POP MUSIC REVIEW : VANDROSS JUST DOESN’T GO THAT EXTRA DISTANCE

Marvin Gaye is gone, Teddy Pendergrass is injured and relatively inactive, Al Green has withdrawn to sacred music, the young innovators are making a different kind of music--so Luther Vandross’ ability to maintain a five-year reign as king of the romantic soul singers might be due to a shortage of potent challengers as much as to his own formidable gifts.

If a degree of complacency has resulted, it showed up more in Vandross’ concert Wednesday at the Forum than it did on “Give Me the Reason,” his latest million-selling album.

The show (the first of two at the Inglewood arena, with a San Diego Sports Arena date scheduled for tonight) had its memorable moments, thanks mainly to the slimmed-down singer’s vocal prowess. But he didn’t go the extra distance that would put him in the league of the most substantial and memorable performers.

The most frustrating aspect was Vandross’ willingness to leave things on a superficial level. When he started teasing the audience, saying, “Do you want to know something about me?” you might have started thinking about the tragedy and turmoil that engulfed Vandross a couple of years ago when he was involved in a fatal auto accident, and you might have wondered if he was finally about to reveal something real and touching about himself, the way Gaye or Green might have done, leaving you shaking your head and always remembering.

So what did Vandross reveal? That he’s always loved the singing of Dionne Warwick.

Oh, well. If you were happy to settle for someone genially playing the role of the sometimes sensitive, sometimes naughty lover-boy, you would have had a fine time at the Forum, where Vandross, abetted for much of the show by three eye-popping “Dreamgirl”-style high-fashion backup singers and one male cohort, delivered a solid if conventional set of his radio-ready R&B.;

One of Vandross’ major edges over recently arrived rival Freddie Jackson is that he writes and produces most of his material. His uptempo songs have hooks that are nearly as catchy as Lionel Richie’s, and they recall the verve and bounce of Motown’s golden age without sounding dated.

His ballads, which dominated Wednesday’s show, are less distinguished as compositions, but they’re mainly taking-off points for his vocal flights--and that’s really what Luther live is all about. Supple and gravelly, rough and raggedy, Vandross’ voice was usually compelling. And his trademark huff ‘n’ puff rev-up from the deepest valley of his range to soaring high note provided simultaneous emotional release and comic relief.

But at times he was too reliant on electronic echo effects and mannered flourishes, offering vocal exhibitionism for its own sake and allowing garishness to overshadow true emotional tracking.

Overall, safe and solid. He might not need to worry about Freddie Jackson right now, but he’d better keep an eye out for Gregory Abbott.

Vandross dealt pretty well with the slowly revolving stage, which was set in the middle of the Forum (his band was planted on the floor next to the platform, which might have had something to do with the music’s slightly muffled sound).

He moved around enough so you never lost him for long, which was definitely not the case with opening act Shirley Murdock, an Aretha-like belter who had a hard time sustaining contact as she went by at one full turn per 15 minutes.