47 Years Ago.......Floy Joy Enters the Hot 100!

[marv2]

January 6, 1972, "Floy Joy" enters the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Charts peaking at #16 and #5 on the Billboard R&B Charts!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmgkdMcgHGY

[TomatoTom123]

Floy floy floy
Floy joy!

Ah I do love this song! :)

[marv2]

Floy floy floy
Floy joy!

Ah I do love this song! :)

Same here1 It has a nice snap, crackle and pop to it! LOL! Remembering watching the girls at my school dancing to it at a sock hop is a memory I'll never forget, hehehehehehe!

[sup_fan]

i like it and the whole FJ project. i thought it was an exciting and hip/cool sound for the girls. I loved the Frank work and thought it was perfect. but we'd had that for 2 years so something new was needed. Given his work with the girls in later 71 [[Tears Left Over and some of the later duets with 4Tops), i'm not sure he was really going to move the girls into something new and fresh.

[mike_sku]

I remember buying the single at Kelly's Korner in Philly, the same place where I bought my first 45, "Baby Love," many years before. I hadn't heard the new song yet, didn't know about the pending personnel change, and the lady who sold me the single wasn't sure which side was the "plug" side. I loved "Floy Joy," and I still do. It almost reminded me of "Baby Love," and I felt the girls had another potential Number One on their hands, even with a shared lead! I also have to say that I was just as excited about "Precious Little Things," the flip...the sort of bossa nova beat was fresh, exciting, and new. I think I played it as much as "Floy Joy." And those lyrics! "You're the stopper in life's tub when I'm headin' down the drain..." Jean certainly knew how to interpret Smokey, and she did it with panache!

[sup_fan]

^great memories! FJ the song had to grow on me. I never disliked but wasn't my fav. i did love Auto Sun! so sexy, smokey cool lolol

as for the shared leads, mary sounds so silky smooth and wonderful. Especially on Auto. when she sings "where you go, i'll go follow" and she sorta cracks her voice ever so slightly on I'll. :) epitome of sexy. I do think they should have had Cindy do something. that would have really been new and exciting - they'd already brought M and C up much more in the live shows. and all 3 girls shared leads on Bridge over Troubled Water. so it would have really added a new dimension to the group

[daviddh]

I always liked it, would have liked more leads for MW and CB on the lp.
I think there was a gap after the release of FJ and Automatically didn't get the push. I don't think they ever performed here on tv

[sup_fan]

agreed. AS just seemed to sort of fall between the cracks. they were transitioning Lynda in, not doing as many tv shows. Also they were scheduled to tour extensively overseas during late spring and therefore not in the states to promote the release

[vgalindo]

My favorite 70s Supremes album. However I don't care for the song Floy Joy. The singing is good but the lyrics are not good. IMO.

[midnightman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twv90OrOBmI

[thommg]

I was taking piano lessons when Floy Joy was released. I heard it on the radio a few times but knew it was a hit because the music store carried the sheet music for it! Of course I bought a copy! Wonder where that is now.... [[And, I still can't play the piano.)

[sup_fan]

i have bought copies of most of the girls' sheet music that was released in the states. the FJ sheet music cover was nice since it was totally different from the previous. most of the prior sheet music covers used the same pic of MJC in the silver pantsuits from No Matter Sign performance on Ed.

14946

[arr&bee]

What a great good time song this gem is,one of smokey's best and the supremes are so sexy on this one, great song from a great era in music.

[Boogiedown]

I remember FLOY JOY from the time it was a radio play. It caught my attention, but it didn't overly grab me. Another song on the radio , not one I'd change the station from but not one I was waiting to hear. It wasn't a record where you felt the artist had outdone themselves this time. I don't think The Supremes were robbed with this one, its peak at # 16 was about right imo , if not a little generous, a medium hit.

[daviddh]

always thought a few more PR appearances it would have done better, maybe a disco hit a year or so later

[marv2]

What a great good time song this gem is,one of smokey's best and the supremes are so sexy on this one, great song from a great era in music.

It was the greatest, coolest song about a "player" I had ever heard! LOL!

[marv2]

always thought a few more PR appearances it would have done better, maybe a disco hit a year or so later

Agreed! I remember it had like this forward marching feel to it. The kids I knew at the time loved it.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I recall hearing FJ on either WABC AM or the local soul music AM stations. I thought it was ... OK. Nothing more, nothing less. I also remember wondering, until I saw the label on a 45 at the wig shop on South Street in Morristown, 'What's floij oil, and why are the Supremes singing about it'? My guess is that the record buying public writ large also thought the same.

[daviddh]

I loved it , thought it was great but they seem to be slipping in the pr dept. they performed this song on merv Griffin with cindy, but that was the only time I saw them perform it unit a year later on soul train

[marv2]

I loved it , thought it was great but they seem to be slipping in the pr dept. they performed this song on merv Griffin with cindy, but that was the only time I saw them perform it unit a year later on soul train

They should have performed it on American Bandstand. I don't think they ever appeared on AB while Jean Terrell was with the group.

[Bluebrock]

I remember FLOY JOY from the time it was a radio play. It caught my attention, but it didn't overly grab me. Another song on the radio , not one I'd change the station from but not one I was waiting to hear. It wasn't a record where you felt the artist had outdone themselves this time. I don't think The Supremes were robbed with this one, its peak at # 16 was about right imo , if not a little generous, a medium hit.
I always thought it to be a poor attempt to recreate the mid 60's hits by HDH. It was light, fluffy. and very forgettable. It certainly had commercial appeal much in the way Diana's "last time i saw him" did. but i didn't care for that either. I thought Mary's vocals were weak and insipid and i knew the group were on the downward slide when you compare this with the likes of Ladder. Stoned Love and Nathan Jones.

[Ollie9]

This fun song still sounds fresh today. I agree that it would have been nice had Cindy been given a line or two. All of Floy Joys women singing about their man lol.
Another Smokey produced album should have been the way forward. The Jimmy Webb album was not kind of music the public wanted or expected from the group.

[danman869]

I recall hearing FJ on either WABC AM or the local soul music AM stations. I thought it was ... OK. Nothing more, nothing less. I also remember wondering, until I saw the label on a 45 at the wig shop on South Street in Morristown, 'What's floij oil, and why are the Supremes singing about it'? My guess is that the record buying public writ large also thought the same.

Hey, PnH! You grew up in Morristown, NJ? I grew up in Randolph! Small world!

[PeaceNHarmony]

Hey, PnH! You grew up in Morristown, NJ? I grew up in Randolph! Small world!
I did indeed! That is quite a coincidence!