This was the 1974-75 period. Yeah it could've worked if anyone besides Berry cared enough to push them. Motown was at a different phase than it was and it's a shame. Ewart Abner, dude... *sigh* I do like their version of Sha-La Bandit though.
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I think we can all agree that the quality of talent and the quality of the music the Supremes produce was not lacking in any regard. The situation with the record company is where the problems really were.
I didn’t like it’s all been said before ...strange song. Loved Sha la la version with all 3 ladies singing lead. Could have been a left field hit.
https://www.facebook.com/11687660833...3958532648147/
we were talking about IGIMTM so here that live version from 1972
IGIMTM is one of Jeans masterpieces [[along with 5.30 Plane.... and that's all the pos. vibe I can give to the JW tracks!)….the song was performed LIVE on TV at least 3 times....and each time Jean nailed it...my pers. fave is the Soul Train clip...I've said it before...IGIMTM needed to be marketed and broke first on AC/Light Rock, and then it could have crossed into the broader Pop charts. It's acoustic guitar intro is right in time with much of the singer/songwriter material of the time....Bad Weather was too jazz tinged for AM pop airplay...the horns today actually sound like a bad attempt at Stax, and the hokey choreography was laughable...especially in gowns....Touch should have been followed with either Have I Lost You or Here Comes The Sunrise....after NJ they were the most radio friendly cuts on an excellent LP...the male voice on YWSSL is distracting and unnecessary...a percussion break and instrumental re-build up would have been enough.
imo, there were a lot of reason why the supremes were having problems.
first, BG was closing down the detroit location and opening a new office in LA. wasnt Floy Joy one of the last albums to be recorded in detroit?
to me, this was a major set back not only for the supremes but for motown all together.in a few years after,almost every artist would leave motown. BG left everyone behind except a few.
the group also was suffering internally. i think Jean wanted out and Lynda left almost the same time. having the ladies sing Youre No Body till somebody loves you.....WTF. seriously.
but motown made mistakes with diana as well as the supremes. motown released the album EIE in 1970 ,but the single IM STILL WAITING a year later. they made poor decisions, and again with her lp Baby Its Me. it was like the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. just stupid mistakes.
to me BG no longer had his eye on the mark.
ultimately Motown did just about everyone in, but, the ladies not getting along didn't help. I think Motown was done with them and hoped they would go away.
looking back on it now, I think ,perhaps, the ladies were tired of MEN , telling them what to do or not to do. I think that had a lot to do with DR leaving. looking back,you have to give MW credit for standing up for herself and the group. but somehow there was to much drama going on within the group.
the greatest malady for The 70's Supremes and solo Diana Ross was The Ed Sullivan Show leaving the airways; it was their showcase to let the hard core fans know that a new single had been released , as there was no internet back then.
Jim, I totally agree, and with BG refusing to let DR do her solo spot on Sullivan, ig mistake. Sullivan got ticked off and cancelled the Supremes appearance for Stoned Love with the Four Tops. I don't think the Supremes were ever back on or , mybe even any Motown artist after
here is a bit of an explanation about the lip syncing on the Sullivan Show, which was mostly still live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ngRXORGZjw&feature=youtu.be&t=26m25s
Plus the fact that Sullivan was abruptly cancelled in March of 1971 without notice to Sullivan and the show simply showed reruns for the balance of the season. When Ed was told about the CBS decision by his producer/son-in law Bob Prect, Ed said “Well I’ll be a son of a bitch…after all I’ve done for the network over the years”.
Ed's show was part of the CBS rural purge when they cancelled such popular shows as “The Red Skelton Show” “The Jackie Gleason Show” “The Beverly Hillbillies”, “Green Acres”, “Petticoat Junction” and “Hee Haw”. CBS “rural purge” was based on the idea of dumping the older shows in search of the younger audience that advertisers would pay more for.
Then there is the fact that Ed was already suffering the earlier signs of dementia. Perhaps that explains his intro of the Supremes as "Here they are....the girls".
Considering that Ed's show had been on since the very beginning of TV in 1948, I think it was heartless for the show to be abruptly cancelled as it was. He was not even able to do a proper farewell show. It could have been the rating sensation of the year. Ed Sullivan deserved better than the treatment he received by CBS’s managers in his final days there.
He died three years later in 1974
I think Mary mentions this very same thing in SUPREME FAITH: I'm paraphrasing here, but a local DJ says something to the effect that the Supremes are no longer recording and that there no original members. I'M SURE SOMEONE WILL CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG LOL. He goes on to play "Tossin'" from JW.
But I think the general consensus was that the Supremes had started to fade with their outdated imagage: bouffant wigs and 40 pound sequined gowns, while Roberta Flack is flying up the charts in her afro and polyester slacks.
I don’t know how anyone could expect a hit with songs like I Guess I’ll Miss The Man and especially Bad Weather. Jean’s vocal on miss the man was great but it’s just a very plain song and was never going to be a big hit. Plus it sounded like a solo act.
Why release that when it could have been 530 Plane?
When an act starts to fade and stops bringing in money, no record company will keep pumping money into a losing proposition. They didn’t with the Supremes, Martha Reeves; RCA didn’t with Diana Ross when she turned 40
By 1972 it was clear that The Supremes had slipped in popularity a lot. Their albums were not important new releases, their gigs were way lower in size and price and the turmoil in the group made DR&TS look like a love-in. There’s no reason to point Fingers - it was over. Lynda brought a new vivacity to the group - but it was ANOTHER change and the one that, I think, did them in. When Mary Wilson was the only recognizable Supreme on an album, the general population had no interest in going to a concert of a group with no giant hits. At the time, I was getting to know them personally, so as great as that was, it also burst my bubble about the group and show business. Jean was always nice to me, but she was not always nice to Mary and Mary was trying so hard to get along. I don’t think that showed on TV or on-stage, but only die-hards we’re still into the group. They did no concerts anymore as headliners in arenas or auditoriums that I knew of. Everything was split bills or they opened. They still got some club dates as the headliners, but those venues were deteriorating the pay scale. It was over then. A new, big something was needed but never came. They needed Lady Marmalade- not Floy Joy.
That’s not great to hear Jean didn’t treat Mary well; it shows a different side of Mary
Floy Joy was fine but pretty lightweight; it had good points but it was clear it was no Where Did Our Love Go or Stop in the Name of Love
i liked FJ , and thought it was good , fun. but the hits were fewer n fewer and the tv appearances the same.
I think Jean and Mary had issues for a while. not exactly sure why, but I think it was professional.
I don't think that the wigs or gowns had anything to do with it. it didn't bother Dianas career. the bottom line was NO HITS. they needed hits and to update the show. NO Your nobody till somebody loves u. wow. cant believe Motown had them still doing that routine.
We should have a separate thread dealing with the post-Jean 'Supremes' flame-out. Lots of us have cut-and-pasted :o oft-repeated thoughts, so who am I to veer? Apres les Jean, simply stated: nobody in the record-buying public shave a git. Nobody recognized any of the 'Supremes' as Supremes - they were three random, middle-aged ladies flailin' & wailin'. They were yodelin' as if their lives depended on it, but that style was not what the record buying public wanted. Except for 15 or so posters who ended up here.
^oh lawd lol i'd love to start a thread and INTELLIGENTLY discuss our theories for the problems with the group in the mid and later 70s. but seems like that always turns into some sort of heated argument
i think its a bit common sense, mary was the only original left, she was used to being a supremes and how things were. when the other ladies joined and wanted to express themselves and update the show, she was unwilling to bend and therefore problems began and continued. Cindy survived mostly by just going along with things. the other ladies did not have the loyality to the name that Mary had. I am sure there were times when MW was right but other times when she was not.
but once again how many Temptations has there been???? why did some leave??
it seems drama stays with the ladies. to bad there wasn't a way to work things out as the JMC line up was very good
And that's why we need discussion like this because going on assumptions doesn't help. I can imagine how taxing it was on Mary to keep a group afloat and it's tougher when people don't get along with you. Which is a shame because Jean brought something to that group. If they were more united, they would've kicked everyone's a$$.
I believe the difference with the Temptations is that the group had more than one lead singer from the beginning and the public at large did not specifically identify with one personality in the way that they did with Diana. Additionally 5 members as opposed to 3 made changes in line-up less visible.
Sorry if it has already been posted. I looked on this thread but could not find this rendition. You graciously gave us another fine performance at post #84.
The Supremes Archives where this was just posted yesterday gives this description:
This is cleaned up version with the right speed and pitch. The girls always did a great job with this song, and in my honest opinion the JML line-up did the best and clearest harmonies The Supremes ever had!
Uh excuse me, but I didn't say sh*t about regions, international, nation, domestic or anything like that. YOU DID! I said that they had 6 releases in 1972. Maybe I should have been clearer and said on the Planet Earth, that way you would not have felt the need to put words in my mouth!
Whatever Marv - i can think of something else to put in your mouth beside words
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Yo kids give it a rest