B and pop — we really weren’t being played on the R&B stations. So when we heard “Stoned Soul Picnic” — which, again, Bones Howe brought to us; and an interesting story about that is David Geffen brought that song to Bones Howe for the group because David was representing Laura Nyro at the time — and they played that song for us at our listening session, we all said, “Oh, my gosh — this is a hit!”
Billy Davis, Jr.: “We have to do that!”
Marilyn McCoo: [Laughs] And it’s gonna go R&B, too!
Billy Davis, Jr.: [Laughs] And it did go R&B!
Spotlight Central: [Laughs] But the two of you were also blessed in that you not only won a lot of Grammy awards with The 5th Dimension, but after you left the group, you went out as a duo and won yet another Grammy with “You Don’t Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show).” How gratifying was it for you to be able to enjoy such continued success?
Billy Davis, Jr.: Well, you know, that was a beautiful thing for us — it did a lot for our self-esteem — because when we left the group, we left with nothing, and we were wondering, “What’s gonna happen to us?” All we knew is that we were gonna go out there and try to make it in the business the best we could and follow our dreams, you know? So when that record came to us and it took off, it was like, “OK, I think we can do this.”
Spotlight Central: Yes, and, after that, together, you hosted the groundbreaking television show, The Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. Show, and then Marilyn hosted Solid Gold. And, as we understand it, you even wrote a book together called Up, Up and Away: How We Found Love, Faith, and Lasting Marriage in the Entertainment World.
Marilyn McCoo: Yes, we did — we wrote that book about our experiences being in the music business and having success come the way that it did — and also about being married.
Spotlight Central: So there’s a lot there for everybody?
Billy Davis, Jr.: Oh, yes; definitely!
Spotlight Central: And speaking about “a lot there for everybody,” you’re going to be performing on December 5th, 2017, at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ, doing your show, The Colors of Christmas, with Peabo Bryson, Ruben Studdard, and Jody Watley. Can you tell us what audiences can expect to experience at this special holiday performance?
Marilyn McCoo: They’re gonna hear hits and they’re gonna hear Christmas music, so it’s going to be an interesting mixture of music! And Stig Edgren, who is the producer, loves to bring together people who have had their own successes, so we’ll sing separately, but then we’ll sing some songs together, as well.
And this show has been going on for twenty-five years now — not just with the four artists who are performing this time, but with lots of different artists. Peabo Bryson has been one of the mainstays of The Colors of Christmas, but over the years, as schedules have permitted, many of us have been in and out of the show — people like Roberta Flack, Melissa Manchester, Sheena Easton….
Billy Davis, Jr.: …CeCe Winans, James Ingram, Bill Medley.
Spotlight Central: That sounds amazing! Is there anything else you can tell us about the show?
Billy Davis, Jr.: Well, we’re really looking forward to being back as a part of it, because one of the things that’s so great about this particular show is the various segues — the way the artists come in and out together — it’s really very interesting.
Marilyn McCoo: And we’ve done the show a few times now, and we know the audiences love it because it’s a mixture of both Christmas music and hit songs. When people hear the various artists’ names — like Ruben Studdard, who was one of the early winners on American Idol, or Jody Watley, who is known for her ‘80s dance hits — they wonder, “Are we gonna hear any of their hits?” and the answer is YES!
Billy Davis, Jr.: So it’s really the perfect Christmas present — lots of Christmas songs and pop hits in one holiday show — and we look forward to seeing everyone there!
The Colors of Christmas starring Peabo Bryson, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., Ruben Studdard, and Jody Watley, takes place on December 5, 2017 at 8pm at The State Theatre, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets range from $45–85 and are available by clicking on https://www.stnj.org. For more info, please call 732–246–7469, Mon. through Fri. between 10am and 6pm or on Sat. from 1pm to 5pm.
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