Originally Posted by
bradsupremes
Motown began using the Andantes in place of the groups around 1965. For the Supremes, at first the Andantes were used on the specialty material like Merry Christmas and There's A Place For Us. It wouldn't be until 1968 that the Andantes took over the majority of background vocals on their recordings. For the Marvelettes & the Vandellas, the switch-over happened much sooner on singles such as "I'll Keep Holding On" and "My Baby Loves Me." There is a common misconception that the Marvelettes and Vandellas were on all these songs with the Andantes added for additional support. The fact is they were replaced totally by the Andantes. There are a few instances where both were used such as "Now Is The Time For Love" and "This Night Was Made For Love." By 1968, the Marvelettes and Vandellas were hardly ever used on recordings. I can name a few Marvelettes tracks like "Uptown," "Your Love Can Save Me," and "Breakthrough" that had Kat, Wanda or Ann on backgrounds. I would say they were used more than the Vandellas were. Other than "Honey Chile" and "Show Me The Way" with Roz and Lois, I couldn't name a track after that with Roz, Lois or Sandy on it after 1967. Martha stated that "Something" was Sandy's first recording with the Vandellas, but how would we know? I couldn't pick out Lois or Sandy's voice if my life depended on it. For as much as get upset about the Andantes replacing Mary & Cindy on post-1967 Supremes tracks, the fact is that Mary & Cindy recorded much more than the Vandellas & Marvelettes put together.
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