Jackie Wilson, Chuck Jackson, Wilson Pickett, Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield and the Uptown, as did the one-and-only James Brown. The male performers wore shiny, well-tailored, nice-fitting suits. How good did they look?

Philadelphia was among the first cities to host many of Motown’s emerg-ing stars, including The Marvelettes, Martha and the Vandellas, The Miracles, The Four Tops, the original Temptations (How many reconfigurations of that group have there been?), Junior Walker and The All Stars, and yes, Diana Ross and The Supremes.

 

Drifters, Coasters, Shirelles and other R&B favorites helped define this place and its time.

 

So did comedians, such as Jackie “Moms” Mabley. Not all her jokes were bawdy, but it’s hard to remember any that weren’t.

 

What we do remember is the excitement of going to a “rock and roll” show and the grand times we had at that grandiose palace at Broad and Dauphin Sts., even though we knew very little of its history (it was built in 1925).

 

To be at the Uptown for “rock and roll” shows, which were really “rhythm and blues” shows, was to be part of something worldly and wonderful, and because of the shared experiences, familiar and welcoming. Bagby’s was Uptown house band for several years. It’s difficult to recall his signature tune monies, show Georgie Woods, the Man with the Goods, rocking from side to side, cowbell in hand.

 

The Uptown Theater was almost like a rite of passage. You had to be there with your friends, not with Mom and/or Dad. Which is why it was a lot easier to forget inhibitions and just have a good time, get a little sassy, but in a nice way, bouncing around to the music. Never any trouble, just soulful fun. This was a cultural journey, only we didn’t understand it as such then. We were just happy and in love with the experience.

If you got to the theater early enough — 9 or 10 a.m., say — you could remain all day, for the admission price of a few dollars. If not, you most likely wound up in a line around the block.

 

Shows were never fewer than five acts, often more. Encores by the stars — the last act — were a given. We hated to see shows end. Which is why, if we could, we stayed for more than one. And, there were at least three shows a day.

 

Since those years, R&B shows have been held at different theaters, but there was really only one Uptown. Which is why there have been so many attempts bring back some of its glory, if not its entertainment.

 

 A fundraising effort is under way to rehabilitation effort for the site, which would be the “linchpin for Avenue of the Arts North.” Thanks to a $150,000 stabilization grant from the city’s the theater’s rehabilitation can begin, says Linda Richardson, president of the Uptown Entertainment and Develop-In the meantime, the music of that day and time can be brought back only as memories, but for many of us, there will never be a comparable experience.