The supremes on mike douglas check out flo at 15:26

**captainjames** · 09-12-2022, 02:35 PM

This had to be one of the first times that Flo did her "Don't Nobody care about little Ole Me." I always loved this because it seems so unscripted to the girls and especially as she whispers in Mary's ear to move to the other side. This is one of those numbers that I think grew with more wit and also the remark Flo made about "Give me that gold and I'll make my own happiness" which she does not say here.

**PeaceNHarmony** · 09-12-2022, 08:01 PM

Fascinating. I had never seen this clip. Diana sounds great. Florence has lots of personality & tries her best to out-eye-pop Diana. Interesting just how little chemistry there is between the 3, even at this early date.

**Ollie9** · 09-13-2022, 05:43 AM

The legendary chemistry between the three voices on full display here. Flo’s fun and charismatic personality adding so much to the groups appeal and success.

**floyjoy678** · 09-13-2022, 08:21 AM

Always loved this clip of the group and had been searching for it for years and was happy to finally see it surface recently.

Flo was on her A game during this period and she shines in this clip. Seems like Flo originated a lot of the ad-libs during their live performances. I notice here she's doing the "Stop! Whoo!" at the end that later all three of them would do.

**marybrewster** · 09-13-2022, 11:29 AM

This is a great clip; I'd never seen it in its entirety. Thanks for sharing.

Thankfully Diana stopped those bug eyes shortly after this. There was a little uncomfortable silence after Flo delivers her "little Ole me" line. I was expecting Diana to laugh.

**captainjames** · 09-13-2022, 08:31 PM

What we see here is what made the Supremes so unique and so loved. It worked and slowly Florence added more because the audience loved it or Motown added more.

**sup_fan** · 09-13-2022, 11:02 PM

i agree this is a strong tv appearance. it's a little stiff, my guess owing to the fact this is more a talk show and "adult" oriented. versus Hullabaloo doing BIMAA and You're Nobody. they were both done in early May 65. But the girls seem to be enjoying themselves and just happy to be singing together.

**Boogiedown** · 09-14-2022, 04:14 AM

Shortly after their appearance like this, Mike Douglas started wearing a toupee.

**jim aka jtigre99** · 09-14-2022, 06:39 AM

Yes, it was a very nice and somewhat casual performance as opposed to some truly rehearsed or lip sync performances. You can see the dynamics that they liked each other but were also competitive with each other, especially Diana and Florence. In the interviews they all spoke and even in some questions it looked like Diana was looking to Mary to help with some answers. Mary said in an interview I saw on Facebook that Diana loved competing but that Mary herself hated it. I think the whole Motown company was very competitive and that came from Berry Gordy.

**floyjoy678** · 09-14-2022, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by jim aka jtigre99

Yes, it was a very nice and somewhat casual performance as opposed to some truly rehearsed or lip sync performances. You can see the dynamics that they liked each other but were also competitive with each other, especially Diana and Florence. In the interviews they all spoke and even in some questions it looked like Diana was looking to Mary to help with some answers. Mary said in an interview I saw on Facebook that Diana loved competing but that Mary herself hated it. I think the whole Motown company was very competitive and that came from Berry Gordy.

Interestingly, I believe Gordy said that it was the reverse: Florence hated the competition and the more Mary and Diana got competitive with each other, the less Florence tried.

**WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance** · 09-14-2022, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by captainjames

This had to be one of the first times that Flo did her "Don't Nobody care about little Ole Me." I always loved this because it seems so unscripted to the girls and especially as she whispers in Mary's ear to move to the other side. This is one of those numbers that I think grew with more wit and also the remark Flo made about "Give me that gold and I'll make my own happiness" which she does not say here.

I really appreciate you sharing this here. This is absolutely wonderful and I couldn't stop smiling the entire time. One thing that crossed my mind was when the camera pulled back and you see the audience was made up, seemingly, mostly of women. The types who, back then, would have been housewives, grandmothers, Women's Club, PTA, suburban types. I've always thought how those audiences reacted to the Supremes' appearances on these daytime shows. Did they come away thinking, "I really LIKED that group!" Maybe they had only a passing awareness of the girls because their kids liked their music. But now, seeing them performing their pop hits AND standards, maybe they found themselves surprisingly captivated by these "kids."

For me, I put it in perspective by my reaction to hearing Lady Gaga singing standards with Tony Bennett on her Thanksgiving television special. I honestly thought that was such a laughable idea. I wasn't into Lady Gaga at all until I watched that show for what I thought would be laughs. In the end, I was blown away and went out and bought the CD that was released shortly afterwards. If I had been a middle-aged parent back in the 60s, I probably would have had a similar transformation watching the Supremes on a show like Mike Douglas.

**sup_fan** · 09-14-2022, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

I really appreciate you sharing this here. This is absolutely wonderful and I couldn't stop smiling the entire time. One thing that crossed my mind was when the camera pulled back and you see the audience was made up, seemingly, mostly of women. The types who, back then, would have been housewives, grandmothers, Women's Club, PTA, suburban types. I've always thought how those audiences reacted to the Supremes' appearances on these daytime shows. Did they come away thinking, "I really LIKED that group!" Maybe they had only a passing awareness of the girls because their kids liked their music. But now, seeing them performing their pop hits AND standards, maybe they found themselves surprisingly captivated by these "kids."

For me, I put it in perspective by my reaction to hearing Lady Gaga singing standards with Tony Bennett on her Thanksgiving television special. I honestly thought that was such a laughable idea. I wasn't into Lady Gaga at all until I watched that show for what I thought would be laughs. In the end, I was blown away and went out and bought the CD that was released shortly afterwards. If I had been a middle-aged parent back in the 60s, I probably would have had a similar transformation watching the Supremes on a show like Mike Douglas.

that was Gordy's plan. keep the teens happy with the Sups amazing 45s and hits. get the parents to come to the night clubs and see the girls on stage. these early tv appearances were all part of the lead up to getting the girls booked at places like the Copa and Lincoln Center.

i'm sure these audience members all left thinking "well wasn't that lovely. those colored girls were not bad at all!! my 13 year old daughter just plays and plays those records! I wasn't too sure if she should be listening to negros singing. but those girls seemed so well mannered and they even sang songs I know!"

**WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance** · 09-14-2022, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by sup_fan

that was Gordy's plan. keep the teens happy with the Sups amazing 45s and hits. get the parents to come to the night clubs and see the girls on stage. these early tv appearances were all part of the lead up to getting the girls booked at places like the Copa and Lincoln Center.

i'm sure these audience members all left thinking "well wasn't that lovely. those colored girls were not bad at all!! my 13 year old daughter just plays and plays those records! I wasn't too sure if she should be listening to negros singing. but those girls seemed so well mannered and they even sang songs I know!"

Well now you got me laughing cuz, you know, in my head those last few lines are EXACTLY what I always THINK but was afraid to SAY! I know it sounds funny but even now I get these tremendous feelings of pride watching the Supremes winning over the White audiences. It's like that phrase they used to say to us whenever they were surprised to find some of us actually could be intelligent, upright people: "You're a credit to your race!"