Would they still have used the Andantes if Flo stayed?

[midnightman]

Yeah, the fake PR statement made sense, except Flo blew it all up when she signed with ABC. The press was always asking the question in a round about way, but now they were flat out asking if Flo left because of the name change, or because she and Diana didn't get along. And make no mistake about it, although everyone tried to keep a lid on things, Flo had a couple of public blowups:

-There was apparently some kind of blow up between Flo and Diana at a department store autograph signing in front of witnesses.

-There was the blowup when the ladies were filming a commercial in the Brewster Projects, with people watching.

-Flo threw a drink in Berry's face in a nightclub, surely in front of other patrons.

-Most accounts of Flo's last night as a Supreme have her and Gordy having a loud and public argument backstage, which no doubt hotel staff would have been present for.

Trust, the rumors were already flying in the press, including reports of Flo and Diana having fights. But again, Motown didn't have the savviness to handle Flo leaving or they would have come up with something less faulty than Flo wanting to settle down or sell antiques. Lol So imagine how tongue tied they would have been to address the scenario Floyjoy presented?

True. I forgot they mentioned all of this in basically every Supremes biography ever written.

[midnightman]

WHO put that costume there?:

the suspects:

the careless wardrober
the heartless Berry Gordy
the ever-conniving Mary Wilson
the fed-up Diana Ross
the desperate Florence Ballard
the lil' stinker Patti Labelle
or the sweet-on-the-outside master-planner Cindy Birdsong herself

????

Berry "Secret Squirrel" Gordy...

[bradsupremes]

Exactly how many recording sessions is Flo supposed to have missed? We know she missed "Mr. Sandman", "Sincerely" and "Mother Dear" [[version 1) in 1965 [[that's either one whole session or two), and then we know she missed like two or three sessions in July of 1966. And we know she missed "Reflections" in 1967. We know these are "missed" because Mary is present. What we don't know is why Flo is missing. Also, considering how often the group recorded, a handful of missed sessions over a two year period certainly is not a case of Flo habitually missing recording sessions, though the missed sessions in July 66, in the midst of the group starting to have some serious issues within, would have undoubtedly added to any point of contention Gordy would have had with Flo.

The June 1965 absences were due to Florence having the flu. She was out for two weeks. It was too early for trouble in paradise at that point. She must have gotten ill shortly after their June 13th Cobo Hall show. Marlene stood in for her during the three sessions during this time and with shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Florence returned shortly after the Basin Street Boston engagement ended on June 27th.

Sessions Flo missed out on - Marlene stood in for her.
June 17, 1965 - "Sincerely," "Mister Sandman"
June 18, 1965 - "Fancy Passes"
June 21, 1965 - "Mother Dear" [[Backgrounds are Diana, Mary, Marlene)
July 4, 1966 - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" [[Mary and Diana did backgrounds)
July 5, 1966 - "You Can't Hurry Love," "Slow Down," "Just A Little Misunderstanding," "Come On And See Me," "Misery Makes It Home In My Heart"
May 9, 1967 - "Reflections"

[floyjoy678]

The June 1965 absences were due to Florence having the flu. She was out for two weeks. It was too early for trouble in paradise at that point. She must have gotten ill shortly after their June 13th Cobo Hall show. Marlene stood in for her during the three sessions during this time and with shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Florence returned shortly after the Basin Street Boston engagement ended on June 27th.

Sessions Flo missed out on - Marlene stood in for her.
June 17, 1965 - "Sincerely," "Mister Sandman"
June 18, 1965 - "Fancy Passes"
June 21, 1965 - "Mother Dear" [[Backgrounds are Diana, Mary, Marlene)
July 4, 1966 - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" [[Mary and Diana did backgrounds)
July 5, 1966 - "You Can't Hurry Love," "Slow Down," "Just A Little Misunderstanding," "Come On And See Me," "Misery Makes It Home In My Heart"
May 9, 1967 - "Reflections"

Do we know how many times Marlene stood in for Flo on stage? Was it just June 1965 and April 1967?

[blackguy69]

Early 1966 prior to the copa engagement

Do we know how many times Marlene stood in for Flo on stage? Was it just June 1965 and April 1967?

[Ollie9]

The June 1965 absences were due to Florence having the flu. She was out for two weeks. It was too early for trouble in paradise at that point. She must have gotten ill shortly after their June 13th Cobo Hall show. Marlene stood in for her during the three sessions during this time and with shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Florence returned shortly after the Basin Street Boston engagement ended on June 27th.

Sessions Flo missed out on - Marlene stood in for her.
June 17, 1965 - "Sincerely," "Mister Sandman"
June 18, 1965 - "Fancy Passes"
June 21, 1965 - "Mother Dear" [[Backgrounds are Diana, Mary, Marlene)
July 4, 1966 - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" [[Mary and Diana did backgrounds)
July 5, 1966 - "You Can't Hurry Love," "Slow Down," "Just A Little Misunderstanding," "Come On And See Me," "Misery Makes It Home In My Heart"
May 9, 1967 - "Reflections"

Interesting info. I never realised it was just Diana and Mary on background for “What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted”.

[floyjoy678]

I always heard Diana in the background for "Mother Dear" especially during the "It's no use [[it's no use), I can't break loose [[I can't break loose)" part. It was like her voice just repeating lol.

[bradsupremes]

Do we know how many times Marlene stood in for Flo on stage? Was it just June 1965 and April 1967?

In June 1965, Marlene stood in for Flo at the Basin Street Boston engagement, a show in Philadelphia, and the private show at the Detroit country club. I think was some confusion about which show was before the Copa engagement. I think it was previously believed she stood in prior to the Copa 1966 show, but the Basin Street Boston gig was right before the Copa engagement and according to Marlene, they were testing out the show.

She stood in again in April 1967, but I haven't been able to find out their complete schedule during that week in April so I'm not sure which shows they were.

[midnightman]

The June 1965 absences were due to Florence having the flu. She was out for two weeks. It was too early for trouble in paradise at that point. She must have gotten ill shortly after their June 13th Cobo Hall show. Marlene stood in for her during the three sessions during this time and with shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Florence returned shortly after the Basin Street Boston engagement ended on June 27th.

Sessions Flo missed out on - Marlene stood in for her.
June 17, 1965 - "Sincerely," "Mister Sandman"
June 18, 1965 - "Fancy Passes"
June 21, 1965 - "Mother Dear" [[Backgrounds are Diana, Mary, Marlene)
July 4, 1966 - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" [[Mary and Diana did backgrounds)
July 5, 1966 - "You Can't Hurry Love," "Slow Down," "Just A Little Misunderstanding," "Come On And See Me," "Misery Makes It Home In My Heart"
May 9, 1967 - "Reflections"

God, some of these sessions were back-to-back...

[RanRan79]

After a week, Berry scheduled the recording session for "HE" but Flo didn't show up. Mary defended Flo but Diana was pissed because wasted studio time came out of their royalties. After waiting an hour, Berry sent Mary home and Diana did the session alone

Which still doesn't make sense because none of the groups are on those sessions, only the lead singers. I suspect if any of this took place it had to be another session. CHMR is also the same book that claimed Flo missed the "My World Is Empty" session, and we know that isn't true. I think that story was mixed up with "You Can't Hurry Love", so I wonder what other session this "He" story really is.

[midnightman]

Don't you just hate it when a book that you think is well researched includes errors like that??? Just makes you think you can't trust the story. The fact Diana shelved that book to explain herself... ugh how I would kill for someone to release that book in the event Diana leaves this earth [[since we know she won't release it in the rest of her lifetime). Because it's just some fascinating stuff.

[RanRan79]

The June 1965 absences were due to Florence having the flu. She was out for two weeks. It was too early for trouble in paradise at that point. She must have gotten ill shortly after their June 13th Cobo Hall show. Marlene stood in for her during the three sessions during this time and with shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Florence returned shortly after the Basin Street Boston engagement ended on June 27th.

Sessions Flo missed out on - Marlene stood in for her.
June 17, 1965 - "Sincerely," "Mister Sandman"
June 18, 1965 - "Fancy Passes"
June 21, 1965 - "Mother Dear" [[Backgrounds are Diana, Mary, Marlene)
July 4, 1966 - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" [[Mary and Diana did backgrounds)
July 5, 1966 - "You Can't Hurry Love," "Slow Down," "Just A Little Misunderstanding," "Come On And See Me," "Misery Makes It Home In My Heart"
May 9, 1967 - "Reflections"

Thanks Brad! I had no idea Diana was in the background on "Mother Dear"! Of course until the last year, I had no idea Flo wasn't on it. Now I have to go back and listen to this song that I don't like, again.

[floyjoy678]

It really isn't that much that Flo missed. I feel like it's been made out to be that she was constantly absent. That first period of her being out in June of 1965 was because of the flu. Not because she was being petty. I once had a flu in my 20's that took me about a month to recover from.

I think Flo standing up for the group and Diana after her breakdown is probably when the problems really started.

[RanRan79]

I think Flo standing up for the group and Diana after her breakdown is probably when the problems really started.

Yup. Once Flo started questioning things, she and Gordy began a mostly adversarial relationship. Because Gordy had Diana's nose wide open enough for a plane to fly through it, rather than side with Flo, she deferred to Gordy and hopped on his bandwagon because he was convincing her that everything was for her benefit, even though she was, in a way, killing herself for it. This made Flo the enemy. She already had trust issues, now she was "living" with people she didn't trust and she felt were stabbing her in the back. Gordy had the ability to squash all of this. He didn't.

[Boogiedown]

The June 1965 absences were due to Florence having the flu. She was out for two weeks. It was too early for trouble in paradise at that point. She must have gotten ill shortly after their June 13th Cobo Hall show. Marlene stood in for her during the three sessions during this time and with shows in Philadelphia and Boston. Florence returned shortly after the Basin Street Boston engagement ended on June 27th.

Sessions Flo missed out on - Marlene stood in for her.
June 17, 1965 - "Sincerely," "Mister Sandman"
June 18, 1965 - "Fancy Passes"
June 21, 1965 - "Mother Dear" [[Backgrounds are Diana, Mary, Marlene)
July 4, 1966 - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" [[Mary and Diana did backgrounds)
July 5, 1966 - "You Can't Hurry Love," "Slow Down," "Just A Little Misunderstanding," "Come On And See Me," "Misery Makes It Home In My Heart"
May 9, 1967 - "Reflections"

I'd like to see this short list of missed sessions placed along side the long list of sessions Flo did attend.

Also I'd be curious as to how many sessions Diana missed. If the answer is zero, then one reason might be that in her case if she needed to skip one [good grief didn't these girls ever have dentist appointments!] then the session would be moved to another time in order to accommodate her.

[sup_fan]

Yup. Once Flo started questioning things, she and Gordy began a mostly adversarial relationship. Because Gordy had Diana's nose wide open enough for a plane to fly through it, rather than side with Flo, she deferred to Gordy and hopped on his bandwagon because he was convincing her that everything was for her benefit, even though she was, in a way, killing herself for it. This made Flo the enemy. She already had trust issues, now she was "living" with people she didn't trust and she felt were stabbing her in the back. Gordy had the ability to squash all of this. He didn't.

i'm a bit surprised at your having such a broad, generic assessment.

it seems that each individual had their own timeline as to when they seemed to decide "enough is enough" with the whole flo situation. i would imagine Berry and some of the motown staff was earlier - they saw the situation deteriorating. gil and others have said though that both D and M were both doing all they could to try and alleviate some of the problems. covering for flo. even as late at the R&H sessions, Diana was championing for Manhattan to be included on the lp. that isn't to say that Diana didn't want to retain the center role of Lead Singer. of course she did. but that doesn't mean she was totally blind to the flo situation and simply adopted berry's POV

but eventually, Diana and mary each got to the point where they recognized it had gone too far. that it was time for flo to go.

[RanRan79]

i'm a bit surprised at your having such a broad, generic assessment.

it seems that each individual had their own timeline as to when they seemed to decide "enough is enough" with the whole flo situation. i would imagine Berry and some of the motown staff was earlier - they saw the situation deteriorating. gil and others have said though that both D and M were both doing all they could to try and alleviate some of the problems. covering for flo. even as late at the R&H sessions, Diana was championing for Manhattan to be included on the lp. that isn't to say that Diana didn't want to retain the center role of Lead Singer. of course she did. but that doesn't mean she was totally blind to the flo situation and simply adopted berry's POV

but eventually, Diana and mary each got to the point where they recognized it had gone too far. that it was time for flo to go.

You mean at this point I'm still surprising you Sup? Cool!

There's no question that by the spring of 1967, just about everyone had enough and figured it was only a matter of time. That's not my point. The issue here is when did things go off the rails and why. Everyone has trouble from time to time. I imagine picking any year of the group's existence from 1959 thru 1964, there will be some issue that arises, both personal and business. That's life. A little trouble here and there should be expected. Within the Supremes, sometime around the summer of 66 things seemed to move pretty quickly in a negative direction. That's the "when".

The "why" is that Gordy was changing the direction of the group and Flo didn't like it. My comment wasn't about who wanted Flo gone or wanted her to stay. We've been over that a million times, that if all the principle players, including Gordy, could have had their way, Flo would have stayed...if she toed the line.

There's no question that Flo started making waves about how much they were working [[and it is said she may have been questioning the money as well) and the direction the group was moving in. This was a major issue between her and Gordy. Diana did not side with Flo. She did not- as far as we know- make it an issue to speak up on Flo and Mary's behalf's and say "Hey Berry, I'm loving the ideas you have about my position, but the girls are feeling some type a way about it. How about giving them a few more leads in the show and on the albums?"

Of course at the end of the day that would have been up to Gordy to give in or decline, but at least Diana could have spoken up. She didn't because she was blinded by her love for Berry as well as all the plans he was telling her he had for her eventual solo career. But she shouldn't have even needed to do that. Gordy should have been wise enough to figure that making Flo and Mary happy should be a priority because one or both rocking the boat could cause a major issue regarding the group and Diana's future goals.

I'm surprised that anyone would find fault with my assessment here.

[jobeterob]

It’s such a shame that “anything goes online”.

I see on Facebook in some of these Motown groups there are posts saying the Andantes sang on all the Supremes songs.

And posts identifying Barry White and Love Unlimited as Berry Gordy and the Supremes

At least SD has some semblance of reality

[sup_fan]

You mean at this point I'm still surprising you Sup? Cool!

There's no question that by the spring of 1967, just about everyone had enough and figured it was only a matter of time. That's not my point. The issue here is when did things go off the rails and why. Everyone has trouble from time to time. I imagine picking any year of the group's existence from 1959 thru 1964, there will be some issue that arises, both personal and business. That's life. A little trouble here and there should be expected. Within the Supremes, sometime around the summer of 66 things seemed to move pretty quickly in a negative direction. That's the "when".

The "why" is that Gordy was changing the direction of the group and Flo didn't like it. My comment wasn't about who wanted Flo gone or wanted her to stay. We've been over that a million times, that if all the principle players, including Gordy, could have had their way, Flo would have stayed...if she toed the line.

There's no question that Flo started making waves about how much they were working [[and it is said she may have been questioning the money as well) and the direction the group was moving in. This was a major issue between her and Gordy. Diana did not side with Flo. She did not- as far as we know- make it an issue to speak up on Flo and Mary's behalf's and say "Hey Berry, I'm loving the ideas you have about my position, but the girls are feeling some type a way about it. How about giving them a few more leads in the show and on the albums?"

Of course at the end of the day that would have been up to Gordy to give in or decline, but at least Diana could have spoken up. She didn't because she was blinded by her love for Berry as well as all the plans he was telling her he had for her eventual solo career. But she shouldn't have even needed to do that. Gordy should have been wise enough to figure that making Flo and Mary happy should be a priority because one or both rocking the boat could cause a major issue regarding the group and Diana's future goals.

I'm surprised that anyone would find fault with my assessment here.

gotcha! that makes sense. that's always the challenging with reading posts on here is sometimes the intent doesn't always come through clearly.

it does seem that during this time M and D seemed to be able to [[more or less) carry on. of course diana collapsing on stage is a pretty clear argument that she wasn't able. and then later we have Mary insisting on time on and then missing the LC sessions [[or maybe berry purposely scheduled them then as a bit of a punishment?)

[midnightman]

It really isn't that much that Flo missed. I feel like it's been made out to be that she was constantly absent. That first period of her being out in June of 1965 was because of the flu. Not because she was being petty. I once had a flu in my 20's that took me about a month to recover from.

I think Flo standing up for the group and Diana after her breakdown is probably when the problems really started.

Berry didn't want Flo to take control was probably the REAL issue all along. I can see it being that way.

[midnightman]

I'd like to see this short list of missed sessions placed along side the long list of sessions Flo did attend.

Also I'd be curious as to how many sessions Diana missed. If the answer is zero, then one reason might be that in her case if she needed to skip one [good grief didn't these girls ever have dentist appointments!] then the session would be moved to another time in order to accommodate her.

Motown insiders would cancel sessions if lead singers couldn't make the session and allow another act to enter the studio, least that's where I read. Which I guess makes sense cause if the lead singer isn't there to record, what's the use of having the rest of the group record? Motown recorded at a frenetic pace and a sickness interrupted things. So instead of waiting, they cancel and let the other group who was ready to be there for their session.

[midnightman]

You mean at this point I'm still surprising you Sup? Cool!

There's no question that by the spring of 1967, just about everyone had enough and figured it was only a matter of time. That's not my point. The issue here is when did things go off the rails and why. Everyone has trouble from time to time. I imagine picking any year of the group's existence from 1959 thru 1964, there will be some issue that arises, both personal and business. That's life. A little trouble here and there should be expected. Within the Supremes, sometime around the summer of 66 things seemed to move pretty quickly in a negative direction. That's the "when".

The "why" is that Gordy was changing the direction of the group and Flo didn't like it. My comment wasn't about who wanted Flo gone or wanted her to stay. We've been over that a million times, that if all the principle players, including Gordy, could have had their way, Flo would have stayed...if she toed the line.

There's no question that Flo started making waves about how much they were working [[and it is said she may have been questioning the money as well) and the direction the group was moving in. This was a major issue between her and Gordy. Diana did not side with Flo. She did not- as far as we know- make it an issue to speak up on Flo and Mary's behalf's and say "Hey Berry, I'm loving the ideas you have about my position, but the girls are feeling some type a way about it. How about giving them a few more leads in the show and on the albums?"

Of course at the end of the day that would have been up to Gordy to give in or decline, but at least Diana could have spoken up. She didn't because she was blinded by her love for Berry as well as all the plans he was telling her he had for her eventual solo career. But she shouldn't have even needed to do that. Gordy should have been wise enough to figure that making Flo and Mary happy should be a priority because one or both rocking the boat could cause a major issue regarding the group and Diana's future goals.

I'm surprised that anyone would find fault with my assessment here.

That's because some fans have a "it is what it is" scenario. Probably thinking Flo should've "gotten over it". Flo had REAL complaints about how things were run. Berry hated being questioned and judged because in his eyes, he made those girls what they were, he made sure they were being accommodated so for someone in his stable to be unhappy about everything and complaining, that was the side of "disloyalty" to HIM. Remember, this is a man who was still bitter about the way Mary Wells left him. He made every act sign new contracts AFTER Mary Wells left to assure they wouldn't pull that "stunt" on him again.

Like Berry's ego was already bad when he formed Motown in 1959, it got worse after the Supremes became his juggernaut act and his ticket to riches. So for one of the Supremes to judge him and confront him was a "slap" in the face and he wanted to make an example and I guess Flo got fed up and said "try me Berry". And what happened is what happened. Both Diana and Mary basically were "yes boss" to him even if they had their own complaints and we know why Diana didn't side with Flo because, as you mentioned, she wanted to be a star and basically partnered with Berry because she thought she was in love and basically "Berry's woman".

Put it altogether: recipe for disaster.

[sup_fan]

Motown insiders would cancel sessions if lead singers couldn't make the session and allow another act to enter the studio, least that's where I read. Which I guess makes sense cause if the lead singer isn't there to record, what's the use of having the rest of the group record? Motown recorded at a frenetic pace and a sickness interrupted things. So instead of waiting, they cancel and let the other group who was ready to be there for their session.

motown was running hard 24/7/365. the session for YCHL was scheduled for July 4, 1966! a federal holiday lol. but motown was like - we don't care! there's money to be made so y'all best get your asses into the studio when scheduled. I don't know if Flo was sick or out at a July 4 picnic lol.

I do doubt though that HDH would just pass up one of their best tunes to another group just cuz the session was cancelled. it's possible though. they did write the gem This Old Heart Of Mine for the sups but for whatever reason it was then given to the Isleys.

and yes there were times early on where Mary Wells didn't show up for a session and MRATV did it. or a song intended for the Temps [[Do You Love Me) but they weren't able to all get to the studio so the Contours did it.

[RanRan79]

motown was running hard 24/7/365. the session for YCHL was scheduled for July 4, 1966! a federal holiday lol. but motown was like - we don't care! there's money to be made so y'all best get your asses into the studio when scheduled. I don't know if Flo was sick or out at a July 4 picnic lol.

I won't claim to know what Flo was doing, but I will say my money is on that she skipped out on the session because "Why are we working on a holiday?" Lol

But then I recall that it wasn't just the 4th and 5th, but she even missed the session for the 8th. I would say that's a bit excessive to celebrate the holiday. Lol Now I wonder if maybe she was ill.

[sup_fan]

I won't claim to know what Flo was doing, but I will say my money is on that she skipped out on the session because "Why are we working on a holiday?" Lol

But then I recall that it wasn't just the 4th and 5th, but she even missed the session for the 8th. I would say that's a bit excessive to celebrate the holiday. Lol Now I wonder if maybe she was ill.

but that could be another "black mark" against flo. i don't deny that she might have been sick but it could have been one of those situations like at an office. one person is habitually sick and others soldier through.

i'm not trying to say flo was lying or anything. but it could have played into the perception of her by others. we know the story of Diana having painful dental surgery in LA and then flying off immediately to be on stage in Vegas. pushing through. yet every 3 weeks flo has another flu. or anytime she has a headcold, she's bedridden. and there are no stories of Mary missing things - i'd assume she wasn't immune to colds or flus but still managed to carry on

obviously i'm exaggerating here for sake of example. when one person is always ill and others can still manage to get through the day even when a bit under the weather, it can create a perception on that person. sort of the "cry wolf" thing - is she really sick or just not wanting to work?

[jobucats]

It’s such a shame that “anything goes online”.

I see on Facebook in some of these Motown groups there are posts saying the Andantes sang on all the Supremes songs.

And posts identifying Barry White and Love Unlimited as Berry Gordy and the Supremes

At least SD has some semblance of reality

And these groups where so-called 'experts' refer to Berry as 'Barry' or 'Barry Gordon' and Diana as 'Dianna' or 'Dina.' And some of these experts use the movie, "Dream Girls", as their source to document their claims about that went on in the Supremes. And last, but not least, there are the experts who were 'best friends' with Mary Wilson.

[jobeterob]

And these groups where so-called 'experts' refer to Berry as 'Barry' or 'Barry Gordon' and Diana as 'Dianna' or 'Dina.' And some of these experts use the movie, "Dream Girls", as their source to document their claims about that went on in the Supremes. And last, but not least, there are the experts who were 'best friends' with Mary Wilson.

Love your last comment!

One thing I wonder about is that it is often said that the Andantes sang background on 10000 songs. I don’t think Motown did 10000 songs.

Did they do a bunch of other outside work as well?

[RanRan79]

obviously i'm exaggerating here for sake of example. when one person is always ill and others can still manage to get through the day even when a bit under the weather, it can create a perception on that person. sort of the "cry wolf" thing - is she really sick or just not wanting to work?

I would think by 1966 they would all have a good read on Flo. Was she always more susceptible to illness than the other two? And there's no question that in 1966 they were busier than ever. I imagine because of the amount of people they were constantly coming in contact with, they were always being exposed to some ailment. Was she the type who got sick and it knocked her down? Some people can certainly soldier through. I, however, am not that person. When I get sick, I'm no good. I wonder if Florence was the same way. But as it relates to being ill, I'm not sure we have much evidence that Flo was often sick, certainly to the point where it affected the group, so I don't know if "cry wolf" was a thing with them.

It is worth mentioning that sick or not, Gordy really didn't care. When Flo's doctor told him that she had pneumonia, apparently Gordy begged the man for some kind of scenario where Flo could make the performance and the doctor gave a very limited window. Flo was outdoors for hours. It reminds me of that saying that always appears on those videos about someone never missing a day of work in 30 years: you'll die and there will be an advertisement for your job the very next day. Lol If you don't take care of you, you can't always count on others to do the same.

[midnightman]

motown was running hard 24/7/365. the session for YCHL was scheduled for July 4, 1966! a federal holiday lol. but motown was like - we don't care! there's money to be made so y'all best get your asses into the studio when scheduled. I don't know if Flo was sick or out at a July 4 picnic lol.

I do doubt though that HDH would just pass up one of their best tunes to another group just cuz the session was cancelled. it's possible though. they did write the gem This Old Heart Of Mine for the sups but for whatever reason it was then given to the Isleys.

and yes there were times early on where Mary Wells didn't show up for a session and MRATV did it. or a song intended for the Temps [[Do You Love Me) but they weren't able to all get to the studio so the Contours did it.

It's likely the day the Sups were to record TOHOM, Diana got sick and Berry canceled the session and HDH decided to give it to the Isleys because they felt this could be a big hit for them [[they were right if that was the case).

[midnightman]

I would think by 1966 they would all have a good read on Flo. Was she always more susceptible to illness than the other two? And there's no question that in 1966 they were busier than ever. I imagine because of the amount of people they were constantly coming in contact with, they were always being exposed to some ailment. Was she the type who got sick and it knocked her down? Some people can certainly soldier through. I, however, am not that person. When I get sick, I'm no good. I wonder if Florence was the same way. But as it relates to being ill, I'm not sure we have much evidence that Flo was often sick, certainly to the point where it affected the group, so I don't know if "cry wolf" was a thing with them.

It is worth mentioning that sick or not, Gordy really didn't care. When Flo's doctor told him that she had pneumonia, apparently Gordy begged the man for some kind of scenario where Flo could make the performance and the doctor gave a very limited window. Flo was outdoors for hours. It reminds me of that saying that always appears on those videos about someone never missing a day of work in 30 years: you'll die and there will be an advertisement for your job the very next day. Lol If you don't take care of you, you can't always count on others to do the same.

In those days, Berry would make his artists work through sicknesses, so I can definitely see him doing that for Flo.