Originally Posted by
RanRan79
I think the economic theory is good, but I don't buy it. It doesn't explain why the male counterpart to the Andantes [[Perhaps the Originals, maybe the Spinners) were not utilized barely a fraction to replace the Tempts and Tops. How busy were the Marvelettes in the late 60s that they needed to be flown in for studio time? The overuse of the Andantes replacing female groups at Motown is quite possibly the weirdest chapter in the label's history. I'm with Kenneth, I am not a fan of this practice, even though I mostly prefer the sound of the Andantes to Mary and Cindy.
Regarding Mary and Cindy not on "Love Child", I've said before and I'll say it again: either Mary's story in Dreamgirl was made up, or it was another one of Gordy's mind games. Mary and Cindy were probably on maybe half of the DRATS recordings up to that point, and neither were on the previous single releases in 1968. If they weren't necessary for "Forever" or "Some Things", why "Love Child"? And if they were intended for "Love Child", why then weren't they present for the non duet singles released afterwards? For me the answer is easy: there was never an intention to have Mary and Cindy on "Love Child". So either Mary drummed this story up for dramatic purposes or Gordy wanted to control Mary into doing what he wanted her to do [[stay put) and hoped that teasing her with a carrot would do the trick.
Regarding Mary and Cindy's sound: I do think the Andantes served more of a purpose as Supremes than they did as Marvelettes or Vandellas. What I mean by that is, prior to those last two years of the sixties, the Andantes had been replacing the Marvelettes and Vandellas on singles for years. [[Hell, even the Tops managed to get onto a major Martha and Vandellas hit record without any Vandella in earshot!) Meanwhile, once the Supremes' hit streak got rolling with Florence, only Flo had ever been replaced by one Andante on two hits [[one of which was released after she was no longer in the group), and were joined [[or added to) by one or more Andantes for two others. It wasn't until Flo's exit that Mary and Cindy were exclusively replaced by the Andantes [[in addition to the Blackberries and the Waters) for singles. I've theorized that some of this might have had to do with the difference in sound between Cindy and Flo.
While I do believe that Mary and Cindy had a beautiful sound, it was very different than what the public was used to. With Flo the Supremes background vocals usually contained an edge that just wasn't present when Cindy joined. With Cindy the sound was sweeter. With Flo the sound was more energetic and robust. Mary and Cindy could have never rocked the background of "You Keep Me Hangin On" the way Mary and Flo did. Cindy really didn't have it in her, IMO. I've often wondered if Motown felt the singles needed what Cindy couldn't provide. The Andantes were very Flo and Mary like. If the producers had insisted that Diana join Flo and Mary on the background of their recordings from 1965-1967, IMO they could've given the Andantes a run for their money. But the Andantes usually had three voices to Mary and Flo's two. Three can do what two cannot. And when that two is Mary and Cindy, there isn't a lot to do.
Bookmarks