Las Vegas Weekly

May 19, 2010 · 9:34 AM

Smokey Robinson and Human Nature reveal music and TV plans

By Robin Leach

Smokey Robinson and Human Nature at Imperial Palace on May 11, 2010.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Last Tuesday was a big day for Motown legend Smokey Robinson and his Down Under discoveries Human Nature in Las Vegas: Mayor Oscar Goodman declared it Human Nature Day as the foursome celebrated the first anniversary of Smokey Robinson Presents Australia’s Human Nature at Imperial Palace. Plus, Human Nature’s contract at I.P. was extended two years, and Imperial Theater was renamed Human Nature Theater.

Not a bad day at all for Smokey and Human Nature’s Phil Burton, Toby Allen and brothers Michael and Andrew Tierney. We talked with Smokey and Human Nature before their first-anniversary celebration.

Robin Leach: Smokey, we've talked previously about what it takes to become a real star -- your diligence, your determination, your dedication. Did you see all that in the four of them?

Smokey Robinson: I did. Not exactly the overall picture, because when I first met them, all I did was hear them sing, and they are awesome singers. They are like a vocal band: They could probably do their whole show a capella. The closest thing I could describe them to, vocally, is many, many years ago was with the original group of the Temptations, when they had David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendrix, Robin Franken and Otis Williams. They could come in this room and say, “Oooooohhh,” and shake the walls. I used to call them the five deacons; they had that gospel kind of blow harmony to them.

These guys are like that -- it’s not an ordinary harmonic sound coming from them. Then I got a chance to see them live and see them dance and move. My job as vice president of Motown was to induct new talent to the label, so I’m used to seeing talent, and those who are not. The great thing about it for me is Human Nature came already made; I didn’t have to do anything.

RL: Do too many pop stars today arrive too quickly and fade too quickly because they don’t put the hard work in to have staying power?

SR: I don’t just attribute that to today because I’ve been around for years, and I’ve seen it all my life. It’s not an uncommon thing; I’ve seen thousands of one-hit-wonders. I’ve seen thousands of people where you love their album, and then you see them in person and they were horrible, and it took away from what you even felt about their record. But nowadays, there are so many more people trying to get into the business that it’s harder to get in, but there are a lot of other ways to get in that there weren’t before.

RL: So these guys have groomed themselves for a good, long haul? They went through the school of hard knocks Down Under. They came here with a dream. It could have gone awfully wrong, but it paid off. So do you say that the hard work was part of the reason for their success?

SR: Absolutely. Hard work was definitely a reason for their success, but especially in a town like Las Vegas. Las Vegas has seen the best talent in the world for the last 75 years. Las Vegas is like a testing ground, so the people who come here are used to seeing the best talent. You cannot come to Vegas half-stepping and make it. I’ve seen shows come to Vegas for one day and then they close them down.

RL: So with all of that hard work, and having proved themselves for one year, don’t all of you get a little bit restless and say, “OK, we’ve got the Strip, now how do we parlay that?” What’s the next part of the master plan? What comes after that? You can’t rest.

SR: My next thought for them, I want to concentrate on getting them a hit record in the United States, because where they are from, they’re like The Beatles. I went to a concert for them a few months ago, I don’t even know how they can hear themselves because people are cheering the sound of their name, and people are crazy.

RL: You’re actually working on a record?

SM: That is my thought for them.

Human Nature: We started as recording artists. The show here at Imperial Palace is amazing. We’ve spoken to Smokey about making a record and trying to get that started. I think also for us we want to get on TV over here. We haven’t had an opportunity to perform in front of American audiences. We’ve done a lot of the work here in Las Vegas, so we’re actively trying to film the show and do a PBS special. I think like what Smokey says, a record or some way to introduce ourselves to the whole country, that’s what we want to do.

But also at the same time, this whole thing of us performing in Las Vegas, we just got an extension, it is such an honor for us, but we’ve still only been here for a year. We’ve still got a lot of work to do here in Las Vegas. We’re a long way from being the next Wayne Newton.

RL: What could have gone wrong at the very beginning when you heard the words Las Vegas, and as part of that, do you feel sort of like a fish out of water because it’s here and not Down Under?

HN: Not at all. I think we’ve had so much time dedicating ourselves to Australia, and we really appreciate that we’ve been able to work in our own country. We’re going back at the end of this year to do a big tour around our country. … We’d done two months in Atlantic City the previous year before coming out here. The reaction was great, so that was encouraging. So I guess we didn’t come into Las Vegas thinking this was going to be an uphill battle. And in a town with so much entertainment and so many performers coming in, it’s hard to know how we will stack up in people’s eyes, but I think just our commitment to doing it and wanting to make it better and improve it, that’s what helps.

RL: Will it always be Motown hits, or will you find your own?

HN: I think we would like to develop and have other facets to the show. I think the Motown thing being the whole reason why we came here, we’re never going to let that go completely. The music is so amazing, and it’s timeless. I mean, some of these songs are old, and they are still as fresh as the day they were written. How could you just let that go? You can’t ignore it. It’s such a big part of what we do.

SR: Las Vegas is a town of entertainment, and it takes an entertainer to work here, and Human Nature are entertainers. They’re not just a vocal group where you see them sing and there is no communication with the crowd, or they’re just up there singing and dancing for a half hour and then they go. These guys are entertainers, and that’s what it takes to survive here. The shows that survive entertain people; that’s why they last. Now Human Nature has proven themselves as solid entertainers.

RL: So in Las Vegas, you either crap out or get very lucky. Right, like in gambling? So how do you feel you’ve done with rolling the dice?

HN: I think it’s different. I think luck plays a role, but I think you can play hard at the tables and still lose, whereas I think we’ve worked hard, and we’re going to continue to work hard, so hopefully that helps with a bit of luck and a bit of hard work. Does that work on the roulette table, luck and hard work?

RL: And you love Las Vegas to death?

HN:There’s always homesickness for Australia -- our families are there -- but, yes, there is so much to love about Las Vegas.

Vegas DeLuxe wishes the Human Nature and Smokey Robinson partnership continued success and good luck for the next two years and beyond. Incidentally, our hometown hero Smokey performs solo at Star of the Desert Arena in Primm on May 29.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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