Originally Posted by
Methuselah2
LHO - 'Smooth' and 'elegant' absolutely nail it. And I've always felt this great routine really could have put this one on top. It seemed like one of those performances--like STOP! on Hollywood Palace, BACK IN MY ARMS AGAIN on Hullabaloo, and YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE on The Ed Sullivan Show--when the song itself becomes very closely identified with the TV performance. MOTHER DEAR, at first blush, seems like a fairly straight-forward routine but there's so much going on in it that it's fairly complex. Diana, Mary, & Flo are so in synch with their steps, and their timing seems spot-on. And I don't think they were ever this sexy on TV together, before or after. For once, they are all the main focus of a routine--Flo & Mary: smooth, hypnotic, and oh-so-cool, while Diana is like a beautiful cobra itchin' & twitchin' as she slithers through the dance and begins to coil up. Personally, I can't hear MOTHER DEAR without visualizing this performance. I may well be in a minority of one on that aspect but I think song & dance together were always crucial to The Supremes' popularity, just as their personalities and beauty were.
By the same token, unfortunately, I think something like the dance routine to LOVE IS LIKE AN ITCHING IN MY HEART as performed on The Ed Sullivan Show only served to thwart sales of that stellar recording. There was almost no routine for that one, and what was there didn't play, didn't work, didn't sell.
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