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  1. #1
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    Touch the lp - a discussion

    ok - sort of getting tired of the Motown 60 chats so figured i'd start a new thread lol

    the Touch lp seems to often rank in many fans' top 10 list so figured we should discuss, inspect, make suggested changes, etc

    Aside from Time and Love, i find this to be the most cohesive and enjoyable of nearly all Sup albums. the production is excellent, the song choice perfect, vocal performances great.

    But of course, i'd make some changes! lol

    T&L - what the hell?!?!? i'm not a fan of this song at all but especially in this lp lineup. perhaps it would have fit better on New Ways.

    This is the story - love this song. and i'm wondering if an edited version might have done well as a single. it's a more complex song but beautifully performed and might have been able to work as a Nathan follow up

    Fav track - probably Here Comes the Sunrise. love this one. also potential singles potential in my book

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    Touch and Floy Joy are my favorite Jean led Supremes albums. I agree the album is very cohesive and the vocals are great. Touch [[Mary and even Cindy got a chance shine on this one), This is the Story, Here Comes The Sunshine, Love It Came To Me This Time, and Nathan Jones are my favorites. This is the one "new" Supremes albums in my rotation on a regular basis.

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    Yeah "Time and Love" is the one misstep on the album. The rest of the album is very good. I would remove "Time" and replace it with something, probably a Mary lead. I play this album more than any other 70s Supremes album. My go to cuts are "This Is the Story", "Here Comes the Sunrise", "Johnny Raven", "Have I Lost You", "Touch" and "It's So Hard for Me to Say Goodbye".

    I definitely think "Sunrise" could've been a single.

    The cover was very eye catching. Perhaps the most eye catching Supremes cover at the time.

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    I was listening to this album just a few weeks ago. I had always liked it but for some reason, I was again struck by how good it is. I think it is a very strong album with great tracks, but I don't hear a lot of singles on it, other than NATHAN JONES, and maybe JOHNNY RAVEN and HAPPY [[IS A BUMPY ROAD). The only song that I truly dislike on it is the title track.

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    yeah i wonder if there was another "standout" single on it. Had the ipod playing in the car on way to work this morning and This Is The Story came on. I just love that song and started to think it MIGHT have worked as a single. obviously the time length would have to be adjusted. After NJ, i think a mature and lush ballad might have worked. Clearly Touch wasn't the right choice but the reasons if flopped are not, IMO, present on TITS. it builds to a momentous ending sort of like Touch Me In the Morning. it's mature and sexy.

    Might have been a good next step for the girls. the launched the New Supremes with a perfect single - Ladder. it's a new decade and a new group. Great to tap into a new sound that embodies the "peace and love" vibe of the era. This was developed beautifully with Stoned Love and New Ways. with Touch, you start to expand their sound and approach with more complex material and lyrics. It really shows growth.

    I think had they not bumbled things by flooding the market with the duet work, NJ would have charted higher and then there would have been stronger demand for the follow up. TITS might have provided something new yet not too different

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    Although I get the dislike [[or hate) some have for Time and Love on
    Touch, I didn't feel that way. I thought that, as the one non-Motown song on the album, it was a fairly good choice. Singer-songwriters, especially women [[Carole King and Joni Mitchell), were really hitting big in 1971. I'd already known about Laura Nyro from the Fifth Dimension's Stoned Soul Picnic and Sweet Blindness. The songs on Touch seemed steps away from New Ways, which was itself steps away from Right On. And that's why I really liked Touch.
    I'm totally with you on This Is the Story and Here Comes The Sunrise, my two favorites, along with Nathan Jones [[another departure from "Motown"). Both could or should have been the follow-up to Nathan Jones. Love [[It Came to Me This Time) is a beautiful song and track. It's So Hard For Me to Say Goodbye is the most soulful vocal on the album by Jean [[as is TITS). I was glad Mary sang lead on Touch, but it should not have been the follow-up single.
    On my Touch playlist, I put Time and Love at the end, after Happy Is a Bumpy Road. Both songs summarize the album's theme of love's ups and downs.

    I probably listen to Touch and Right On more than any other "New Supremes" album.
    It also has my favorite album cover, a perfect image for the "New Supremes".
    Last edited by lucky2012; 04-25-2019 at 11:50 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    ok - sort of getting tired of the Motown 60 chats so figured i'd start a new thread lol

    the Touch lp seems to often rank in many fans' top 10 list so figured we should discuss, inspect, make suggested changes, etc

    Aside from Time and Love, i find this to be the most cohesive and enjoyable of nearly all Sup albums. the production is excellent, the song choice perfect, vocal performances great.

    But of course, i'd make some changes! lol

    T&L - what the hell?!?!? i'm not a fan of this song at all but especially in this lp lineup. perhaps it would have fit better on New Ways.

    This is the story - love this song. and i'm wondering if an edited version might have done well as a single. it's a more complex song but beautifully performed and might have been able to work as a Nathan follow up

    Fav track - probably Here Comes the Sunrise. love this one. also potential singles potential in my book
    It's a very cohesive album, but i do not hear any other major hits on it, whereas i thought Right On had at least 3 more potential hits, and New Ways but Love Stays had a couple of other possible singles. Obviously the title track was a very bad choice as the follow up to Nathan Jones. I love this song, but no way was it ever going to be a major hit. I think i would have gone with Here Comes the Sunrise. Here in the UK i would have gone with Time and Love which was very catchy, and had not made much of a splash here. It could have easily followed Nathan into the UK top 10.

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    there's a rare promotional version of the lp that was distributed to dj's as an "interview with the supremes" interwoven between some of the lp's songs. My copy of the album is great but missing the question list. The dj's would have read the question and then played the pre-recorded answers from the girls.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluebrock View Post
    It's a very cohesive album, but i do not hear any other major hits on it, whereas i thought Right On had at least 3 more potential hits, and New Ways but Love Stays had a couple of other possible singles. Obviously the title track was a very bad choice as the follow up to Nathan Jones. I love this song, but no way was it ever going to be a major hit. I think i would have gone with Here Comes the Sunrise. Here in the UK i would have gone with Time and Love which was very catchy, and had not made much of a splash here. It could have easily followed Nathan into the UK top 10.
    wow! interesting that you think T&L would have worked for the UK market. seems like most of the US fans haven't cared for that track. To my ears, it's too 5th Dimension-ish. Perhaps if the Sups had started with that sound and style back in 70 with T&L and Bill When You Coming Back. And then maybe some of the rejected Bones tracks from Diana debut like Stoney End.

    but i'm just not as much of a fan of this sound or style.

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    Nathan Jones is a phenomenal track. It did hit #1 here locally and should have gone into the top 10 Billboard at least. The only follow up for me would have been Here Comes The Sunrise. Touch should have remained an album track. The other songs I enjoyed most were This Is The Story and Love It Came To Me This Time. I also read long ago that both Jean and Diana used the same backing track for Time & Love. Also the TOUCH album cover was beautiful!

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    there's a rare promotional version of the lp that was distributed to dj's as an "interview with the supremes" interwoven between some of the lp's songs. My copy of the album is great but missing the question list. The dj's would have read the question and then played the pre-recorded answers from the girls.
    I have it. If I can remember, I’ll scan it and post it here.

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    OMG....my fav Supremes LP of all time....I have stated in several discussions that I hate both Time and Love and Love The One Your With by anyone...Composer Nyro's T&L is tolerable, the many covers...barf barf.... I love the entire LP except for that one song...with the exception of High Energy there are usually 1 or 2 cuts on every LP I skip over.
    Nathan Jones single mix should have been used...like Right On's mix of UP THE LADDER the fidelity isn't good. Have I Lost You should have been a single...The opening and closing LP Tracks are the perfect bread for my ultimate Supremes sandwich!

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    I had the DJ's issue....it was missing the color treatments on the cover, just B&W range image with a small crossband in the lower left corner...the interview was nothing special. They took the pink and yellow out of the CD release panel too, if I'm not mistaken the blue remained in a toned down hue with black and grey. the original cover was eye catching, and IMHO the most gorgeous picture of Cindy Birdsong I have ever seen.

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    the original cover art was sensational. they did a lot of pics at the session that yielded the cover and back art. it's a great look for the girls. The front is super sexy - fits right with the title of Touch. and then the back in those black pants and sequin tops.

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    has the single version of NJ been released on cd? i've noticed that in some versions the synthesizer effects are more prominent than in other version. especially during the bridge of the song

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    Quote Originally Posted by nathanj06 View Post
    Nathan Jones is a phenomenal track. It did hit #1 here locally and should have gone into the top 10 Billboard at least. The only follow up for me would have been Here Comes The Sunrise. Touch should have remained an album track. The other songs I enjoyed most were This Is The Story and Love It Came To Me This Time. I also read long ago that both Jean and Diana used the same backing track for Time & Love. Also the TOUCH album cover was beautiful!
    Yes it's the same track. I think someone said they can hear Diana's original vocal bleeding through the track. It's a song I never listen to so I haven't even put it on to give a listen to see if it's true.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gman View Post
    I had the DJ's issue....it was missing the color treatments on the cover, just B&W range image with a small crossband in the lower left corner...the interview was nothing special. They took the pink and yellow out of the CD release panel too, if I'm not mistaken the blue remained in a toned down hue with black and grey. the original cover was eye catching, and IMHO the most gorgeous picture of Cindy Birdsong I have ever seen.
    Cindy is stunning on the cover. Absolutely stunning.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gman View Post
    I had the DJ's issue....it was missing the color treatments on the cover, just B&W range image with a small crossband in the lower left corner...the interview was nothing special. They took the pink and yellow out of the CD release panel too, if I'm not mistaken the blue remained in a toned down hue with black and grey. the original cover was eye catching, and IMHO the most gorgeous picture of Cindy Birdsong I have ever seen.
    Yes, the first cd release lacked the nice rainbow effect from the album cover and instead turned it into dark colors. But they later corrected it.

    Re Cindy, that is one of her most beautiful photos. When I first saw it, I wasn't sure it was her.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    Yes it's the same track. I think someone said they can hear Diana's original vocal bleeding through the track. It's a song I never listen to so I haven't even put it on to give a listen to see if it's true.
    I tried to hear bleedthrough but I didn't. But I haven't listened to it with headphones.

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    Though I liked Nathan Jones and loved Touch, this album didn’t excite me the way Right On and New Ways did. Not bad but all B sides to me for the rest of the album.

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    Easily Jeans gutsiest LP without going overboard on the ad libs or runs [[ie: Bad Weather)...New Ways was a tad too polished and Right On was all over the place, but had lots of pleasant mediocre original tracks. Floy Joy is a great LP...it's my 2nd fave JT Lp...its got Smokey's "Quiet Storm" all over it, and the songs flow nice and gentle often without peaking...on Touch all of the songs have peaks and more excitement vocally.

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    There are certainly a few songs from the Promises Kept sessions that I would use to replace Time And Love. I find that song jarring on the album as it's vibe has nothing to do with any of the other songs. It just sticks out to me, and it's not one of my favorite songs anyway. If they were going to use a Bones Howe backing track, maybe they should have use dLove, Lines, Angles and Rhymes. That, at least, would have fit the album better.

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    Back in the day, I thought Love It Came To Me This Time should have been released as a single. And my recollection of the Rolling Stone Magazine review of this album was they thought Jean Terrell and Love It Came To Me This Time were fantastic.

    I really liked Touch, This is the Story, Here Comes the Sunrise and Nathan Jones. I would have dropped Time and Love - but it was ok.

    This and Right On were their best albums and I wish they had sold better than they did. New Way and Floy Joy were pretty obviously weaker albums and didn't do as well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gman View Post
    Easily Jeans gutsiest LP without going overboard on the ad libs or runs [[ie: Bad Weather)...New Ways was a tad too polished and Right On was all over the place, but had lots of pleasant mediocre original tracks. Floy Joy is a great LP...it's my 2nd fave JT Lp...its got Smokey's "Quiet Storm" all over it, and the songs flow nice and gentle often without peaking...on Touch all of the songs have peaks and more excitement vocally.
    I don't think I'd call the Right On tracks mediocre, however I do think most of them lacked an edge that was present on New Ways and even further on Touch. I agree about Floy Joy. Easily my second fav 70s Supremes album.

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    Quote Originally Posted by thommg View Post
    There are certainly a few songs from the Promises Kept sessions that I would use to replace Time And Love. I find that song jarring on the album as it's vibe has nothing to do with any of the other songs. It just sticks out to me, and it's not one of my favorite songs anyway. If they were going to use a Bones Howe backing track, maybe they should have use dLove, Lines, Angles and Rhymes. That, at least, would have fit the album better.
    "Love Lines" or "Stoney End" would've been fantastic Jean leads and better fits for the album. I don't know why "Time and Love" was the cut chosen for Jean to sing over. I wonder if maybe Jean cut leads to all four Howe cuts Diana sang?

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    i like most of the Jean led albums except Jimmy Webb and Touch is one of my favorites , minus Time and Love, although I liked it at first. but to me ,it doesn't fit the album.
    Here Comes The Sunrise and Love It Came To Me This Time are two are my favorites.
    Touch, ...I liked Mary's lead but to me it should not have been a duet. also I think it needs a better mix. this is one song I hope gets a new mix.

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    When I got the album I felt the next single should be either Touch or Here Comes The Sunrise. I love the other songs, except Time And Love and Johnny Raven [[although I like Kiki Dee's version), but didn't think any of them could be singles.

    For devout fans of The Supremes the Touch album was a welcome change to a more mature sound and feeling. However, I have often wondered if fans of Nathan Jones were disappointed that the album didn't contain any similar sounding songs or at least something more upbeat and Pop.

    Most of the songs on Touch, to be honest, are kind of depressing either in lyric or melody and tempo: This is the story of my life to be filled with pain...Have I lost you...Happy is a bumpy road...it's so hard for me to say goodbye...Nathan Jones you've been gone too long...

    I loved the album and music and Jean's voice but I never paid too much attention to the overall tone of the music on the album. When the Floy Joy album was released I sensed how refreshing that album was and realized how dark the Touch album was. Floy Joy, more Pop in it's approach, charted better than Touch.

    It's funny to see how many people don't like Time and Love. It is so out of place. It would be like adding The Lady Is A Tramp to the Love Child album. I think this would have been the perfect opportunity for Motown to pull Life Beats from the vault. It would have added a Pop song to complement Nathan Jones.

    Side 1: Nathan Jones, Here Comes The Sunrise, Life Beats, Touch, Johnny Raven.
    Side 2: This Is The Story, Have I Lost You, Love It Came To Me This Time, Happy Is A Bumpy Road, It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye.

    Over the past 45+ years of listening to these albums Right On has always been my favorite of the Jean-led albums. Touch and Floy Joy usually tie for second place. However, in the past few years I've been playing select tracks [[originals not covers) from New Ways the most!
    Last edited by johnjeb; 04-25-2019 at 11:22 PM.

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    I like New Ways....Its Time To Break Down has like Going Down For The Third Time dropped off my list of favs...I would have liked the fuller sounding single mix of Stoned Love expanded....along with NJ and UTLTTR the single mixes rock...their LP mixes sound compressed and dull...I like Bridge and Na Na....Come Together I could spare. I do like Diana's version....and I prefer alternate longer vers. of Floy Joy, Automatically Sunshine [[that center hook makes a big difference and gives it some "catch") and ditto for the reprise intro passage on the extended I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking....[[all on the 70's Greatest Hits and Rare Classics CD along with the 3 single versions mentioned above) ..the 7" vers of IGLMDTW is a hatched job. Ross's Lovin' Livin and Givin' edit was another one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jobeterob View Post
    Back in the day, I thought Love It Came To Me This Time should have been released as a single. And my recollection of the Rolling Stone Magazine review of this album was they thought Jean Terrell and Love It Came To Me This Time were fantastic.

    I really liked Touch, This is the Story, Here Comes the Sunrise and Nathan Jones. I would have dropped Time and Love - but it was ok.

    This and Right On were their best albums and I wish they had sold better than they did. New Way and Floy Joy were pretty obviously weaker albums and didn't do as well.
    I also love Right On. I thought it was a well balanced album that had several potential hits on there. Without doubt my favorite 70's Supremes album. I also loved New Ways except for Na Na and Come Together. It's time to break down is the lost hit from that album. Touch lacked another hit single. It made for pleasant listening, but no real tracks to jump out at you aside from Nathan. After that it began to go downhill for me and reached rock bottom with the Jimmy Webb album.

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    "Shine On Me" is a great song and would have fit nicely on Touch...even as a repeat track.

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    that's a great point that the sound and interesting effects on NJ were completely ignored for all of the other tracks. they were so unique and special that you'd think they'd at least experiment some more and incorporate

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    in the Touch interview lp, Cindy describes a bit of how Frank was looking to build a how story of love with the choice of songs and the lineup.

    This is the story - the pain of heartbreak
    Nathan jones - ok you d***, screw you and the horse your rode in on lol
    Here comes the sunrise - starting over
    love it came to me this time - thanking god for a new love entering your life
    Johnny Raven - ok boy, are you a player too? but you're kind of fine so maybe i'll play along
    Have I lost you - oh no, not heartbreak again
    Time and love - even if it is heartbreak again, time and love will cure all
    touch - ok you're bad and that was a HOT night last night. makeup sex can be amazing lol
    Happy is a bumpy road - we're together but will this last?
    It's so hard - it's not gonna last and i have to go

    which leads full circle back to This Is The Story

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    in the Touch interview lp, Cindy describes a bit of how Frank was looking to build a how story of love with the choice of songs and the lineup.

    This is the story - the pain of heartbreak
    Nathan jones - ok you d***, screw you and the horse your rode in on lol
    Here comes the sunrise - starting over
    love it came to me this time - thanking god for a new love entering your life
    Johnny Raven - ok boy, are you a player too? but you're kind of fine so maybe i'll play along
    Have I lost you - oh no, not heartbreak again
    Time and love - even if it is heartbreak again, time and love will cure all
    touch - ok you're bad and that was a HOT night last night. makeup sex can be amazing lol
    Happy is a bumpy road - we're together but will this last?
    It's so hard - it's not gonna last and i have to go

    which leads full circle back to This Is The Story
    I think that would've gone over very well if the chorus to "This Is the Story" was reprised at the very end. Would've made a nice concept album that way.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gman View Post
    I like New Ways....Its Time To Break Down has like Going Down For The Third Time dropped off my list of favs...I would have liked the fuller sounding single mix of Stoned Love expanded....along with NJ and UTLTTR the single mixes rock...their LP mixes sound compressed and dull...I like Bridge and Na Na....Come Together I could spare. I do like Diana's version....and I prefer alternate longer vers. of Floy Joy, Automatically Sunshine [[that center hook makes a big difference and gives it some "catch") and ditto for the reprise intro passage on the extended I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking....[[all on the 70's Greatest Hits and Rare Classics CD along with the 3 single versions mentioned above) ..the 7" vers of IGLMDTW is a hatched job. Ross's Lovin' Livin and Givin' edit was another one.
    New Ways is the one that I'm growing to not care for more and more as the years pass. I really only play "Together We Can Make", "Time to Break Down", "I Wish I Were Your Mirror" and "Is There a Place".

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    ^i like NWBLS although i think it could have been a bit stronger. Na Na feels out of place and i think they should have replaced with another of the canned tracks. something that expresses more of the peace and love for mankind theme

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    Great analysis sup_fan. Makes a lot of sense when you break it down like that. I never considered each song's content or theme as a progression of the "story". Doh!

    It's a shame that this album wasn't promoted more enthusiastically regarding the theme and concept of the album. But I still maintain it's a bit on the dark side to have gained wider appreciation. Having a "story" spread over two sides of a vinyl LP can possibly lose the thread of the theme. I like RanRan79's suggestion of the chorus from This Is The Story connecting the songs - maybe the oohs that open that song would have worked.

    Back then I had a mono player and a friend had a stereo console but the fidelity wasn't the best. One night we were at another friend's house who had a component stereo system with headphones. My friend's eyes almost popped out of his head when he heard the spoken part of Have I Lost You, through the headphones, when Cindy[[?) whispers the title. Something we had never heard before on our own players. This was 1974 - three years after release! It's amazing listening to that song today to imagine that both of us missed that spoken whisper all those years.

    As for New Ways, I think the theme or mood would have been better served by limiting it to one side of the album. On my iPod/iPhone I've ordered the songs as: Such Sweet Music, Stoned Love, Break Down, Shine On Me and Thank Him - which I think would have made a more cohesive Side 1. In 1970 my college dorm was working on a group project. Stoned Love was a big hit. The "hippies" on my floor knowing I was a Supremes fan asked to hear the New Ways album while we painted. They liked the first three songs but dissed Bridge and Mirror and declined to hear Side 2. Oh well.
    Last edited by johnjeb; 04-26-2019 at 10:17 PM.

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    I remember they had this huge cardboard cut out floor display of the "Touch" album at Clark's Records, a popular local record store. You would see it everytime you drove past. They kept it up for several years as I recall.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marv2 View Post
    I remember they had this huge cardboard cut out floor display of the "Touch" album at Clark's Records, a popular local record store. You would see it everytime you drove past. They kept it up for several years as I recall.
    Odd that they would have such material on a group they never promoted

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluebrock View Post
    Here in the UK i would have gone with Time and Love which was very catchy, and had not made much of a splash here. It could have easily followed Nathan into the UK top 10.
    I think this is an interesting point. Tamla Motown in the U.K were making their own decisions on single releases around this time, and getting reasonable hits out of tracks that never got a chance in the U.S. I'm thinking of Diana Ross 'Doobedoodn' doobe..' [[no.12 charts 1972) and Four Tops 'Walk with me talk with me darling' [[no. 32 charts 1972). Time and Love had a sound that could fit right in with what was popular here in the U.K at the time.

    Though I'm not keen on it myself. I LOVE the rest of the Touch album.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    Yes it's the same track. I think someone said they can hear Diana's original vocal bleeding through the track. It's a song I never listen to so I haven't even put it on to give a listen to see if it's true.
    When Diane went solo, before she had released any material, I read in a couple of places that "Time and Love" was to be her debut single, and, further, that Motown, in a stunning move, was reaching outside of its own stable of producers and bringing in Bones Howe to produce it. Pairing a Laura Nyro song with Howe's production was a staple for the Fifth Dimension, and I found it incongruous that this much-used pairing would be employed for Diane's first solo outing. After those couple of mentions, however, I never heard anything more about it until the track showed up later by The Supremes and by Diane. Checking references, I see that she recorded it in 1970 although it didn't appear on her debut album. I wasn't aware that the same backing track was used on both hers and The Supremes' versions but of course it's obvious once you know. Now I'm wondering if Howe had any hand at all in the Motown production of the song. Does anyone know?

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    Quote Originally Posted by BigAl View Post
    When Diane went solo, before she had released any material, I read in a couple of places that "Time and Love" was to be her debut single, and, further, that Motown, in a stunning move, was reaching outside of its own stable of producers and bringing in Bones Howe to produce it. Pairing a Laura Nyro song with Howe's production was a staple for the Fifth Dimension, and I found it incongruous that this much-used pairing would be employed for Diane's first solo outing. After those couple of mentions, however, I never heard anything more about it until the track showed up later by The Supremes and by Diane. Checking references, I see that she recorded it in 1970 although it didn't appear on her debut album. I wasn't aware that the same backing track was used on both hers and The Supremes' versions but of course it's obvious once you know. Now I'm wondering if Howe had any hand at all in the Motown production of the song. Does anyone know?
    Bones produced four songs with Diana: TIME AND LOVE, STONEY END, THE INTERIM, and LOVE'S LINES ANGLES AND RHYMES.

    TIME AND LOVE was eventually released on a Diana anthology collection in 2001. The other three were released [[along with TAL) on an expanded edition of Diana's debut solo album in 2002.

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    Thanks. I imagine the info was probably available on the expanded Diana Ross solo debut reissue, which I don’t have. Her version of T&L and The Supremes’ could be almost interchangeable. I suppose, after importing a non-Motown producer to produce/engineer a non-Jobete song probably cost a bundle so it would stand to reason that they might recycle the number as an album track for The Supremes, so's not to waste it altogether, and keep Diane’s in the can for some years. While Nyro/Howe was a pleasant combination, sunshine-pop wasn’t really the best use of the talents of the singers involved. Placing the track on the Touch album sort of disrupted its continuity. It probably should have stayed in the can alongside Diane’s and dredged up years later for expanded reissues.

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    There was a video on Youtube at one time that mixed The Supremes version of "Time and Love" amd Diane's version. One thing it did was make it very clear that Jean and Diane sound nothing alike.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marv2 View Post
    I remember they had this huge cardboard cut out floor display of the "Touch" album at Clark's Records, a popular local record store. You would see it everytime you drove past. They kept it up for several years as I recall.
    Very cool! Was it the cover shot blown up?

    The sad thing is that there was decent promotion of the first couple Sup albums. Probably not to the level of what they did w DRATS stuff or Diana solo. But money was clearly spent on the first few:

    RO has a tearaway poster
    NW had an expensive gatefold cover w die cuts
    Touch had a whole promotional lp manufactured.

    Even Mag 7 had an expensive gatefold and diecut.

    Now I’ll admit that mistakes were still made - especially w NW. the title, the baby pink color and the mini pics in sequins was all wrong

  45. #45
    Indeed this album is a special one for me ! At the age of 16 or 17 my aunt introduced me into Motown with DRATS....I collected more and more....and I found out more and more, all the Details. My first 70´s Supremes album was The Magnificant 7, at this time I crossed my fingers to got a 70´s Supremes solo album...and then I got Touch, I was so happy, about the amazing music and the cover artwork

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    Very cool! Was it the cover shot blown up?

    The sad thing is that there was decent promotion of the first couple Sup albums. Probably not to the level of what they did w DRATS stuff or Diana solo. But money was clearly spent on the first few:

    RO has a tearaway poster
    NW had an expensive gatefold cover w die cuts
    Touch had a whole promotional lp manufactured.

    Even Mag 7 had an expensive gatefold and diecut.

    Now I’ll admit that mistakes were still made - especially w NW. the title, the baby pink color and the mini pics in sequins was all wrong
    Yes, it was the cover picture blown up. It stood on an easel stand in the window until around the mid 70s.

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    I never cared for The Supremes "Time And Love" nor Diana's version, either. In fact, I didn't like any of those Bones Howes productions on Diana. They came off like 5th Dimension and Barbra Streisand retreads, and they didn't sound at all Motown-ish to me. Thank Heaven Motown came to their senses and went with Ashford & Simpson instead. Diana's "Ain't No Mountain High" proved them right.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jobeterob View Post
    odd that they would have such material on a group they never promoted

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    The songs "Touch" and "Time and Love" I would have left in the can. I would have started that album out with "Have I Lost You" next "Nathan Jones". "Oh My Poor Baby" would have worked here and "Johnny Raven". "Happy Is A Bumpy Road" is good but I can't get Eddie Kendricks version out of my head or was that "Its so Had to Say Goodbye". Anyway after telling Nathan he has been gone too long "TSHTSG" would have worked. From there I would have started a Side 2. Oh and yeah the album should have been named Nathan Jones.

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    "Nathan Jones" is a hit single to my ears. I don't hear any others on Touch though.

    I really like both versions of "Time And Love"! I had never heard the Laura Nyro original before and thought they were both pretty good, although Diana just edges it.

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