http://www.billboard.com/articles/co...o-go-interview
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Thank you Jobetrob. A truly wonderful article for a truly wonderful re-issue.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the link. Wonderful article, great pics. Attachment 13138
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I love that pic of the ladies in the white with gold stripe dresses. Flo looks especially stunning. Great article. Thanks
Damn Luke I was going make the same comment about Flo. She is looking so statuesque.Quote:
Originally Posted by luke
Florence and Mary look better than legitimate fashion models in those pics.
I also realized this is a rare pic as they rarely look at each other in pics and Diana seems to be looking at Mary I think.
Mary and Diane "hamming" it up. Flo is def the focal point.Quote:
Originally Posted by luke
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Thanks for sharing Jobeterob. I loved the article about the deluxe edition of Supremes A Go-Go [[as well as the pictures of Diana, Mary & Flo).
Yes, a great piece. And apparently some wig-swappin' goin' on!
Should have been an album cover!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by sophisticated_soul
The joy and happiness shared between these three lovely ladies at this particular point in time really comes through in this picture. Absolutely beautiful!Quote:
Originally Posted by sophisticated_soul
I took a look to see if the CD made it on to the R & B Hip Hop Chart or the Top 200 - but it looks like it did not do so.
Diana's silence and reclusiveness irritates me almost as much as Mary's "I'll talk to anyone who will listen."
Any audiophiles here who can comment on the sound quality/mastering of this set?
It had made it onto the R and B charts and got as high as 15 a few weeks ago
Thanks again for the link Jobeterob. And Thank You Fred Bronson, for writing such a wonderful story.:)
I never really cared for this album but i am loving this expanded version. Even the songs i previously disliked - sloopy and boots somehow sound crisp and fresh on this reissue, and i am loving disc 2 with the unreleased stuff and outtakes, I can hardly wait for Supremes sing HDH...........
you took the words out of my mouth Bluebrock....Sing HDH is one of my favorites,cant wait
Diana is not reclusive. She is very private and is very careful about whom she speaks to for fear of being misquoted. Mary needs the publicity more, hence the reason why she "will talk to anyone who will listen". Both ladies are perfectly entitled to continue in this way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Circa 1824
What's up Soulster! I just happened to come across your post, and I am so glad that you asked that question! To be honest I have been wanting to say something ever since the digital download release of Funny Girl, but I have to admit that I allowed myself to be influenced by so many folks having the sentiment of "don't say anything negative because we want to keep getting these releases". However, since you asked, I'm 'bout to keep it 100!Quote:
Originally Posted by soulster
I will start off by saying that as a lifelong die hard fan of The Supremes I am very glad that there is still so much interest in "The Girls" [[shout out to Ed!) that expanded editions are even being done. That's definitely a testament to how Berry Gordy, Motown Records, Diana Ross & The Supremes, and all of the wonderful Motown artists changed the world. But let me get to the issue at hand, this release.
Not to avoid the subject, I will first say that the packaging is beautiful, from the digipack, to the CD booklet with all the info, to the miniature tour book, all the photography, the images printed on the discs, all mad cool. But when it comes to the music, which I would think is the primary reason people acquire CDs, what the "substitute teacher" is going on? For anyone who doesn't know exactly what I mean by that, we can have that conversation later.
I have a copy of the Love Child/Supremes A' Go-Go CD that was released in 1986, the single Supremes A' Go-Go CD that was released in 1993, the Love Child/Supremes A' Go-Go import in the cardboard case with the mini vinyl LP replica CDS, the Japanese SHM Supremes A' Go-Go CD released in 2012, and the Culture Factory Supremes A' Go-Go CD released in 2013, and all of them, I mean ALL of them sonic-ally have a better sound quality than this newly released expanded edition, especially the SHM Supremes A' Go-Go CD, and most especially the Culture Factory Supremes A' Go-Go CD. Sorry, it is what it is.
What caught my attention and put it into focus was as I was listening to the stereo LP mix of Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart, there was actually a moment or two when I didn't hear the tambourine. What??? Not hear the tambourine on a Motown record, that's sacrilegious!!! [["Substitute Teacher"). So I started paying attention, then I pulled out all of my other Supremes A' Go-Go CDs, and I was like "wow!". The entire mastering sounds a little lack luster, a bit dull and bland, some of the mixes sound a little washed out, and there's a lack of a sense of audio space. Real audiophiles know exactly what I mean by that. As far as some of the mixes sounding a little washed out, there were times where I couldn't hear the consonants, especially the "s"s, contained in the words being sung by the background vocalists, like there was no presence. It sounds like whatever reverbs that were used were set to "pre" as opposed to "post". There's a big difference. But Soulster, believe it or not, all of the above initially wasn't even my biggest problem. Aiight, let's talk about it!
I'm gonna start this part off by saying "I LOVE stereo!!!!" I was having this conversation with Mickey recently, actually sparked by this release, and I was telling him how my growing up years were filled with joy from the magic of the stereo pannings and imaging of stereo Motown albums. I can't tell you how many needles, styli, then cartridges I bought with whatever little spending money I had looking for what would give me the best stereo separation. One where I would only hear the delayed reverb echo of "Yes, I Heard It" when I would listen to the left channel of the stereo mix of Gladys Knight & The Pips' I Heard It Through The Grapevine, or the least amount of drums possible on the left channel at the beginning of Up Tight by Stevie Wonder. I could go on and on and on! Of course back then as a kid I didn't know the difference between a spherical stylus, and elliptical stylus, or a fine line stylus, all I was aware of was if it was a diamond stylus. Aw man, back in the day, but I digress!
I don't know exactly who is sitting at the control board for damn near all of the remixes of the alternate versions of these expanded editions, but why on earth are they so afraid of the pan knob? Pan them bitches either all the way to the left, or all the way to the right! Assign a nice stereo delayed reverb, in post, and let there be a nice little delayed hint of what was panned to the opposite channel. That is much more interesting and fun to listen to. Now I understand that back when dancing to popular music in the club really got hot, mainly influenced by disco, mixing engineers started pulling back from panning drums and other main elements of music because depending on what side of the club you were in, you wouldn't hear the drums, or whatever, as much. But today, in the club we jammin' to Drake, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, etc.. Ain't nobody playin' no Supremes expanded editions in the club! I'm sure they are primarily being listened to either at home or in the car, so why be so timid with the stereo panning? Why not go back to the magic and fun of the the drums being over here, the backgrounds over there, the piano over here, the guitars over there, etc.. The only stereo panning I seem to hear, on basically the vast majority of the remixes, is strings to the left, horns to the right, how boring is that! At the moments where there are no strings or horns playing it doesn't feel very much different than an old mono mix. There was a time or two where the baritone sax was panned to a different side, oh and someone got brave and panned the fingersnaps all the way to the left on Can I Get A Witness! Occasionally there was a hint of panning of the background vocals, but again, why so timid and afraid of panning them all the way? I couldn't be the only person in the world who finds it more interesting and fun to hear elements of the song over here and over there, and to sometimes listen to each channel individually and feel like two different versions of the song are offered.
Now, what the slip and slide is going on with some of Diana's lead vocals on the alternate version of It's The Same Old Song, and the duet with The Four Tops? I know that it's the same [[old song! LOL!) vocal take on the alternate version as the version on Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland, and the beats per minute on Sing HDH is 140 as opposed to the alternate version being at 129 beats per minute, but what's up with the drifting once the vocals were tempo matched? Couldn't Harry, Andy, George, or somebody hear, or more on the mark, feel when the vocal was out of sync, either ahead or behind the beat, not in the pocket as Diana originally sang it? [["Substitute Teachers") The tempo of The Four Tops' track of Shake Me, Wake Me is much closer, if not basically the same as the track The Supremes sang to, but here again, moments where Diana's vocal was completely out of sync, ahead of the beat. Also it would have been much hipper to pan the Supremes' backgrounds to one channel, and The Four Tops' backgrounds to the other. Speaking [[again) of the backgrounds, of all of the remixes, it sounds like there was no equalization done, no compression to make the vocals more clear and present, not loud, just present. And...., seems like no eq or limiters used on any of the drum tracks to give them more punch.
Here's the thing. Since the stereo LP mix of all of these expanded editions have already been released over and over again, why not jump in, put in the work, open up those multi tracks, and remix the stereo LP version and take it to a higher level, make it special and greater than what was already released. Don't just throw the same old masters out to us, ESPECIALLY if the sound quality is not superior to another CD of the album that has already been released. Take stereo panning back to those glory days, but try some new and different groupings of pannings, and paint some different colors and textures on the canvas. Oh, and I almost forgot, why wasn't the unedited version of You Can't Hurry Love that was included on the Ampex reel to reel release of the album used for this expanded edition? That would have been a real cool special treat. Anyway, the original stereo LP masters were done years and years ago, way before all of the advances in technology that are available today. There's equipment available today to eliminate tape hiss, tape hum, and other noises, and the opportunity is there to go in and make each and every track of every song cleaner, clearer, fresher, more vibrant, and arrive and at a mixed master that is superior in sound quality to what has already been released multiple times. I have say [[again) the Culture Factory release comes close to hitting nail on the head.
Now I know the possibility exists that I may have pissed some people off, but still I am going to say that I would absolutely love the opportunity to get involved, get in there and work on the Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland Expanded Edition. I would make that an edition that everyone would be as thrilled with the sound quality as much as the packaging and all. If you don't know, just ask my "Big Brotha" Mickey about me! Peace & Blessings!