From the article:

Lamont Dozier explained in the book Chicken Soup For the Soul: The Story Behind The Song: "I originally cut this track with the Marvelettes in mind. In fact, I cut it in Gladys Horton's key, the lead singer, which was much lower than Diana Ross'. At that time, at Motown, the policy was that the songwriters had to pay for the tracks we cut if it didn't get recorded by one of their artists. It never entered my mind that the Marvelettes wouldn't like the song. I had the chorus and went to the office to talk with Gladys and played it for her. She said, 'Oh, honey, we don't do stuff like that. And it's the worst thing I ever heard.' She was adamant about it. I was shocked.

I knew I was in deep trouble if I didn't hurry and get someone to do the song because I wasn't about to pay for the track. I went through the Motown artist roster and went all the way to the bottom of the list and there were the Supremes, better known in those days as the 'no hit Supremes.' I told them it was tailor made for them, knowing that they had nothing going on at the time and needed a song. Much to my surprise, they said no. Gladys [[Horton of the Marvelettes) told them I was looking for someone to record it. I wasn't giving up. Brian [[Holland), Eddie [[Holland) and I finally persuaded them to do it, convincing them that it was their saving grace and they couldn't refuse it. We had already had Top 40 hits with Martha & the Vandellas but they hadn't had recordings of any significance yet.

So it sounds like Lamont was desperate for someone to record this song so he wouldn't have to pay for the session himself...checking the Motown artist roster he makes it all the way to the "bottom of the list and there were The Supremes". He had to check a list to see who else could record the song???!!!

And The Supremes had heard from Gladys Horton that Lamont was looking for someone to record the song that she said was the worst thing she had ever heard!!!

Well, no wonder these young teenage girls had bad attitudes in the studio.

It was a small company and they probably realized everyone knew they were recording a song that no one else wanted to record. And they knew the producer didn't want to get stuck paying for the session - so they realized they were being used. That certainly must have been another blow to the group's self-esteem. Add into that the stress of knowing that your parents wanted you to go to college instead of singing.