Mary Wilson has posted this on her YouTube channel:
Mary Wilson has posted this on her YouTube channel:
nice the it did not fade out and we got to hear that last note
Just lovely. This must be just behind Baby Love in the number of times the word "baby" is sung either by lead or background?
1965 Pure perfection - even the band couldn't' keep their eyes off them.
I see a symphony.....that's not playing one single instrument.
That was sublime...I have so much love for those women...
Always thought it was funny how they nodded to the lady playing violin, who was in the position ready to play it, and then they all sit there behind the Supremes doing nothing .
Love those notes Flo hits towards the end of the song.
a soloist would typically acknowledge the Concertmaster [[first chair in the First Violin section) once they walked out on stage. whether a singer or pianist, this would be common practice at a symphony performance.
i too have laughed in recent years at this clip. it is a good performance though. and of course we have the luxury of watching it again and again on home video or youtube. and on large, high quality screens. In 1965, kids watching Hullaballoo on a 12" screen in b&w probably didn't pick up on this. and imagine the shock with the performance!! even big famous acts on Ed Sullivan didn't typically have a giant orchestra surrounding them. sure they might have been singing live with the Ed Sullivan band/orchestra but you didn't see the 50-person set up. combined with the elegant music and the glamorous gowns, this must have been a stunning, ground-breaking performance for the girls
all of their previous appearances on tv had been nice but not necessarily wildly out of the ordinary. Ed Sullivan [[2 times), Red Skelton, Dean Martin, Larry Kane, Shindig, prior Hullaballoo. all great performances but no wild set or eye popping situation. Perhaps the Nothing But Heartaches on Hullaballoo with the giant set pieces looking like the More Hits album would be the closest thing.
The orchestra not playing was brilliant. They weren’t just not playing. They were like frozen in time. This wasn’t some oversight or mistake.
A perfect performance from all three ladies.
I rewatched after you wrote this focusing on the "symphony" and I think you're completely correct. At no point is there any pretense of playing. During the zoom shot on the symphony the violins are completely frozen. The kettle drum percussionist is noticeably not moving. Its clear the "symphony" was a prop, and quite an elaborate one at that.
I just think it funny to have so much background scenery, doing nothing? They brought in all those musicians, all the instruments, just to sit and do nothing? I wonder how the pay was, lol.
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