This has to be the best PRANK in Soul history. Well, for me at least.
Every Friday while I'm doing my Happy Hour over at Milk Bar, My brother "The Selecter Kirk" of Sweater Funk run's his Luxury Happy Hour downtown. I saw a message earlier claiming the infamous "Lamont Dozier" Motown Soul Legend was chilling at Kirk's Happy Hour.
Lets just say by the end of the night they were hanging with a smooth criminal. According to my friends, this character has his "Lamont Dozier" knowledge down to the T. What makes this story Ironic is the fact it occurred on April Fools, plus WE ARE HUGE fans of his music which we play on the regular at Sweater Funk. He also mentioned to the boys he was playing back up for "Ashford & Simpson" who've been in the Bay doing shows for the last few days.
This Motown fraud ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.
Cops heard through the grapevine that a sham songster posing as a Motown legend is conning small-business owners in San Francisco.
Alan Young, 57, has allegedly convinced “star-struck” business owners to wine, dine, house and entertain him, police said.
Cops say the legendary fake is known to frequent hotel bars and restaurants “looking for his marks.” He sweet talks strangers, introducing himself as a Motown music man, they said.
“I think he presents himself very well,” police spokeswoman Lt. Lyn Tomioka said. “He’s believable.” Cops are aware of two of his con jobs, she added.
In a recent case where his act fell short, Young tried to con a city art gallery by claiming he was the famous Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier. Dozier wrote dozens of hits for top artists including Marvin Gaye, Smoky Robinson and acts like The Supremes and The Four Tops.
Young allegedly “feigned interest” in purchasing art valued at about $75,000 for his alleged home in Pasadena, police said. However, an art gallery employee was skeptical.
Young asked the employee to write up the invoice for the artwork and meet him at a bar across the street, cops said. The employee showed up, but he came with one of the art gallery’s owners, who had searched for Lamont Dozier online and discovered Young was a crook not a crooner.
Young failed to swindle anything from the art gallery, but he is “very clever” and is bound to dupe again, police said.
“It’s fraud,” Tomioka said.
It is unlawful to impersonate people and dupe them for the purpose of financial gain, she added.
Young, also wanted for outstanding arrest warrants, appears much older than 57, cops say. He stands about 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighs 185 pounds. He has receding and graying hair and brown eyes, police said.
Anyone coming in contact with this individual should call 9-1-1 immediately, police said.
