BEST OF TASTY CLIPS: Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. share what makes it click

By Bill Vaughan

Entertainment Writer

From the time they were kids, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. wanted to sing. Since then, they have been living the dream with over 50 years in entertainment, multiple Grammy awards, gold and platinum records and many mind-blowing achievements.

As lead vocalists in the 5th Dimension, they recorded classics such as “Up, Up and Away,” “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “One Less Bell to Answer” and “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All.”

Upon leaving the group after a decade as a duo act, they scored again with the No. 1 hit “You Don’t Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show).” That success led to them becoming the first African-American married couple to host a network television series (with Jay Leno and Tim Reid as regulars)!

As solo artists, McCoo hosted the popular 1980’s television series “Solid Gold,” was a regular for a year on “Days of Our Lives,” and appeared on Broadway in the revival of “Showboat.”

Davis went on to record a gospel album with the Rev. James Cleveland, and took stage roles in musicals “Blues in the Night” and “Dreamgirls.”

Now the two this week are celebrating Billy’s 88th birthday and making plans for July’s observation of their 57th wedding anniversary.

As for the secret of their marriage, McCoo simply told Tasty Clips that they get along very well.

“We both have very strong personalities and strong opinions, but we learned through the years the best thing about making relationships work is timing,” she said. “Knowing when to say what you want to say and knowing when this is not a good time.”

Added Davis: “You learn you may win the battle, but you may lose the war.”

When talking about more of their career milestones, the subject of “Soul Train” founder Don Cornelius was brought up.

“It’s funny because I met Don before he started ‘Soul Train’ in Chicago,” Davis said. “He was talking about it then and I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know if that’s going to work.’ Next thing I know it was up and running. It was a beautiful thing to see and then for us to be a part of it was really the icing on the cake.”

As the couple mulls a return to the stage, McCoo believes some guests may be surprised by their concert.

“We have more R&B in our shows than people realize,” she said. “Many of our hits were pop, but by the time our show is over its like people are always saying, ‘We didn’t know you did all that kind of music.’ One of the beautiful things about the music of our era is that you hear the influences of it in all of the music today.”

One thing you won’t hear is her rendition of “Saving All My Love for You” despite being the first to record the song.

“Mainly because it was Whitney [Houston]’s hit and done beautifully by her,” McCoo said. “We have so much music and so many songs to do we have to pick and choose. We try to sing the hits we think everyone wants to hear.”

For 12 years, Bill Vaughan has kept Wave readers up to date with the latest news in entertainment. Now, we are collecting some of those past columns into what we call the Best of Tasty Clips. To contact Vaughan, visit his social media pages on Facebook and Instagram or @tasty_clips, on X @tastyclips, and on LinkedIn to William Vaughan.