HUMAN NATURE: THE GREAT IMITATORS

LOGICALLY SPEAKING, it doesn't make a lot of sense: Four white guys from Australia paying tribute to the legacy of the game-changing soul music powerhouse that was Motown Records in the 1960s and '70s.

But all you need to know about Human Nature is that it's been endorsed by no less a figure than Smokey Robinson, arguably the most important person in Motown history save for label founder Berry Gordy Jr. Judging by Monday's performance at Caesars Atlantic City, Robinson is right on the money.

From the moment the unit that will be at Caesars Atlantic City's through Sept. 3 hit the stage, there was no questioning its credentials. Brothers Andrew and Mike Tierney, Phil Burton and Toby Allen managed to capture the excitement and artistry of the Motown canon without ever seeming forced or out of place, despite their race and nationality. Singing hits made world-famous by black performers seems perfectly natural for the act whose name was taken from the title of a Michael Jackson song.

Human Nature, which is taking time off from its residency at Las Vegas' Imperial Palace casino, achieved this primarily though flawless vocal work and an appealing sense of fun. Sure, their reverence for the singers and their songs was always evident. But the singers never tried to clone what amounts to the un-clonable.

Instead, the group paid respectful homage to the source material while managing to maintain an original sound rooted in the doo-wop of the early rock era.

Of course, it would be pretty tough to screw up a program consisting of such baby boomer totems as Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On," The Supremes' "Stop In The Name of Love," Robinson & The Miracles' "Ooh Baby Baby" (done, like Gaye's "People Get Ready" and The Temptations' "Just My Imagination," as a gorgeous piece of a capella vocalizing) and The Temptations' "My Girl," which some of us consider the greatest of all Motown tunes.

Human Nature not only nailed every song, but did so with a heaping helping of slick stagecraft that included sharp costuming, engaging between-song banter and the kind of made-in-Detroit choreography that enthralled a generation of "Ed Sullivan Show" viewers.

That everything was served on an aural platter supplied by a crackerjack seven-piece band quarterbacked by keyboardist Ronnie Foster (who has worked with likes of guitar titan Chet Atkins, the late Philadelphia jazz god Grover Washington Jr. and Stevie Wonder), only made an already-sterling set that much more enjoyable. The musicians did for The Funk Brothers (the legendary Motown house band) what Human Nature did for the artists.

And the group gets extra credit for actually doing full songs instead of undertaking the increasingly common practice in casino productions of turning everything into one long medley.