Originally Posted by
BobbyC
Ohhh goody! Now I know the next book I'm gonna read--All The Leaves Are Brown!! I just finished up Jerry Butler's memoirs so I'm ready to roll.
Can't say I agree about Black Patch. I liked the song and they did a great job singing it but I never thought it was single material. The 5th saw a STEEP decline in record sales on Individually and Collectively, which was odd seeing as though the record had two Top Ten hits on it. Marilyn told me herself that Individually and Collectively marked the beginning of the end for them, in terms of sales. Sad but nothing lasts forever. The group was having some epic battles with Clive Davis around this time. he wanted Marilyn to do all leads and this led to infighting--even billy complained about all the Marilyn leads. He thought the public was just bored with the "same old sound." He wanted to go more R&B but Clive wanted nothing to do with it. The group was also having problems with Bones Howe, and he left after the next album failed. The 5th Dimension's single Harlem was an attempt at a danceable, more R&B sound. Despite great reviews, radio DJ's sent smashed copies of the 45 to Bell records, one saying "this was not the 5th Dimension we know." So once again, a group gets to the point where things are no longer working, but what to do? How to change? The 70's Supremes had the same problem.
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