Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
When David left, unthinkable at the time, I didn’t know what to think. Cloud 9 and TCB nearly erased David from my mind. I don’t think his greatness is appreciated commensurate his talent.

when the next unthinkable thing happened: diana ross leaving the Supremes, I assumed the transition would be very similar to that experienced by the Temptations a year earlier. I just assumed the group would just continue As they were and when I first saw the new group on ad Sullivan, they were wonderful and the record was phenomenal, but I still missed diana ross - It wasn’t Like with the Temptations, the supreme’s became just another group to me - it took a year, but by the time they were on Tom Jones, I was cringing. That night I knew they were toast even though I loved their first two albums, they had three fine singers in the group, but they didn’t have a star And I knew I was clinging to something that no longer existed. And, corny as it may sound, i mourned that loss.
Makes a lot of sense and something I hadn't thought about. The Tempts had the mulit-lead thing going, so their popularity didn't necessarily depend on one stand out star. The Supremes were fueled by the star quality of Diana, whereas Jean wasn't the household name that Diana had become. Much like The Commodores when Lionel Ritchie left; I think all the attention pretty much went right along with Lionel, "Rising Star" and not much was left for the group.