I agree, and talking about it here has made me want to did it out again. Very solid album from start to finish and well worth picking up if anyone is considering purchasing it. Decent price too.
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Her voice does nothing for me. Nice try though, I guess. Thanks for sharing.
I remember when it was announced that Motown was issuing Mary's first solo lp in the summer of 1979, I think we fans knew that this was not going to go far. Same was true for Scherrie and Susaye. Motown did so little for the group so why bother with solo lps?
Everything about this was wrong for Mary from the start of this solo break. Mary's strong suit were ballads. So why give her a disco lp? Trying to re-launch Mary as a disco artist was truly uninspired. For starters, she was nearing her 40th year, secondly, everybody that signed to the label was being promoted as disco artists. The Motown sound was long dead and the company jumped on the disco bandwagon instead of trying to launch innovative music as it did in the sixties.
When I heard the lp I liked every song but Red Hot, which was simply too frenetic. And there was only one ballad, and a good one. I think if the company was serious about Mary they'd have teamed her with Ron Miller or Michael Masser. I can hear Mary singing the songs Charlene sang [[I've Never Been To Me). Hal Davis did well with the budget given him, but the music supplied here was already on its way out. Disco was all but dead.
Motown fronted Mary no money for a new stage act. So she goes out with the old Supremes show, only adding three songs from her new lp. Opening night in NY for Mary was sold out...but that was largely due to the rumor that Ross would be there. The critics were not kind to Mary. Attendance quickly dropped off and fans were commenting on the old, dated Supremes gowns being back in the show.
Mary did the best she could with what was given her; essentially nothing. But long before Motown dropped her, I think most of us knew it was coming.
Aside from a few charted singles, "Up The Ladder To The Roof" and "Stoned Love" being their two biggest, I feel the post-Diana Supremes were essentially a non-starter.
The group had massive turn around in the remaining 7 years they would go on to exist, what with Cindy leaving to be replaced by Lynda and then Jean leaving to be replaced by Sherri, only to have Lynda leave to be replaced by....Cindy and then Cindy exiting again only to be replaces by Susaye? Honestly, who could keep up at that point - - - then you add the fact that they continued to perform in gowns from the mid to late 60s that by the mid 70s were relics and out of fashion. It was just weird to see Mary, Susaye and Sherri on television in Bob Mackie gowns that were created for the 1969 television special, "G.I.T. On Broadway"...it got weird.
And then for Mary to continue to use those old gowns in her solo act. It must have been amusing for Diana to see Mary traipsing around in those old gowns. It must have been like watching one of those old movies where the faded star is living in the faded past wearing relics from the past.
I agree with you Bayou. The whole thing was just wrong. Motown did Mary dirty. They knew this project was going to be a failure from the jump. When you want an artist to succeed, you structure everything around their talents. Mary was fantastic as a ballad singer. Nothing about her voice says disco. It's a shame really. I still say with Motown's backing, the three original Supremes all should have been able to walk into successful solo careers.
No, Diana Ross wanted success for Mary but not so much for the Supremes. After all, she was competitive and how would it look that she left the group and they eclipsed her? And for two years they did, BG dealt with that in his new play
More than 30 years later "Red Hot" is still being remixed.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQSnPv3Gyko
Don't you think that the album sounds worse today than it really was at the time?
Maybe disco started to wane as the album came out but it had been the big thing.
Today all of that sounds very dated and unlistenable but it isn't just Mary's album.
It's a shame that it was her only real album that got a release.
An album like The Great Amercan Songbook stuff Rod Stewart did would be nice from her - even now.
I can't speak about the album as someone who lived disco's birth and death. What I will say is that I love soulful disco. There's a nice amount of disco in rotation when I have my music on shuffle. To me good music is good music no matter the genre or time period. And to my ears Mary Wilson's Motown album stinks beyond belief. I can listen to the stuff Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor and Diana Ross were doing at the same time as Mary and feel that their stuff was great. Mary's is horrible. Maybe not horrible, but bad. Definitely bad.
I really liked Mary's debut album. Here's one of my favorite cuts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NdJhVVAKCE
I actually like Mary's album better now. I did not like it much in 1979 but after hearing it more and seeing video clips I like it much better now.
I remember waiting a long time for it to come out. I remember going to my neighborhood store back then. I spotted an album I thought was Mary's new one and it turned out to be Brenda Russell's "So Good So Right" album. Then finally about a month and half later Mary's album hit the shelves. I was very happy to have it. I loved "Red Hot" right way and the other songs grew on me over that first month of owing the album.
"Pick Up the Pieces" is the only gem on that album for my taste. I think it should have been the centerpiece, with the rest of the album structured around it. Disco was not Mary's lane. She should have been doing stuff like Brenda Russell was doing. Mary could've done that very well.
Ironic you should mention that being that Brenda is one Mary's best friends. Here she is covering one of Brenda's songs in concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ2j-KEeOHw
I love this. Thanks. It is perfect for Mary. I wish she would sing it now sometimes. Brenda is one of her closest friends.
I wonder if Hal Davis knew Mary's strengths and weaknesses when doing that debut album. I feel as though he didn't know her voice well enough to find the right material for her. It seemed like it was thrown together without much thought. It would surprise me one bit if Motown did it on purpose.
Maybe that's why Mary went outside the company [[which Motown wasn't happy about) to get Gus Dudgeon to produce those four tracks on her. Motown clearly didn't care to put her with the right producer within the label. As wrong as it might have been to go against the company, Mary actually did the right thing for herself by finding a producer to cut tracks that showcased her strength and ability. I believe those four Gus Dudgeon tracks was just what Mary needed and she definitely could have had a hit with "Save Me" and "Love Talk." Had Motown not dropped her from the label, finished the second album, and gave one of those Gus Dudgeon tracks just a little push, Mary's solo career may have taken a different course.
I recently purchased a copy of this album with bonus tracks that was offered by the fellow in Europe who did the bootleg Diana Ross CDs. My feeling about the album was that it still doesn't hold up, but the Dudgeon tracks [[the bonus tracks on the CD) are much better. I suppose if not for disco being so important at the time, Mary's career might have had a different trajectory.
I dont think that argument holds up as they dropped her fast.. the woman who helped Motown sell millions of records and performed beautifully helping Motown succeed. She deserved another album. Remember she had just sued them [[ and boy did she have a leg to stand on) and they got her to drop all and any FUTURE claims.
No surprises here. Mary did exactly what I've always thought she would have done with the song. I'm glad Brenda gave herself a hit, but I have to wonder how different things could have been for Mary- career wise- if Brenda had given the song to her. I realize Mary didn't have a record company in 1988 [[did she?) but I still wonder "what if".
Btw, I asked this question before but no one addressed it: What's the story on Mary and Atlantic Records in the 80s? She did those demos [["Sleeping In Separate Rooms" was very good IMO and exactly the kind of music she should have been making) and then what happened? Was she ever signed to the label or were those demos a test run to see if she was worth their time and trouble?
I can't remember if she addressed this in her second book and I'm too lazy to look.:o
Hal may have felt he had a good read on Mary's voice. I assume though, that wouldn't have stopped him from following the current trend of disco in an effort to give Mary a solo career jump start. As someone said previously, Motown was heavy into producing disco at the time. Hal may have been following the company lead. But no doubt in my mind Motown head honchos knew disco wasn't Mary's thing and the disco album would do her career no favors.
Those Dudgeon tracks were a different story. The songs sound right for the time and right for Mary. Had Motown given her a Love Talk album and pushed it, Mary's solo career could've gone in a different direction. I can't remember Mary's version of the particulars, but did Motown even listen to the Dudgeon tracks, or did they find out about them and boot her [[along with the tracks) out the door without a second thought? If they didn't listen to the tracks one might be able to speculate that they wouldn't have let her take the tracks when they dropped her. They were good enough to get her signed to another label. Was she not shopping herself around?
Hal Davis also worked with Mary on The Supremes' 1975 album. There's that demo of "This Is Why I Believe In You" and it sounds like Davis is coaching all of them on vocals, making the song more soulful.
Anyway, I actually like Mary's album, even if it does sound a bit dated. I think the 12" single version of "Red Hot" is the best.
She was shopping around. Atlantic was going to sign her but something happened. I don't think they could reach an agreement.
Neil Bogart wanted to sign her to Boardwalk Records but unfortunately he became ill and passed away before they could do the deal.
Fantasy Records offered her a contract and she declined but referred Brenda Holloway to them and she eventually signed with them or a division of Fantasy Records.
Peter Stringfellows wanted to sign her to a new label he was creating. She recorded the song "My Love Life Is A Disaster" as the potential first single. That never panned out however for some reason.
Merv Griffin wanted to sign her to a label he was going to create and on and on and on. LOL!
Pairing Mary with Hal Davis is proof to me that Motown wasn't serious about Mary; Davis was ice cold in 1979
, had not had a major hit in over three years.
The second problem is that Motown was running out of in-house producers. Most had left and the company now had acts that write and produce themselves.
If Motown wanted Mary they could have approached Rick James or Stevie Wonder to launch her, maybe even James Carmichael. Of the three, Stevie likely would have taken the challenge