Originally Posted by
TheMotownManiac
I don’t think we know exactly what kind of effort was put behind other females that Motown. What we do know is that the fortunes of the Supremes, Motown, and the civil rights movement improved 1000,000 fold between August and December 1964. We aren’t talking about a group getting a hit record, we are talking about a phenomenon. And phenomenons get support. I’m sure there were many acts at Capitol records complaining because the Beatles got all the support. Who are they supposed to support, the dog pause? There wasn’t any female at Motown that could compete with diana ross, let alone the Supremes. Ross had that magic gold dust, and with her superb talents and stage personalities a Florence Ballard an Mary Wilson . I don’t want to say anything disparaging about any other groups, but no other girl group could compare. And I absolutely do not believe that Kim Weston or Brenda or Gladys or Martha had any chance of disturbing the gold dust surrounding the Supremes. I do not believe that Barry Gordy continue design female artists just so he could put halfhearted attempt behind them because he had nothing better to do with his time. The man was pulling his hair out half the time , there was no way Motown was prepared to deal with the success of not only the Supremes, but the gigantic success of the Temptations and the tops. It may 1964 Gordy was delighted to have a number one record with Mary Wells. A year later he had seven more number ones on three different acts and their albums were doing well. There was only so much material at Motown, only so many producers. Holland Dozier Holland couldn’t work with everybody so they concentrated on the Supremes and the Four Tops because that’s who was paying the bills. The incredible album success of the Supremes dictated that they deserved all the attention they got. There’s not another female artist at Motown whoever rivaled their album success. Not even after they left Motown when competition was no longer an excuse. I believe wholeheartedly Gordy would have loved for Brenda to be a number one selling artist , ditto Martha and The Marvelettes and Gladys. I don’t believe that he signed Gladys Knight and the pips in 1966 to take a Chitlin circuit group going nowhere, to keep them going nowhere. It’s completely irrational. There were lots of R&B groups that Motown never touched , who may have been very talented and just didn’t get the brakes. He took Gladys Knight, unknown to the majority of America, and made her a household name. by the time she left Motown, she had a ton of television exposure including several appearances on Ed Sullivan, had played the COPA, had sold millions of records and she still squawking about not getting enough attention. She left Motown was a gigantic pop and soul hit that won her first Grammy, and her highest charting album of her entire career. Barry Gordy had to beg her to record if I were your woman because he knew it was perfect for her. That does not sound to me like he was afraid of competition for his fledgling new female star diana ross. I just don’t buy it, I could be wrong, but I don’t buy it. It makes a nice headline though, “I wound up in the gutter because of diana ross”
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