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I have a kind of obsession with that late 80’s period of time when nostalgia for 60’s music kind of seeped into popular culture. I remember very well the mayonnaise and Hi-C commercials that reworked songs by Gene Chandler and The Four Tops, and the “Mac Tonight�� McDonald’s mascot. At the height of that mania Otis Williams released this memoir about his time as a member and founder of The Temptations.

I enjoyed it, though it got a little repetitive toward the end - that guy was replaced by this guy, who was replaced by that guy, who was replaced by this other guy, almost like a genealogy in the Bible. But there were a lot of great insights into the Motown era.

Even in a book written by Williams, David Ruffin is the fascinating star of the story. As usual with this kind of book, I spent a lot of time watching moments mentioned in the book on YouTube and the coolest thing I found was this video - - of Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks on stage at the Apollo in 1985 with Hall and Oates (during a time when Ruffin and Kendricks were on the outs with the Temps), and Ruffin - emaciated from cocaine abuse - absolutely slaying “My Girl.�� He was such a talent.

But Otis is the Temptation you’d want to be lifelong friends with, and it was great to go along with him for a while as he told his story.

Thanks Courtney for the recommendation.

I will update this review after I watch the 1998 movie based on this book.

UPDATE: The 1998 miniseries is amazing. I highly recommend it, and it may be one of my favorite movies ever.