After MSS

[marybrewster]

MARY, SCHERRIE, AND SUSAYE was recorded in 1976, and released in October, 1976.

Mary didn't depart the group until June of 1977.

Were there any recordings of the MSS lineup AFTER October 1976? For as often as the group was in the studio, you'd think there might have been SOMETHING?

[sup_fan]

not that i'm aware of. Mary announced her departure from the group in December, shortly after the lp was released. and of course this pretty much ended any promotion motown might have considered giving it.

the days of the girls being in the studio constantly were long gone. partially probably because of the lack of sales. the commercial decline of the group would make people hesitant to rack up zillions in recording and studio fees, just to have much of the content unreleased.

Also the group focused more on a project than just random recording. yes in 74 and 75 they did a large block of recording with a variety of producers but that was because the group had resigned and everyone was searching for a sound and direction. they released the Sup 75 hodgepodge in order to test out what might click. when the decision was made to pair the group back with the Hollands, they then spent late 75/early 76 just working with them. and out of that, there was really only 1 canned track from the HE sessions [[There's Room at the Top).

then someone made the decision to move on from the HE lp and record a new album. so they went in the studio and did just that.

had mary not left the group, odds are they would have probably returned to the studios in spring 77 to record whatever new material they were going to work on

[sup_fan]

to me the real question is WHAT would the girls have done next? would they continue with the Hollands? i thought someone said that not too long after their work with the Sups, the Hollands got into a tiff again with Motown and stopped working with them. i don't know if that was 77 or 78 or when.

would they maybe have re-connected with Greg Wright who did HMM? he was also working on You Were The One with Diana and did work with Jermaine around this time too

would they have finally let S and S produce [[i doubt it)

Kent Washburn was working with High Inergy, would he maybe have had a chance with the Sups?

[marybrewster]

Perhaps Frank Wilson? He produced several singles for New Birth, Freda Payne, and Alton McClain and Destiny in 1977. Too gritty?

[marybrewster]

Richard Perry? Could he have pulled off "Energy" or "High Priority" for the Pointer Sisters on the Supremes? Could that have lead to "Break Out"?

[Spreadinglove21]

Given that the MSS album didn't chart, there's another alternative to consider: Motown would have dropped them.

[sup_fan]

i think the issues with the album are that they had such a haphazard approach to which song to push. with the HE set, there was a little activity on the charts with the title track. but otherwise it was all solidly focused on Walking. various markets weren't off playing Only You or You're What's Missing.

with MS&S, Wheel was the first single but the club action was all over the place. some cities were only listing Wheel on their dance chart, others had it co-listed with LYG. Still others had Wheel/LYG/Love i never knew. some were LYG and Don't want to be tied down.

they should have selected 1 tune and the pushed the F out of it. LYG is in my opinion the strongest option.

had that have happened, then perhaps the charts would have been more in sync and the jump from the dance charts to the pop charts might have worked better. LYG is a better radio tune than Wheel. If all of that had happened, then perhaps the parent LP would have generated more interest.

[marybrewster]

Given that the MSS album didn't chart, there's another alternative to consider: Motown would have dropped them.

That's also a possibility.

Yet it would have been interesting to see what The Supremes might have done just after the disco era.