Diana's take on the Supremes sex appeal

[floyjoy678]

Diana said that Mary was the one who was wiggling her hips and batting her eyes to the men in the audience. She says Florence and herself had a more childlike sex appeal compared to Mary's. But I actually felt like it was the reversed at least up until 1966 or so. Mary always came across as the shy one to me. I felt like she really didn't start come into being the sexy one until about 1966. I have to say out of the three of them, Flo had the most sex appeal in my opinion. I'm gay but even I can see why the soldiers stationed in the Orient were going crazy over her.

[RanRan79]

Hmmm. Unfortunately I don't think there's enough video- or at least not that I've seen- of the original Supremes in concert to have much of an opinion. Surely, the stage act and the three minutes or so of a television performance would be totally different regarding this thing. The ladies had a lot more leeway to perform in terms of interacting with the audience. In a lot of those venues the Supremes played, the stages were often very near the audience. On the TV shows, as far as I can tell, the audience usually wasn't so close up. The ladies probably drew a lot more energy from a concert crowd than a TV show crowd. This could be where Mary may have been "extra" to Diana's way of thinking.

As for sexy, of course that's always in the eye of the beholder, much like beauty. For my personal tastes, as a straight man, Florence was the beginning and the end. I've never been attracted to "skinny" girls and Flo was always just the right size for me. Also her overall personality would've been attractive to me, especially the fact that she's said to have had a great sense of humor. That's always a plus with me. And when she was glammed up, she was stunning. Diana and Mary were equally as beautiful in my eyes, but not necessarily my personal tastes.

Flo was also of the era when curves were often the desirable trait from men. Clearly Diana lost out in that department, and Mary just wasn't a "Flo". Also it has to be stated that colorism was an obvious issue at the time as well, and Flo would have benefitted from the idea that she was more sexy stemming from the fact that she was clearly lighter skinned than the other two. So it wouldn't surprise me that a lot of the men in their audiences gravitated to Flo's look. I imagine that off stage, the men who actually got a chance to know the Supremes, were spread among the three because then the men could get an idea of all the tangibles that go into making a woman sexy, beyond her looks.

[sup_fan]

i agree with Ran that we've really only had glimpses into the real supremes. the Orient concert tapes add some more

Randy wrote that part of the initial Sups' explosive success was that they were three very animated and engaging personalities. if you watch other groups on Hullabaloo or other clips, you can really see what he means. they're smiling of course and look nice, but they don't connect with the audience. not like how DMF did. and yes, these short 3 min tv appearances are only a small view into this magic

you had 3 very big and enjoyable personalities in the group and you had 3 very specific definitions of beauty.

Diana was visually captivating with here huge eyes and mouth. Her thinness was part of the emerging "Twiggy" look of the 60s which was becoming wildly popular. Plus her strong Type A personality shone through

Mary was just visually stunning - probably the most classically beautiful one. As the pretty one/sexy one, she could flirt with the audience, a wink of an eye, a look, etc. She epitomized the most beautiful girl in school that was hugely popular with all - nerds and jocks alike. warm, friendly.

Flo was the voluptuous one with the Marilyn Monroe figure, which was also wildly popular at the time. She was sassy, had a twinkle in her eye. her earthiness also helped ground the trio in a bit of reality and attainability - she was still "one" of the audience members.


So mary is really right when she described the group as complimenting one another - each girl had her own personality and what she lacked, the other two made up for. so that in totality, the trio of the Supremes was pretty much perfect

[RanRan79]

Yes, the Orient film is about as close as we've gotten to seeing what the original trio was like in concert. I would be shocked to learn that Gordy and company do not have more original Supremes concert footage. I know the Orient was filmed by a professional for a potential TV special, so it's possible that any other footage is that silent home movie footage that makes it's way into a lot of the Motown docs. But even that I would love to see.

And I agree that each lady really did compliment the other. Vocally the Supremes weren't any better than some of the other female groups around. They were great for sure, but they rank with the other greats of their era. But there was indeed something special about each of them that contributed to their popularity and likeability. It was a once in a lifetime magic.

[TNSUN]

I found Diana Ross the attractive one by her eyes and lips. I found Flo attractive by her curves. I found Mary attractive by her lovely facial design. As for color, Diana's Mahogany skin tone won it for me!

[jim aka jtigre99]

I would say that all of the Original Supremes were each beautiful in their own way and since they were different in looks and personality, they complimented each other. I guess in concert Mary may have batted her eyes and wiggled her hips, but on television she seemed much more demure in the earlier days. She excelled in her beauty and she just had a way of movement that was sexy and performed their choreography the very best of all 3. It seemed once Flo left the group that Mary started to do much more extra to catch your eye. Diana was exotic looking, almost theatrical in a way and if anyone was doing extra even when she didn't need to it was Diana. Florence was quite attractive and statuesque. She conveyed an impish smile that showed someone who was fun loving and easy to connect to. So, I agree they all had 3 very distinct personalities and that really made the group stand out. Once Motown decided to downplay that dynamic and it became Diana Ross & The Supremes, that magic sort of was lessened. Not saying Ross didn't deserve success,but Motown focused on that rather than their original appeal. Yes, but I don't know if in concert that Mary was batting her eyes and wiggling her hips more than we saw on TV. HDH always called her "cool Mary" because she was so calm and loved being on stage. Still, the individual members may have seen something from working together all of the time that we didn't see, because I don't see Diana's perspective from what is available on You Tube, etc. Still, all three were quite beautiful and obviously appealed to the World as a trio with their personality and poise.

[RanRan79]

the individual members may have seen something from working together all of the time that we didn't see

That's actually an excellent point. I think there are things that Flo, Diana and Mary understood about the others' individual talents, what they brought to the act, the image, and all of that, that we fans might not quite understand because those ladies knew each other better than we will ever know them. They worked together so much, and not just the public performances, but all the rehearsals. You really get an understanding of the people you work with when you're spending so much time together.

And of course this could have been the result of conversation between the three of them.

Mary: When I'm out there, I really love doing little things to drive the guys crazy! See which one catches my eye for some after the show fun.

Flo: I aint gotta do all of that to get their attention. I get up there and sing, tell my little jokes, wink at a dude or two and be on my way. Have 'em wrapped around my finger long enough for them to go home to their lady. He might be doing her tonight, but he'll be thinking about Florence.

Diana: [[laughs) I know that's right Flo! I'm with you. Let Mary entice her boy toys from the stage. Me and you, we just sing. I'm the lead singer anyway, so everyone is paying attention to me no matter what.

Mary: There you go with that lead singer business again.

Flo: Mmm hmmm. Your checks the same amount as ours.

Diana: Can we stay on track for once? Besides, any guy in that audience trying to get close to me has to deal with Berry. If I stick to entertaining, it'll keep Berry from ending up in jail for beating on some poor boy.

[sup_fan]

That's actually an excellent point. I think there are things that Flo, Diana and Mary understood about the others' individual talents, what they brought to the act, the image, and all of that, that we fans might not quite understand because those ladies knew each other better than we will ever know them. They worked together so much, and not just the public performances, but all the rehearsals. You really get an understanding of the people you work with when you're spending so much time together.

absolutely agree. the original 3 really formed a perfect machine. their 3 personalities were different and yet complimented each other. also their 3 personalities were all highly engaging - there wasn't a wallflower in the group.

and you're right. once they started to make it big, the volume of their live performances grew exponentially. and practice makes perfect. we have access to such a small snippet of their shows but if you listen to the version of You're Nobody on Live in Paris, then again on the Copa 65 recording, then Roostertail 66 and then Copa 67 you can track some of this. the comedy lines are more awkward in Paris. they do a fine job with the song but it's not totally there. with each recording you hear it advancing. you can almost imagine the trials and errors along the way. and how each of their personalities emerge with it