59 years ago last night, The Supremes made their first appearance on Ed Sullivan

[floyjoy678]

This was a pivotal moment in the girls' career and this TV appearance meant that they made the big time. I always saw it as a cementing for them. They were not just your run of the mill girl group with a couple of hits, the Supremes were here to stay.

What did you think of the appearance?

It was always one of my favorites, despite it being a very basic appearance. They really didn't move much and the backdrop was very plain. But I do love the girls' live vocals and the house band. I especially love the drummer going crazy as they go into the third verse.

It does seem like they were a bit nervous, Diana is a little more over the top than usual and Mary and Florence seem a bit more reserved than usual.

[Ollie9]

Before the lashes and sparkly frocks. The groups vocals are great, although i would have preferred the song performed at the same speed as the recording.
Diana’s eye popping routine is a little irritating, but they come across as such innocent hometown girls it’s forgivable.
Having just a blank screen behind them was rather meagre, but all three women hold your attention throughout.

[marybrewster]

Weren't they scheduled to perform two songs, but one was cut? Anyone know what the second song might have been? And wasn't it said Diana was miffed that Ed didn't chat them up after the performance?

[RanRan79]

Weren't they scheduled to perform two songs, but one was cut? Anyone know what the second song might have been? And wasn't it said Diana was miffed that Ed didn't chat them up after the performance?

They were also scheduled to do "Baby Love".

Yes, Diana apparently complained about not getting interviewed by Ed in a magazine article, which pissed Gordy off because she was potentially alienating one of the group's biggest supporters. Diana seems to have had a habit at the time of not knowing when to keep her mouth shut, something she has clearly overcome, judging by how little we hear from her now.

[RanRan79]

Floy, it really was a great performance. I think everything there was to love about the group was on full display for their primetime debut. They sound great. They look good. They each come across with personality, which made the entirety very interesting, perhaps more so than most- if not all- of the other female groups at that point. They don't come across nervous to me at all.

Diana is clearly taking her lead singer duty seriously. She's so animated and it's very eye catching. She's the only one who gets solo closeups this performance, which makes the fact that she's missing her back teeth very obvious. Lol Them eyes are popping! Dinah Washington used to pop her eyes while she sang. I wonder if Diana was influenced by her? Mary looks very self assured and so very gorgeous. Florence also looks beautiful. I can't tell if it's the camera angle or not, but Flo seems to be standing closer to Diana than Mary is. I wonder if that's one reason why Flo is so very audible over Mary.

[brothadc]

Diana was only missing one tooth on her upper right. Diana's upper teeth were relatively substantial in size so it may have given the illusion that more than one tooth was missing, but it was just one. You can see more clearly that was the case during The Supremes' performance of "Surfer Boy" that's on YouTube. It's too bad they didn't have implants back then. I can tell you from personal experience when you get a bridge they shave down and make your teeth that will be holding the bridge so much smaller than your natural teeth were, and they never seem the make the bridge the same size and dimensions that your natural teeth were.

[Motown Eddie]

What did you think of the appearance?

It was always one of my favorites, despite it being a very basic appearance. They really didn't move much and the backdrop was very plain. But I do love the girls' live vocals and the house band. I especially love the drummer going crazy as they go into the third verse.

I remember seeing The Supremes 1st appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show back in 1964. Me & My Family loved the group and we would drop whatever we were doing anytime they were on TV. I can't say I noticed anything different about The Supremes performance on Sullivan versus the other times they were on TV [except that they were singing to live music instead of 'lip syncing' to one of their records] . However, their appearance on the show truly put them on the map and let everyone know that The Supremes were here to make their mark on the Music World [and this would lead to other Motown Artists getting booked to do The Sullivan Show].

[floyjoy678]

Ed did call them over to shake their hands and wish them a happy new year which was a pretty good sign he enjoyed their act. Florence gives Diana a mischevious look from what I remember when he calls them over.

Also this only something a rabid Supremes fan such as myself would only notice but Mary and Florence on the last verse sing "mm-mmm" like on the recording as opposed to the usual "oo-ooh" they would do live for the song.

[sup_fan]

are we sure that Song 2 was to be Baby Love? would certainly make sense cuz it was such a big hit. or would they maybe have done a short medley like they did on TAMI?

overall it's a great appearance and clearly displays why the group was so great. all three are great, although i'd say maybe Mary is quite as dynamic as she would sometimes be. when she would beam her megawatt smile, it would just glow. and she looks a touch reserved here

[reese]

are we sure that Song 2 was to be Baby Love? would certainly make sense cuz it was such a big hit. or would they maybe have done a short medley like they did on TAMI?

overall it's a great appearance and clearly displays why the group was so great. all three are great, although i'd say maybe Mary is quite as dynamic as she would sometimes be. when she would beam her megawatt smile, it would just glow. and she looks a touch reserved here

I don't recall ever reading what the second song might have been. But knowing Berry and the great opportunity for exposure, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a standard. They already had such songs in their repertoire. For instance, when they did the Steve Allen show, they did WDOLG as well as I AM WOMAN.

Re the appearance itself, I wasn't born when it first aired so I missed that excitement that some of you luckier fans have. I saw it when Diana showed a clip of it on her 1977 tv special.

As much as I like seeing the progression of the group throughout the 60s, I find something really special about those early tv appearances. There is a sense of innocence yet there is also a feeling of "we got this." Nowadays it seems as if there are very little rare video on them coming out and I miss it.

[jobucats]

They were also scheduled to do "Baby Love".

Yes, Diana apparently complained about not getting interviewed by Ed in a magazine article, which pissed Gordy off because she was potentially alienating one of the group's biggest supporters. Diana seems to have had a habit at the time of not knowing when to keep her mouth shut, something she has clearly overcome, judging by how little we hear from her now.

Was that the LOOK magazine spread where there was a separate page profiling each lady, or was it LIFE? I don't have the article in front of me; however, I seem to remember Diana mentioning how unhappy they were with the results from the show's make-up people. I believe she said that they quickly washed it off and applied their own. It was that same article about the disappointment in not being able to sing but one song. She came across in that paragraph with an "How dare they?" attitude.

[RanRan79]

I believe it's printed somewhere that the girls was scheduled to sing their current hit and the previous number one, "Baby Love".

[RanRan79]

Was that the LOOK magazine spread where there was a separate page profiling each lady, or was it LIFE? I don't have the article in front of me; however, I seem to remember Diana mentioning how unhappy they were with the results from the show's make-up people. I believe she said that they quickly washed it off and applied their own. It was that same article about the disappointment in not being able to sing but one song. She came across in that paragraph with an "How dare they?" attitude.

I'm not sure which article it was. I believe she also got in trouble for revealing that her mother had TB, but I'm not sure if all of this took place in one or article or various others.

[TheMotownManiac]

They were also scheduled to do "Baby Love".

Yes, Diana apparently complained about not getting interviewed by Ed in a magazine article, which pissed Gordy off because she was potentially alienating one of the group's biggest supporters. Diana seems to have had a habit at the time of not knowing when to keep her mouth shut, something she has clearly overcome, judging by how little we hear from her now.

she was complaining about not doing baby love. She was crabbing about the fact that they just pushed them on in front of the screen and two minutes later push them off and that was it. But you’re right, she should’ve kept her mouth shut, in this case, it didn’t hurt them because he was crazy about her. The tribute he did to her in his last show was quite telling, considering it was all supreme clips, even though the group was never mentioned.

[reese]

Was that the LOOK magazine spread where there was a separate page profiling each lady, or was it LIFE? I don't have the article in front of me; however, I seem to remember Diana mentioning how unhappy they were with the results from the show's make-up people. I believe she said that they quickly washed it off and applied their own. It was that same article about the disappointment in not being able to sing but one song. She came across in that paragraph with an "How dare they?" attitude.

It was the 1966 LOOK article where Diana complained that when they appeared on Ed Sullivan they were shoved on and off the stage fast and would be crying behind the wings. I think she also complained about HULLABALOO giving her cue cards with stupid things to say but never letting her be the mistress of ceremonies.

Mary wrote about the bad Sullivan make-up experience in DREAMGIRL: MY LIFE AS A SUPREME.