next audio clip - MJL at Black Expo Chicago 1972, Can't take my eyes off you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXWLiJXSbG0

here's the next installment of the show. so far their segment went:

TCB
60s medley
Stoned Love
Can't take my eyes off you/quiet nights

the audio is excellent in quality. great 3 part harmonies by the group. frankly they sound hot. and if the images on the videos are accurate they were wearing the black velvet Farewell gowns.

there is also a click floating around of Gladys and the Pip at Expo doing Grapevine. it's the same arrangement they'd done for years, where they sort of break it down and extend it. very fun and of course their vocals are perfect. and there are clips of the J5 doing their mega hits. all of these segments were just super exciting, they got the audience engaged, repeating choruses, dancing.

The Supremes were just maybe too prim and proper. maybe if they had worn those super hot and sexy white mini dresses from Central Park. and what if they turned Everybody's Got the Right into a sing along? had audience stand up and clap and sing. and of course if they had skipped the unnecessary MOR and showtunes.

Also sounds like Smokey was the MC of the event? and the group was still promoting the FJ album. what a perfect time to hype that up, sing a few of the songs - maybe have him join on stage? do a Smokey medley?

Performances by The Pips, J5, Tempts, and Marvin Gaye from the Expo were used in the film SAVE THE CHILDREN. Motown issued the soundtrack album.

here's something to really think about

the film and soundtrack were released in Sept 73. in mary's book she complains about how the Sups were left out of things and we fans have long since speculated. was it because the group didn't sound good? was it because people boo'ed them?

i would speculate that it was because J and L quit. had the group not been in total disarray in fall 73, odds are they would have been included. the film ran 2 hours and there was roughly 14 or so groups/performers. so each group got 8 - 10 mins, or probably 3 or so tunes. you could have probably done Stoned Love, 60s medley and IGMYLM with the Temps and those would have been fine additions to the movie.

for the soundtrack each gets 1 or so songs. so maybe just IGMYLM. or maybe that and SL.

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

here's something to really think about

the film and soundtrack were released in Sept 73. in mary's book she complains about how the Sups were left out of things and we fans have long since speculated. was it because the group didn't sound good? was it because people boo'ed them?

i would speculate that it was because J and L quit. had the group not been in total disarray in fall 73, odds are they would have been included. the film ran 2 hours and there was roughly 14 or so groups/performers. so each group got 8 - 10 mins, or probably 3 or so tunes. you could have probably done Stoned Love, 60s medley and IGMYLM with the Temps and those would have been fine additions to the movie.

for the soundtrack each gets 1 or so songs. so maybe just IGMYLM. or maybe that and SL.

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In the movie, I recall most acts only doing one song. Marvin might have done a couple but I haven't seen the film in a while.

On the album, again, each act only got one song. But Marvin had three. At least one act, the Staple Singers, didn't make it onto the soundtrack album at all.

I'd say this is their best performance of this song up to this point, but still nowhere near as good as the version on the Japan album. Mary was on fire for that one. This one, she has her moments, but she isn't all that impressive from start to finish. I never tire of her on the Japan album version.

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Originally Posted by reese

In the movie, I recall most acts only doing one song. Marvin might have done a couple but I haven't seen the film in a while.

On the album, again, each act only got one song. But Marvin had three. At least one act, the Staple Singers, didn't make it onto the soundtrack album at all.

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yeah i'm not 100% sure of the lineup or song count. the movie and album were meant to be just "highlights"

I've seen some of the Youtube clips. I'm pretty sure the J5 did a couple tunes. but maybe i'm just remembering a medley and counting that as more. I would have thought the movie included a bit more content since it's running time is basically 2 hours.

hadn't realized the Sept 73 date issue before [[or had forgotten it). so i do really think now that the reason they were cut is that there was the complete collapse of the group. motown was assuming they were done and gone. there'd been so many internal problems with M and J and with L, there was definitely strain between the group and the label. and since they didn't have a MASSIVE and recent hit to include, motown probably just felt "oh just cut they and use the time for another act"

even without a hit, had the group be still solidly touring and recording [[like they had when the content was recorded in Sept 72), i'm pretty sure they would have been included.

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

yeah i'm not 100% sure of the lineup or song count. the movie and album were meant to be just "highlights"

I've seen some of the Youtube clips. I'm pretty sure the J5 did a couple tunes. but maybe i'm just remembering a medley and counting that as more. I would have thought the movie included a bit more content since it's running time is basically 2 hours.

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I remember going to see SAVE THE CHILDREN as a small child. To me, it is just as good as SOUL TO SOUL and WATTSTAX. And like them, it should be on dvd. :D

I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is cringeworthy. It is almost unrecognizable. One listen and you know why the whole thing was axed.

Axed? It stayed in the act for 5 years or so. However when did Quiet Nights become incorporated into the number for the Supremes live show? Was Cindy still there, or did it become part of Can't Take My Eyes off of You when Lynda joined the act?

I think he meant the Girls segment was cut as a whole. Cind​y was there when quiet nights was added.

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Originally Posted by Spreadinglove21

Axed? It stayed in the act for 5 years or so. However when did Quiet Nights become incorporated into the number for the Supremes live show? Was Cindy still there, or did it become part of Can't Take My Eyes off of You when Lynda joined the act?

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I bet if Ms. Ross was singing it you would have a different opinion.

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Originally Posted by Circa 1824

I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is cringeworthy. It is almost unrecognizable. One listen and you know why the whole thing was axed.

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while i think this performance is perfectly fine enough, it was far too tired of a segment in the show by this point. plus it just perfectly illustrates one of the biggest complaints all of us on here have voiced - except when they were playing vegas, the Vegas-style act for the Sups was becoming more and more out of place.

the whole segment is just pure cheese - the favorite thing of men, the bosa nova groove of Quiet Nights. you can practically see maybe parading through the audience, asking people if their seats are alright, how their drinks are, sitting on a guy's lap.

in march or so 72, Roberta Flack released First Time I Ever Say Your Face. this stripped down approach to a song would have been a wonderful new sound for the group. and their act. no cheese, no gimmicks, no special effects. just pure singing.

The song had been in the act too long at this point. I don't find the arrangement to be too particularly Vegasy until the "Quiet Nights" part, but at this point I think the group could've used some funkier arrangements for the act. I suspect that Mary had gotten so comfortable with "Eyes" that she may have been afraid to tackle something else. This was about the time she was really coming into her own as a vocalist. It wasn't until the Scherrie years that Mary started doing more lead singing on stage, at which point she was growing more confident by the day. At least that's the way she was coming across. [[Mary did write that even during this time she was dealing with confidence issues.)

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

The song had been in the act too long at this point. I don't find the arrangement to be too particularly Vegasy until the "Quiet Nights" part, but at this point I think the group could've used some funkier arrangements for the act. I suspect that Mary had gotten so comfortable with "Eyes" that she may have been afraid to tackle something else. This was about the time she was really coming into her own as a vocalist. It wasn't until the Scherrie years that Mary started doing more lead singing on stage, at which point she was growing more confident by the day. At least that's the way she was coming across. [[Mary did write that even during this time she was dealing with confidence issues.)

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In an interview with REACH OUT, Cholly Atkins said that they had other things for Mary to do but she had fallen in love with CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU.

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Originally Posted by reese

In an interview with REACH OUT, Cholly Atkins said that they had other things for Mary to do but she had fallen in love with CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU.

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I wonder if for Mary "falling in love" was a cover for "afraid to try something new and unproven".

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Originally Posted by reese

In an interview with REACH OUT, Cholly Atkins said that they had other things for Mary to do but she had fallen in love with CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU.

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yeah i've heard that too over the years

with Jean's solo, they did rotate numbers. from what i've heard and gotten on bootlegs, seems like she did People, He ain't heavy, MacArthur Park, the look of love

at least they could have found another song or two and rotated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

I wonder if for Mary "falling in love" was a cover for "afraid to try something new and unproven".

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Could be. If you have confidence issues, you might want to stick with what you know works. And she did update it a bit with the addition of QUIET NIGHTS.

It might have been interesting to hear what she would have done with THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE. I have read some reviews where her vocals were compared with Roberta's. I hear some slight similarities but Mary might have been able to pull off FEEL LIKE MAKING LOVE or THE CLOSER I GET TO YOU.

In the 1990s like on her Sands show which she released on DVD, Mary was still going on about men being her favorite thing!