“Bad Weather”

[midnightman]

I doubt a move to ABC would have worked. The Dixie Cups, Crystals And Flo all sank when they went to that label Which did not really have a stellar record with a lot of R&B acts. Atlantic may have been a great move though. Were any labels besides ABC interested?

We're talking about the Supremes. It was different for Florence because she wasn't allowed to use her Supremes connection to get the promo [[the fact that her solo material was unfocused and badly produced was another reason Flo never really got her shine post-Supremes).

The Four Tops managed to score hits because they were big enough to still get ahead. I think it has to do with how business savvy you are and the Four Tops were the oldest Motown group in terms of age [[all of them were doggone near 40 when they signed with ABC in 1972 while two of the Supremes post DR were just 28).

And I don't think Mary was thinking of the future at the time or how to make sure they manage to leave the label with their name intact [[Motown never owned the Four Tops' name and Otis & Melvin were able to retain usage of the Temptations name before they left for Atlantic in 1977).

And like BMM just said, the Supremes were already legends by 1973. They could've found a way [[at least Mary anyway since she was the only original remaining at that point) to get back ownership of the name and move on with a label and get renewed push like the Tops did [[their last Motown recordings were duds but they revived themselves after the ABC move).

[marv2]

We're talking about the Supremes. It was different for Florence because she wasn't allowed to use her Supremes connection to get the promo [[the fact that her solo material was unfocused and badly produced was another reason Flo never really got her shine post-Supremes).

The Supremes would have not been allowed to use the name "The Supremes" or even say they were the Supremes had they left. That's why Mary decided to stay and fight with Motown.

[milven]

The Supremes would have not been allowed to use the name "The Supremes" or even say they were the Supremes had they left. That's why Mary decided to stay and fight with Motown.

Some groups have left their names behind, and still found success.

Patti Labelle and the Bluebells reinvented themselves as LaBelle.
The Moments became Ray Goodman & Brown.
Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship and then Starship.

I believe that when the Temps left for Atlantic, they were given the choice to either leave their name behind or take it and leave any future royalties from their catalogue behind.

Someone here can confirm this or correct me.

Some who left Motown continued to succeed without Motown [[Diana, 4 Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips)

[marv2]

Some groups have left their names behind, and still found success.

Patti Labelle and the Bluebells reinvented themselves as LaBelle.
The Moments became Ray Goodman & Brown.
Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship and then Starship.

I believe that when the Temps left for Atlantic, they were given the choice to either leave their name behind or take it and leave any future royalties from their catalogue behind.

Someone here can confirm this or correct me.

Some who left Motown continued to succeed without Motown [[Diana, 4 Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips)

I understand what you are saying, but none of those names were as big as "The Supremes". Their name was in the realm of "Elvis", "The Beatles", "Sinatra" etc,etc.

[TheMotownManiac]

We're talking about the Supremes. It was different for Florence because she wasn't allowed to use her Supremes connection to get the promo [[the fact that her solo material was unfocused and badly produced was another reason Flo never really got her shine post-Supremes).

The Four Tops managed to score hits because they were big enough to still get ahead. I think it has to do with how business savvy you are and the Four Tops were the oldest Motown group in terms of age [[all of them were doggone near 40 when they signed with ABC in 1972 while two of the Supremes post DR were just 28).

And I don't think Mary was thinking of the future at the time or how to make sure they manage to leave the label with their name intact [[Motown never owned the Four Tops' name and Otis & Melvin were able to retain usage of the Temptations name before they left for Atlantic in 1977).

And like BMM just said, the Supremes were already legends by 1973. They could've found a way [[at least Mary anyway since she was the only original remaining at that point) to get back ownership of the name and move on with a label and get renewed push like the Tops did [[their last Motown recordings were duds but they revived themselves after the ABC move).

There is no way that Barry Gordy was ever going to allow the name of the Supremes to be used outside of the company…….There’s nothing that Mary could have done and Lord knows she tried as hard as any human could possibly try.