My March Heroes are The Temptations!

The group went through quite a few name changes and personnel before hitting on the right combination in 1963 of (l-r) Melvyn Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin and Otis Williams. In early 1964 they had their first hit with THE WAY YOU DO THE THINGS YOU DO and soon Kendricks' falsetto and Ruffin's gruff vocals were taking turns as lead on 'Smokey' Robinson produced such classics as MY GIRL, SINCE I LOST MY BABY and GET READY.

When GET READY - amazingly - only reached #29 in the US charts, producer Norman Whitfield wrested the group from Robinson and with AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG started to move the group to a more abrasive sound. Despite their great run of hits - YOU'RE MY EVERYTHING, CLOUD NINE, PSYCHEDELIC SHACK, IT'S SUMMER, JUST MY IMAGINATION, PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE - they also brought the drama.

David Ruffin was sacked in 1968 when his demands became too outrageous and there were bizarre scenes when he would turn up at gigs and jump up on the stage with the band! Ruffin would later persuade Eddie Kendricks to also leave in 1971. By then Paul Williams was struggling with ill health and a drug addiction and commited suicide in 1973. By the mid-1970s the Temptations' line-up was a moveable feast and Melvyn Franklin died in 1995 but Otis Williams kept the group together down the years and is still touring today!