BY BILL ERVOLINO
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
Eighteen years ago, with one of the most thrilling views in the world behind her, Darlene Love, flanked by Merry Clayton and Marianne Faithfull, tore the roof off Manhattan’s Rainbow & Stars nightclub in “Twentieth Century Pop” — arguably the best revue that glittering venue had ever presented.
Among the highlights: Love’s soaring solo on the Sam Cooke anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
According to Love, who will take the stage at bergenPAC on, suitably enough, Valentine’s Day, her life has changed remarkably since then. And those changes were, in Cooke’s words, a long time coming.
Love, now 73, made her mark in the early 1960s, climbing to the top of the charts with her group, The Crystals, on the Phil Spector-produced classic “He’s a Rebel,” before becoming the patron saint of backup singers, bringing her powerhouse voice to the recordings and tours of a diverse group of superstars, from Cher, to U2, to, yes, Cheech & Chong, on their 1973 single “Basketball Jones.”
