idea for Tops/Sups duet - sing and perform Godspell

i think the timing of this is a little off. Godspell hit Broadway [[i think) in mid 71 and the song Day By Day charted in 1972. so not sure it would have worked with the timeline exactly but oh well lol

i was trying to think of something new and interesting that the pairing of the two groups might have done. something that wouldn't be as pandering as the dreck in the 3 albums. Thought about Jesus Christ Superstar but 1) i don't really personally know that score all that well and 2) Diana did a medley of it in her shows. So i thought, what if the groups did Godspell?

Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord - jean solo to begin and then the group joins in
Save The People - duet with jean and levi, plus group
Day By Day - duet w J and L plus group
Bless the Lord - group
All Good Gift - duet with jean and levi, plus group
By My Side - each of the Sups singing leads, with the tops backing
On the Willows - each of the tops singing lead with the sups backing
Light of the world - individual group members doing lines with group backing
Turn back old man - Mary lead with group backing
Alas for you - levi lead with group backing
We beseech thee - jean lead with group backing
Finale - levi lead with jean leading the reprise of prepare ye the way.

DAY BY DAY is the only song from GODSPELL that I am familiar with. During a summer trip car ride with my parents, it seemed like every radio station was playing that, as well as the Fifth Dimension's [[LAST NIGHT) I DIDN'T GET TO SLEEP AT ALL. But I digress...

I can hear definitely hear Jean singing DAY BY DAY.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by reese

DAY BY DAY is the only song from GODSPELL that I am familiar with. During a summer trip car ride with my parents, it seemed like every radio station was playing that, as well as the Fifth Dimension's [[LAST NIGHT) I DIDN'T GET TO SLEEP AT ALL. But I digress...

I can hear definitely hear Jean singing DAY BY DAY.

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apparently the girls tried to add it to their act at the Frontier. but someone said it didn't really click. have no idea of anything more about it. maybe the arrangement wasn't right? maybe it was too slow and dragged.

I could also easily hear Jean soaring on this, getting the audience to clap along and maybe sing along too.

I know others have mentioned JCS soundtrack. but i'm just not familiar with the bulk of it. And i know they did Funny Girl prior and it bombed. but i think that was also the material. FG wasn't really current and "hip" to the general young population in 68. JCS and Godspell were at least rock and current

I think the "sing and perform" concept was out of style by that point and would have come across a bit hokey, even if it was a current hip show.

I can't make an argument against the first Tops duet album. I think on paper it makes sense. "River Deep" was a big hit, so the pairing certainly proved that they worked. I can't say that there's a bad song on the first album. There's a lot of great singing and the chemistry was good. I would probably switch out a couple of covers and replace with original tunes. I would also have waited until 1971 to release the project, giving the new Supremes time to settle in without the added pressure of the combined groups.

There was no need for a second or third album, and even if the first one had been this massive seller, I think I would still have thought it unnecessary to follow it up with two more.

Now I've told y'all before that I really wish that JMC had done a Christmas album. As the discography shakes out, that would have made sense for the holiday season of 1971, as the J5's Christmas album was getting the label's focus for Christmas 70. But, in keeping with the topic of this thread, perhaps a joint Christmas album between the Supremes and Tops would have been a more unique idea than just pairing them up for contemporary rhythm and blues and pop.

Some of the album could be original tunes. A few Motown Christmas covers could have worked, like Mary and Lawrence doing Kim Weston's original "Wish You a Merry Christmas" and Jean and Levi tearing up "What Christmas Means To Me". And of course they could cover classics like Cindy and Obie doing "Baby It's Cold Outside", Jean and Levi doing "Blue Christmas", Mary and Lawrence doing "Christmas Spell", Jean and Levi doing "Merry Christmas Baby", a Supremes solo without the Tops on the Shirelles "Blue Holiday", a Tops solo without the Supremes on a Drifters style "White Christmas".

I would imagine it would've turned out somewhere along these lines if the girls had covered it. Cilla Black & The Breakaways try to bring about the ressurection on this version towards the end...
https://youtu.be/79fhSMqKiGU?si=6PmGtvRsFkizi1A1

frank wilson had made the comment that he thought the fusion of r&b and rock would only be a winner and doing so would help expand the supremes into new areas.

Jesus Christ Superstar was pretty close to the "Hair!" for 1971. the idea of telling the story of Christ or of his teachings/parables but through rock and roll was shocking and totally new. there was also backlash to it - with people thinking it was just heretical to combine "the devil's music" with christianity. Godspell was big but not quite as JCS.

so i see it more as a concept album than a "sing and perform." like how Gil and team took the R&H material and reinterpreted some of tunes with a Motown/contemporary sound. i think there was an opportunity to add more r&b and even gospel to the tunes.

it certainly could have come across as cheeseball though. Especially given how any MOR singers eventually covered the music and added songs from JCS or Godspell to their acts. But i think if the Tops and Sups had veered clear of cornball, it could have been amazing. just imagine A&S being the producers of it!