I have just finished reading Freda Payne's autobiography and in it she alleges that she was Berry Gordy's first choice as a female artist but she declined the contract. She alleges Berry saw her perform "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" in England and that later the Supremes were doing it in there show. I also just recently rewatched the Hitsville documentary where Berry alleges that Diana was in England and she didn't like Nobody and said she wasn't doing it for the second show, they argued and she did it in the second show "for him". Does anyone know if Berry really did decide to add it to the show after seeing Freda perform it first? Also, if Freda was first choice as an artist, how did Berry feel about Scherrie in the Supremes? She had a similar sound to Freda but was more bombastic in her vocals like Florence Ballard, yet she had more control and power. Did Berry ever champion Scherrie?
Also on Nobody, Florence ad libbed "Give me that gold and I'll do my own shopping". In later renditions Cindy has the line "Thin may be in but fat is where it's at" while Mary laments "Don't nobody care about little old me". Were those Flo's adlibs that Motown just kept in after Flo left or written monologue after seeing how Flo's comedic lines were accepted? Plus, in TCB Mary says"Honey, we is terrific". She always attributes that to Flo, but how did that get into the show if it was just an adlib from Flo? Was that a catchphrase Flo said or was it written for the TCB show and Mary stated it was something Flo always said as a way to pay tribute to her?