The Story Of The Supremes on BBC Radio 2

[144man]

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Supremes' debut LP Meet the Supremes, BBC Radio 2 is airing an hour long programme The Story of the Supremes on Wednesday 12 December at 10.00 p.m.

The programme will feature interviews with Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, Lamont Dozier, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and, from the archives, Florence Ballard.

[westgrandboulevard]

That's great news. It will be interesting to discover if the interviews are recent, or from the archives. I shall listen to it while also keeping an eye on 'Word Association' thread LOL:)

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Hopefully someone on this board will be able to post a link and the time to listen in from North America.

[ejluther]

Yes, I'd love to hear it, too...

[stephanie]

Now this sounds interesting

[mowsville]

just heard the advert for the programme...the ad itself is stunning...cant wait for the actual show....sounds a tad strange tho hearing snippets of "i want a guy,buttered popcorn, play a sad song" on a national radio station...BBC radio 2 is one of our most popular radio stations here in the u.k so should be a cracking show.

[marv2]

just heard the advert for the programme...the ad itself is stunning...cant wait for the actual show....sounds a tad strange tho hearing snippets of "i want a guy,buttered popcorn, play a sad song" on a national radio station...BBC radio 2 is one of our most popular radio stations here in the u.k so should be a cracking show.

You think that is strange. Just morning on Canadian Radio station CKWW, I heard "Sha La La Bandit"!

[RossHolloway]

Here's the link to BBC Radio 2.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/on-air

[ejluther]

So if it's on at 10pm in the UK that would be 5pm in NY, yes?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p6rwy

[stephanie]

I remember an episode of Murphy Brown where the character who plays Niles who was the newsroom manager was nervous that the BBC was coming. People have a lot of respect for the BBC what is it about them? Is it because they tell the truth they are like the gods of news. Please advise.

[jack020]

After the Jimmy Saville scandal Auntie's reputation is somewhat tarnished, I believe!

[ejluther]

Basically, the BBC is revered and well-respected because they do a great job of news coverage and don't slip into the easy "soft news" stories like so many other news organizations do. It's more about their consistent and reliable body of work over decades than anything else. But, as jack020 points out, they took quite a credibility hit recently:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/23/world/europe/uk-savile-bbc-scandal/index.html

[theboyfromxtown]

Have there been any 50 year tributes by American radio or TV for its home grown talent?

[R. Mark Desjardins]

John;
Sadly the North American media doesn't seem to revere our musical heritage for 50 year anniversaries. It's the flavor of the month all the way. Ironically, younger people don't seem that connected to radio and television today, so the media in my opinion, is totally off base in whom they are appealing to. I am hoping to catch the BBC tribute to The Supremes.

[theboyfromxtown]

Thank goodness for Midnight Johnny then!!

[144man]

Reminder It's tonight.

[theboyfromxtown]

Thank you for reminding me.

[chidrummer]

It's On NOW! Tune In

[marv2]

It's On NOW! Tune In

Got it! Thanks Chidrummer!!!

[theboyfromxtown]

I wasn't impressed with the show. Sorry.

[skooldem1]

I thought it was a great hour of radio. A lot of archived interviews from Mary, Diana, and Florence, also Berry, Smokey, Gladys, HDH and Janie. I have a feeling some wont like it because it was pro Diana.

[westgrandboulevard]

It was interesting, but I'm inclined to agree with theboyfromxtown.

While the title of the programme was 'The Story of The Supremes', the focus on the subject seemed shaky at times.

Half of the programme addressed how Motown itself developed, and of how The Supremes were a part of that. While that's fine, and always good to hear, it's been done before - many times, when programmes about Motown have been compiled.

It featured too many tracks by other artistes, which started to strike me as filling in time.

Has anyone heard any of those interviews before? Most, if not all of them were new to me, yet I just had a feeling that much had been recorded many years ago. The voice which seemed to sound most recent was that of Janie Bradford. And good to hear the clips of Florence and Gladys Horton.

So yes, while it was interesting, it also seemed rather perfunctory and off-focus. Something a little more in-depth on the actual group would have given some new insight. A nice try but, to a degree, an opportunity wasted.....

[BayouMotownMan]

Judging from the reaction from my friends across the pond it was a dismal special. Glad I missed it

[marv2]

I thought it was a great hour of radio. A lot of archived interviews from Mary, Diana, and Florence, also Berry, Smokey, Gladys, HDH and Janie. I have a feeling some wont like it because it was pro Diana.

It was too short [[ it only covered roughly the first 9-10 years of the group). It was not pro Diane so no issues there. It would have been extra special if they could have talked to Barbara Martin, Claudette Robinson and Jean Terrell.

[smark21]

I didn’t hear the show so I have no opinion. But for those who did, would you say the show would be of interest and educational to a very casual Motown/Supremes fan? Judging by the comments, I guess the show did not present much of anything new for die hard fans.

[skooldem1]

They did spend too much time on the early history of Motown and other artist songs. But overall it was a good listen. You can still catch the show.

7 DAYS LEFT TO LISTEN
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Wednesday 12 December 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p6rwy

[marv2]

I didn’t hear the show so I have no opinion. But for those who did, would you say the show would be of interest and educational to a very casual Motown/Supremes fan? Judging by the comments, I guess the show did not present much of anything new for die hard fans.

It would be nice and informative to the casual music fan. I picked up on one error when they stated that "Baby Love was written with Gladys Horton's voice in mind and that Diana hated it when she was force to drop her key when recording it. Berry took as much credit for everything he could [[as usual hehehehehehe). He had them re-record "Baby Love" with a faster tempo until it sounded like a hit! LOL~!!!

[robb_k]

5738
It would be a good listen for the average Motown casual fan, but I didn't learn anything from it.

[R. Mark Desjardins]

I caught the entire program and from a technical point of view it was brilliant. The producer made excellent use of the remastered early material from "Meet The Supremes" and to quote Mary Wilson from the booklet, "I don't remember these songs sounding so good." Many of the quotes from Smokey Robinson, Janie Bradford, Mary Wilson, etc seemed new to my ears.

However for anyone on this site, it was an elementary crash course in Supremes 101. It was great to hear the vintage Florence Ballard voice clip. There was way too much Tamla/Motown label history for a program with the title "The Story Of The Supremes," and the program could have easily been a full two hours.

That said, I don't think Entertainment Tonight made any mention of this being the 50th Anniversary of "Meet The Supremes" and if they had, it would have clocked in at under 60 seconds. So having the BBC 2 honor this musical milestone, and with such upbeat comments from all the major players involved, disappointments aside, I for one am glad I made the effort to listen to it.

[ejluther]

I for one am glad I made the effort to listen to it.
Me, too - I had a few quibbles with some of the info [[one anecdote was supposedly about "Baby Love" but I'm quite sure the song in question was really "Where Did Our Love Go" for instance) but, overall, a nice look at early Motown and early Supremes...

[ivyfield]

I thought it was a great hour of radio. A lot of archived interviews from Mary, Diana, and Florence, also Berry, Smokey, Gladys, HDH and Janie. I have a feeling some wont like it because it was pro Diana.
But isn't it refreshing to hear about the Supremes from someone other than Mary for a change? For that reason, I really enjoyed it.

[dba]

Listened this morning at the office and liked what I heard.

[144man]

Maybe it should have been called "The Story of the Supremes, Part 1".

Considering the programme commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Meet the Supremes LP, I thought it was legitimate to set the scene by giving a history of Motown and concentrating on the early years of the group up till then. Although I didn't glean much new information, there were some interviews I'd never heard before.

The show was aimed at the general public, not at members of this forum, yet I still found it enjoyable.

[supremester]

"It was not pro Diane - so no issues there" Let's see, she's the reason they got signed, sang lead on 99% of their recordings, led them thru unheard of success as a pop group in terms of conquering the entertainment industry - pro Diane would be a bad thing? Should she be punished?




It was too short [[ it only covered roughly the first 9-10 years of the group). It was not pro Diane so no issues there. It would have been extra special if they could have talked to Barbara Martin, Claudette Robinson and Jean Terrell.

[jobeterob]

Marv cudda whined then and sang the blues.

[smark21]

"It was not pro Diane - so no issues there" Let's see, she's the reason they got signed, sang lead on 99% of their recordings, led them thru unheard of success as a pop group in terms of conquering the entertainment industry - pro Diane would be a bad thing? Should she be punished?

In a word, YES.

[skooldem1]

2 DAYS LEFT TO LISTEN
Duration: 57 minutes
First broadcast: Wednesday 12 December 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p6rwy

[supremester]

Thank you for your reply. Would you have preferred The Primettes be Flo, Mary, Barbara and Betty? In hindsight, of course, but still........




In a word, YES.

[smark21]

My pan is very dead Gregg. Diana Ross is as important to the Supremes as Montgomery Clift was to Red River, A Place in the Sun, and I Confess. Figured out who I am?

[markdtiller]

Heard the show. It was disappointing. The Mary Wilson interviews were culled from the 1990 BBC show "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" by Charlotte Greig, which was adapted from her book of the same name. It was far superior. It dealt with Girl Groups of each decade and ran over 4 episodes if I remember. One was dedicated to the Motown Girl Groups and Charlotte interviewed Mary, Cindy, Martha Reeves, Gladys Horton and Lamont Dozier. The following episode on the 70s had brief interviews with Jean and Scherrie.