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  1. #1
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    Mary's best lead on Supremes 75



    Of the Mary led songs on Supremes 75, this is by far my favorite. Song fits her well and she delivers a touching performance. Nice way to close out the album.

    If I was executive producer of that album, I would have had only had 3 Mary songs on that album: He's My Man [[though not as a single release), Can We Love Again and You Turn Me Around. I would also have included the Mary-Cindy-Scherrie shared lead version of Sha La Bandit. So I guess that would be 4.

    Song line up would have been:

    He's My Man
    Bend a Little
    Can We Love Again
    It's All Been Said Before
    Sha La Bandit

    Can't Stop a Girl in Love
    Color My World Blue
    Give Out but Don't Give Up
    Where do I go from here
    You Turn Me around

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    Reviewing the released line-up and your proposed line-up, I have to agree with yours. I think it's criminal that "Can We Love Again" sat in the can and "Where Is It I Belong" got onto the album. I *love* the breeziness of the latter, though I'll admit I might have wished for one more verse and one less repetition of the chorus. Otherwise, the song is still MUCH stronger than WIIIB.

    Though I would be fine with it being on the album, I would probably swap out "Sha-La Bandit" for the unreleased "Seed Of Love." Just a personal preference. I might even want to add "I Can Never Recover" as another album cut.

    I would have made "Bend A Little" the premiere single from the album. Danceable, but still "aggressive" enough to sound like a single. Plus, there's a trio sound to it while Scherrie handles ALL of the verses. I might have put "Can We Love Again" on the B-side--accomplishing what so many fans have said they wanted all along: Mary and/or the other non-lead singer received a lead for the B-side [or on the album].

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    Quote Originally Posted by Spreadinglove21 View Post


    Of the Mary led songs on Supremes 75, this is by far my favorite. Song fits her well and she delivers a touching performance. Nice way to close out the album.

    If I was executive producer of that album, I would have had only had 3 Mary songs on that album: He's My Man [[though not as a single release), Can We Love Again and You Turn Me Around. I would also have included the Mary-Cindy-Scherrie shared lead version of Sha La Bandit. So I guess that would be 4.

    Song line up would have been:

    He's My Man
    Bend a Little
    Can We Love Again
    It's All Been Said Before
    Sha La Bandit

    Can't Stop a Girl in Love
    Color My World Blue
    Give Out but Don't Give Up
    Where do I go from here
    You Turn Me around
    We have discussed this before, but i have to mostly agree with you. There were way too many Mary leads on this album. WIIIB should never have been recorded let alone released. It was dull, dreary and repetitive and had no place on this album. Bend a little and i could never recover should have been on the album. The frantic This is why i believe in you should have been binned. It was almost as bad as WIIIB.
    Mary sounded fine on You turn me around, and maybe they could have found a place for Can we love again. I would have had Scherrie as the main lead on He's my man. That could have been dynamite.
    It's all ifs, buts and maybes.

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    Spreading, your tracklist would've made a great album. My only issue is that I love "Early Morning Love". I think Mary sounds fantastic on it, despite the fact that such uptempo music usually isn't her strong point. So I would definitely have to keep it on the album. "You Turn Me Around" is a great Mary lead. "Where Is It I Belong" just doesn't do anything for me and I find it annoying, but I think Mary handles her job of conveying the confusion of the storyline pretty well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by danman869 View Post
    Reviewing the released line-up and your proposed line-up, I have to agree with yours. I think it's criminal that "Can We Love Again" sat in the can and "Where Is It I Belong" got onto the album. I *love* the breeziness of the latter, though I'll admit I might have wished for one more verse and one less repetition of the chorus. Otherwise, the song is still MUCH stronger than WIIIB.

    Though I would be fine with it being on the album, I would probably swap out "Sha-La Bandit" for the unreleased "Seed Of Love." Just a personal preference. I might even want to add "I Can Never Recover" as another album cut.

    I would have made "Bend A Little" the premiere single from the album. Danceable, but still "aggressive" enough to sound like a single. Plus, there's a trio sound to it while Scherrie handles ALL of the verses. I might have put "Can We Love Again" on the B-side--accomplishing what so many fans have said they wanted all along: Mary and/or the other non-lead singer received a lead for the B-side [or on the album].
    "Seed Of Love" is a great one. Definitely would want it on the album.

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    I liked the fact that Mary shared so many leads on the Supremes 75, I thought that she and Scherrie were an excellent combination. If I were to release Supremes 75, my choice of tracks would have been:
    Side 1:
    He's My Man
    Early Morning Love
    It's All Been Said Before
    I Can Never Recover
    Bend A Little
    Side 2:
    Can't Stop A Girl In Love
    Color My World Blue
    Give Out, But Don't Give Up
    Can We Love Again
    You Turn Me Around

  7. #7
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    Jim, I like your line up choice. Many state that Scherrie should have done the full lead on He's My Man" well I don't agree at all with that. Mary handles He's My Man like a pro. There's a re-recording of if He's My Man with the Flos with Scherrie doing the full lead and there's not much of a difference in their vocal delivery in my opinion.
    Last edited by rod_rick; 07-12-2021 at 01:28 AM. Reason: Add more to post, spelling

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    I also like the fact that Mary has more of presence at this point as a lead singer. She certainly had grown vocally and it would've been waste to relegate her to a lead or two and remain in the background. Mary had a beautiful voice. As long as producers were able to match her with songs of her strength, I think a healthy mix of Mary and Scherrie made a good combination.

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    I've always said that IMO, THE SUPREMES [[75) album contains Mary's best and most consistent vocals. There's a sense of growth and confidence that I didn't hear previously.

    I particularly like HE'S MY MAN, EARLY MORNING LOVE, and YOU TURN ME AROUND. She also sounds fine on WHERE IS IT I BELONG, even though I'm not a fan of the song itself.

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    For me I would replace where is it i belong with Can We Love again. And maybe add the Sha La Bandit with all three sharing the lead.

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    I probably would have included only one or two Mary leads as there had not exactly been a clamoring for them. She’s fine on them, but fine is not what makes a hit album. I understand that they were trying to make Mary into a lead and I’m not passing judgment on that decision, I think what they have for material Is weak enough that it does not lend it self to anything exceptional. The Supremes needed a breakthrough come back, add to me the only hit songs on the album and he’s my man and it’s all been said before. And I think both of them needed work before they got sent out to radio. It’s too bad because I remember seeing this album and not knowing it was out, and severe disappointment when I first played it. I knew this was not the way back.

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    I’m enjoying everyone’s passion and well thought ideas for The Supremes. I don’t agree with anyone, as I think most of the material was ho-hum. These non-commercially viable warbles were akin to the J5 Moving Violation dumpster fest. These groups had talent but no material. I’m glad so much of the mediocre material diana ross recorded was not released. I cringe at old funky rolls.

    I agree with Blue limiting Mary at this point. I don’t know who was shopping material for the group, but there had to be 1 million songs in LA to consider that would’ve been perfect for Mary, and still commercially viable because I just don’t see the point of putting out an album that’s going to appeal basically only to the shrinking Fanbase. The general public is not rooting for Mary, or the group for that matter, so they are nowhere as forgiving as members here eager for the Supremes to return true to form. We know that mary had the goods, But putting mediocre material out there just because it’s not awful, is it disservice to the group and to the fans. She proves herself on You Are The Heart of Me.

    I wish that Elton John had written and produced an album for them. I have to think that either it was way way way before he was successful call mom or his terms were ridiculous because the fact that never Mary never mentioned this to me, nor in either of her books, I have to think there’s more to it. When you think of all the things that are in mary’s books that may or may not have happened at all or the way that they were described, there would certainly be room for the Elton John story. It’s a mystery to me.
    Last edited by TheMotownManiac; 07-12-2021 at 06:36 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    I’m enjoying everyone’s passion and well thought ideas for The Supremes. I don’t agree with anyone, as I think most of the material was ho-hum. These non-commercially viable warbles were akin to the J5 Moving Violation dumpster fest. These groups had talent but no material. I’m glad so much of the mediocre material diana ross recorded was not released. I cringe at old funky rolls.

    I agree with Blue limiting Mary at this point. I don’t know who was shopping material for the group, but there had to be 1 million songs in LA to consider that would’ve been perfect for Mary, and still commercially viable because I just don’t see the point of putting out an album that’s going to appeal basically only to the shrinking Fanbase. The general public is not rooting for Mary, or the group for that matter, so they are nowhere as forgiving as members here eager for the Supremes to return true to form. We know that mary had the goods, But putting mediocre material out there just because it’s not awful, is it disservice to the group and to the fans. She proves herself on You Are The Heart of Me.

    I wish that Elton John had written and produced an album for them. I have to think that either it was way way way before he was successful call mom or his terms were ridiculous because the fact that never Mary never mentioned this to me, nor in either of her books, I have to think there’s more to it. When you think of all the things that are in mary’s books that may or may not have happened at all or the way that they were described, there would certainly be room for the Elton John story. It’s a mystery to me.
    I am sure it was before Elton became a superstar. I think he had his first UK hit around 1969. Not sure when he broke America. I re-read my conversation with Elton and he just said it was the early 70's following Diana's departure. That is all i wrote regarding the timeline.
    Perhaps Motown came to regret turning Elton down, and maybe that is why they eventually paired the girls with Jimmy Webb?
    I remain baffled as to why Mary did not mention it in her books. Perhaps she was not consulted about it and maybe she never even knew about it?

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    I kind of agree with Maniac, only in the point that Supremes 75 material didn't possess a "wow" factor. As a collection of songs, the album is fine enough. I like it a lot. I just think if the New Again Supremes were going to jump back into bonafide hit makers, little to nothing that they were recording at the time "guaranteed" that. There's some potential hits on the album, just like there's probably potential hits on just about every album ever released. But I can't say I would've ever bet money on any one song from the album or it's sessions becoming a major hit. [[With a little more work, I do still think "Dance Fever" sounded like the stuff on the radio at the time and might have become a hit, but again, can't say I would've bet money on it.)

    With that being said, my likes of a song or album have nothing to do with how successful it was or could be, and to that point I think Mary did a great job with the songs she was given and I wouldn't have minded hearing even more of her on that and subsequent albums.

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    All I ever wanted was for The Supremes to go on forever, even in the less-than-stellar state they became after Jean and Lynda left. I am probably a textbook case of arrested development, but they meant so much to me in the 60s, I loved the music I loved just about everything about them, except for Flo’s departure. Yes I know a lot of it was diana ross, everyone knows that, but I still think they could have been viable wonderful version of the Supremes. So, oh when new music came out, the first thing I did was listen for the hit, because I knew how important it would be and eventually essential. So I wasn’t objective when I heard the music that I either liked or didn’t like - but that I knew wasn’t radio friendly. I was stunned when they released touch as a single, I thought it was just a terrible title song like everything is everything that would never be subjected to the issuance of 45.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    I also like the fact that Mary has more of presence at this point as a lead singer. She certainly had grown vocally and it would've been waste to relegate her to a lead or two and remain in the background. Mary had a beautiful voice. As long as producers were able to match her with songs of her strength, I think a healthy mix of Mary and Scherrie made a good combination.
    Oh some forget that Mary did have a charting track record as co-lead with Touch [[not a good showing but it did chart) Floy Joy and Automatically Sunshine so yeah she could handle a co-lead.

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    Nice selection/ordering of tracks! The 75 sessions featured an overall excellent selection of songs, but the album was so short. This is a mix I've been enjoying lately. I put 'Early Morning Love' and 'Where Do I Go from Here' on my 'High Energy' mix, but only because they were produced by the Hollands.

    Side A:
    He's My Man [extended version]
    I Can Never Recover
    It's All Been Said Before
    Color My World Blue
    Bend A Little [extended version]
    Can We Love Again
    Side B:
    This Is Why I Believe In You [with intro]
    The Sha-La Bandit [multi-lead version]
    You Can't Stop A Girl In Love
    Give Out, But Don't Give Up
    Seed Of Love
    You Turn Me Around
    Last edited by Thornton; 07-15-2021 at 09:10 PM.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thornton View Post
    Nice selection/ordering of tracks! The 75 sessions featured an overall excellent selection of songs, but the album was so short. This is a mix I've been enjoying lately. I put 'Early Morning Love' and 'Where Do I Go from Here' on my 'High Energy' mix, but only because they were produced by the Hollands.

    Side A:
    He's My Man [extended version]
    I Can Never Recover
    It's All Been Said Before
    Color My World Blue
    Bend A Little [extended version]
    Can We Love Again
    Side B:
    This Is Why I Believe In You [with intro]
    The Sha-La Bandit [multi-lead version]
    You Can't Stop A Girl In Love
    Give Out, But Don't Give Up
    Seed Of Love
    You Turn Me Around
    I love your line up with the exception of This is why i believe in you which i never liked.
    The original album was indeed way too short. They could easily have added a couple of the canned tracks to it, and it would still have only run for around 34/35 mins.

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    out of all of the content recorded for Sup 75, the material by Ivey and Woodford are hands down superior to pretty much anything recorded at the time. They simply should have been given full reigns of the relaunch of the group. HMM is fine enough but still pales in comparison. it's too bad we don't have 1 or 2 more Ivey/Woodford songs to make a complete lp from them

    A few of the other tracks do fit in well enough to complete an album. i thought it might be fun to include both versions of Can't stop a girl. they're so radically different. But if not, i'd include Where Do I Go:

    He's My Man
    Color My World Blue
    It's all been said
    I Can never recover
    Bend a little
    You can't stop a girl in love [[version 1)

    Can't stop a girl [[version 2)
    give out
    Can we love again
    Seed of love
    You turn me around
    sha la bandit

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluebrock View Post
    I love your line up with the exception of This is why i believe in you which i never liked.
    The original album was indeed way too short. They could easily have added a couple of the canned tracks to it, and it would still have only run for around 34/35 mins.
    Thanks! I know I'm in the minority of people who like TIWIBIY. In terms of length, LaBelle's Chameleon album was a whopping 50 minutes! The Three Degrees' International album from '74 was 37 minutes.

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    The first half of This Is Why could have been a solid song. had Scherrie done the lead, IMO, it would have had more spark. Mary's vocals are just too heavy and mellow. Imagine if she was lead on Love I Never Knew? there's just SO much going on in the back track. it's like a runaway train. Scherrie really had the best voice of practically any supreme from any lineup to really handling these mega dance songs like Let Yourself Go, Walking, Wheel, Love I Never Knew. and she should have handled HMM, This is why, etc. Scherrie can just punch through

    so if the whole "shout" section was dropped and Scherrie sang it, it would have been fine enough. not a masterpiece but a solid disco number.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    The first half of This Is Why could have been a solid song. had Scherrie done the lead, IMO, it would have had more spark. Mary's vocals are just too heavy and mellow. Imagine if she was lead on Love I Never Knew? there's just SO much going on in the back track. it's like a runaway train. Scherrie really had the best voice of practically any supreme from any lineup to really handling these mega dance songs like Let Yourself Go, Walking, Wheel, Love I Never Knew. and she should have handled HMM, This is why, etc. Scherrie can just punch through

    so if the whole "shout" section was dropped and Scherrie sang it, it would have been fine enough. not a masterpiece but a solid disco number.
    Have you ever heard the rehearsals and coaching for This is Why I Believe? Marv had sent it to me a long time ago, but it is on a pc that crashed. MSC were definitely talented.

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    Quote Originally Posted by detmotownguy View Post
    Have you ever heard the rehearsals and coaching for This is Why I Believe? Marv had sent it to me a long time ago, but it is on a pc that crashed. MSC were definitely talented.
    no! how cool! that would have been great to hear. yes i agree that the MSC lineup was really hot. They do so much incredible 3-part harmony on their songs and this was YEARS before auto tune and all that computer gimmickry. just 3 talented women singing!

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    back to the original topic of the thread, Can We Love Again is a very strong song and should have been included in the album. i do think it would have benefited from a few tweaks. the chorus lyrics needed a little work. just something to alternate it a bit. the phrase "can we love again" is short and so saying again and again and again and again without any real variation gets monotonous. Also maybe Mary could have ad libbed it up a little more.

    but the song as is still exceeds the hideous Where Is It I Belong? plus it shows a bit more of Mary's range. this song and You're what's missing are nice changes of pace from her ballads.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    no! how cool! that would have been great to hear. yes i agree that the MSC lineup was really hot. They do so much incredible 3-part harmony on their songs and this was YEARS before auto tune and all that computer gimmickry. just 3 talented women singing!
    I uploaded the recording to YouTube a few years ago if you'd like to listen.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgpcD5u0A8c

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thornton View Post
    I uploaded the recording to YouTube a few years ago if you'd like to listen.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgpcD5u0A8c
    That is it!!!! Thanks so much. I have downloaded on IPAD and 2 laptops.
    Thanks again.

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    You turn me around is by far my fave Mary lead on the 75 album. I feel this song was perfect for Mary. Don't let my teardrops bother you is the other top song for me with Mary on lead. I think the slow paste songs worked for Mary. Would love to hear a live version of You turn me around, probably never sand live?? or an alternate version.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    The first half of This Is Why could have been a solid song. had Scherrie done the lead, IMO, it would have had more spark. Mary's vocals are just too heavy and mellow. Imagine if she was lead on Love I Never Knew? there's just SO much going on in the back track. it's like a runaway train. Scherrie really had the best voice of practically any supreme from any lineup to really handling these mega dance songs like Let Yourself Go, Walking, Wheel, Love I Never Knew. and she should have handled HMM, This is why, etc. Scherrie can just punch through

    so if the whole "shout" section was dropped and Scherrie sang it, it would have been fine enough. not a masterpiece but a solid disco number.
    Not a bad idea. The released version was awful, and totally unsuitable for Mary. Who the hell made the decision to include this and Where is it i belong, whilst quality tracks were left in the can. It had to be Mary and Pedro.
    I am not totally convinced Scherrie could have saved this song, but she would surely have improved it at least a little.

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    One thing that I don't like about the released version of This is Why I believe in you is the weak instrumental track/arrangement. Feels undernourished and not as full as the other songs on the album.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TYK1986 View Post
    You turn me around is by far my fave Mary lead on the 75 album. I feel this song was perfect for Mary. Don't let my teardrops bother you is the other top song for me with Mary on lead. I think the slow paste songs worked for Mary. Would love to hear a live version of You turn me around, probably never sand live?? or an alternate version.
    Funny that later on in her solo shows she would sometimes have as part of her stage patter while closing the show with Someday We'll Be Together, she would make a reference that hopefully her show and the audience hearing the old Supremes songs would make them feel like a kid inside, or make their kid inside feel happy. I wonder if she remembered that line about the kid inside from You Turn Me Around when she made that part of her act?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bluebrock View Post
    Not a bad idea. The released version was awful, and totally unsuitable for Mary. Who the hell made the decision to include this and Where is it i belong, whilst quality tracks were left in the can. It had to be Mary and Pedro.
    I am not totally convinced Scherrie could have saved this song, but she would surely have improved it at least a little.
    agree that it would have still been a weak track. but better at least

    I Can Never Recover is the strongest dance track left in the can and frankly one of the strongest non-Ivey Woodford track from the Sup 75 sessions. i believe andy and george were on Midnight Johnny's show and said all of the vocals on this track are Scherrie except the small clip of Mary on the bridge. but the lead and all backing vocals are Scherrie only. not sure why the group didn't lay down backing vocals.

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