What if - Sups went on hiatus while Cindy on maternity leave?

[sup_fan]

this isn't meant to disparage Lynda - i think she's great and all. just another "What If" scenario

what if the group went on hiatus while Cindy was out? They had had the hit of FJ and then Auto Sun was released in spring 72. instead of trying to coordinate a personnel change, MJC could have promoted the song on tv and all. I think it would have charted much better had they been able to do so.

then Cindy could exit on maternity leave but with the publicly stated intent on returning in a year or so?

Jean and mary could work on some individual projects. Maybe mary could do some stage acting in the LA area or what if she married Flip Wilson and did more on his show?

jean could have done the JW set as a solo lp - other than I Keep It Hid, it practically was a solo effort for her.

Then in summer 73, Cindy returns which would have generated some fresh interest in the group. And maybe to celebrate the group being back, they do BW and the Stevie Wonder set?

obviously this is pure fantasy. but thought it was interesting. IMO the idea of the "revolving door" status of the group hurt its image. so this would have allowed a break but also some consistency

[marybrewster]

Then in summer 73, Cindy returns which would have generated some fresh interest in the group. And maybe to celebrate the group being back, they do BW and the Stevie Wonder set?

I would assume that the BW and Stevie Wonder set only happened because of Lynda in the group?

[sup_fan]

Then in summer 73, Cindy returns which would have generated some fresh interest in the group. And maybe to celebrate the group being back, they do BW and the Stevie Wonder set?

I would assume that the BW and Stevie Wonder set only happened because of Lynda in the group?

yeah i thought of that too. i think the Sup/Stevie connection [[even with Lynda) could have been MUCH more highly hyped up. it should have been huge news across the industry. So i was thinking that with the group reuniting, something big would be appropriate for a producer partnership. Stevie or maybe Marvin. something new and fresh. so maybe even without Lynda being in the group, the idea of Stevie working with the girls could have occurred.

again, this is just fantasy/what if

[blackguy69]

I kinda like it. Maybe Mary would do a few tv guest appearances on Here’s Lucy or The Streets of San Francisco. I can see Jean doing something along the lines of a Joni Mitchell a la Laura nyro style album.

[PeaceNHarmony]

Hmmm. I just wonder if the group being 'on hold' for that length of time would have caused the public to forget about them or ... instead, perhaps absence would have made the public heart grow fonder. I don't know if there is a similar real-life to compare the scenario to.

[dickiemint]

I thought that if the 70s Supremes were allowed to concentrate on building on themselves instead of trying to be 60s clones Jean might of stayed with the Group, I really like the fact that the Group continues till 1977, but for me when Jean left the Supremes were over.

[jim aka jtigre99]

I personally do not think it would have been a good idea. When Jean and Lynda left, the Supremes were without a record contract for about 2 years and that lost the momentum for the group. JML still performed on television even without their songs being hits. Cindy came back after Mary asked her, saying she agreed even though her son was a toddler. Motown's attention was on making movies and Diana Ross at this time. If Gordy had "washed his hands" of the group with them being on hiatus it would have made their demise even more eminent. I don't see Mary or Jean doing anything on hiatus. They would not have recorded solo material. They would not have toured. Neither would have been on television in any capacity. As far as Jean, had they been on hiatus, who knows if it would have added to her displeasure? Mary was not going to marry Flip Wilson because of personal reasons and professionally I don't see her trying to add herself on his variety show during a maternity hiatus. I also think Cindy leaving hurt the group as much if not more than Jean because people were almost as familiar with Cindy as they were with Mary and many people especially remembered her because of her last name Birdsong. Replacing Diana with Jean may have been something for the mass public to get used to but a few years later than also replacing Birdsong made people start to wonder who was in the group. Still, a hiatus may still have hurt them with being out of the public eye just as it hurt them from 1973-75. Motown just didn't seem to have a strategy for the Supremes-they wanted to just cash in on the familiarity of the name and to a lesser extent the familiarity of Mary Wilson in the group as well as Cindy Birdsong. In 1970, Mary was the one the company would have had any real loyalty to[[and to a lesser extent, Cindy) so a hiatus without any real forethought from Motown would have been dead in the water-Motown would have licked its collective chops in delight because they could have retired the group and focused on Diana Ross and the groups demise would have sent a message to the public on how right they were to spotlight her solo specialness.

[PeaceNHarmony]

I thought that if the 70s Supremes were allowed to concentrate on building on themselves instead of trying to be 60s clones Jean might of stayed with the Group, I really like the fact that the Group continues till 1977, but for me when Jean left the Supremes were over.

For me as well. After Jean they became the Who-premes.

[sup_fan]

I thought that if the 70s Supremes were allowed to concentrate on building on themselves instead of trying to be 60s clones Jean might of stayed with the Group, I really like the fact that the Group continues till 1977, but for me when Jean left the Supremes were over.

i agree that was part of the problem. by 71 or so, the girls should have been able to evolve more from the old Sups image. i get it that in Jan 70, they had to ease into the transition. jean was introduced, Ladder was a new sound but they still had the glitz. then with SL and NW, they should have been able to really move onto something new and different