Smokey Robinson rode a bus through the jaws of segregation, performing in the Deep South back when a black performer had to eat dinner behind the restaurant. He flew into the teeth of the Cold War, performing in Russia back when American students cowered under their desks in fear of a nuclear attack.
But there is one place Smokey Robinson has never been: on ice.
That will change Wednesday when he performs in the Smokey Robinson Tribute on Ice at the St. Pete Times Forum.
It merits mentioning that society is used to seeing certain things on ice — hockey games, Disney characters and various parts of the Winter Olympics, of course. Put a legendary soul singer there, however, and someone's got some explaining to do.
Turns out NBC approached Robinson and asked him if he was interested in filming a TV special in which he would perform with several world-class skaters, including Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano.
"Of course I said yes," Robinson said in a recent phone interview. "That's a wonderful honor, as far as I'm concerned. I was going to skate, but I decided I don't want to show the professional skaters up," he added with a laugh.
The special will air Nov. 22.
Robinson will stick to what he does best, pulling from 50 years of hits, including selections from his new album, Time Flies When You're Having Fun. While he sings, the skaters will give a choreographed performance of their own.
Robinson's new album features 10 new original songs and two covers, one of which is a hidden-track version of the Jackson 5 classic I Want You Back.
"One of the very first songs I recorded on the very first session was I Want You Back, because I had always wanted to do an adult version of that song and do it kind of jazzy-like," Robinson said. "And so, I recorded it, and I had gotten a bunch of them pressed up and then Mike died. I didn't want to list it on the album then, because I didn't want people to think that I was exploiting his death or anything like that. He was my little brother, so I would never do anything like that."
As for the older material Robinson will perform, the songs speak for themselves: Shop Around, Ooo Baby Baby, Tracks of My Tears, Tears of a Clown, I Second That Emotion, You've Really Got a Hold on Me and more.
"Some of those songs I've sung thousands upon thousands of times, and I guarantee you, every night they're new to me," Robinson said.
Taken together, the songs define a golden era in American music and helped build a hit-producing factory the likes of which the world may never see again: Motown.
With Motown and the Miracles, the formula was simple: Put Robinson's smooth-as-butterbean-ice-cream voice on a record, and the thing would sell itself. But there is more to his legend. Apart from his own work, Robinson wrote many hits sung by other Motown artists, including Mary Wells' My Guy and the Temptations' My Girl.
Of course, when My Girl is the song you give away, chances are you already have some jumbo-jet-sized laurels to rest on. But resting isn't something Robinson does well. At 69 years old, he practically overflows with energy. He speaks in rapid bursts, gushing with enthusiasm. He has reportedly written more than 4,000 songs and says he still writes every day.
"I'm actually having more fun now than I've ever had in my life doing what I do," Robinson said.
After growing up in a home where music was always played, there was never any question of what he would do.
"I've been trying to write songs forever, man," he said. "The first song I wrote that anybody heard other than my mom and me, I was 6 years old, and I was in an elementary school play, and my auditorium teacher let me write some words to a melody she was playing to a play I was in."
Sixty-three years later, not much has changed. The audience just got bigger.
>> Smokey Robinson Tribute On Ice
The R&B legend performs while figure skating champions including Brian Boitano, Todd Eldredge and Yuka Sato skate to the music. The show is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the St. Pete Times Forum, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. $30 to $50 general, $150 VIP. sptimesforum.com. (813) 301-2500.
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