A Thread To Discuss The Name Change From The Supremes to DRATS

[PeaceNHarmony]

... so other threads will not be polluted by the same, tired, old kiki. GO TO IT, GIRLS!

[PeaceNHarmony]

Oh, OK. I'll start. Gordy changed the name because he knew DR was the most talented, the most beautiful, the hardest working, the best spoken, the most loved by fans, and the only one who would make it as a solo act.

[vgalindo]

Diana sang lead on all the hit songs. So she earned it to be featured. They were no longer a group but was now a lead singer with back ground singers. Diana Ross was the star!!

[jobeterob]

Back at Run Run Run, the Andantes sang backup

They should have just called it Diana Ross then - no Supremes.

No one knows the names of any other Supremes anymore anyway except the devoted motown fans

[REDHOT]

Motown played a game,on the Supremes fans,and the public,trying to brainwash us,some fans believed it,some didn't,i didn't,no i'm not gonna tear any of The Supremes down,just to make another Supreme look good,all The Supremes had talent.and all were great.i just wish Motown had let them all shine,when it comes to The Supremes, Motown BS us all.

[Boogiedown]

hehe OK I'll tell it like this. Well you see,

Berry Gordy ran Motown with an iron fist, so much so he flat out told Diana she was going to lead the group with her name headlining, case closed, and no matter how hard she resisted , he couldn't be swayed . "But what about Flo and my good friend Mary, can't the group be called Mary Wilson and the Supremes?" she pleaded.
But bossy Berry wouldn't listen. " I made Smokey put his name out front of his group, now you'll do the same. Not only that Diane, but when I think its time, you're going to go solo and perform in Vegas and in big theaters and make movies and have number one records and be one of the biggest female performers of the seventies. What do you think of that!?"
"Oh Berry, why are you doing this to me , why must you have such control over me , you thoughtless cad!! You just wait , someday I'll get even! I'll leave you and sign with a major label, one of the real ones !!
Berry laughing, "That Diane, will never happen !"
"It will it will. You'll see , I'll get away , I promise! Oh and one more thing , when I am finally free , I'm going to record that Frankie Lyman song you hate so much just to rub it in !!

"Ha ha surrre you will . Now be a good girl and go try on those new wigs I ordered for you."

[Bluebrock]

hehe OK I'll tell it like this. Well you see,

Berry Gordy ran Motown with an iron fist, so much so he flat out told Diana she was going to lead the group with her name headlining, case closed, and no matter how hard she resisted , he couldn't be swayed . "But what about Flo and my good friend Mary, can't the group be called Mary Wilson and the Supremes?" she pleaded.
But bossy Berry wouldn't listen. " I made Smokey put his name out front of his group, now you'll do the same. Not only that Diane, but when I think its time, you're going to go solo and perform in Vegas and in big theaters and make movies and have number one records and be one of the biggest female performers of the seventies. What do you think of that!?"
"Oh Berry, why are you doing this to me , why must you have such control over me , you thoughtless cad!! You just wait , someday I'll get even! I'll leave you and sign with a major label, one of the real ones !!
Berry laughing, "That Diane, will never happen !"
"It will it will. You'll see , I'll get away , I promise! Oh and one more thing , when I am finally free , I'm going to record that Frankie Lyman song you hate so much just to rub it in !!

"Ha ha surrre you will . Now be a good girl and go try on those new wigs I ordered for you."

Nice to have something amusing to wake up to Boogiedown. A very clever, creative and downright funny post. Respect.

[Boogiedown]

hey I appreciate that ! I almost didn't post it as I'm not sure how certain things will be received around here. We can be serious fans and have fun too! I hope!

[marv2]

Back at Run Run Run, the Andantes sang backup

They should have just called it Diana Ross then - no Supremes.

No one knows the names of any other Supremes anymore anyway except the devoted motown fans

Obie Benson [[of the Four Tops), who was a friend of mine told me that it was he, Levi, Florence, Mary, Duke and Lawrence along with HDH on "Run, Run, Run" he went on to say that it was also all of them on the background to "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes". Who told you it was the Andantes?

[PeaceNHarmony]

Back at Run Run Run, the Andantes sang backup

They should have just called it Diana Ross then - no Supremes.

No one knows the names of any other Supremes anymore anyway except the devoted motown fans

It was pretty much 'Diana, the whiny one, and the obstinate one', then 'Diana, the new one, and the other one', on to 'The new lead Jean and the other ones', to 'Who are they?'

[BigAl]

I can't imagine anyone could have failed to see this coming from the start — especially after Smokey's name was pushed out in front of The Miracles. Although we all know better in here, to the general public, Diane was The Supremes. Most casual listeners never heard anyone else singing lead. The only thing that surprised me was that it didn't happen sooner than it did. It was evident, at least to me, from late 1965, that the group was being transitioned from its original premise into a springboard for her eventual solo career. I'm not saying my heart didn't sink when I went to purchase "Reflections" and saw the awful truth right there on the label. I was dismayed but by no means surprised. At that moment I actually wondered if perhaps Mary and Flo had been canned. As it turned out, my suspicion was half-correct.

[Laserdk]

Obie Benson [[of the Four Tops), who was a friend of mine told me that it was he, Levi, Florence, Mary, Duke and Lawrence along with HDH on "Run, Run, Run" he went on to say that it was also all of them on the background to "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes". Who told you it was the Andantes?

marv 2,

That's exactly what the UK Motown office told me in the 70s when I asked them as you could always hear male voices on the backgrounds on those two tunes. All I can say is if it was just the Andantes then they sound very butch on those two tunes!


Ivor

[marv2]

marv 2,

That's exactly what the UK Motown office told me in the 70s when I asked them as you could always hear male voices on the backgrounds on those two tunes. All I can say is if it was just the Andantes then they sound very butch on those two tunes!


Ivor

Ivor, Obie did not make things up, even when he was joking. I like that....the Andantes must have grown some balls overnight for those sessions LOL!

[Circa 1824]

To this young fan, The Supremes were Diana Ross and 2 pleasant-enough back-up gals. So, the name change was appropriate.

[motony]

Mr. Gordy had wanted a female solo star ever since Mary Wells left the label. The others had the talent & charisma but maybe not as much drive & determination as Diana Ross.

[antceleb12]

I always find these threads to be interesting. A bit tiring, but fascinating. It's interesting that any time this question comes up the discussion very quickly turns away from blatant facts [[i.e. is anyone drawing from actual statements from Berry?) and into feelings and opinions about who was better, who had star quality, etc. etc.

No matter who you think was better, whether you think Flo and Mary were average, or whether or not you think Diana earned it or not, from all evidence and clearly documented history, Berry added the name change for several reasons:

A) For uniformity. Smokey had his full name out in front. Then Diana. And then even Martha had her last name added [[now the real interesting question is why not the Temptations or the Four Tops or the Marvelettes? One could guess that their leads were not as commercially accessible as the others)

B) Commercial accessibility. Berry believed Diana was more mainstream-friendly, had the better crossover appeal, and had more 'star power.'

C) It became clear to him it did not matter who was in the background as long as Diana was in front. This is not a knock on Diana, but rather evidenced by the following:

- Andantes were present on their recordings since 1963, and on their #1's as early as 1964.
- Andantes were on entire albums, such as their Christmas album
- Cindy filled in for Flo in April 1967, and even Marlene filled in for Flo on numerous occasions prior, and either nobody noticed or nobody cared
- Diana made a blatant statement that their were stand-in's for Flo and Mary, but not for herself

Again, this is separating documented history from feelings and opinions. It doesn't matter if we like it that Berry thought Diana was more commercial. The fact is that he did and that's why she was the lead.

[BigAl]

...even Martha had her last name added...

I seem to recall Martha said that she didn't even know this had been done until she saw it on the label of [[I think) "Honey Chile." She said she supposed Gordy figured she'd demand it after Smokey and Diane got their billings so he just added it, but she really didn't care one way or the other. Personally, I always thought the cadence of "Martha and the Vandellas" was all broken up by the addition of "Reeves." The rhythm was disrupted. [[Kind of like when they added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. It disrupted that rhythm as well. [Not that there's any comparing these situations, other than that.])

Levi's name couldn't be put out front because then the act would have to have been renamed "Levi Stubbs and the Three Tops," which would have been pretty dumb.

As for The Marvelettes, Gladys still sang lead on the earlier hits in performance and that would confuse audiences, just as putting David Ruffin's name out in front of the Tempts while Eddie sang so many leads would also be confusing, plus the fact that the Marvelettes by that time weren't all that important to Gordy.

[antceleb12]

I seem to recall Martha said that she didn't even know this had been done until she saw it on the label of [[I think) "Honey Chile." She said she supposed Gordy figured she'd demand it after Smokey and Diane got their billings so he added it, but she really didn't care one way or the other. Personally, I always thought the cadence of "Martha and the Vandellas" was all broken up by the addition of "Reeves." The rhythm was disrupted. [[Kind of like when they added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. It disrupted that rhythm as well. [Not that there's any comping these situations, other than that.])

LOL I had no idea, although that doesn't surprise me in the least. i gotta agree, though, i always thought "Martha and the Vandellas" sounded much smoother. Thanks for that little nugget.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I always find these threads to be interesting. A bit tiring, but fascinating. It's interesting that any time this question comes up the discussion very quickly turns away from blatant facts [[i.e. is anyone drawing from actual statements from Berry?) and into feelings and opinions about who was better, who had star quality, etc. etc.

No matter who you think was better, whether you think Flo and Mary were average, or whether or not you think Diana earned it or not, from all evidence and clearly documented history, Berry added the name change for several reasons:

A) For uniformity. Smokey had his full name out in front. Then Diana. And then even Martha had her last name added [[now the real interesting question is why not the Temptations or the Four Tops or the Marvelettes? One could guess that their leads were not as commercially accessible as the others)

B) Commercial accessibility. Berry believed Diana was more mainstream-friendly, had the better crossover appeal, and had more 'star power.'

C) It became clear to him it did not matter who was in the background as long as Diana was in front. This is not a knock on Diana, but rather evidenced by the following:

- Andantes were present on their recordings since 1963, and on their #1's as early as 1964.
- Andantes were on entire albums, such as their Christmas album
- Cindy filled in for Flo in April 1967, and even Marlene filled in for Flo on numerous occasions prior, and either nobody noticed or nobody cared
- Diana made a blatant statement that their were stand-in's for Flo and Mary, but not for herself

Again, this is separating documented history from feelings and opinions. It doesn't matter if we like it that Berry thought Diana was more commercial. The fact is that he did and that's why she was the lead.

This. And Gordy was usually [[not always, usually) correct in these decisions. And record sales, crowd sizes, longevity, name recognition, etc have proven his decision absolutely correct.

[Boogiedown]

Levi's name couldn't be put out front because then the act would have to have been renamed "Levi Stubbs and the Three Tops," which would have been pretty dumb.
.

lol!



I remember when listening to Casey Kasen back in the early 70's , he once said that Levi refused to take "top" billing [[pun not originally intended) over the rest of the act because he considered them all equal. That comment really stood out to me at the time , and my brain filed it as worth keeping.

[Bluebrock]

I always find these threads to be interesting. A bit tiring, but fascinating. It's interesting that any time this question comes up the discussion very quickly turns away from blatant facts [[i.e. is anyone drawing from actual statements from Berry?) and into feelings and opinions about who was better, who had star quality, etc. etc.

No matter who you think was better, whether you think Flo and Mary were average, or whether or not you think Diana earned it or not, from all evidence and clearly documented history, Berry added the name change for several reasons:

A) For uniformity. Smokey had his full name out in front. Then Diana. And then even Martha had her last name added [[now the real interesting question is why not the Temptations or the Four Tops or the Marvelettes? One could guess that their leads were not as commercially accessible as the others)

B) Commercial accessibility. Berry believed Diana was more mainstream-friendly, had the better crossover appeal, and had more 'star power.'

C) It became clear to him it did not matter who was in the background as long as Diana was in front. This is not a knock on Diana, but rather evidenced by the following:

- Andantes were present on their recordings since 1963, and on their #1's as early as 1964.
- Andantes were on entire albums, such as their Christmas album
- Cindy filled in for Flo in April 1967, and even Marlene filled in for Flo on numerous occasions prior, and either nobody noticed or nobody cared
- Diana made a blatant statement that their were stand-in's for Flo and Mary, but not for herself

Again, this is separating documented history from feelings and opinions. It doesn't matter if we like it that Berry thought Diana was more commercial. The fact is that he did and that's why she was the lead.

Very interesting points you make i suspect you have pretty much hit the nail on the head with most of your facts and observations, Thank you.

[theboyfromxtown]

That comment really stood out to me at the time , and my brain filed it as worth keeping.

lol

Same for me but I never knew why I remembered it. Now I know why!

[thanxal]

... so other threads will not be polluted by the same, tired, old kiki. GO TO IT, GIRLS!

Respectfully PNH, stirring up trouble to counter others who stir up trouble just drags you into the mud with them. Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion and strategies. But if the end result is degrading statements being thrown at any Motown performer, then the net result is just sad. Ralph has said he won't stop this type of behavior, and as admin that is his prerogative, so I suppose the sh*t stirrers will continue, but do you really want to be a part of that?

[PeaceNHarmony]

Respectfully PNH, stirring up trouble to counter others who stir up trouble just drags you into the mud with them. Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion and strategies. But if the end result is degrading statements being thrown at any Motown performer, then the net result is just sad. Ralph has said he won't stop this type of behavior, and as admin that is his prerogative, so I suppose the sh*t stirrers will continue, but do you really want to be a part of that?

Hi Thanxal! Truly, I don't, and I agree fully about your 'net result' quote. SO! As of right now, I issue the Great Soulful Detroit Challenge! I vow to say nothing negative about any of our beloved performers, and challenge every other member to do the same. The first member to make ANY negative statement about any member or any performer will donate $500 to the Soulful Detroit forum. GAME ON!

[thanxal]

Hi Thanxal! Truly, I don't, and I agree fully about your 'net result' quote. SO! As of right now, I issue the Great Soulful Detroit Challenge! I vow to say nothing negative about any of our beloved performers, and challenge every other member to do the same. The first member to make ANY negative statement about any member or any performer will donate $500 to the Soulful Detroit forum. GAME ON!

PNH, I admire this spirit and thank you for trying to make this forum about the music. I hope everyone will join in this effort.

[PeaceNHarmony]

PNH, I admire this spirit and thank you for trying to make this forum about the music. I hope everyone will join in this effort.

Thank you, friend, and I hope so as well.

[arr&bee]

Well it sounded better than...diana ross and the rossettes!!

[luke]

Actually as Berry has affirmed Mary and Flo were key parts of the Supremes success. Their record sales plummeted after Flo left The Copa wanted Flo on stage. Growing up my schoolmates always refrrred to the Supremes not Diana Ross though Ross was a key element to their success. Why people want to diminish Mary and Flo is beyond me. I am Mary fan but love Diana performing role in he Supremes. Do people do the same to George Harrison, Charlie Watts etc?? Why not appreciate the group rather than say Diana was the Supremes? Paul and John were the Beatles?? [[ If they tried to kick Mary out after Flo I guarantee you the group would have ceased to exist)

[thanxal]

Actually as Berry has affirmed Mary and Flo were key parts of the Supremes success. Their record sales plummeted after Flo left The Copa wanted Flo on stage. Growing up my schoolmates always refrrred to the Supremes not Diana Ross though Ross was a key element to their success. Why people want to diminish Mary and Flo is beyond me. I am Mary fan but love Diana performing role in he Supremes. Do people do the same to George Harrison, Charlie Watts etc?? Why not appreciate the group rather than say Diana was the Supremes? Paul and John were the Beatles?? [[ If they tried to kick Mary out after Flo I guarantee you the group would have ceased to exist)

I agree with you. And maybe if people around here stopped bashing Mary AND Diana, we could get onto more interesting topics and perhaps other groups in the Motown catalog. This forum is far too dominated by Supremes/Diana threads.

[BayouMotownMan]

As a teen growing up when all this took place I'd like to shed a different light on this.

In 1967 Women's Lib was in its infancy. This was back in the day when a star like Andy Griffith could pitch a fit on the set, fire an actor or writer and be considered "macho" and "a natural leader." But when Lucille Ball did the same thing she was labeled a bitch and even a lesbian [[this when she started being called Lucille Balls).

So for Smokey Robinson to assume top billing over his group was an acceptable thing, especially when one considers he wrote and produced most of their hits. He was directly responsible for the sound of the Miracles.

Even though Diana Ross was the lead singer of the most successful female vocal group of all time, for her to assume top billing was considered inappropriate; she may have been the lead singer but she didn't write and produce the hits. The sound of The Supremes was really created by HDH moreso than Ross herself. So why give her so much leverage?

Berry had wanted to change the name about a year earlier when Ross wanted to leave as tensions grew within the group. He surmised that this had to be done slowly, the public would have to be "trained" to accept such a change.

His timing for actually doing it couldn't have been worse. Diana gets top billing, Flo leaves, HDH leaves. Now you had radio programmers considering Ross egotistical and controlling...even though this truly was not her decision.

The first single under the new billing was Reflections. The group was white hot and this song a certain hit regardless. But for over a year every single and lp charted lower and lower and the public railed against the new billing. Take into consideration that even though the name was Diana Ross & The Supremes, DJs and the general public still referred to them as the Supremes. Had Ed Sullivan not been so enamored by Ross and continued to feature the group, it could have ended up quite disastrously

For well over a year after the change, and this is heard on The Supremes at the Talk of the Town, Diana would introduce them as "by the way, we're the Supremes..." and go into a hits medley.

The success of Love Child and the TCB special solidified Diana Ross as an aspiring soloist. But she probably stayed in the group a year longer than planned because shortly after these two massive successes, again, record sales plummeted.

It is still arguable as to whether the name change helped or hurt the group

[Bluebrock]

hey I appreciate that ! I almost didn't post it as I'm not sure how certain things will be received around here. We can be serious fans and have fun too! I hope!

Life is far too short to not have a light hearted laugh every now and then Boogiedown!

[LoveSupreme]

Nice to have something amusing to wake up to Boogiedown. A very clever, creative and downright funny post. Respect.

The public had been subjected to Diana Ross solo recordings since about 1967 on.

Sure the group performed together live on stage and on television because technically Diana had not gone solo, but...the majority of the recordings issued at this time were branded as Diana Ross & The Supremes recordings but in reality were all Diana Ross solo recordings backed with whatever background session singers they employed to provide the backing vocals.

Gordy was smart. He got the public accustomed to her voice out front, so in the end it could [[and was) just about anyone in the background and no one cared or was the wiser.

Many of Diana's early solo recordings could have easily been branded as Diana Ross & The Supremes recordings had she not officially let the group in 1970. Take a listen to "Reach Out" or "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" or "I'm Still Waiting" - those songs could have easily passed as DRATS recordings because the basic structure of the songs was the same.

"Someday We'll Be Together" is the perfect example of this - it was intended as a Diana Ross solo recording and the powers-that-be decided it would make a great swan song for the group. Nothing about that recording was changed - - - except the billing. Instead of it being branded as "Diana Ross" it was branded as "Diana Ross & The Supremes" and again - - - no one was the wiser.

[Boogiedown]

The public had been subjected to Diana Ross solo recordings since about 1967 on.

Sure the group performed together live on stage and on television because technically Diana had not gone solo, but...the majority of the recordings issued at this time were branded as Diana Ross & The Supremes recordings but in reality were all Diana Ross solo recordings backed with whatever background session singers they employed to provide the backing vocals.

Gordy was smart. He got the public accustomed to her voice out front, so in the end it could [[and was) just about anyone in the background and no one cared or was the wiser.

Many of Diana's early solo recordings could have easily been branded as Diana Ross & The Supremes recordings had she not officially let the group in 1970. Take a listen to "Reach Out" or "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" or "I'm Still Waiting" - those songs could have easily passed as DRATS recordings because the basic structure of the songs was the same.

"Someday We'll Be Together" is the perfect example of this - it was intended as a Diana Ross solo recording and the powers-that-be decided it would make a great swan song for the group. Nothing about that recording was changed - - - except the billing. Instead of it being branded as "Diana Ross" it was branded as "Diana Ross & The Supremes" and again - - - no one was the wiser.

I think you've said it about right .
I'm speaking only for myself , but as a teen , when the sixties became the seventies, as these various songs of theirs made it to the radio , I don't remember sorting it out that this song was the Supremes but without Diana Ross , and this other one was Diana Ross but without the Supremes . They all sounded interrelated to me.

BTW did the two ever overlap on the charts?

[captainjames]

I actually believe at the time BG wanted a hit in the girls so Diana could leave and he put everyone together to come up with Love Child. Love Child was gold,,,,now why BG waited after that to pull Diana from the group has history to it.

[LoveSupreme]

I had no idea as someone mentioned earlier in this thread that Diana wanted to leave the group as early as 1966! That's only a mere 2 years after their first #1 hit. Wow! Things must have been really bad for her to want to leave the group at that point.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I had no idea as someone mentioned earlier in this thread that Diana wanted to leave the group as early as 1966! That's only a mere 2 years after their first #1 hit. Wow! Things must have been really bad for her to want to leave the group at that point.

I'm not so sure that that's the case; of course Diana may have had a 'bad day' and made a statement like that in haste. But it's also known that the others did not have Diana's work ethic and getting credit for songs they did not sing on and I think that bothered her, so who really knows?

[BigAl]

By the time the name was changed to DRATS, I could tell that the background vocals did not sound the way they used to. I attributed it to several things, but never to the actual absence of Mary and Cindy.

From the days of the Country Western and Pop album, I had always assumed that the backgrounds might have featured additional singers, or, at any rate, that Mary's and Florence's backgrounds were overdubbed multiple times.

By the time of the name change, Florence was no longer in the group, so that element was gone, and I assumed that accounted for a different background vocal sound.

Also, it usually sounded like more than two voices in the background, but I surmised that this was just a matter of overdubbing again, and that I was listening to Mary and Cindy.

Now, when "Someday" came out, it was really obvious to me that there were more than two voices, yet it was only then that I finally questioned whether Mary and Cindy were present at all. The backgrounds were so much more prominent and they sounded nothing like any that had come before. Thus, when the actual facts surfaced a few months later, I was not surprised at all.

[antceleb12]

By the time the name was changed to DRATS, I could tell that the background vocals did not sound the way they used to. I attributed it to several things, but never to the actual absence of Mary and Cindy.

From the days of the Country Western and Pop album, I had always assumed that the backgrounds might have featured additional singers, or, at any rate, that Mary's and Florence's backgrounds were overdubbed multiple times.

By the time of the name change, Florence was no longer in the group, so that element was gone, and I assumed that accounted for a different background vocal sound.

Also, it usually sounded like more than two voices in the background, but I surmised that this was just a matter of overdubbing again, and that I was listening to Mary and Cindy.

Now, when "Someday" came out, it was really obvious to me that there were more than two voices, yet it was only then that I finally questioned whether Mary and Cindy were present at all. The backgrounds were so much more prominent and they sounded nothing like any that had come before. Thus, when the actual facts surfaced a few months later, I was not surprised at all.

In the early days [[Mary even writes it in her book), all three Supremes - Diana, Mary, and Florence - would record the background parts and then whoever was leading would add their part. You can hear this in "Long Gone Lover." No Andantes, but all three Supremes. I surmise that this is probably the case with much of the Country album, although the Andantes are definitely present on the final verse of 'Makes No Difference Now.' Liverpool and Sam Cooke are very much just the three Supremes with no overdubbing, and the same even goes for the Rodgers and Hart album. But then you have the HDH album, which is littered with the Andantes...

[Bluebrock]

I had no idea as someone mentioned earlier in this thread that Diana wanted to leave the group as early as 1966! That's only a mere 2 years after their first #1 hit. Wow! Things must have been really bad for her to want to leave the group at that point.

Not sure how true this is. She did tell me that she was poised to leave when Flo was fired but Berry changed his mind and changed the name of the group instead.

[John G. Stumpf]

Not sure how true this is. She did tell me that she was poised to leave when Flo was fired but Berry changed his mind and changed the name of the group instead.

I think it is so cool that this forum has people who worked in the music industry posting. I joined because you worked for EMI UK and my Uncle was there for almost 20 years and you have to know each other. He has a lot of photos that he took to a service to have them uploaded to the internet that I plan to post. There was a big, big party EMI threw to celebrate the success of the One Woman Collection, so one day you are going to have a big, wonderful surprise when you log in. My uncle still has the staff directories for his years there. I can't describe you, but I keep telling him you are the one who loved Diana Ross. He liked Sheena Easton a lot, but I think her campaigns were before you were there. When my Uncle left EMI he left the industry completely. Look forward to hearing from you and I LOVE your posts!

[144man]

I remember a British national newspaper was suggesting that Diana Ross should go solo at a relatively early date, but I haven't tracked down where I read it yet.