Chart Comparison for Diana Ross and the Supremes in the 1970's

I just thought it would be interesting to see how the Supremes and Diana Ross compared chartwise from 1970-1977. While Diana had many #1 and top hits, she also had some inconsistent chart action. I am just wondering what the comparisons would be. I love them all and bought them all, so this has nothing to do with my personal preferences. I also wonder about Motown and how it was experiencing growing pains going into film and how they had some correlation to their record business.

1970
DIANA ROSS
Singles:
Reach Out & Touch-#20
Ain't No Mountain High Enough-#1
Remember Me-#16
Albums:
Diana Ross-#19
Everything is Everything-#42

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
Up The Ladder To The Roof-#10
Everybody's Got The Right To Love-#21
Stoned Love-#7
River Deep Mountain High-#14 [[with the 4 Tops)
Albums:
Right On-#25
The Magnificent 7-#113[[with the 4 Tops)
New Ways But Love Stays-#68

1971
DIANA ROSS
Singles:
Surrender-#38
I'm Still Waiting-#63
Albums:
Surrender-#56

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
Nathan Jones-#16
You Gotta Have Love In Your Heart-#55[[with the 4 Tops)
Touch-#71
Floy Joy-#16
Albums:
The Return Of The Magnificent 7-#154[[with the 4 Tops)
Touch-#85
Dynamite-#160[[with the 4 Tops)

1972

DIANA ROSS
Singles:
Good Morning Heartache-#34

Albums:
Lady Sings The Blues [[Movie Soundtrack)-#1

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
Automatically Sunshine-#37
Your Wonderful Sweet, Sweet Love-#59
I Guess I'll Miss The Man-#85
Albums:
Floy Joy-#54
The Supremes Arranged & Produced By Jimmy Webb-#129

1973:
DIANA ROSS
Singles:
Touch Me In The Morning-#1
You're A Special Part Of Me-#12 [[With Marvin Gaye)
Last Time I Saw Him-#14
Albums:
Touch Me In The Morning-#5
Diana & Marvin-#26 [[with Marvin Gaye)
Last Time I Saw Him-#52

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
Bad Weather-#87
Albums:
None released

1974
DIANA ROSS
Singles
My Mistake Was To Love You-#19[[with Marvin Gaye)
Sleepin'-#70
Don't Knock My Love-#46[[with Marvin Gaye)
Albums
None released

THE SUPREMES
Singles
None Released
Albums
None Released

1975
DIANA ROSS
Singles:
Do You Know Where You're Going To-#1
Albums:
Mahogany-#19

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
He's My Man-Did not chart Pop. #69 R&B
Where Do I Go From Here-Did not chart Pop. #93 R&B
Albums:
The Supremes-#152

1976
DIANA ROSS
Singles:
I Thought It Took A Little Time-#47
Love Hangover-#1
One Love In My Lifetime-#25
Albums:
Diana Ross-#5

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking-#40
You're My Driving Wheel-#85
Albums:
High Energy-#42
Mary, Scherrie & Susaye-Failed to chart

1977
DIANA ROSS
Singles:
Gettin' Ready For Love-#27

Albums:
Baby It's Me-#18

THE SUPREMES
Singles:
Let Yourself Go-Failed To Chart Pop,#83 R&B
Albums:
None Released-Group disbanded June 12, 1977

Thank you. This was very interesting and informative.

Motown was doing a tug of war with the musical direction for Diana Ross. Diana did some of that tugging because she wanted to do more earthy soulful stuff whereas Motown kept trying to push her into a pop direction.

The Supremes at first was able to weather the exit of Diana Ross until 1972. After "Lady Sings the Blues", the Supremes began to falter.

That's an informative breakdown Jim . Thank you !

Thanks for the info. I was always surprised "New Ways" did not do better on the charts.

What about the Diana! TV soundtrack recording?

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Originally Posted by grangertim

what about the diana! tv soundtrack recording?

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#3 r&b, #46 pop

they really did sort of mirror one another during 70 and 71. in addition to the peak chart positions, look at each single's time on the pop charts

Ladder - 11 weeks
Everybody - 10 weeks
Stoned - 14 weeks
river - 10 weeks
nathan - 10 weeks
gotta have love - 5 weeks
touch - 4 weeks

reach out and touch- 9 weeks
mountain - 13 weeks
remember me - 10 weeks
reach out - 7 weeks
surrender - 6 weeks
still waiting - 5 weeks

the albums look a bit different

Right on - peaked at 25 and was on charts 19 weeks
New ways - peaked at 68 and was on charts for 17 weeks
Mag - peaked at 113 and on for 16 weeks
Touch - peaked at 85 and on for 10 weeks
Return of Mag - 154 - 6 weeks

DR - 19 and on the charts for 28 weeks
Everything is everything - peaked at 42 and on for 16 weeks
Surrender - 56 and on for 14 weeks
Diana! - 46 and on for 15 weeks

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Originally Posted by captainjames

Thanks for the info. I was always surprised "New Ways" did not do better on the charts.

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Guessing because New Ways only featured Stone Love, that wasn't enough to boost interest in the album.

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Originally Posted by midnightman

Guessing because New Ways only featured Stone Love, that wasn't enough to boost interest in the album.

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that and the huge misstep of releasing the duet album. Although Mag 7 released in Sept and New Ways in Oct, they entered the Hot 200 album chart within 1 week of each other. Mag on 10/17 and NW on 10/24.

New ways stayed on the charts for relatively, and surprisingly, a long time. 17 weeks. it also moved up and down. It entered at 165 which is a little lower than other Sup albums but not totally out of the ordinary. It then moved up to 80 after a couple weeks and crept to 73. then it dropped back into the 80s. then it perked back up and went to 68, then dropped to 69, then back to 68 and then down to 78. so it sort of yo-yo'd around. most every other album did a clear climb to whatever peak position and then slide down.

Guessing here but to have that type of chart movement, there must have been SOMETHING going on from a promotional standpoint. As if everyone agreed that was way too low of a charting and were trying to move it up higher. But eventually it just slide down and that was that.

Mag 7 entered lower - 198. then 193. then all the way to 127. but then it sort of got stuck. it crept up to 113 after a few weeks, then slid back into the 120s and then 130s. But then it too popped up and jumped to 117 during the same weeks that New Ways rebounded and got up to 68.

Clearly the release of the albums on top of one another hampered things

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

that and the huge misstep of releasing the duet album. Although Mag 7 released in Sept and New Ways in Oct, they entered the Hot 200 album chart within 1 week of each other. Mag on 10/17 and NW on 10/24.

New ways stayed on the charts for relatively, and surprisingly, a long time. 17 weeks. it also moved up and down. It entered at 165 which is a little lower than other Sup albums but not totally out of the ordinary. It then moved up to 80 after a couple weeks and crept to 73. then it dropped back into the 80s. then it perked back up and went to 68, then dropped to 69, then back to 68 and then down to 78. so it sort of yo-yo'd around. most every other album did a clear climb to whatever peak position and then slide down.

Guessing here but to have that type of chart movement, there must have been SOMETHING going on from a promotional standpoint. As if everyone agreed that was way too low of a charting and were trying to move it up higher. But eventually it just slide down and that was that.

Mag 7 entered lower - 198. then 193. then all the way to 127. but then it sort of got stuck. it crept up to 113 after a few weeks, then slid back into the 120s and then 130s. But then it too popped up and jumped to 117 during the same weeks that New Ways rebounded and got up to 68.

Clearly the release of the albums on top of one another hampered things

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Yeah, I don't get the Four Tops thing. I read the dates when those albums came out. Truly bad timing.

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

that and the huge misstep of releasing the duet album. Although Mag 7 released in Sept and New Ways in Oct, they entered the Hot 200 album chart within 1 week of each other. Mag on 10/17 and NW on 10/24.

New ways stayed on the charts for relatively, and surprisingly, a long time. 17 weeks. it also moved up and down. It entered at 165 which is a little lower than other Sup albums but not totally out of the ordinary. It then moved up to 80 after a couple weeks and crept to 73. then it dropped back into the 80s. then it perked back up and went to 68, then dropped to 69, then back to 68 and then down to 78. so it sort of yo-yo'd around. most every other album did a clear climb to whatever peak position and then slide down.

Guessing here but to have that type of chart movement, there must have been SOMETHING going on from a promotional standpoint. As if everyone agreed that was way too low of a charting and were trying to move it up higher. But eventually it just slide down and that was that.

Mag 7 entered lower - 198. then 193. then all the way to 127. but then it sort of got stuck. it crept up to 113 after a few weeks, then slid back into the 120s and then 130s. But then it too popped up and jumped to 117 during the same weeks that New Ways rebounded and got up to 68.

Clearly the release of the albums on top of one another hampered things

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As if the albums original cover concept being abandoned and not being called Stoned Love wasn't bad enough, motown goes and does that. Was the reasoning that if one failed, there was a chance they might end up with at least one hit album.
The marketing and promotion of this follow up album was crucial if they were build on the success of Right On. Sadly Motown screwed up big time on all counts.

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Originally Posted by Ollie9

As if the albums original cover concept being abandoned and not being called Stoned Love wasn't bad enough, motown goes and does that. Was the reasoning that if one failed, there was a chance they might end up with at least one hit album.
The marketing and promotion of this follow up album was crucial if they were build on the success of Right On. Sadly Motown screwed up big time on all counts.

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Motown's leadership was doing crack before anyone else in the world knew the shit existed. That's the only explanation for this type of idiotic release schedule, along with Diana's 1970-71 release debacle. You would think the label would have learned from the misstep of releasing More Hits a week after releasing "Nothing But Heartaches". Interestingly, both Copa and Christmas were released on the very same day and were hit albums. I'm guessing this was an anomaly, perhaps explained by [[a) the country currently being in the midst of Supremes mania, and [[b) more adults purchased the live album while the younger crowd may have gone for the Christmas album. However, I think the business treats live albums and holiday albums obviously different than a studio album, especially ones containing hit singles. Both Copa and Christmas are sort of "specialty" collections. New Ways and Mag7 were intended to be hit albums. Of course they would compete releasing them so closely together. Makes no sense.

While both albums did majorly better on the R&B chart [[#18 for Mag7, #12 for New Ways), one can argue that these placements also reflect the nonsense of the schedule. Right On went as high as #4 with two singles, a top 5 and an almost top 10. All of the DRATS albums, with the exceptions of Funny Girl and Farewell, were top 10 R&B albums, including the Tempts duets. New Ways only had one single on it, but it was a #1 song, and it could only go as high as #12? The Tops' Changing Times fared worse than New Ways because it was released the same month as Mag7. Fans had a decision to make: buy the Tops album, which contained only one top 10 single [[#9) or buy the Tops with the Supremes album, which contained an across the board hit, plus you get two greats for the price of one. Would seem a no brainer, but Motown forced the public's hand.

Crack.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ollie9

As if the albums original cover concept being abandoned and not being called Stoned Love wasn't bad enough, motown goes and does that. Was the reasoning that if one failed, there was a chance they might end up with at least one hit album.
The marketing and promotion of this follow up album was crucial if they were build on the success of Right On. Sadly Motown screwed up big time on all counts.

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my guess here is that it was simply the focus on money and not what artistic statements are being made.

From an immediate financial perspective, it might have been a VERY smart move

Let's say the estimate that a Supremes album released by itself will sell 600,000 units

But if they release 2 albums and with an approaching christmas holiday, each album might sell 400,000 units. Now you have total sales of 800,000 albums. that's a nice lift in profits

What this doesn't take into account is how these actions could impact the BRAND of a group or their reputation. in 1970 Rock and Roll was all of 15 years old. Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock [[which is sort of considered the "start" of the r&r era) topped the charts in July of '55. And so who knew really how things were going to evolve. SOOOOOOOOO many groups had faded into obscurity. you had doo wop, the girl gropu phenomenon, the sweet and cute pop tunes of the early 60s, then the british invasion, then hard rock, r&b, etc.

Motown's purpose was to turn a profit. Strike while the iron is hot and gather up as much cash as you can

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

While both albums did majorly better on the R&B chart [[#18 for Mag7, #12 for New Ways), one can argue that these placements also reflect the nonsense of the schedule. Right On went as high as #4 with two singles, a top 5 and an almost top 10. All of the DRATS albums, with the exceptions of Funny Girl and Farewell, were top 10 R&B albums, including the Tempts duets. New Ways only had one single on it, but it was a #1 song, and it could only go as high as #12? The Tops' Changing Times fared worse than New Ways because it was released the same month as Mag7. Fans had a decision to make: buy the Tops album, which contained only one top 10 single [[#9) or buy the Tops with the Supremes album, which contained an across the board hit, plus you get two greats for the price of one. Would seem a no brainer, but Motown forced the public's hand.

Crack.

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while the albums did better on the R&B charts than the pops, 18 and 12 are not particularly strong R&B rankings for these groups. aside from the Funny Girl debacle, the Supremes had consistently charted MUCH higher than 12 or 18. And with a hit as huge as Stoned Love was, the album should have done MUCH better on all chart formats.

it had such a weird chart history and let's face it, a dud of a cover graphic can't be solely responsible for that. Sure poor marketing, branding and positioning could have an impact but not 100% of the cause.

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

while the albums did better on the R&B charts than the pops, 18 and 12 are not particularly strong R&B rankings for these groups. aside from the Funny Girl debacle, the Supremes had consistently charted MUCH higher than 12 or 18. And with a hit as huge as Stoned Love was, the album should have done MUCH better on all chart formats.

it had such a weird chart history and let's face it, a dud of a cover graphic can't be solely responsible for that. Sure poor marketing, branding and positioning could have an impact but not 100% of the cause.

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Maybe the Diana/Supremes fanbase was split and had too much to choose from. The Supremes released four albums in 1970 [[one with Diana) .Diana had her two solo albums released as well. Perhaps there were fans of both that couldn't buy them all and had to choose.

Much has been discussed about NEW WAYS... not being titled STONED LOVE or not featuring the girls with afros as its main cover. But I don't think those could have been the only reason for its less than stellar sales. I mean, their debut RIGHT ON wasn't titled after its hit, had the girls posed with their wigs and Diana-era gowns. Yet it made it all the way to #25.

I tend to think this flood of material in the market place had to have been a money grab. The Supremes were the top selling act at Motown during the 60's, in both singles and album sales. Not many other Motown acts during this period had huge album sales or even had albums reach the top 10! Going back to '65 Motown had a habit of flooding the market with Supreme singles and albums. Motown did it again in 68, 69 and 70. I think the singles were aimed at the teen crowd and albums were meant for everyone else, ie, those with more disposable income. How could these albums and singles NOT cannibalize each other? Cutting into sales, airplay, promotion...

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

my guess here is that it was simply the focus on money and not what artistic statements are being made.

From an immediate financial perspective, it might have been a VERY smart move

Let's say the estimate that a Supremes album released by itself will sell 600,000 units

But if they release 2 albums and with an approaching christmas holiday, each album might sell 400,000 units. Now you have total sales of 800,000 albums. that's a nice lift in profits

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Seems like to me the more likely scenario is that each album ends up selling half of 600k because the average fan will be forced into choosing which album to buy, so the outcome ends up that while the previous standalone Supremes lp sold 600,000 copies, this time around two lps totaled 600,000 because they each ended up only selling half of the estimated units. So it ends up being twice the work but still only a fraction of the profits.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

while the albums did better on the R&B charts than the pops, 18 and 12 are not particularly strong R&B rankings for these groups. aside from the Funny Girl debacle, the Supremes had consistently charted MUCH higher than 12 or 18. And with a hit as huge as Stoned Love was, the album should have done MUCH better on all chart formats.

it had such a weird chart history and let's face it, a dud of a cover graphic can't be solely responsible for that. Sure poor marketing, branding and positioning could have an impact but not 100% of the cause.

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You silly wabbit, re-read my post again. That was my point. "...One can argue that these placements also reflect the nonsense of the schedule." The Supremes had a great track record for placing in the top 10 R&B albums, and with a #1 R&B hit on New Ways, for it to place only #12, and Mag7, with "River" which was #7 I think, only placing #18, they appeared to interfere with the success of the other. Without competing, I'm betting both New Ways and Mag7 are easily top 10 R&B albums, maybe even top 5.

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Originally Posted by reese

Maybe the Diana/Supremes fanbase was split and had too much to choose from. The Supremes released four albums in 1970 [[one with Diana) .Diana had her two solo albums released as well. Perhaps there were fans of both that couldn't buy them all and had to choose.

Much has been discussed about NEW WAYS... not being titled STONED LOVE or not featuring the girls with afros as its main cover. But I don't think those could have been the only reason for its less than stellar sales. I mean, their debut RIGHT ON wasn't titled after its hit, had the girls posed with their wigs and Diana-era gowns. Yet it made it all the way to #25.

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Good points on both, especially your first point. I didn't consider Farewell.

To your second point, I will say that the argument can certainly be made that the fan favored cover for New Ways might have been more eye catching and thus caused even casual fans to pick it up and think it might be worth their time. Music was obviously moving in a different direction in general. Diana was gone from the Supremes, they were supposed to be a new thing. I think that afro photo session couldn't be anymore "new" if it tried. One can only guess to how big of an impact this would have had on sales, but I think it would have made some difference, along with the title change, but more so the cover art.

I just read the Allmusic review of New Ways But Love Stays and it gave it 3 stars out of 5. I agree the cover seemed dated but when you look and listen to the content, it was filled with cover songs that had a feminine psychedelic twist, which is actually represented in the cover art. I was one of those pre-teen young fans and I had to decide which of the Supremes/Supremes & 4 Tops/Diana Ross album to get. Luckily, my parents bought me quite a number of albums for Christmas that year.
Here is what Allmusic said in their review:In 1970, a determined Supremes recorded three albums -- unprecedented for a band who'd lost a superstar lead singer. That all three albums launched hits in the Top 25 is amazing as well. New Ways But Love Stays is the second volume of this film as directed by producer Frank Wilson, containing the post-Diana RossSupremes biggest hit, "Stoned Love." Co-written by Frank Wilson, as was the other Top Ten smash, "Up the Ladder to the Roof" from their debut with Jean Terrell on lead vocals, Right On, the two albums were recorded almost simultaneously. "Everybody's Got the Right to Love" was recorded on April 22, 1970 and released almost immediately; "Stoned Love" began recording on March 2, prior to the second hit from the Right On album. They are extraordinary girl group recordings. The cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is a reinterpretation, the way a good cover should be, with sound effects and a sultry vocal -- a mixture of rock and gospel. "Come Together," "Love the One You're With," and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" are the other three covers on New Ways But Love Stays. This is the genius of the Supremes on their own. With Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye making inroads and developing their skills as producers and songwriters, Frank Wilson broke the girls out of the Holland-Dozier-Holland formula, bringing different flavors and styles to this class act.

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

Seems like to me the more likely scenario is that each album ends up selling half of 600k because the average fan will be forced into choosing which album to buy, so the outcome ends up that while the previous standalone Supremes lp sold 600,000 copies, this time around two lps totaled 600,000 because they each ended up only selling half of the estimated units. So it ends up being twice the work but still only a fraction of the profits.

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maybe outside of the holiday period you would see a more even split of sales but i'd guess that as people are shopping for gifts and presents, or looking to splurge.

I'm basing this on the chart run for Mag 7 and NW. while neither climbed up to high chart positions, they both maintained long runs on the charts. which means they were still selling. Both were released in the fall

Return of Mag 7 and Touch also did not reach high chart positions but they weren't DRASTICALLY different from their predecessors. but neither stayed on the charts long and both were summer releases.

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Originally Posted by jim aka jtigre99

I just read the Allmusic review of New Ways But Love Stays and it gave it 3 stars out of 5. I agree the cover seemed dated but when you look and listen to the content, it was filled with cover songs that had a feminine psychedelic twist, which is actually represented in the cover art. I was one of those pre-teen young fans and I had to decide which of the Supremes/Supremes & 4 Tops/Diana Ross album to get. Luckily, my parents bought me quite a number of albums for Christmas that year.
Here is what Allmusic said in their review:I[FONT="]n 1970, a determined [/FONT]Supremes[FONT="] recorded three albums -- unprecedented for a band who'd lost a superstar lead singer. That all three albums launched hits in the Top 25 is amazing as well. [/FONT]New Ways But Love Stays[FONT="] is the second volume of this film as directed by producer [/FONT]Frank Wilson[FONT="], containing the post-[/FONT]Diana Ross[FONT="] [/FONT]Supremes[FONT="] biggest hit, "Stoned Love." Co-written by [/FONT]Frank Wilson[FONT="], as was the other Top Ten smash, "Up the Ladder to the Roof" from their debut with [/FONT]Jean Terrell[FONT="] on lead vocals, [/FONT]Right On[FONT="], the two albums were recorded almost simultaneously. "Everybody's Got the Right to Love" was recorded on April 22, 1970 and released almost immediately; "Stoned Love" began recording on March 2, prior to the second hit from the [/FONT]Right On[FONT="] album. They are extraordinary girl group recordings. The cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is a reinterpretation, the way a good cover should be, with sound effects and a sultry vocal -- a mixture of rock and gospel. "Come Together," "Love the One You're With," and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" are the other three covers on [/FONT]New Ways But Love Stays[FONT="]. This is the genius of [/FONT]the Supremes[FONT="] on their own. With [/FONT]Stevie Wonder[FONT="] and [/FONT]Marvin Gaye[FONT="] making inroads and developing their skills as producers and songwriters, [/FONT]Frank Wilson[FONT="] broke the girls out of the [/FONT]Holland-Dozier-Holland formula, bringing different flavors and styles to this class act.

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it's a very fair review

side 1 of the NW is stunning. Side 2 to decent. Frank talks about his interest in merging rock sounds [[heavier guitar for instance) with R&B. that influence is very clear throughout much of the album. and there's also a heavy symphonic influence on these tracks. my god - the orchestration on Stoned Love! damn!!

I describe this album as sort of a rock opera sound. i think a few adjustments to song lineup would have made side 2 as strong as side 1. I'd cut Come Together and Na Na. then do:

Time and Love
is there a place
Baby baby [[from Right On, maybe replace it on that lp with Na Na or another canned track)
Shine on me
Thank him for today

now you have a stronger song list, the stunning vocals, the rock/opera approach, the hip lyrics focusing on peace, love and humanity

then redo the cover with the Afro and Stone Love title. Also i've always been perplexed as to why they'd spend the money on an expensive gate-fold cover design but then do NOTHING with the inner cover space. My god what a waste. They could have had tons of great pics of the girls. maybe each girl give a quote and put her name on it [[jean was still new and needed to continue to be introduced to the public). maybe their astrological signs lol.. something

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RanRan79

You silly wabbit, re-read my post again. That was my point. "...One can argue that these placements also reflect the nonsense of the schedule." The Supremes had a great track record for placing in the top 10 R&B albums, and with a #1 R&B hit on New Ways, for it to place only #12, and Mag7, with "River" which was #7 I think, only placing #18, they appeared to interfere with the success of the other. Without competing, I'm betting both New Ways and Mag7 are easily top 10 R&B albums, maybe even top 5.

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haha - gotcha ;)

I definitely think if they hadn't competed, both would have gone top ten

also motown didn't really know about marketing an album. i'm sure they weren't focusing their promotional efforts with djs and radio programmers around the album. rather they focused on the single

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

...then redo the cover with the Afro and Stone Love title. Also i've always been perplexed as to why they'd spend the money on an expensive gate-fold cover design but then do NOTHING with the inner cover space. My god what a waste. They could have had tons of great pics of the girls. maybe each girl give a quote and put her name on it [[jean was still new and needed to continue to be introduced to the public). maybe their astrological signs lol.. something

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Ha ha! At least they did something a bit different with the graphics on the inside cover for NWBLS. But having a gatefold for THE MAGNIFICENT 7 was just a complete waste.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sup_fan

it's a very fair review

side 1 of the NW is stunning. Side 2 to decent. Frank talks about his interest in merging rock sounds [[heavier guitar for instance) with R&B. that influence is very clear throughout much of the album. and there's also a heavy symphonic influence on these tracks. my god - the orchestration on Stoned Love! damn!!

I describe this album as sort of a rock opera sound. i think a few adjustments to song lineup would have made side 2 as strong as side 1. I'd cut Come Together and Na Na. then do:

Time and Love
is there a place
Baby baby [[from Right On, maybe replace it on that lp with Na Na or another canned track)
Shine on me
Thank him for today

now you have a stronger song list, the stunning vocals, the rock/opera approach, the hip lyrics focusing on peace, love and humanity

then redo the cover with the Afro and Stone Love title. Also i've always been perplexed as to why they'd spend the money on an expensive gate-fold cover design but then do NOTHING with the inner cover space. My god what a waste. They could have had tons of great pics of the girls. maybe each girl give a quote and put her name on it [[jean was still new and needed to continue to be introduced to the public). maybe their astrological signs lol.. something

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I like Come Together on NWBLS [[it blends well with the psychedelic/rock opera feel of the album). I would definitely switch Na Na Hey Hey for The Loving Country [[a symphonic feel on this).

I like Time and Love and I think it fits on either New Ways or Touch [[IMO).

The gatefold for NWBLS is fine but I would have put the smaller pictures inside and just have the stunning Afro picture framed in front. The gatefold for Mag7 was not necessary [[IMO).

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Originally Posted by reese

Ha ha! At least they did something a bit different with the graphics on the inside cover for NWBLS. But having a gatefold for THE MAGNIFICENT 7 was just a complete waste.

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agreed!!! good lord. that's not a cheap printing feature. the whole point was to get people excited about buying the album when they realized, through the cellophane, that there was something "going on" in the cover. the chance to see additional pictures of your artist, learn cute or fun little factoids, etc.

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Originally Posted by lucky2012

I like Come Together on NWBLS [[it blends well with the psychedelic/rock opera feel of the album). I would definitely switch Na Na Hey Hey for The Loving Country [[a symphonic feel on this).

I like Time and Love and I think it fits on either New Ways or Touch [[IMO).

The gatefold for NWBLS is fine but I would have put the smaller pictures inside and just have the stunning Afro picture framed in front. The gatefold for Mag7 was not necessary [[IMO).

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i don't hate Come Together either. I don't think T&L fits at all on Touch. the sound and everything is totally off there. Also i was trying to limit the well-known covers.

I think NW should have had the afro cover, the a section inside the gatefold for each girl - maybe some mini bio of a couple sentences and then some fun candid shots, onstage shots and studio shots

then the back cover of the album should have been:

Attachment 17977

New Ways just doesn't wow me as it does so many fans. When I play it, I go: "Sweet Music">"Time To Break Down">"I Wish I Were Your Mirror">"Is There A Place">"Na Na". I used to include "Stoned Love", but I have cooled on the song over the last few years. Not sure why but it doesn't have the same effect on me that it once did, so I don't listen to it often. I'm also starting to feel the same way on "Time". I might play "Shine On Me" every now and then. And because my first copy of the album was on cassette which for some reason inserted "Love the One You're With" into the lineup after "Come Together", I also still listen to "Love" quite a bit.

But I dig Right On so much more than New Ways. And Touch and Floy Joy are my go to 70s Supremes albums. I play those two, and I guess I would say Right On, as often as I play some of the 60s Supremes albums.