Motown, by way of Australia
Aussie group Human Nature, which has been playing Motown music for years, will perform at Fisher Theatre. (Denise Truscello)
For the four-man Australian singing group Human Nature, playing the Fisher Theatre Saturday isn't just another gig. It's Detroit — Motown — the source of their deepest inspiration.
The Aussies had 22 years of platinum success Down Under, going back to their origins as a boy band. Later, they recorded albums of their own material. But it wasn't until they released an album of Motown classics in 2009, "Reach Out," that they got any traction Stateside.
(Their latest album, just out, is "Human Nature: The Motown Album.")
When the group visited Detroit a few years back, touring the Motown Historical Museum as guests of Martha Reeves (they were in town to cut a duet with her), there was only one thing left on their bucket list.
"One of our dreams was to come to Detroit and play in the city where all this incredible music is from," says Andrew Tierney, Human Nature's high tenor voice. "Now it's come true. It's like going back to the holy grail, hallowed ground, and performing the music."
For the past few years, the group has been ensconced in a permanent residency at the Imperial Palace hotel, secured for them by none other than Smokey Robinson, who's almost a member of the group.
"They had been singing Motown music for a long, long time," Robinson says. "In their part of the world — Australia, New Zealand, Fiji — they're the Beatles, man; all their albums go platinum. They just hadn't gotten the exposure in America, which is where I come in."
The Motown legend met up with the group when they came to visit him in the recording studio in Los Angeles. The group asked Robinson to sing on their album, and later, to come help promote it in Australia.
Barely taking a breath, Robinson explains in a barrage of enthusiastic patter how it went down.
"When they came to the studio to see me, they sang some a cappella, and they were awesome! Then when I went to Australia to see them, they're just as awesome visually as they are vocally. I thought, they hadn't been exposed in the United States like they should have been, so we made a deal for them to come to the States, and I got them two weeks in Atlantic City. Then I got them transferred to Las Vegas because Atlantic City and Las Vegas are transient towns, where people come from all over the world and all over the country. I figured they'd have the biggest audiences being in those towns. I got them a year's deal in Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace hotel, they did so great until we got a two-year extension and the man named the club after them! That's just how awesome they are."
Tierney and the group members are delighted with their Motown mentor; although Robinson says he'll come pop in for a few of their shows, the group knows not to count on that.
"He's so passionate about people wanting to discover us," Tierney says. "He puts his name on the show, but we don't want people to be disappointed if he's not there. He pops in every now and again; but on this tour, he's not going to be part of it … maybe at the end."
As a four-man group, Human Nature hits the Four Tops, Temptations, Robinson and Marvin Gaye catalogs the hardest.
For Tierney, two of the most enduring songs are still "My Girl" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
"There's a few songs that transcend all genres. 'Ain't No Mountain,' whether you like pop or soul or rock, these are undeniable songs that everybody loves."
One of the best parts of performing, Tierney says, is that Human Nature is reminding people — if they ever knew — about the sheer depth and breadth of the Motown catalog.
"A lot of people have come up and said, 'I came to the show, but I didn't realize all these songs are Motown. I didn't realize I loved Motown!'" Tierney says.
That shouldn't be an issue when they perform at the Fisher.
"I'm sure Detroiters will know all the songs," Tierney adds.
"Other people, they might think these songs are just part of an incredible soul era."
In the great Hitsville tradition, Human Nature doesn't just flat-foot sing, but dances, too, with some moves a subtle homage to the Temptations and Four Tops. They studied old Tempts and Tops videos at the suggestion of a friend in Australia.
"When we did the Motown records, we did go back and look at some old Tops and Temptations videos, not to copy it but be influenced by the moves. We had some choreographer friends of ours put the moves together."
"Oh, I'm tired when I watch them," Robinson notes.
The group is often asked to do the Temptation Walk, which they haven't yet worked up.
"I didn't realize it was such a favorite," Tierney says with a laugh. "We'll have to try it."
For Robinson, the group's success is another indication that what he and a bunch of like-minded teens and 20-somethings did 50 years ago was more than just a passing fad.
"I travel all the time. I still do concerts, and I meet people in the airport from Tanzania, and they tell me how they love Motown music," Robinson says. "I play in countries where English is not even the basic language; but people sing the songs that I wrote, and it's one of the joys of my life. I see a group like Human Nature, four guys from Australia who grew up listening to and being influenced by Motown music, and that's just a thrill."
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