Okay, only if you promise not to turn this into a flame war, can you respond to this thread!

I have often wondered why there are so few covers of Supremes songs compared to other songs in the Motown catalog.

Of course there are a few exceptions. "You Can’t Hurry Love" by Phil Collins. I remember a slow version of "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through his Eyes" by maybe a C&W type singer...Lacy J. Dalton or someone like that maybe? There was a version of "Where Did our Love Go" by an R&B singer with a falsetto voice...Donnie Somebody... But there aren’t very many.

There are far more examples of other artists’ material being done by outside artists. Marvin Gaye had "How Sweet it Is" by James Taylor, and even "Grapevine" done by CCR after both he and Gladys Knight had hit with it. The Beatles did "Money," "You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me," and "Please Mr. Postman," and "Postman" also went back to No. 1 with the Carpenters years later. Didn’t Tina Turner do with someone like Bryan Adams or Mick Jagger "Dancing in the Street"?

But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else sing "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "My World is Empty Without You," even "I Hear a Symphony" which sounds like a standard, and "Love is Like an Itching in My Heart," which is a real stomper and one you think someone else would want to sing the hell out of.

I think even within the Motown stable other artists’ material got covered more than the Supremes material did. One exception is the Marvelettes untypically raucous version of "Someday We’ll Be Together," which I do love.

My own opinion is that these songs were so tailored to Diane’s voice that no one else could really do them credit. Hearing them done on record by Jean or in person by Mary, to me, they really lack something. Admittedly, Diane is not a "singer’s singer" but her voice had the special quality which really put these songs over, in my opinion.

I’d also like to hear yours, but please let’s not turn this into a Diane vs. Mary thing!