The new Supremes!

So what did you Supremes fans think of High Inergy--and how did you feel about Motown promoting them as the new Supremes? I LOVED this group and was only just getting to know the 70's era Supremes so I was neutral. I really loved both groups.

I think Gordy promoted them as the new Supremes to ruffle Mary Wilson's feathers as she was suing Motown for the demise of her group. There was very little in common with both groups. The Supremes were stage performers and High Inergy only performed live a couple times when their big hit record was at its peak. They never toured, mainly because two of the girls were dancers and the Mitchell sisters were the only ones with pipes. High Inergy was a project for Berry's sister Gwen Gordy, so he let her oversee their releases. Gordy himself had no interest in another girl group. They released tons of material that went nowhere and just when it looked like they might take off again after Motown 25, Barbara suddenly quit for a solo career, which she essentially had at most of her time with Motown.

Thanks Bayou! Yeah it seemed like the only things these groups had in common were they were on Motown and were three black females. I remember your posts from a few years ago and consider you a great source. I love High Inergy but felt like they missed a HUGE opportunity with So Right and their other song Devotion. I knew they were done when for whatever reason the girls reworked their old song Boomerang Love, which IMO was mediocre, into Wrong Man With the Right Touch. Blame It On Love also had big potential but the group split up right when it was released. I think He's a Pretender could have done the job too. I guess the stars never really aligned for high Inergy--just lots of things going wrong along the way.

And Flo and Mary were singers. Vernessa was the original lead singer.

I bought You Can't Turn Me Off and He's A Pretender, both good songs. I wouldn't say they were anywhere near the same league as the Supremes. Even with the last grouping there was such talent with 3 lead singers and such a legacy. I couldn't compare them, I know I read that Mary stated in her lawsuit that promoting this group as the new Supremes while the Supremes were still under contract to Motown proved that the company wanted to push the group out. There was quite a bit of legal grandstanding once Mary started to try to stand up for herself.

Loved High Inergy and never compared them to the Supremes. Always felt there was room at Motown for all the female groups.

Same here, Captain. I don't think I ever knew there was anything at all between HI and the Supremes until I saw that stuff that Mary said about why would Motown promote HI as the "New Supremes" unless they were gonna move the old group out. That's what prompted this thread--I was just wondering how you Supremes fans thought about this issue. Maybe Berry really was trying to annoy Mary.

If High Inergy didn't catch on that long, and Mary has kind of gotten over the lawsuit, well.................................be warned, as a new post is coming to the DRATS forum as the NEW-NEW Supremes- beating all the girl groups b4 it! Ha! :D