Aretha Franklin, The Isley Brothers, Gladys Knight, and Kool & The Gang - live at Madison Square Garden, September 29, 1995

The KISS Cares Classic Soul Concert

Beginning with a recorded greeting from Barry White and continuing for nearly five soul-soaked hours, the KISS Cares Classic Soul Concert did not quite live up to its billing as "the biggest classic soul event in the world," but it did feature some grooves worth grooving to and some moments worth reliving.

Still, despite an impressive bill, this nearly five-hour marathon to promote KISS-FM and raise money for 50 local charities was flawed like any multi-artist showcase. Sadly, too, its excessive duration meant an embarrassingly small number of people stuck it out until the end for the headlining set by no less a legend than Aretha Franklin.

Kool & The Gang, reunited (and it feels so good) with James "J.T." Taylor, led off with the early-80's hit "Fresh" which was, in fact, exciting. The crowd, or what passed for one—the seats were only about half full at the start of the set—enthusiastically clapped and sang along to a 45-minute live rendering of the band's hits.

Robert Bell blew a fine sax solo on "Too Hot," and the band's takes on "Get Down On It" and "Ladies' Night" sounded funky enough, though the mix in the cavernous Garden was awfully treble-heavy. A bit of "Jungle Boogie" kicked off a solid medley of 70's funk material which was too hasty in its scanning of some of the group's best songs. The set closed, predictably, with the rousing and surprisingly vibrant warhorse "Celebration."

Gladys Knight's set was an impressive vocal showcase, if frustrating in its glossing-over of some of her best-loved hits. After opening with some more recent material, Ms. Knight performed a snippet of Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were," then sang a medley consisting of a verse and a chorus each of "If I Were Your Woman," "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," and "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me." It was intense, and over much too quickly.

She followed this up with an incendiary "Midnight Train To Georgia"—actually performed in its entirety (though the ending was cut a little short). After immediately launching into a verse and chorus of "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)" she received a standing ovation of at least two minutes—the most lavish and deserved audience affection of the night.

"Y'all better cut that out," she teased in response. Ms. Knight worked the whole stage better than any of the artists all night, finishing her 45-minute stint with a medley of other groups' hits, including Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and Boyz II Men's "End Of The Road."

The beginning of The Isley Brothers' set was marred by technical problems that rendered Ronald Isley's vocals inaudible through most of the opening song. The 70's hits were well-delivered, but songs so reliant on nuance are not best brought to life in arenas, and it showed. Ernie Isley spotlighted his talents with some Hendrixian guitar work that included some behind-the-back playing and even a little teeth-picking.

The show's tackiest moment came when, after revving up the now-packed house with a short but electrifying chorus of "It's Your Thing" and a full version of "Twist & Shout," Ronald said he was going to take the crowd all the way back to 1959—presumably with a version of "Shout." Then suddenly, the band members looked around, then left the stage, their 45 minutes of fame apparently up.

The familiar brass refrain of Otis Redding's "I Can't Turn You Loose" opened up the Queen Of Soul's set. In a scarlet dress with sparkling buttons down the front, Aretha Franklin launched into worthy versions of "Chain Of Fools" and "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman."

The set took a macabre turn when the band, 12-piece orchestra, and Aretha launched into a bombastic version of everyone's Disney fave, "Colors Of The Wind." The cliché about loving someone's voice enough to listen to them sing a phone book applied; given the choice, I'd rather have heard her sing a page or two from the NYNEX Yellow Pages than this dreck. Perhaps the ultimate tribute to this icon of soul is that she almost succeeded in making such schlock sound interesting.

By this time, though, people were leaving in droves. Those of weak constitution missed a wonderful, bluesy take on "I Never Loved A Man (The Way That I Love You)" and a solid "Respect." "Freeway Of Love" was distracted by fireworks and a troupe of dancers, dressed in all-white with caps on, who looked like they just showed up from their day jobs as painters. It was Vegasy, and out of place on this evening. When Aretha seated herself at the baby grand to play a show-closing blues, at best a third of the crowd remained to receive communion.

New York's WRKS-FM, better known as KISS-FM, has enjoyed quite a bit of success with the "smooth r&b/classic soul" format in the last 10 months since dropping hip-hop and dance music to target an older demographic. At the start of the show, Ashford & Simpson were introduced as the station's new afternoon drive-time personalities. The KISS DJs were trotted onstage for quick hellos but not performances, including artists-turned-DJs Roberta Flack (who was just as charming as she is on her Sunday brunch shows) and Isaac Hayes. Even Jesse Jackson was given a minute to rally the crowd.

The show further solidified the station's claim as the city's source for classic soul, but the excessive length of the show and the inappropriately enormous setting prompt a question, courtesy of Sam & Dave: "Can't you find another way of doing it, baby?"

SMUG, 1995