KAAREN Ragland chuckles when I ask if the part in the band’s bio about having performed in “more than 70 countries” is a typo.
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“You name it, we’ve been there,” the American says.
A one-time member of The Supremes in the 1970s, Ragland now fronts the spin-off band, The Sounds of the Supremes.
“It’s remarkable because this music spans generations and different nationalities,” she says.
It seems no matter where the band travels, nor how old their audience is, their show gets people up and dancing.
Ragland says there’s no secret to the enduring appeal of those fantastic Motown hits performed by The Supremes and so many other artists.
“They had a truly great group of writers over in Motown who were all under contract,” she says.
They included Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Edward Holland Jr (known as Holland-Dozier-Holland) who wrote hits for The Supremes such as Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, Back in my Arms Again and Stop! In The Name of Love.
Also on the Motown songwriting team were the likes of Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder.
Ragland has lost count of how many times she’s toured Australia.
“I think it’s at least 15 times,” she says.
“The first time I came over was in 1978 as a member of The Supremes, and we went all over. They were planting the trees on Dunk Island – that’s how long ago it was.
“Then I came with Mary [Wilson] on the Legends of Rock Tour, in 1989, and this group, The Sounds of the Supremes, started as a spin-off in late 1989 because people still wanted to see the group, but the original members had solo careers.
“So, we started this group and we’ve been very lucky to keep going.”
Going, in fact, for longer than The Supremes did.
The Sounds of the Supremes will take their Australian tour to The Art House, in Wyong, on Thursday, March 28.
The show features a five-piece band, with Kathy Merrick and Althea Burkhalter sharing the vocals with Ragland.
Punters can expect a two-hour show filled with hits by The Supremes and other great Motown acts, Ragland says.
- Adult tickets $59. Visit thearthousewyong.com.au
