Floy Joy Is 49 Yrs Old This Month

Of the 70s groupings, the Floy Joy album is probably my second favorite, behind Touch, although it's entirely possible that the two run neck and neck in my heart. I know the FJ set isn't exactly a fan favorite. It lacks the youthfulness of Right On, or the creative energy of New Ways, or the brightness of Touch. A more laidback set than the others, for sure, but that doesn't diminish it's greatness for me. I'd say it's the more mature album from the Jean years, up to that point. I can listen to it from beginning to end, although I'm not overly fond of "Your Wonderful Sweet, Sweet Love", the title cut, or "Oh Be My Love", but I can enjoy each one in the moment. Everything else, I love. For the longest time I wasn't a fan of "Now the Bitter, Now the Sweet", but it has since become another one I enjoy. Anyway, I thought I'd celebrate the anniversary by posting one of my favs from the album that I don't think gets much conversation around here, "Over and Over". I'm wild about Jean's lead here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvqqmDix1Ks

I realize this has to be down the list on the expanded to do list, but I can't wait for this one to get the expanded treatment with any outtakes and alternates.

i agree that this is a very strong album. i find it to be a refreshing change after the Frank Wilson albums. while i love them, there is a LOT going on. One could certainly make the argument that many of the tracks on New Ways or Touch border on over production.

someone once described the FJ set as "light, like spun sugar" i enjoy it and find the cohesiveness refreshing. there isn't a glaring inclusion like Time And Love. i'd love to have seen where the girls might have gone with a f/u album with Smokey

I think it's a great album and like it too. It's the one I listen to when I'm in a more relaxed mood. Like I said in another thread, the promises kept sessions lacked cohesiveness. Floy Joy seems to be tied together by the mellow tone. Except for your wonderful sweet sweet love which opens the album so it doesn't disrupt that mellowness. Can't wait for an expanded too. Not sure if there's much left of the FJ sessions but anything from alternate mix or vocals will do.

I wonder if a title change to "The Supremes Produced by Smokey Robinson" might have boosted sales. Or "The Supremes Sing Smokey" much like the Temptations?

By the time FJ was released, SR was about to release his last LP with the Miracles. Might have gained some extra interest.

Sounds too much like The Supremes Produced and arranged by Jimmy Webb. I prefer the simplicity of just Floy Joy even though Floy Joy as a title for a song has never made any sense to me :D.

Pound for pound, my favorite post-Diana Supremes set. You can't beat the heavenly harmonies combined with the mellow grooves here.

The only song I really liked here was A Heart Like Mine

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TYK1986

I think it's a great album and like it too. It's the one I listen to when I'm in a more relaxed mood. Like I said in another thread, the promises kept sessions lacked cohesiveness. Floy Joy seems to be tied together by the mellow tone. Except for your wonderful sweet sweet love which opens the album so it doesn't disrupt that mellowness. Can't wait for an expanded too. Not sure if there's much left of the FJ sessions but anything from alternate mix or vocals will do.

---

the PK sessions definitely were not, for the most part, lost gems. there are some strong tracks but it's mostly a stockpile of covers. The best IMO are:

Tears left over
Oh my poor baby
I'll have to let him know i love him

and not surprise - Frank Wilson did the first on and pam sawyer [[who had been heavily involved with many of the prior Frank/Supremes songs) on the other two.

Yes same here! I only like a hand full of the unreleased songs from the PK sessions. I wonder what they were up to recording soooo many covers instead of releasing new material. It's as if the PK album was going to be an album of cover songs. As much as I like Jean her voice did not seem to suit most of them songs. I like "Make it with you and oh poor baby".

Thats why I like Floy Joy. It's different from the previous albums they released. She sounds good on the Floy Joy album.

well there are 18 or 19 songs recorded during the "Promises Kept" period but there was still a lot of tunes from 70 in the vaults too.

day will come between sunday and monday
life beats
steppin on a dream
mind body and soul
all i need
how long evening train
plus many more

Also Smokey only recorded Floy Joy [[the song) with the girls at this time. the rest of the album was recorded in early 72. so they might have been experimenting with producers to see what 1 song sort of clicked. and then if it charted well, that producer would hunker down and get an album ready

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sup_fan

i agree that this is a very strong album. i find it to be a refreshing change after the Frank Wilson albums. while i love them, there is a LOT going on. One could certainly make the argument that many of the tracks on New Ways or Touch border on over production.

someone once described the FJ set as "light, like spun sugar" i enjoy it and find the cohesiveness refreshing. there isn't a glaring inclusion like Time And Love. i'd love to have seen where the girls might have gone with a f/u album with Smokey

---

Yeah a followup would've been very interesting, especially considering what kind of storyline material Smokey may have come up with.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TYK1986

I think it's a great album and like it too. It's the one I listen to when I'm in a more relaxed mood. Like I said in another thread, the promises kept sessions lacked cohesiveness. Floy Joy seems to be tied together by the mellow tone. Except for your wonderful sweet sweet love which opens the album so it doesn't disrupt that mellowness. Can't wait for an expanded too. Not sure if there's much left of the FJ sessions but anything from alternate mix or vocals will do.

---

I think there's supposed to be at least one unreleased song from the sessions. But the alternates would be a treat too. I know we got an alternate vocal of "Automatically Sunshine" and then I think there's a couple different mixes of "Floy Joy", but that's all we've gotten so far.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by marybrewster

I wonder if a title change to "The Supremes Produced by Smokey Robinson" might have boosted sales. Or "The Supremes Sing Smokey" much like the Temptations?

By the time FJ was released, SR was about to release his last LP with the Miracles. Might have gained some extra interest.

---

I agree. Smokey Robinson Presents the Supremes, ​maybe?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TYK1986

Sounds too much like The Supremes Produced and arranged by Jimmy Webb. I prefer the simplicity of just Floy Joy even though Floy Joy as a title for a song has never made any sense to me :D.

---

I guess there was some sense made in titling the album after the hit. Maybe Motown realized it's mistake by not titling New Ways, Stoned Love, and decided not to make that mistake again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sansradio

Pound for pound, my favorite post-Diana Supremes set. You can't beat the heavenly harmonies combined with the mellow grooves here.

---

Yes. Everything about it is beautiful.

My birthday is not until June...oh wait..

There was the unedited version of the song which was released on the 2000 boxset but I'd like to hear a stereo version of that. I enjoy the album, I think its actually one of two 70s Supremes albums I've listened all the way through more than once. I've enjoyed a good joint while listening to this one.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by floyjoy678

My birthday is not until June...oh wait..

There was the unedited version of the song which was released on the 2000 boxset but I'd like to hear a stereo version of that. I enjoy the album, I think its actually one of two 70s Supremes albums I've listened all the way through more than once. I've enjoyed a good joint while listening to this one.

---

I don't smoke, but if there was ever a Supremes album to get high to, it's this one.

I first saw it at a JC Penney's store. My mouth dropped in horror as I knew that was not Cindy Birdsong. A 16 year old fan, what can I say.

Hey, TOUCH is 50 this year!

Attachment 19085

One song named after a man [[Nathan Jones) was enough! How was a guy to sing along with tunes like these when driving or hanging out? With the first one, it was easy enough to belt out, "Nancy Jones, you've been gone too long..." but with the second one, it was difficult trying to figure out lyrics that weren't too uncomfortable.

Pretending that Floy was a short version of Florence was a stretch, and it was tough rhyming a word with Ballard, rather than Joy, so it was like, "Floy, Floy, Floy, Floy Ballard...you may sing songs just like a bird, but Floy, you ain't no mallard..."

Anyway, while I did not like the first two songs on the Floy Joy album, most of the rest were quite welcome, bright, breezy, easy numbers you could sing along with and feel relaxed and happy, especially Automatically Sunshine.

Automatically Sunshine was a great track. frankly i think it was the most commercial song on the album, in it's released original format. the song just sparks and the lead vocals are perfect. i do wish Cindy had a bit more of a role - maybe a brief line somewhere.

YWSSL might have worked had they removed the annoying Smokey vocals. that totally changed the sound of the song and made it "not supremes." or else just have him duet on the song with Jean. I also do like the slightly quicker pace when they did this song live.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by benross

One song named after a man [[Nathan Jones) was enough! How was a guy to sing along with tunes like these when driving or hanging out? With the first one, it was easy enough to belt out, "Nancy Jones, you've been gone too long..." but with the second one, it was difficult trying to figure out lyrics that weren't too uncomfortable.

Pretending that Floy was a short version of Florence was a stretch, and it was tough rhyming a word with Ballard, rather than Joy, so it was like, "Floy, Floy, Floy, Floy Ballard...you may sing songs just like a bird, but Floy, you ain't no mallard..."

Anyway, while I did not like the first two songs on the Floy Joy album, most of the rest were quite welcome, bright, breezy, easy numbers you could sing along with and feel relaxed and happy, especially Automatically Sunshine.

---

Ben, this gave me a good laugh! Thanks!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sup_fan

Automatically Sunshine was a great track. frankly i think it was the most commercial song on the album, in it's released original format. the song just sparks and the lead vocals are perfect. i do wish Cindy had a bit more of a role - maybe a brief line somewhere.

YWSSL might have worked had they removed the annoying Smokey vocals. that totally changed the sound of the song and made it "not supremes." or else just have him duet on the song with Jean. I also do like the slightly quicker pace when they did this song live.

---

I think the three singles on the album were the right choices. I'm surprised the title cut was as big a hit as it was because I'm of the opinion that of the three songs it's the weakest. I am convinced that "Automatically" had what it took to be a big hit at the time. Besides maybe more TV exposure, I don't know what more could have been done to push it further up. I know it hit #1 in several markets, so there was definitely some spark there. As for "Sweet Sweet Love", I agree with you Sup. Remove Smokey or make it a duet and it too might have been a sizable hit. I also think the track needed a bit more punch.

While not a bad album, the single of Floy Joy was confusing at first. I never heard of a guy named Floy and thought they were saying Floyd. This seemed a bit trifflin' coming from Smokey, like he was doing a rush job for a pop ditty. I was amazed it did as well as Nathan Jones on the Billboard pop chart at #16 as it was nowhere near Nathan Jones in quality and production. Catchy, yes. Auto Sunshine sounded dismal and gloomy while my favorite track was Sweet Sweet Love. By now the magic was gone although I believe Cindy was on the entire album but my heart sank when I saw that cover and someone I didn't know. To further add insult to injury came that dreadful Jimmy Webb album. I was in mourning until spring 1975.

Didn't really like the Smokey vocals either on Sweet sweet love. It sounds as if they left the radio on in the background and it's a bit annoying. They play Automatically sunshine a lot in the shop where I work and it does cheer me up half way through a shift. I think it does begins a bit gloomy but definitely picks up when they repeat the chorus at the end. Always disappoints me that no footage exist of them singing it either live or lip synced. The only footage I think is of them singing it as part of a medley in Japan with Scherrie.

I wonder if there's a mix with all 3 singing lead as they did on Merv Griffin show

I actually won the Floy Joy LP off of the radio. I had bought the singles but wasn't sure if I wanted to buy the LP. Jean had such strong vocals on Touch, that Floy Joy seemed like something else. I was beyond thrilled that Mary Wilson was co lead and lead on some songs but it seemed very light and bouncy on the whole as an LP. Out of the 3 singles, I preferred Automatically Sunshine then Floy Joy and then Your Wonderful Sweet Sweet Love. The last was the one that was performed on tv, and it charted the lowest. On Touch, Jean provided very strong vocals and with Floy Joy she was not as strong but eventually I realized she was holding back so that she would provide complexity and nuance to the more simple, bouncy tunes. By the time of Jimmy Webb, her vocals seemed out of range and shrill.In this 3 LP arc, I would definitely take Floy Joy over Jimmy Webb. By that time, I was almost glad Jean had departed as she seemed to be separating herself onstage like Diana Ross did on DRATS. I also felt the JML grouping did not have as much chemistry as JMC. I was actually quite optimistic when Scherrie joined and Mary started to sing more leads with Cindy back, but I could tell the attention from the record company was not there. Still, Floy Joy was the last successful top 20 hit and Automatically Sunshine the last top 40 before 1976's I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jim aka jtigre99

I actually won the Floy Joy LP off of the radio. I had bought the singles but wasn't sure if I wanted to buy the LP. Jean had such strong vocals on Touch, that Floy Joy seemed like something else. I was beyond thrilled that Mary Wilson was co lead and lead on some songs but it seemed very light and bouncy on the whole as an LP. Out of the 3 singles, I preferred Automatically Sunshine then Floy Joy and then Your Wonderful Sweet Sweet Love. The last was the one that was performed on tv, and it charted the lowest. On Touch, Jean provided very strong vocals and with Floy Joy she was not as strong but eventually I realized she was holding back so that she would provide complexity and nuance to the more simple, bouncy tunes. By the time of Jimmy Webb, her vocals seemed out of range and shrill.In this 3 LP arc, I would definitely take Floy Joy over Jimmy Webb. By that time, I was almost glad Jean had departed as she seemed to be separating herself onstage like Diana Ross did on DRATS. I also felt the JML grouping did not have as much chemistry as JMC. I was actually quite optimistic when Scherrie joined and Mary started to sing more leads with Cindy back, but I could tell the attention from the record company was not there. Still, Floy Joy was the last successful top 20 hit and Automatically Sunshine the last top 40 before 1976's I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking.

---

i agree about MJL. while i'd admit there's very limited content out there to really judge the group, IMO the 3 didn't blend well. Both L and J had brassy, bright, distinctive voices. I found the group blend on Live In Japan to be challenging. M and C were probably the best background in terms of blend. their two voices to really just meld together into 1 sound. M and F certainly blended but there was always still some distinction between their two voices.

perhaps Lynda was just more of a "unique" voice like Jean or Scherrie or Diana. and that type of voice might be better suited for lead vocals. so in japan you have 2 lead voices fighting