Up the Ladder on Smokey show

[luke]

Are these outfits hand me downs from Diana days? . I notice only Mary is wearing green and Jean and Cindy in blue tho sometimes I don't see colors as clearly. Great performance! It annoys me though when camera work off...like not going to Cindy and Mary's solo lines. Do they plan these things before hand?

[luke]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7X20KB0FAdw Oops here it is

[blackguy69]

Yes Mary is wearing Diana's outfit

[Thornton]

Along with the brown beaded outfits from G.I.T., these seemed to have been popular Diana-era outfits worn during the JMC and JML lineups. I don't think I've seen a picture of MSC or MSS wearing these. Perhaps they were retired, or destroyed in the '74 fire like the aforementioned brown beaded outfits. I also enjoy this performance, and glad to see it on the internet again.

[captainjames]

Yep, The No Matter What Sign You Are " gowns is what I like to call them but they wore them during the Farewell performance as well. Things were moving fast but, these outfits were obvious not originally designed for this trio.

[marv2]

I am hoping that some one will upload the version of the show broadcast last week on GetTV. They spectacular and sounded so very good here.

[BayouMotownMan]

This show was taped months before it aired, in fact it was taped about 6 months after Jean's debut on Ed Sullivan. At this point the only new stage outfits they had were the red jumpsuits worn on Sullivan. So all they had to choose from are the old Ross gowns.

Mary inherited Diana's gown simply because of size. Those gowns were loose fitting and usually were worn when a lady had gained weight or was pregnant. They did burn in 1974. I agree that Mary's green threw off the whole look of the group. I want to say, at the time that these were the most expensive gowns in their collection. Jean did get Diana's gold pantsuit and Mary and Cindy kept their red ones for the closing medley of this special. Jean's looked snug.

Shortly after this special Motown could see the group was going big guns so investments in new stage wear was made. The blue poncho outfits from Andy Williams/Soul Train came along with the green pantsuits Tom Jones) from Sullivan, the raggedy ann's [[also from Tom Jones for Stoned Love) and the lavender pants/removable Jacket from Flip Wilson 1970. The ponchos also burned and I think the lavender set went up as well.

[marv2]

Are these outfits hand me downs from Diana days? . I notice only Mary is wearing green and Jean and Cindy in blue tho sometimes I don't see colors as clearly. Great performance! It annoys me though when camera work off...like not going to Cindy and Mary's solo lines. Do they plan these things before hand?

Those are not really hand downs because they were originally designed for Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong as well as Diana Ross.

[marv2]

You guys ever seen this picture?

11839

[carole cucumber]

You guys ever seen this picture?

11839

Saw it here:

http://www.ioffer.com/i/the-smokey-robinson-special-1970-tv-with-the-supremes-623628641

[luke]

Great pic Marv. Thanks! Mary looks quite sultry!

[marv2]

Great pic Marv. Thanks! Mary looks quite sultry!

She also looks va va voom......................... LOL!!!!!!!

[bradsupremes]

Shortly after this special Motown could see the group was going big guns so investments in new stage wear was made. The blue poncho outfits from Andy Williams/Soul Train came along with the green pantsuits Tom Jones) from Sullivan, the raggedy ann's [[also from Tom Jones for Stoned Love) and the lavender pants/removable Jacket from Flip Wilson 1970. The ponchos also burned and I think the lavender set went up as well.

The purple pantsuits and jackets are in Mary Wilson's collection.

[nomis]

what floors me everytime I hear "Up the Ladder" [[and I play it often at my bookshop) is Jeans vocals on the bridge going into the final chorus..her pitch,vibrato and passion is sublime...

[detmotownguy]

She also looks va va voom......................... LOL!!!!!!!

Always did and always will! My dad had one of his friends who was a graphics artist make me a poster of Mary from the inside cover of the right on album. When I was 5 yo I told everyone I wanted to mary her!

[marv2]

what floors me everytime I hear "Up the Ladder" [[and I play it often at my bookshop) is Jeans vocals on the bridge going into the final chorus..her pitch,vibrato and passion is sublime...

She was amazing wasn't she?

[blackguy69]

If anyone had thought about, the green and blue pantsuits were just about a year old and the orange and red pants suits were fairly new. It makes sense to keep wearing them.

[marv2]

Always did and always will! My dad had one of his friends who was a graphics artist make me a poster of Mary from the inside cover of the right on album. When I was 5 yo I told everyone I wanted to mary her!

Oprah said that when she first saw the Supremes on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 , it showed her the possibilities for her own life.

I saw that show too and it gave me a whole different set of ideas when I saw Mary........LOL!

[nomis]

thats what happens when the big boss says - "then I wash my hands of the group...."

[marv2]

If anyone had thought about, the green and blue pantsuits were just about a year old and the orange and red pants suits were fairly new. It makes sense to keep wearing them.

Sure, especially since they were designed for the group of which 2/3rds, Mary and Cindy were still in the group!

[Thornton]

The purple pantsuits and jackets are in Mary Wilson's collection.

I forgot that they were in the gown collection, but I do remember MSC wearing them on Soul Train, which was more than a year after the fire. The suits were almost five years old, but still looked great, especially on Scherrie, IMO.

[BayouMotownMan]

I forgot that they were in the gown collection, but I do remember MSC wearing them on Soul Train, which was more than a year after the fire. The suits were almost five years old, but still looked great, especially on Scherrie, IMO.


I remember from one on Randy's newsletters, Mary said some gowns either burned or had smoke damage but were salvaged. The tropical lilacs burned but were duplicated. The butterfly gowns were duplicated. I don't recall if the purple suits were burned or not, they didn't take all of the gowns down. Not all gowns were damaged. The red suits from Scherrie's debut on Sonny and Cher were damaged and re-designed. The green cream-de-menthe 40s gowns also were damaged and some changes made, stars were sewn into the chiffon bottoms.

[Thornton]

I remember from one on Randy's newsletters, Mary said some gowns either burned or had smoke damage but were salvaged. The tropical lilacs burned but were duplicated. The butterfly gowns were duplicated. I don't recall if the purple suits were burned or not, they didn't take all of the gowns down. Not all gowns were damaged. The red suits from Scherrie's debut on Sonny and Cher were damaged and re-designed. The green cream-de-menthe 40s gowns also were damaged and some changes made, stars were sewn into the chiffon bottoms.

Thank you for the information. it's interesting you mentioned that the red and gold gowns from Scherrie's tv debut were damaged, because I've noticed in pictures that the sleeves were different from how they looked on Sonny & Cher. The fire damage would explain the change. I also recall the sequins being added to the bottom of the creme de menthe gowns because the ladies felt they looked washed-out on stage. Later the top of Scherrie's was altered, and Mary's was turned into a maternity gown. They must have really liked them to invest so much money in alterations.

[marv2]

Thank you for the information. it's interesting you mentioned that the red and gold gowns from Scherrie's tv debut were damaged, because I've noticed in pictures that the sleeves were different from how they looked on Sonny & Cher. The fire damage would explain the change. I also recall the sequins being added to the bottom of the creme de menthe gowns because the ladies felt they looked washed-out on stage. Later the top of Scherrie's was altered, and Mary's was turned into a maternity gown. They must have really liked them to invest so much money in alterations.

It is interesting because I saw Mary Wilson in concert on New Years Eve 1984-85 in Detroit and her singers Robin Alexander and Karen Jackson were wearing the red and gold outfits during part of the show. They looked good.