Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
Second rate suggests inferior which might not have been the case.
The point being would those HDH songs have become the hits they did without the unique and extremely radio friendly Ross voice. I think the Supremes would have been just as successful had Flo and Mary been two other female singers.
Take Diana out of the equation and what are you left with. I say that not to down play Flo and Mary’s contribution for l think they were great at what they did.
Having said that it was Diana’s voice alone that was uniquely special. Like many other artists she needed good song writers and a strong support team behind her.
When all is said and done, she was the key to it all.
To be honest Ollie, I think this is always a strange conversation to have because one question leads to another. Would those HDH songs have become the hits they did without Diana? Maybe, considering HDH had huge hits and equally incredible classics with other singers besides Diana. Interesting to note that Diana's voice was on at least seven flops before getting a hit, a couple of which showcase the beauty of her voice as much as the classics, and yet they went "nowhere". A hit song is a hit song often for many reasons. Diana's lead on "Where Did Our Love Go" is often pointed out as a reason why the song was such a big hit. But honestly, I've seen just as many so called music pundits point out the hypnotic background of Mary [[and Flo?), and that new phase of the Motown Sound coming together to create an incredible song. I would add my own opinion that any other two singers with Diana on "Come See About Me" or "You Keep Me Hanging On" might have made for an "inferior" product. If Diana's voice is the be all for you, it is what it is. For me, as a lover of music, there are any number of reasons why I love a song, and the lead singer may or may not be it. There are certainly times when I love everything but the lead singer. For me Flo and Mary's contributions to what made the Supremes THE SUPREMES is immeasurable and nothing to sneeze at. Of the three of them, Diana was the key to the door that led to superstardom. But the Supremes were more than just recording artists. It took all three of them to keep that ship moving, hence what happened whenever one of them rocked the boat. One might even consider what may have happened had Diana been in a group with two other girls who, instead of having a like mind of "success or nothing", instead the other two girls were like "fuck this shit" after three or four failed recordings. Sometimes disenchantment can be contagious, especially for young people. Diana might have decided that she too was sick of it and decided to do something else, and we'd have nothing to talk about here.

For the record, I'm a fan of the Supremes because of Florence. Without her, I would've never gotten hooked on the group and thus hooked on Motown. I didn't start out being wowed by Diana Ross' voice, although I always had a healthy respect for it and liked it.