New Ways But Love Stays review - the Diana Ross Project

[luke]

This would have been a perfect time for the Supremes to have ditched the elaborate outfits, slow it down and take turns singing with feeling.

[Bluebrock]

I think they did the whole song but inserted part of "Stoned Love" in the middle. Now that you bring it up, it makes perfect sense that Motown must have at least considered it as a possible single. The Supremes weren't typically artists who performed their album tracks on television, and it seems that when they did, like with "Mother Dear", it was because the song was being considered for single release.

Btw, I really wish Gordy had scrapped half of those standards and showtunes performances on TV and concert and let the girls do some of those album tracks instead.

I agree. The standards worked perfectly in the 60's but by the 70's they seemed outdated and it would have made far more sense to perform their own material.

[Bluebrock]

They performed it on the show in January 1971. We all watched and that performance was talked about everywhere including radio stations. That particular performance was co-oped by the Original Broadway production of "Dreamgirls".

It was a great performance and the girls really made a statement of intent here. All this talk has made me dig out The Jean Terrell Years cds, and most of the songs sound as fresh and relevant as they did back then. If the Supremes ever recorded a finer tune than "stoned love" i have yet to hear it. Such a timeless classic. They really don't make them like that anymore.

[RanRan79]

Again, I don't know how old you are, but I was old enough to buy records in the early 70s. There was this cute little song in 1971 by a singer called Melanie "Brand New Key" that was mildly controversial because kids picked up on the true meaning immediately and knew that the lyrics were "naughty". The following year Chuck Berry scored a hit with "My Ding A Ling". It too became immediately popular with kids because Ding A Ling was slang for a males private part. It may have went right over the heads of older people, but the kids knew that it was "naughty". That was in 1972.

In the case of "Brand New Key", when you read what the author has to say about what inspired the song and the way she views the controversy over the lyrics, you come to understand how certain songs are interpreted based on the person doing the interpreting. As for "Ding A Ling", only an idiot wouldn't know what was going on there. I was about 7 or 8 the first time I remember hearing it and I knew immediately what his ding a ling was. LOL

[RanRan79]

It is totally about sex! What? She falls under some dude's spell and what do you think they are going to do? Play cards? LOL!!!

Didn't matter what they were going to do. In my mind it was about the moment and the way I interpreted the lyrics was that this guy was breaking down whatever wall she had up. She was trying to figure out if stepping back into the game is a good idea or not. But as I said, when you posted the lyrics I can definitely see where the song might be about sex.

Even so, I still maintain that the song wasn't so over the top that radio wouldn't have played it like crazy. I certainly can't believe that Motown didn't release it as a single because they feared backlash, after all they let the girls do the song on prime time television. And then the question has to be asked: if "Time to Break Down" was such a problem, what changed in the year between that and "Touch", which I think is a much more sexually suggestive song. Now THAT song is clearly about sex. Lol

[RanRan79]

I agree. The standards worked perfectly in the 60's but by the 70's they seemed outdated and it would have made far more sense to perform their own material.

But even the 60s Supremes should have cut back on some of that stuff. We know why and we know what it did for them at the time, and they were so great at it, but I think looking back it was that aspect of the group that has hurt their musical legacy.

[marv2]

In the case of "Brand New Key", when you read what the author has to say about what inspired the song and the way she views the controversy over the lyrics, you come to understand how certain songs are interpreted based on the person doing the interpreting. As for "Ding A Ling", only an idiot wouldn't know what was going on there. I was about 7 or 8 the first time I remember hearing it and I knew immediately what his ding a ling was. LOL

I guess we were bad little kids. I was in the sixth grade when "Brand New Key" came out and right away we assumed it was about sex. LOL!

[marv2]

Didn't matter what they were going to do. In my mind it was about the moment and the way I interpreted the lyrics was that this guy was breaking down whatever wall she had up. She was trying to figure out if stepping back into the game is a good idea or not. But as I said, when you posted the lyrics I can definitely see where the song might be about sex.

Even so, I still maintain that the song wasn't so over the top that radio wouldn't have played it like crazy. I certainly can't believe that Motown didn't release it as a single because they feared backlash, after all they let the girls do the song on prime time television. And then the question has to be asked: if "Time to Break Down" was such a problem, what changed in the year between that and "Touch", which I think is a much more sexually suggestive song. Now THAT song is clearly about sex. Lol

"Touch" hardly got played on the radio back then either. In "It's Time to Break Down" she says touch me a lot of times vs Mary saying it in "Touch" 3-4 times. Oh sure was a very sexually suggestive song and a good one too, but the times just did not accept a woman singing about sex or wanting it on the radio. If you think back to all of the early Rock and Roll songs like "Work With Me Annie" , "Roll With Me Henry" there were always hidden sexually suggestive lyrics/meanings in those songs.

[Bluebrock]

But even the 60s Supremes should have cut back on some of that stuff. We know why and we know what it did for them at the time, and they were so great at it, but I think looking back it was that aspect of the group that has hurt their musical legacy.

As the years roll by i realise just how good the Supremes were at doing the old standards. We know Berry had them do it to broaden their appeal and boy did it work. Even in the late 60's when some of the Supremes singles lacked the quality of the earlier ones and were not selling very well they remained a huge draw on the concert/cabaret circuit, and this was due in no small way to their ability to impress audiences with their versatility . As the 70's dawned it began to look "old hat" and the era of the variety show was beginning to recede somewhat. This is when the 70's Supremes live act should have been updated and moved on with the times.

[Jimi LaLumia]

the key to hit singles on the radio are 'hooks';
catchy chorus, catchy melody, instantly familiar;
I knew "Touch' would fail because it had none of the above, and the same reasons apply to the bad news that was 'Bad Weather' which sort of just sauntered along to its doom.

[sup_fan]

Excellent point Jimi. Neither touch or bad weather are hummable or singable. What I mean is when your driving your car and singing along. Perhaps BW would have been if Jean sang it straight and stuck to a simple melody. But all of her riffs and ad libs make it so the avg person can't sing along. Therefore they tend to not buy the single

[daviddh]

This would have been a perfect time for the Supremes to have ditched the elaborate outfits, slow it down and take turns singing with feeling.

totally agree. the albums would have done better as well as the group

[daviddh]

the key to hit singles on the radio are 'hooks';
catchy chorus, catchy melody, instantly familiar;
I knew "Touch' would fail because it had none of the above, and the same reasons apply to the bad news that was 'Bad Weather' which sort of just sauntered along to its doom.

have to agree, I think both needed remixes but I am not sure that would have worked. I never felt that BW ever got off the ground. never made me want to dance to it.

[daviddh]

As the years roll by i realise just how good the Supremes were at doing the old standards. We know Berry had them do it to broaden their appeal and boy did it work. Even in the late 60's when some of the Supremes singles lacked the quality of the earlier ones and were not selling very well they remained a huge draw on the concert/cabaret circuit, and this was due in no small way to their ability to impress audiences with their versatility . As the 70's dawned it began to look "old hat" and the era of the variety show was beginning to recede somewhat. This is when the 70's Supremes live act should have been updated and moved on with the times.

I am not sure whos idea it was to keep these songs in the acts. the old saying is if it isn't broke don't fix it.., but it was broke and needed fixing asap.

[blackguy69]

I am not sure whos idea it was to keep these songs in the acts. the old saying is if it isn't broke don't fix it.., but it was broke and needed fixing asap.

Actually if you listen to the 70-71 shows, they were updated . But for some reason they reverted back to the old drats shows around the fall of 72. I should say it was a combo of the drats shows with some updated covers.

[Jimi LaLumia]

while we're on the subject of 'suicide' singles.."I Guess I'll Miss The Man"??? really.. on what planet? great ALBUM TRACK, but a lead off single?? people needed to lay down the crack pipe, unless these were willful 'assisted suicide' choices!!

[marv2]

while we're on the subject of 'suicide' singles.."I Guess I'll Miss The Man"??? really.. on what planet? great ALBUM TRACK, but a lead off single?? people needed to lay down the crack pipe, unless these were willful 'assisted suicide' choices!!

Crack had not been invented yet in 1972. You must mean the hash pipes! LOL!

[Jimi LaLumia]

yes, Marv! lol..the equivalent thereof! and it's a shame that so many singles that should have been, right up to and including Mary's "I Love A Warm Summer Night" which I thought radio would have loved [[especially if it had been released in late spring!) never got out of the gate..

[marv2]

yes, Marv! lol..the equivalent thereof! and it's a shame that so many singles that should have been, right up to and including Mary's "I Love A Warm Summer Night" which I thought radio would have loved [[especially if it had been released in late spring!) never got out of the gate..

Doesn't some of the decisions these record companies made just make you crazy? The best recording Bonnie Pointer ever made was "Deep Inside My Soul" but it was never released as a single and is now such an obscure track you cannot even find it on the internet!

[detmotownguy]

This would have been a perfect time for the Supremes to have ditched the elaborate outfits, slow it down and take turns singing with feeling.

It worked for LaBelle. The whole gown thing made them look "old". MSS sure had the skills. I wished they had a chance at one more album to reinvent themselves.

[Bluebrock]

while we're on the subject of 'suicide' singles.."I Guess I'll Miss The Man"??? really.. on what planet? great ALBUM TRACK, but a lead off single?? people needed to lay down the crack pipe, unless these were willful 'assisted suicide' choices!!

The whole album was a disaster from the choice of songs to the dreadful cover. I remember speaking to a former employee of Motown UK who took a listen to the album and turned to his colleague and said "how the f*ck are we expected to find a hit single on this pile of sh*t". No truer words were ever spoken. Whoever came up with this lame idea needed relieving of their duties.

[daviddh]

the only song that should have been considered for a single was WHEN CAN BROWN BEGIN.
i thought the album was to laid back and would have preferred Promises Kept instead.
i also have been enjoying This Is The Story.