I was cutting grass yesterday and whiling away the time with headphones listening to the 'Magnificent' collection from 2009 [[wow ten years ago time sure flies).
I remember getting the impression here that most people didn't give this pairing much kudos for their three LP's together and so was listening especially carefully to at least the first two LPs of the set [[I don't have a very big lawn) probably for the first time in my life and I was loving it.
How amazing was it that different members of each group were given their moment in the sun, to be fair The Tops shared leads around quite regularly but I have come to remember The 60's Supremes being something of a 'one trick pony' with all the leads going to Diana. Hey it's obvious when Diana was replaced Mary was not in any shape vocally to take on the leads and she must have been in the decision making that led to Jean becoming centre stage but at least as the 70's progressed there are quite a lot more times where it's evident that both Mary and Cindy were and felt part of a real partnership, you only have to see them perform live from this period to see they are a real part of the group again.
Anyway back to the pairing of the Tops and the Supremes, I wonder who's idea it was to put them together - obviously Diana and Co had had their day with the Tempts and it had proved fruitful so this was a natural progression but if 'the boss' had washed his hands of the girls why try and push them via this partnership.
The LP's could have been better, it does seem in places that the songs were chosen to emulate the former pairing of the two other groups but in the main I think these albums are probably some of the best 70's albums Motown put out - certainly they were amongst the last to contain that 'real Motown sound'. I need to go back and read Mark Bego's essay again to see how this pairing came about and listen to the second disc in the set [[fortunately the grass does not need cutting today).