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  1. #1
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    Marilyn McCoo as Lead

    I've been fond of Ms McCoo for a long time. I think she has quality that matches or even tops Ms Ross and got not noticed. I think she would have been perfect to replace DR in 1970. Care to talk

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    She certainly was a wonderful singer but I can't see her leaving her own successful group with the 5th Dimension were still having hits for a number of years post-1969.

    And especially since she had married fellow 5D member Billy Davis Jr in '69.

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    Marilyn was an attractive woman, but i don’t find her voice particularly unique or that exciting. Certainly not the right sound to lead the Supremes methinks.
    Jean may not have had the most charismatic personality, but there was pizzazz in those grooves.

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    Why would she leave the 5th Dimension who were at their peak to go to the Supremes?

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    I love Marilyn's voice, but it would be a "no" for me for her replacing Diana.

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    Yes to the above comments applauding Marilyn's voice. I would also give a 'no' to fronting the Supremes after Diana because her voice is, in my opinion, one dimensional geared only to standards. No excitement. It's hard for me to come up with anyone who was better than Jean [[voice wise).

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    Quote Originally Posted by jobucats View Post
    Yes to the above comments applauding Marilyn's voice. I would also give a 'no' to fronting the Supremes after Diana because her voice is, in my opinion, one dimensional geared only to standards. No excitement. It's hard for me to come up with anyone who was better than Jean [[voice wise).
    Better than Jean? No. Just as good? I can think of a few that I think might have fit just as well. I love Marilyn's singing with Billy when they became duo. I wouldn't categorize her voice as one dimensional or "standardy". She handled pop music very well, IMO. However, going from Diana to Marilyn would have been a jolt to listeners and I don't think it would have worked. Plus, Marilyn's pop was different from that of the Supremes. It just would have been a horrible fit.

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    Marilyn is certainly pretty and has a nice stage presence, but as lead for the Supremes. No. Not the right mix. Jean had the voice. Not so much the personality. I still say [[maybe) Syreeta 'might' have been the right one? We'll never know. It's all conjecture at this point. I agree with RanRan that going from Diana to Marilyn would have been a jolt' to listeners.

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    Quote Originally Posted by lakeside View Post
    Marilyn is certainly pretty and has a nice stage presence, but as lead for the Supremes. No. Not the right mix. Jean had the voice. Not so much the personality. I still say [[maybe) Syreeta 'might' have been the right one? We'll never know. It's all conjecture at this point. I agree with RanRan that going from Diana to Marilyn would have been a jolt' to listeners.
    I don't see how Syreeta was the right choice. As much as I enjoy her music, she was much too vocally similar to Diana to really take the group into a new direction. She lacked stage presence and charisma. In the videos I've seen of her performing, she just stands there. I really don't know what Berry was thinking when he thought she was the right choice. She was not Supremes material. I applaud Mary for standing up to Berry and telling him no. That instance may have given Berry the opportunity to "wash his hands of the group," but if Cindy has stated both she and Mary didn't get along with Syreeta in those days and Mary knew Syreeta wanted to be a solo artist, why shouldn't Mary and Cindy have the final say? It was their group now and ultimately they would be the ones having to work with the new member. They knew what was best for them. Berry was tunnel vision on Diana.

    Jean was the right choice, but I'm in the camp who thinks Marilyn would have been a great choice if the circumstances were different and she was offered the opportunity. She's beautiful, great stage presence and personality, phenomenal singer [[one of those underrated if you ask me), and she looked like the part.
    Last edited by bradsupremes; 07-23-2022 at 01:49 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Koach View Post
    I've been fond of Ms McCoo for a long time. I think she has quality that matches or even tops Ms Ross and got not noticed. I think she would have been perfect to replace DR in 1970. Care to talk

    You are assuming of course that she was not already the star voice of the fifth dimension. based on the necessary variables , this is a very interesting question to me because I have the highest respect for Marilyn, and agree she has not been recognized as much as I think her talent deserves. She’s also beautiful, classy, knows how to work an audience, looks great in clothes. She would be ideal in nightclubs because of the closeness. I adore her expressive, lovely vocals. She’d be perfect, except would she, could she handle the pop/soul syncopated style of Motown? She might have had a great hidden soul skill but not showed us this side of her. The 5th were hardly a big force on the R&B charts - was that the tracks, voice, both? Usually their singles performed much better at pop.

    Jean had a bit of attitude that the public was used to getting and I don’t know if Marilyn could develop an edge.

    I think, if she could adjust her style, she might ultimately have been the better choice. Jean has vocal skills that marilyn appeared not to have, but the general public was not embracing her voice, and, in hindsight, I don’t think the group would’ve suffered a lesser fate with marilyn If she could adjust her style.

    also, I think that marilyn would’ve had more respect and reverence for the Supremes catalog and treat it better than Jean. I have never met marilyn, but from what I understand she’s a wonderful person and very easy to get along with, I’m not saying Jean isn’t a wonderful person, but………
    Last edited by TheMotownManiac; 07-23-2022 at 03:50 PM.

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    Other then Jean, there is another singer who possessed the perfect voice to lead the Supremes and that is British singer Polly Brown. She sounds very similar to Jean, if a little more rounded. She has recorded a couple of Diana Classics over the years.
    Yes she is white, but i don’t see why that had to be a problem.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    You are assuming of course that she was not already the star voice of the fifth dimension. based on the necessary variables , this is a very interesting question to me because I have the highest respect for Marilyn, and agree she has not been recognized as much as I think her talent deserves. She’s also beautiful, classy, knows how to work an audience, looks great in clothes. She would be ideal in nightclubs because of the closeness. I adore her expressive, lovely vocals. She’d be perfect, except would she, could she handle the pop/soul syncopated style of Motown? She might have had a great hidden soul skill but not showed us this side of her. The 5th were hardly a big force on the R&B charts - was that the tracks, voice, both? Usually their singles performed much better at pop.

    Jean had a bit of attitude that the public was used to getting and I don’t know if Marilyn could develop an edge.

    I think, if she could adjust her style, she might ultimately have been the better choice. Jean has vocal skills that marilyn appeared not to have, but the general public was not embracing her voice, and, in hindsight, I don’t think the group would’ve suffered a lesser fate with marilyn If she could adjust her style.

    also, I think that marilyn would’ve had more respect and reverence for the Supremes catalog and treat it better than Jean. I have never met marilyn, but from what I understand she’s a wonderful person and very easy to get along with, I’m not saying Jean isn’t a wonderful person, but………
    Marilyn, along with Billy Davis, had a big #1 r&b hit with "You Don't Have To Be A Star". She was more than capable of singing the genre.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Other then Jean, there is another singer who possessed the perfect voice to lead the Supremes and that is British singer Polly Brown. She sounds very similar to Jean, if a little more rounded. She has recorded a couple of Diana Classics over the years.
    Yes she is white, but i don’t see why that had to be a problem.
    In a perfect world it would not have been a problem. In 1970 it was very much so. Gordy would have been off his rocker to replace his Black star with a White girl. The Black fans would have abandoned ship off the jump. And for all the talk about the Supremes "selling out" or not being soulful enough, blah, blah, blah, their Black fan base was still something Gordy took into consideration, especially considering how faithful Black radio was to the Supremes, even when pop radio was disinterested in a particular single. Plus, in the age of Black Power and Black Is Beautiful, what kind of message would it have sent to replace a Black woman with a White one in what the world had come to recognize as a Black group? The question would inevitably been asked, "Was there not a Black woman good enough to replace Diana Ross?". And if you think Mary and Cindy tripped over the Syreeta issue, I suspect they would have lost their minds with this move, no matter how forward thinking either of them were.

    If you want a radical move, [[and this question is for everyone) how about this as a suggestion: What if Diana's replacement were a man? How would that have gone over in the pre-Tony Orlando and Dawn era? Might the gimmick have worked? And just for shits and giggles, what guy might have made a good fit in such a new revamped Supremes?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Other then Jean, there is another singer who possessed the perfect voice to lead the Supremes and that is British singer Polly Brown. She sounds very similar to Jean, if a little more rounded. She has recorded a couple of Diana Classics over the years.
    Yes she is white, but i don’t see why that had to be a problem.
    That would have never flown. The image of a white woman singing lead with two black women singing the background isn’t something the public would have been accepted considering all the group had done to break down racial barriers for black women.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bradsupremes View Post
    That would have never flown. The image of a white woman singing lead with two black women singing the background isn’t something the public would have been accepted considering all the group had done to break down racial barriers for black women.
    Even in the 1970s, I don’t think any producer would’ve been stupid enough to pull that stunt! We are far from a colorblind society today, but we were a lot farther away back then.

    you know I thought of this later after I wrote the above, and in many ways I think we were more of a colorblind society back in the 70s than we are today. At least back then it seems that most people regardless of their politics felt that it was time to treat everyone the same it’s only because it was popular to do so at the time and the messages from the media and film and books was that that sort of reckoning was long past due. Now it seems with all the other messages out there no one feels they have to honor anything they might be uncomfortable with. Oh well, just venting a bit here.
    Last edited by kenneth; 07-24-2022 at 03:56 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Koach View Post
    I've been fond of Ms McCoo for a long time. I think she has quality that matches or even tops Ms Ross and got not noticed. I think she would have been perfect to replace DR in 1970. Care to talk
    This gets a rebound every year or so. And: No. McCoo was already a star in 5D so there would be no sense in the idea. Plus. Yeah these many decades later it remains clear: There is, was, and only will be one Diana Ross.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    Marilyn, along with Billy Davis, had a big #1 r&b hit with "You Don't Have To Be A Star". She was more than capable of singing the genre.

    she also topped the R&B chart with the fifth dimension, but that doesn’t tell me that she could knock out love child with the intensity or going down for the third time. And perhaps she could and maybe you hear in you don’t have to be a star a more Motown syncopated sound than I do. I would need to be shown. Either way she’s a mammoth talent who can take mediocre material and make it great. I love the fifth dimension record the girls song, a nothing of a tune, but her vocal brings it to life and gets to me. I respect that so much when an artist can rise so far above their material.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Other then Jean, there is another singer who possessed the perfect voice to lead the Supremes and that is British singer Polly Brown. She sounds very similar to Jean, if a little more rounded. She has recorded a couple of Diana Classics over the years.
    Yes she is white, but i don’t see why that had to be a problem.
    it doesn’t have to be, but it would be unthinkable in 1970. I don’t know how old you are but, it would’ve simply been unthinkable.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    she also topped the R&B chart with the fifth dimension, but that doesn’t tell me that she could knock out love child with the intensity or going down for the third time. And perhaps she could and maybe you hear in you don’t have to be a star a more Motown syncopated sound than I do. I would need to be shown. Either way she’s a mammoth talent who can take mediocre material and make it great. I love the fifth dimension record the girls song, a nothing of a tune, but her vocal brings it to life and gets to me. I respect that so much when an artist can rise so far above their material.
    When did the Supremes ever do "Going Down" live? That would never have even been a factor.

    Anyway, I was addressing your question about Marilyn singing R&B and the fact that the 5D were more successful on the pop charts. Marilyn proved she was as capable as the next Black woman in scoring a hit with R&B audiences. But as I pointed out previously, Marilyn's style and the Supremes style were totally different. It would not have been a good fit, anymore than choosing Gladys Knight to take over. The Supremes had a unique style that Diana was a large part of, but also one that set a tone that another singer could step into. Marilyn did not fit that bill, IMO.

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    I remember reading years ago somewhere that Jean Terrell was asked to replace Marilyn in the 5th Dimension but she declined because she already replaced one lead singer in a group and didn't want that reputation. I could be wrong in my recollection but this topic brought up that memory. Marilyn McCoo is very talented but her vocal style was really different from the Supremes sound. But she is a very talented and beautiful person.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Other then Jean, there is another singer who possessed the perfect voice to lead the Supremes and that is British singer Polly Brown. She sounds very similar to Jean, if a little more rounded. She has recorded a couple of Diana Classics over the years.
    Yes she is white, but i don’t see why that had to be a problem.
    Wow! Culture vultures are a hot mess!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Koach View Post
    I've been fond of Ms McCoo for a long time. I think she has quality that matches or even tops Ms Ross and got not noticed. I think she would have been perfect to replace DR in 1970. Care to talk
    First concert I ever attended was The Fifth Dimension on July 20, 1969 at The Greek Theatre in L.A. -- I was one week shy of turning 12. Yes, I'm old. The next concert I saw was August 1969, Diana Ross and The Supremes at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. I bought all of DRATS, Diana's, The Supremes' and Fifth Dimension's records. Once "One Less Bell to Answer" hit big off of the 5D's "Portrait" album, something changed within the group. [[Segue here: The 5D's usual producer Bones Howe also worked with Diana and we saw a few of those cuts on the expanded version of Diana's first album) After "One Less Bell," the hits for The 5th Dimension were songs like "Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep at All" etc. More group efforts like "Living Together, Growing Together" didn't chart well. I believe it was Marilyn who was quoted in the booklet for the two-CD set "Up, Up & Away: The Definitive Collection" by The 5th Dimension as saying by the time the song [[a Marilyn lead) "No Love in the Room" was released, there was no love left in the room among the group and Billy and Marilyn left. But when Berry Gordy was prepping for Diana to exit DRATS, The 5th Dimension were hot. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" was a huge hit in 1969. I can't imagine Marc Gordon allowing Marilyn to leave the group and I can't imagine that Marilyn and Billy would have wanted Marilyn to leave The 5th Dimension at that time. The 5D like to call the music they made "champagne soul," meaning it wasn't usually down-and-dirty R&B. As a kid, I remember many of the group's album cuts were played on many Middle-of-the-Road and Adult Contemporary radio stations.
    Another interesting note is that Jimmy Webb, who had produced The 5th Dimension early on, produced the last Marilyn-Billy-Ron-Florence-Lamont 5D album and he produced the last Jean Terrell-led 70s' Supremes album. There are a lot of interesting connections between the groups. Billy Davis is on the "Farewell" live album, too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by brothadc View Post
    Wow! Culture vultures are a hot mess!
    Polly Brown vocally, if not visually is Jean Terrell.
    Don’t quite get your comment.

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    Quote Originally Posted by zani57 View Post
    There are a lot of interesting connections between the groups. Billy Davis is on the "Farewell" live album, too.
    More than likely, the Billy Davis mentioned on the FAREWELL album is Berry Gordy's close friend and valet, not the 5th Dimension member.

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    My take on this is; Marilyn McCoo did have the voice and the star power to replace Diana Ross in The Supremes. However, we'll never know if she had the all important chemistry to work with Mary & Cindy [and to get that chemistry across on records & live shows]. And as many others have pointed out, Marilyn was doing well with The 5th Dimension in 1969-1970 and wasn't going anywhere.

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    Quote Originally Posted by reese View Post
    More than likely, the Billy Davis mentioned on the FAREWELL album is Berry Gordy's close friend and valet, not the 5th Dimension member.
    Yes. Otherwise, Diana would definitely have made Billy Davis, Jr. sing on his hit song.

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    Marc Gordon couldn't have stopped Marilyn from leaving the 5th if she wanted to. He didn't stop her when she wanted out in early 1975--in fact he followed along behind her and wanted to keep managing her but she said no. Marc did not approach Billy in the same way. I was a fan of the group back in the day, but honestly I found Marilyn's solo song boring beyond belief. And that ridiculously thespian "oh no, Noooooo last night I didn't get to sleep at all..." was pure cringe. My friends at school made fun of that delivery. That song was pretty much their last gasp with the exception of If I Could Reach You. I had no interest in the Marilyn McCoo solo show. Yes, she is a great singer, yes she has a 41/2 octave range, but I just found her delivery bland and by-the-book. Billy had to help her with her leads back in the 60's/70's. Anyway, even had MM been considered as a Ross replacement, and she wasn't, I don't think she would have been right for that role. MM's forte was torch songs, not syrupy pop songs like Baby Love.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Polly Brown vocally, if not visually is Jean Terrell.
    Don’t quite get your comment.
    Polly Brown has an almost uncanny vocal resemblance to Jean [[and a bit of Diana, IMO). But Jean Terrell, she aint. Jean has a necessary amount of soul that I'm not hearing in Polly and so for me she would have been completely wrong for the job on that alone, if we ignored the race issue.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sansradio View Post
    Yes. Otherwise, Diana would definitely have made Billy Davis, Jr. sing on his hit song.
    My vinyl and CD of "Farewell" are boxed away, but I am pretty sure there is a photo of Billy Davis, Jr. with Diana among the photos taken during "Let the Sunshine In," including Steve Allen. I could swear it is THE Billy Davis Jr. from The Fifth Dimension. And I am sure I've read that Billy Davis Jr. in his footloose and fancy free days was going out with Diana and/or Mary.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    Polly Brown has an almost uncanny vocal resemblance to Jean [[and a bit of Diana, IMO). But Jean Terrell, she aint. Jean has a necessary amount of soul that I'm not hearing in Polly and so for me she would have been completely wrong for the job on that alone, if we ignored the race issue.
    I think Jean can sound a little shrill on certain songs, the Webb album being a prime example. Polly imo has a more soulful voice then say Kiki Dee who was signed to the label. She sounds a mixture of Jean and Dionne Warwick, though a little more rounded and pop orientated then Jean. Her softer sound might possibly have attracted a wider audience.
    Any hoopla surrounding race issues would only have generated more publicity for the group.

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    Didn't the 5th Dim. audition for Motown and Berry passed on signing the group?

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    Quote Originally Posted by SatansBlues View Post
    Didn't the 5th Dim. audition for Motown and Berry passed on signing the group?
    Yes, but that makes no sense to me why Motown would pass on them when they were recording folks like Little Lisa, Tony Martin, and Soupy Sales. Maybe Motown felt that with the Elgins, the Monitors, and Gladys Knight & the Pips they didn't need another group comprised of both women and men. I don't know. It certainly wasn't because their talent. The 5th Dimension were perfect for the Motown fold and what Berry was trying to achieve with the artists.

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    I'm pretty sure the 5th never auditioned for Motown--Berry just heard their demo tape and declined.

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    it's interesting how he really sought some groups, like the Four Tops and GKATP while others with immense talent were pretty much overlooked.

    anyone know when 5D might have been trying to land a deal? motown purposely set up multiple labels in order to have different combinations of artists and not have them overlap. For instance the Sups were signed to Tamla in 61, which at the time was the primary label. they issued 2 singles and then were shifted to Motown. the Marvelettes were on Tamla and hit with Postman, which was released shortly after Buttered Popcorn [[the 2nd and final Sup release on Tamla). because of the M's immediate success, my theory is that Motown didn't want 2 girl groups competing on 1 label and since the Sups hadn't done anything important, they were the easy one to move

    GKATP were on Soul. Elgins were on VIP. The Monitors were on VIP and then Soul. the miracles were [[sometimes) a mixed group and were on Tamla. even if he didn't want to cannibalize the potential sales from these groups, he could have signed 5D and put them on Gordy. or Motown.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sup_fan View Post
    anyone know when 5D might have been trying to land a deal?
    I would need to find out further but it was around 1966. I don't know if they were still called the Versatiles or if they had changed their name to the 5th Dimension. They auditioned for Marc Gordon. I was under the impression when they were rejected by Motown, Marc decided to become their manager, left Motown, and took them to Johnny Rivers' Soul City Records. I want to say Jimmy Webb followed them out the door when Marc made the move and that's how he ended up writing for the group and Johnny Rivers.

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    That's exactly what happened, Brad. Good man!!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    When did the Supremes ever do "Going Down" live? That would never have even been a factor.

    Anyway, I was addressing your question about Marilyn singing R&B and the fact that the 5D were more successful on the pop charts. Marilyn proved she was as capable as the next Black woman in scoring a hit with R&B audiences. But as I pointed out previously, Marilyn's style and the Supremes style were totally different. It would not have been a good fit, anymore than choosing Gladys Knight to take over. The Supremes had a unique style that Diana was a large part of, but also one that set a tone that another singer could step into. Marilyn did not fit that bill, IMO.
    No they never did it live, but they recorded things like that which she would be required to do and she would be required to sing love child live for example. Another negative about marilyn is that again she was more mature and to front a group, you needed someone to be a hip chick and she wasn’t and Jean wasn’t and diana wasn’t anymore but that’s what was required. with diana the group had slipped in that department, but enough people still held onto the group because she was still in it and they signed on when she was a hip chick. When Jean came, she was just kind of a matronly woman that never captured the interest of just about anybody new. It wasn’t even her fault because she was being cast into a role that was contrary to what the teenage market was looking for. She might very well have qualified to be a hip chick in another forum. I loved their debut on Ed Sullivan so much there aren’t even words to describe it, but no one was talking about it the next day. An entire counterculture what is happening at the time and three great singers in red sequin pants suits singing standards just wasn’t what they were looking for. In hindsight, they should’ve worked towards presenting a more hip style to the youth market somehow. I wasn’t willing to see the Supremes fadeaway, but I watched it happen. The more I think about it, maybe if the group had been presented differently Jean might’ve worked out. She certainly the talent for it.


    I do for sure agree with you about the color thing and Polly Brown. I think her sound would work, But nothing in the world would be less likely to happen than put a white girl into the Supremes in 1970.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post


    I do for sure agree with you about the color thing and Polly Brown. I think her sound would work, But nothing in the world would be less likely to happen than put a white girl into the Supremes in 1970.
    Would it have been a first?. Billie Holiday toured with a white band way back in the 1930’s.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Would it have been a first?. Billie Holiday toured with a white band way back in the 1930’s.
    That's much different. Billie Holiday was on her own a singular star supported by a white band. She and the band weren't a group together. The Supremes were a much different story. The public would have never bought it and Mary and Cindy would shot the idea down immediately. Mary was proud of what the Supremes did to help advance black women. I don't think she would have allowed that progression to stall by bringing on a white woman to front the group.

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMotownManiac View Post
    No they never did it live, but they recorded things like that which she would be required to do and she would be required to sing love child live for example. Another negative about marilyn is that again she was more mature and to front a group, you needed someone to be a hip chick and she wasn’t and Jean wasn’t and diana wasn’t anymore but that’s what was required. with diana the group had slipped in that department, but enough people still held onto the group because she was still in it and they signed on when she was a hip chick. When Jean came, she was just kind of a matronly woman that never captured the interest of just about anybody new. It wasn’t even her fault because she was being cast into a role that was contrary to what the teenage market was looking for. She might very well have qualified to be a hip chick in another forum. I loved their debut on Ed Sullivan so much there aren’t even words to describe it, but no one was talking about it the next day. An entire counterculture what is happening at the time and three great singers in red sequin pants suits singing standards just wasn’t what they were looking for. In hindsight, they should’ve worked towards presenting a more hip style to the youth market somehow. I wasn’t willing to see the Supremes fadeaway, but I watched it happen. The more I think about it, maybe if the group had been presented differently Jean might’ve worked out. She certainly the talent for it.


    I do for sure agree with you about the color thing and Polly Brown. I think her sound would work, But nothing in the world would be less likely to happen than put a white girl into the Supremes in 1970.
    i think you're right about not doing enough to evolve, grow and expand the Supremes' image. i don't think though that this is tied with the change of jean. frankly it needed to happen earlier and Diana sort of struggled with it in early years of her solo career

    a great indicator of what you're talking about are the college issues of Billboard magazine. these special issues would list out top performers on college campuses, tour schedules, rankings, etc. early in their career, the sups were included. but as time goes by, they're less and less so. Sure they still did plenty of college dates and they were very successful. but the group wasn't identified as a "college" act. the girls had shifted to the big time Vegas crowd. and that was smart in terms of elevating them to a more lucrative appearance fee. but those audiences don't buy records.

    also motown seems to have totally missed the opportunity to expand into big college-kid dates. the changes in public tastes regarding venues - evolving from The Empire Room at the Waldorf to college stadiums, central park, festivals.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bradsupremes View Post
    That's much different. Billie Holiday was on her own a singular star supported by a white band. She and the band weren't a group together. The Supremes were a much different story. The public would have never bought it and Mary and Cindy would shot the idea down immediately. Mary was proud of what the Supremes did to help advance black women. I don't think she would have allowed that progression to stall by bringing on a white woman to front the group.
    Throughout the 60’s the Supremes undoubtedly played a major part in helping break down racial barriers. By 1970, wouldn't the fact you had black and white singers, united together as one famous singing group bring home the fact that colour really shouldn't matter.
    It brings to mind the lyrics of a Diana song. “They tell us it’s better that people should stay with their own kind, divided by colour afraid to be hurt by the other”.
    I agree that in 1970 it was never likely to happen, but perhaps for some of the wrong reasons.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
    Throughout the 60’s the Supremes undoubtedly played a major part in helping break down racial barriers. By 1970, wouldn't the fact you had black and white singers, united together as one famous singing group bring home the fact that colour really shouldn't matter.
    It brings to mind the lyrics of a Diana song. “They tell us it’s better that people should stay with their own kind, divided by colour afraid to be hurt by the other”.
    I agree that in 1970 it was never likely to happen, but perhaps for some of the wrong reasons.
    I get where you're coming from and in today's world it makes total sense but that message in 1970 wouldn't have flown or caught on. My view is that since there were still few opportunities for black women in the industry at that time the idea of giving the lead vocalist spot in the most popular black female vocal group to a white woman would look so wrong especially considering there were more qualified black women for the job. The public, especially the black community, would have rejected them and the group likely would have fallen apart shortly after.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bradsupremes View Post
    I get where you're coming from and in today's world it makes total sense but that message in 1970 wouldn't have flown or caught on. My view is that since there were still few opportunities for black women in the industry at that time the idea of giving the lead vocalist spot in the most popular black female vocal group to a white woman would look so wrong especially considering there were more qualified black women for the job. The public, especially the black community, would have rejected them and the group likely would have fallen apart shortly after.
    Your most probably right brad. The image of the Supremes as three striking black women is to deeply etched into the public’s conscience. Had dear Polly been born a black woman, she might have been the perfect replacement at some point in the groups revolving lineup.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bradsupremes View Post
    I get where you're coming from and in today's world it makes total sense but that message in 1970 wouldn't have flown or caught on. My view is that since there were still few opportunities for black women in the industry at that time the idea of giving the lead vocalist spot in the most popular black female vocal group to a white woman would look so wrong especially considering there were more qualified black women for the job. The public, especially the black community, would have rejected them and the group likely would have fallen apart shortly after.
    Yeah, it would have been political and economic suicide for a company already accused in some factions of the Black community of being the dictionary definition of “sellout-ism” to replace any of the Supremes with a white woman—especially in the Black Power era. That kind of Pollyanna-ish thinking wouldn’t even fly today.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sansradio View Post
    Yeah, it would have been political and economic suicide for a company already accused in some factions of the Black community of being the dictionary definition of “sellout-ism” to replace any of the Supremes with a white woman—especially in the Black Power era. That kind of Pollyanna-ish thinking wouldn’t even fly today.
    I would like to think people are s little more enlightened today, but who knows?.

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    In the long run, it wouldn't matter as Motown dropped the ball and left the Supremes and everyone else behind to go make movies, mind u ...one good one and the rest were B movies in my opinion.realky what happened to the supremes producer, frank Wilson.
    All of a sudden he was gone.no explanation.strange.me thinks BG has something to do with that. So even if the lead singer was different,it would not matter. motown

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    Syreeta sings Reflections. Thoughts?

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    Quote Originally Posted by SatansBlues View Post
    Syreeta sings Reflections. Thoughts?
    It just underlines how special Diana’s voice was. Most, if not all other artists pale when trying to cover one of her songs. Aretha Franklin singing “It’s My Turn” being one of the more authentic versions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SatansBlues View Post
    Syreeta sings Reflections. Thoughts?
    Sounds like a high choir performance with someone from the choir singing lead.

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