POP MUSIC REVIEW : The Whispers Rock Steady With <i> Real </i> Class Act

ANAHEIM — It isn’t often in the entertainment world that someone who is short and chunky gets to lord it over someone who is lean and hunky.

But the Milli Vanilli sham has, if only for this fleeting moment, reminded everybody that substance counts for more than looks. So Walter Scott, one of the short, stubby, blocky-looking twins who front the Whispers, can be forgiven for taking a moment during the veteran R&B; vocal group’s early show Friday night at the Celebrity Theatre to crow about the value of substance over glitz.

“If you are looking for some smoke to appear, or for somebody to disappear and reappear--(this is the) wrong place,” Scott told the audience, referring to Milli Vanilli’s all-scam, sleight-of-hand stage act. “Everything you hear tonight is real.”

While Milli Vanilli is fast becoming an old joke, the Whispers remain a steady standby after more than 20 years as a recording act. The Los Angeles group’s 75-minute show was the work of solid if not extraordinary performers, B-students of soul who may not create soaring moments but who get the job of entertaining done in classy, confident fashion.

Brothers Walter and Wallace (Scotty) Scott sang leads in closely matched voices that may not be striking or emotionally acute, but which have enough range and smoky body to make for enjoyable listening. With lanky backup singers Leaveil Degree and Nicholas Caldwell providing some suave dance steps, the performance was not exactly kinetic, but it was brisk enough, and even a little funky on tunes like “Rock Steady,” “Innocent” and “And the Beat Goes On.” (The Whispers didn’t explain the absence of a fifth member, Marcus Hutson; the group’s sound man said after the show that Hutson is off the tour because of illness.)

While nothing the Whispers sang holds up as an R&B; landmark, just about everything had an appealing melodic hook. Good singing was backed by a sharp and lively eight-man band, leaving no lapses or weaknesses to complain about. The concert was tight and fast-paced, but not in a way that made it seem prefabricated in the Las Vegas sense (even if all four singers were dressed in matching deep-blue suits, with a fancy, regal “W” crest emblazoned on each breast pocket).

The Scott brothers paused for a while to stretch out with some low-keyed street-corner a cappella singing, lending the show a folksy, off-the-cuff touch. Scotty Scott further loosened things by improvising at several junctures with strong, George Benson-style vocal scatting.

The show’s only really affecting moment was “A Song for Donny,” an elegy for Donny Hathaway that Scotty Scott rendered with tender conviction. Otherwise the Whispers provided light, easygoing entertainment with songs designed with a utilitarian purpose in mind: facilitating romance.

Unlike a lot of acts that specialize in songs of boudoir pleasures and persuasion, the Whispers didn’t resort to steamy talk or suggestive body language. Maybe that’s because the Scott brothers just don’t fit the sexy, leading-man image, and they know better than to try. Even so, it was nice to hear male singers engage the subject of ardor (and some Whispers songs do so with openly erotic language) without having to resort to crotch-grabbing or phantom-humping.

The Whispers’ show may not have made the earth move, but it did offer a comfortable embrace.

With platinum-selling rookies After 7 scheduled to open, the bill had promised an interesting contrast of R&B; veterans and successful upstarts. But after an irritating wait of more than 70 minutes past the advertised show time, it was announced that the trio would not sing because of illness.

Walter Scott, in a gracious gesture, later told the audience that he didn’t want any rumors to get started about After 7 being irresponsible no-shows. “The brother (Kevon Edmonds) was sick, it’s no lie,” said Scott. “They were here, ready to do it, they just couldn’t do it” because of Edmonds’ illness.

The Celebrity offered refunds for those who didn’t think it was worth staying for a bill without After 7, but a large majority of the crowd remained to hear the Whispers.