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Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
By : Rosa Rojas
Taking Love To A New Dimension
They’ve won eight Grammys, had their own television show, performed on Broadway and entertained the Pope, but Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.´s greatest accomplishment may actually be their solid, three-decade-long marriage.
Best known for hit songs such as “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” with The 5th Dimension and “You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)” as a duo, the couple has kept busy the last few years doing what they love most: performing together in their It Takes Two tour, a musical celebration of the great rock and soul duets of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
Their upcoming projects include a book about the secrets behind their successful, lasting relationship—a rarity in the entertainment industry—and a new album of love songs.
But before we talk business, we wanted to know about their favorite getaway spot—the place where they go every year to unwind and relax: the half-Dutch, half-French island of St. Martin.
The island’s allure
What is it about St. Martin that keeps you coming back?
Billy Davis, Jr.—One of the things for me is the weather; I love the weather. I love the beaches, the sand is nice and the waters, warm. It’s just beautiful.
Marilyn McCoo—It’s an easy, relaxed island.
BD—There’s a spot on a hill on the way to Philipsburg: if you look out, it’s like you’re looking at a picture—it’s so pretty.
MM—It’s breathtaking. It’s called Lookout Point…There’s some wonderful beaches there too. There’s Mullet Bay where the sun is wonderful and the swimming is great. Oyster Pond has lovely views. The island has beautiful coral reefs; it’s a snorkeler’s paradise.
Favorite restaurants?
MM—Billy and I love French food and there are a couple of restaurants there that we think are very special. One is called Mario’s Bistro; it’s very popular. And there’s a restaurant in Grand Case called Le Tastevin, which is a wonderful French restaurant. In both places, we usually get a table overlooking the water; it’s beautiful. You look out over the beautiful night view, and it’s just lovely. Grand Case is kind of up above so you have more of a view. We usually stay on the Dutch side and do most of our dining on the French side. There are a couple of Italian restaurants too; one is called Don Camillo. There’s one for breakfast that we like to go to called Le Saint Germaine in Marigot. There’s this one neat, little place on the main road. It’s a guy who barbecues shrimp, lobster, chicken, ribs and it’s on the main road going in to Philipsburg. And we can’t even tell you how to find it, except that you have to sort of follow your nose. It’s a little green house. He has an open barbecue pit, and you drive and you see the smoke coming off the food and you pull in. One more restaurant I wanted to mention was the Boathouse. It’s on the Dutch side and it’s very casual. You can go in your cut-off jeans and feel fine. They have wonderful fresh fish there.
Favorite shops?
MM—A friend of ours has one of the best jewelry stores seen anywhere called Little Europe. There’s a place called Oro del Sol. Those are two of the really spectacular jewelry stores on the island. There’s a wonderful little lingerie store on the French side that I just discovered this last time. It’s tucked away in a little nook and it’s called Femina et Charline. I love to get a lot of my table linens from the Dutch side. There’s an area called Maho, which is a nice shopping area during the day and then at night it’s got a lot of nightlife going on. There are discos there, they’ve got a comedy club and they’ve got outdoor cafes and live music so that you can dance….
BD—…and Häagen Dazs (laughs).
Do you have any there any other favorite destinations in the Caribbean?
MM—When we are on St. Martin, from time to time, we’ll go over to Anguilla. They really have some beautiful hotels. We stayed at a place called Cap Juluca, which kind of has a Morrocan feeling to it. The buildings are white and the rooms are very large with beautiful patios. Then there’s also another lovely hotel over there that we haven’t stayed at, but we went over to look at it. It’s called CuisinArt, like the CuisinArt equipment for the kitchen. It’s owned by the same people. They have a beautiful restaurant there called Blanchard’s.
Marriage and a new book
You’ve been married for a long time. Is there any advice you’d like to give people about making a marriage work?
MM—One thing that Billy and I always tell people is to make sure you like the person you’re going to marry. Quite often people fall in love, but they don’t think about whether or not they really like the person. They’re just so caught up in the heat, the passion of the relationship. You have to make sure that when that passion dies down—and it does because part of what fuels the passion is the fact that you don’t know each other that well and the more you get to know each other, the familiarity kind of cools down the passion a little bit.
BD—When you hear couples say he’s my best friend or she’s my best friend, that’s because they’ve built that friendship and truly become friends. That’s one of the greatest things that can happen in a relationship. Nothing can break that.
MM—And also, we always say that mutual respect is very important because if you don’t honor each other’s dreams and goals, you’re going to run into problems.
Tell me about the book you’re writing?
MM—We know that a lot of people want to know how to handle a two-career marriage, how do you keep from being jealous about each other, how can you be around your spouse 24 hours a day…
BD—…without getting on each other’s nerves...
MM—…and how you can live with another human being for 33 years.
Of all the roles you’ve played during your lives—singer, actor, host—which have you enjoyed the most?
MM—I’ve enjoyed many of the things that I’ve had an opportunity to do—singing with the group, singing with Billy, hosting “Solid Gold,” performing on Broadway—all those things have been wonderful. I find that I really enjoy most performing with my husband.
BD—I would say some of the stage work. The acting that I’ve done has been fulfilling for me and also producing records has always been very fulfilling for me. But the most fulfilling has been performing with my wife because we have the most fun together. She’s my best friend, and we’ve been doing it for so long we can kind of read each other up there. It’s really nice to be able to do that.
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