Diva Fever

Martha Reeves is in a good mood. But then she is always in a good mood.

Or, at least, she always wants you to think she’s in a good mood.

“It’s all about showbiz,” she says. “I like conversing with the audience, and sharing my music with people who love the songs and lyrics. And I like the glam and glitter.”

It is nearly five years since I last chatted to this Motown legend. But, despite the passing of time, she seems chipper than ever.

Back then she was topping off her career as a Detroit legend by turning her hand to running the city that made her, as an elected member of the city council.

This time round she is back to just doing what she does best – singing those driving soul-pop classics that prick up the hairs on the back of your neck. You know the ones: Heat Wave, Jimmy Mack, Nowhere to Run, and, of course, her signature hit Dancing in the Street.

“I’m now back full time in show business,” she says, in those rich tones that saw her crowned Motown’s ultimate soul diva.

She is talking to me from her home in the city at the heart of America’s rustbelt – the place that made her, and her label mates Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, back in the 1960s and early 70s.

“I am still here,” she says proudly. “Right here in downtown Detroit. And in the same home I’ve lived in for 25 years.”

But she is relieved to be out of politics.

“I served the city for four years – which was enough,” she sighs. “During that time there were lots of things I was involved in that I was glad about.

“But a lot of what was going on wasn’t pleasant.

“The mayor I served under is now in jail, and I was glad to get on and get out, without getting involved.

“But it was a good job for someone with a love for the city – and I had that. Motown gave me that, because this city made us into somebodies.”

It is easy to overlook the role Motown has played, not just in popular music, but in US society.

It was the first African-American label to feature black artists, yet achieved enormous crossover success – breaking down racial barriers at the high water mark of the battle for civil rights.

Put simply, without people like Martha spreading harmony through music, there may well have been no President Obama.

And she is still intensely loyal to the Motor City. More than 35 years after the Motown label, and virtually all its artists, shipped out to Los Angeles, Martha stayed at home – among the steadily decaying ruins of what had once been the USA’s most prosperous metropolis, but which is now a byword for post-industrial desolation.

“Motown is not very much heralded in this city,” she says sadly.

“I haven’t performed here since 1964, when the audience got in for $2. Still, the people here made us famous… even if they now mistake me for Mary Wilson!”

It is 50 years since she first hit the charts, with the bluesy Come and Get These Memories. And while she has been through highs (worldwide success) and lows (alcoholism, prescription drug abuse and a nervous breakdown) she remains a true survivor. And is, by her own admission “stone, cold sober”.

“I’ve been singing since I was a child,” she says. “We’d put a record player on the porch and have a whole afternoon of dancing. It was the same in New Orleans, and everywhere else where people took their music to the streets.

“That’s what I was singing about. ‘It doesn’t matter what you wear just as long as you are there’.”

But wasn’t the song really about rioting? “Well, some people say that, but they just want to put connotations on things which are light-hearted and good.

“Every note I hear in the introduction to that song makes me want to move my feet.

“I’m proud I’m still singing just like mommy taught me… and I can still hear her say ‘sing it!’ “I’m glad to be alive.

This is not a job, it’s pleasure.

“Like I said, it’s all about showbiz.

“Everything revolves around that – including keeping my body in tone and my hair nice. And I have a good time.

“My dream is still to play – and I will have you all dancing in the streets!”

* Martha and the Vandellas are performing at the Oxford O2 Academy on Sunday. Tickets for the show are available from ticketweb.co.uk