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Hi...was just listening to "My Heart Stood Still" from Rodgers and Hart and thought this could have been a hit if it had been released as a single...if The Four Seasons could do it with a standard why not The Supremes...although it is a standard it was recorded with that Motown vibe..any thoughts?
Isn't that song pretty short? Or is it the tract This Can't Be Love under two minutes.
i agree. in terms of "typical" 45 single, My Heart is probably the best bet. it's a modern update of the song.
I think Lover might have worked too. I also really like Mountain Greenery
but then again, the supremes had had success with a more mature sound with I Hear A Symphony. So perhaps they could have had a hit with something more traditional. Maybe My Romance. or Where Or When
The only song that I would have re-recorded is The Lady is a Tramp. It seems flat in comparison to when it was in their live act. Especially on the Farwell album. My favorite tract is probably Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, the alt version. At times it almost sounds like a duet between Diana and Florence and its quite beautiful.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
I agree about “MHSS”. If I had to pick a single release from the album, i would have gone with “Falling In Love With Love”. How great would it have been to have a Diana/Mary duetQuote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
as a hit single.
During this same time, the Mamas and Papas recorded My Heart Stood Still. Their version is truly awesome. I think they also sang it on Ed Sullivan.
I remember being SHOCKED at hearing someone playing this entire album on a radio show a few years back. I was turning the dial looking for ANYTHING different than the KaZillionth playing of "Good Vibrations" or any of the zillion other great-but-overplayed tunes on oldies radio when I came across "Falling In Love With Love". Now that really was one time I truly pulled my car off the road. Yep, someone was playing "Falling In Love With Love", Then, one after another, someone was playing the whole Rodgers & Hart album on the radio.
What really blew me away was that this was a kid from a local college station doing a remote from a Six Flags amusement park! He would comment on the songs in between too. This guy had great and wide-ranging tastes because after he finished that album, he started playing hard rock right after. Supremes. Hard Rock! Works for me.
I really loved their performances of some of these songs on the Rodgers and Hart special. If I recall, you can really hear Flo prominently on certain of the songs.
Of the original album, I think any song chosen for a single would have to be re-recorded. None of them have the pop out of the radio feel that the previous singles had. Re-recorded versions of "Mountain Greenery", "Lover", "My Heart Stood Still", "This Can't Be Love", "Falling In Love With Love", and maybe even "Where Or When" may have worked. Of course it's doubtful that any of these would've gone to #1, and we know the rule for the Supremes up until "In and Out of Love" was only potential #1s were to be released on them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie9
Good points, Ran!Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
In 1967, I thought In And Out Of Love was a Motown update/tribute to the Rogers & Hart songs. But I didn't think it or The Happening were going to be hits when I first heard them on the radio. They sounded too Pop and not contemporary or cutting-edge like Reflections or Love Is Here And Now You're Gone. [[Granted I was in the eighth grade at the time!).
I'm not a big fan of show tunes or great American Songbook [[sorry, only Ella!) but for a single I would have went with WHERE OR WHEN....and either FALLING IN LOVE WITH LOVE or MANHATTAN as a B side
MPerhaps a double A side would have worked well. I would go with Falling In Love” and “I Could Write A Book”.Quote:
Originally Posted by gman
I'm rather surprised "The Happening" hit #1. To my ears, all of the previous #1s sound like #1s to me. And even the three that didn't make it to #1- "Heartaches", "World", "Itchin"- would not have surprised me if they too had gone to the top. To me "The Happening" is a stupid song, lyrically, and the track too pop for my taste of Motown. I could probably imagine it going top 20, but #1...yeah, back in the day I would've lost money betting against it.Quote:
Originally Posted by lucky2012
While I find "In and Out" a far more enjoyable song- I really love Diana's vocal on it- I think it too is a bit more pop than their previous non "Happening" singles and as a result the song doesn't...well...pop.:p All of those other cuts jump out at you. Think "Back In My Arms Again", "Symphony", "Hurry Love". "In and Out" doesn't have any of the usual "oomph", which might be explained by the fact that the song was devoid of the Funks and instead was an LA track. I'm not sure how special a Reflections expanded will be- it's not one of my favorite albums- but the one thing I can't wait to have is the original Funk Brothers version of "In and Out of Love". I wonder if that would have been the bigger hit. As released, I'm not sure what made anyone at Motown think "In and Out" was a number one hit.
had The Happening not been released after such a massive hit streak for the Sups and for other big motown artists, i don't think it would have charted as high. Singing a movie theme for a 'real' movie [[as opposed to some silly beach movie) was a pretty big thing at the time. Now the movie The Happening was idiotic but it was still a mainstream studio movie. so the studio was promoting it heavily and also promoting the tie-in with the Supremes too. there were also some big tv promotions of the song on Sullivan and Tonight Show.
Reflections album suffered from so much upheaval internally at the time. with Flo's departure and HDH's slow down, it was practically doomed from the get go. Also you had motown heavily focusing on more MOR legitimization of the girls - Sing R&H, Disney and Broadway/Hollywood all took up a lot of their recording time.
Cindy mentioned in an interview that the Supremes were really about to break into the MEGA big time in 67 and 68. they got into 2 big vegas gigs at the Flamingo [[66 and 67), the acting on Tarzan, a huge European tour was planned for winter 68 along with the big time run at TOTT, the endorsement of Humphrey, planning for TCB. She mentions that Berry knew these opportunities were just on the horizon which is part of the reason they had to resolve the problem with Flo. either she cleans up her act and things run smoothly or else she has to be fired.
Also while all of this was going on, there just wasn't the focus on pop recordings. with HDH leaving, that certainly interrupted their plans a bit. I'd assume Berry was hoping the hit making machine would just continue smoothly while they moved into these big show biz opportunities.
Mary even mentions this in her book, that the Sups had transcended being just a pop group. and not having to necessarily worry that every 45 release was a #1
The same with Diana’s solo releases. Chart duds such as “Sleepin” did not really effect her career at all. By 68, it was the same with the Supremes. Not every release needed to reach that top spot to validate their position as the leading female girl group of that time.Quote:
Originally Posted by sup_fan
Number one equals number one money. And for the Supremes to release 14 singles from "Where" to "Reflections", and have ten of those become #1 hits, that's an achievement you don't back down from until it beats you down. Sure, the Supremes probably solidified their status by the end of 1965, for sure it was sealed in 1966. But from a record company standpoint, why would one ever back down from the challenge of #1 hits for a proven group such as the Supremes? "In and Out" was just the start. It eventually got to the point where no one cared about the Supremes lack of hits until it was panic time, which is how we got "Love Child", and similarly how we got "Someday". Obviously there isn't a legendary act that ever had to rely on nothing but #1s, but to think of a record label that would just put a song out on a hot group like the Supremes without any thought to how far and successful the song could go, just doesn't make sense to me. I'd be surprised if "In and Out" even broke a half million copies.
I would imagine, or at least hope that for every single Motown released there were high hopes for it becoming a hit. I don’t think the company would ever release a single without any thought whatsoever behind it. Admittedly, songs like “Composer” test that theory, but its not always easy to predict just what will catch the public’s imagination.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
As you say, the challenge was to release number 1’s on the Supremes which was certainly the way to go. The question being, if after 67 the group had never again had a number 1 hit, would it effect how they are perceived today?.
i don't think Berry intended DRATS to release duds but i think they weren't as worried about "every release being a #1" as they were a year or two prior.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79
IMO the florence fiasco really strengthened D and B to one another. aside from it just being a hugely challenging personal issue, it showed B that D really absolutely was committed to big solo career. she had thought maybe that was the way to handle the Flo problem - just go solo and get out of the mess. But Berry realized it was premature. he and D were then starting to craft the plan to launch the solo career. Sure they needed to continue to be relevant on the music charts but adding 5 more DRATS #5 hits wouldn't have the same long-term impact of doing a couple TV specials, moving into bigger and better clubs, showcasing more musical versatility, expanding into acting.
that's why i think they were willing to, somewhat, take the eye off the record charts. Of course B probably was anticipating that HDH would still be sitting there cranking out hits and therefore allowing the security to focus on these new areas.
Historically? Not really. They racked up ten number ones up until mid 1967. Had the group broken up when Flo was fired, the Supremes would still be THE SUPREMES as we know them, today. For the general public, what did the DRATS period really do for the group? They had two number one hits in two different years, five non #1 hits [["Reflections", "In and Out", "Gonna Make You Love Me", "Shame", "Try Something New"), only two of which could probably be accurately described as legendary [["Reflections" and "Gonna Make"). They had the two television specials, but most of DRATS impact was in the world of show business, playing these lucrative venues. The general public couldn't care less about such things. That's not to say that DRATS couldn't have gone into any given city, from Chicago to Albuquerque, and played any venue, from the Apollo to the Superdome, and not sold the place out. Of course they could have and would have. But I'd say that was on the strength of the totality of the group's success starting in 1964 and not because the public was particularly enamored by the DRATS period. Without those two number ones, and the two number twos [[ha!), I think the story would be how incredible the group was from 1964-1967 and then how they fell off and became only a great stage act. Consistent hits was the only way to go, from my POV.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie9
I agree 100%. At the point of Diana Ross & Supremes, number 1 singles were no longer life blood for the group but most certainly continued to enhance their standing. It was also important that Diana left the group on a high a note as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by RanRan79