Episode #103 | 5.31.22
The Temptations: Fame, Drugs, and Paranoia
In this episode
The Temptations are one of the most successful and beloved R&B groups of all time. But fame and drugs corrupted them from the beginning, leading to addiction, paranoia, backstabbing, and one of the most tragic deaths in the history of Motown.
Sources
Ain’t Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations, by Mark Ribowsky
The Last Temptation (Rolling Stone)
A cloudy day: The hard death of David Ruffin (Buffalo News)
Police search for driver, $40,000 in singer’s death (Orlando Sentinel)
The Mystery Surrounding the Death of the Temptations’ Paul Williams (Grunge)
Norman Whitfield, Motown Songwriter and Producer, Dies at 68 (NY Times)
Soul Revolt: When Norman Whitfield Brought a Sonic Revolution to Motown (NewBlackMan (In Exile))
The Man Who Replaced David Ruffin (NewBlackMan)
The Agony and Ecstasy of Dennis Edwards, Temptations Lead Singer and Soul Legend (Daily Beast)
Norman Whitfield (The Guardian)
Behind the Music: Motown – a pop factory with quality control (The Guardian)
Panic in Detroit (The Guardian)
Tragic details about Tammi Terrell’s life (Grunge)
Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Music
Hosted by Jake Brennan.
Written by Zeth Lundy.
Copy editing by Pat Healy.
Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.
Score by Jake Brennan.
Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.
*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak