Floy joy - lp

[Sotosound]

I definitely think the album would've done better with promoting the Smokey tie in. By the time of the album's release "Floy Joy" had already become a hit, so in the end I definitely understand why it was titled that.

How many potential buyers would really have cared about who wrote and produced the songs?

I know that we care, but I’ve learned over the years that the majority of record buyers generally just bought what they liked the sound of.

My wife, for instance, likes a bit of soul music but couldn’t care less about who wrote or produced what. She just likes what she likes. Her friends are similarly motivated, and many of them call early to mid-70s soul “Motown” even though most of it isn’t.

So, if they liked the “Floy Joy” single by The Supremes then they might have bought the latest album by The Supremes, especially if it was clear that it included the hit single.

That’s why we saw stickers on LPs to point out that an album contained a hit song. That’s what would have caught the buyer’s eye.

That’s a view from the UK based upon disappointment that it isn’t otherwise.

[[As a mobile DJ in the late 70s and early-to-mid 80s, I had to accept, for instance, that when I was doing a 60s night I would get requests for The Pointer Sisters and ABBA. The average punter just wasn’t very discerning.)

Is it any different in the USA? Did the people who placed records high in the charts, as opposed to we specialists, go deeply into who wrote or produced what, or did they normally just buy an album because it contained some songs that they liked by an artist that they liked?

[RanRan79]

How many potential buyers would really have cared about who wrote and produced the songs?

I know that we care, but I’ve learned over the years that the majority of record buyers generally just bought what they liked the sound of.

My wife, for instance, likes a bit of soul music but couldn’t care less about who wrote or produced what. She just likes what she likes. Her friends are similarly motivated, and many of them call early to mid-70s soul “Motown” even though most of it isn’t.

So, if they liked the “Floy Joy” single by The Supremes then they might have bought the latest album by The Supremes, especially if it was clear that it included the hit single.

That’s why we saw stickers on LPs to point out that an album contained a hit song. That’s what would have caught the buyer’s eye.

That’s a view from the UK based upon disappointment that it isn’t otherwise.

[[As a mobile DJ in the late 70s and early-to-mid 80s, I had to accept, for instance, that when I was doing a 60s night I would get requests for The Pointer Sisters and ABBA. The average punter just wasn’t very discerning.)

Is it any different in the USA? Did the people who placed records high in the charts, as opposed to we specialists, go deeply into who wrote or produced what, or did they normally just buy an album because it contained some songs that they liked by an artist that they liked?

I'd say it's universal that people just like what they like, but the names of certain songwriters certainly carried weight. Burt Bachrach's name was as famous as the artists who recorded his music. The Supremes released two successful albums with tie ins to songwriters in Rodgers and Hart and HDH. Smokey Robinson was a household name for his singing, but I imagine there were a great many fans who noticed he was the writer of some fantastic stuff, so much so that the Temptations released an album, Sing Smokey, to help the promo tie in, and that was back in 1965. Even if it didn't work for the Supremes, his name carried weight. Tying the Supremes to him, or Stevie, or some such other household name arguably could only help sales.

[lucky2012]

I'd say it's universal that people just like what they like, but the names of certain songwriters certainly carried weight. Burt Bachrach's name was as famous as the artists who recorded his music. The Supremes released two successful albums with tie ins to songwriters in Rodgers and Hart and HDH. Smokey Robinson was a household name for his singing, but I imagine there were a great many fans who noticed he was the writer of some fantastic stuff, so much so that the Temptations released an album, Sing Smokey, to help the promo tie in, and that was back in 1965. Even if it didn't work for the Supremes, his name carried weight. Tying the Supremes to him, or Stevie, or some such other household name arguably could only help sales.

In junior high in 1967, I certainly knew who HDH were but I wasn't so sure most of the pop record market was that familiar. Which is why I was a little puzzled and worried about the title of The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland. [[Lol, I only knew who Rogers & Hart were because of the TV special!)

Being even younger in 1965, and only knowing of the Supremes on Motown, I thought The Temptations Sing Smokey was an album of them singing variations of On Top of Old Smoky. I knew I wouldn't be spending my allowance money on THAT album!

[RanRan79]

Being even younger in 1965, and only knowing of the Supremes on Motown, I thought The Temptations Sing Smokey was an album of them singing variations of On Top of Old Smoky. I knew I wouldn't be spending my allowance money on THAT album!

LMAO! Now that would've been an album worth hearing!

[lucky2012]

How many potential buyers would really have cared about who wrote and produced the songs?

I know that we care, but I’ve learned over the years that the majority of record buyers generally just bought what they liked the sound of.

Is it any different in the USA? Did the people who placed records high in the charts, as opposed to we specialists, go deeply into who wrote or produced what, or did they normally just buy an album because it contained some songs that they liked by an artist that they liked?

In the U.S., in 1972, Smokey Robinson was just as well-known and respected as Jimmy Webb, if not more so. His legendary status might have interested as many American record buyers as an already-peaked top twenty hit single.

[[I see RanRan has already "beat me to the punch" on this.