Touch - the Album - A Facebook Review

[jobeterob]

The Supremes [[Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong): Touch [[Album & Singles) Analysis [[1971)

Album

Later Supremes Era with Lower Chart Performance: "Touch" charted lower compared to some of the Supremes' earlier albums with Diana Ross. It reached #85 on the Billboard 200 chart, but achieved #6 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, indicating a dedicated R&B audience remained interested in the group's evolution. Sales figures of 140,000 units suggest a smaller overall fanbase compared to their peak years.

Frank Wilson Farewell & New Direction: "Touch" was the final Supremes album produced by Frank Wilson. It marked a continuation of the new sound the group established with Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong.

Singles: "Nathan Jones" and "Touch"

"Nathan Jones" a Moderate Hit: "Nathan Jones" became a moderate hit, reaching #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 10 on the R&B chart. It also achieved international success, peaking at #5 in the UK.

Title Track Underperformed: The title track, "Touch," failed to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #71.

Overall Analysis:

Mixed Results for New Supremes: "Touch" represents a period of transition for The Supremes. While the album charted lower on the Billboard 200 compared to previous releases, it achieved #6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, demonstrating continued interest from R&B audiences. The lead single, "Nathan Jones," became a moderate hit, but the title track underperformed. This album marked the end of an era with Frank Wilson as producer.

Rating [[1-10): 6.5

Reasoning for Rating:

"Touch" achieved #85 on the Billboard 200 and #6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The lead single, "Nathan Jones," was a moderate hit, reaching #16 on the Hot 100. However, the album's overall chart performance was lower compared to some of their previous releases. This along with the underperformance of the title track justifies a mid-range rating. However, it remains a notable album showcasing the "New Supremes" sound and marking a turning point with a new producer.

[Ollie9]

My favourite new Supremes album.

[BayouMotownMan]

Obviously I don't agree with this assessment. To me this is one of the five best studio Supremes lps.

My top 5 best Supremes studio lps are:

1. More Hits
2 Touch
3 Love Child
4 Right On
5 High Energy

[sup_fan]

i've always been a bit puzzled by the failure of the Touch lp. It was released in June or so of 71. Return of Mag 7 was released in in July so yes, they were competing against each other.

But the other releases by big artists at motown really shouldn't have done much to impede Touch. Surrender [[song and lp) were released but Diana was also about to give birth to Rhonda so she wasn't touring or anything. there wasn't anything really released right at this time by the Temps or J5 or Stevie.

the Touch lp has a pretty short run on Billboard - only 10 weeks, peaking at 85. maybe if the Return wasn't released at the same time it might have crept a bit higher. perhaps to the 60s like NW. But NW was on the chart for 17 weeks. even the Jimmy Webb album was on for 13.

I'm not aware of any Billboard ads for the album. they did do one for Nathan Jones although i think it was a dumb and poorly conceived ad.

Also they released the dj interview version of the Touch album - so they clearly spent some money on that from the promotional budget.

[RanRan79]

I rate the album very highly. "Time and Love" is a horrible inclusion and mars what is a very cohesive sounding album. Remove that song, and the entire thing is a winner. Of the 70s albums, Touch is just barely behind Floy Joy as my favorite. If not for "Time and Love", Touch would tie with FJ for me.

I think the title cut is the reason the album didn't do well. "Nathan" was strong. Had they followed it up with "Sunrise", I think the group would have had two winners on the album. "Touch" the single was a misstep, and I think it was because it was a duet that didn't seem to make a lot of sense. It was a ballad, and the two singers have drastically different sounds. I'm not convinced the single would have done too much better than it did if it was a full Mary lead or a full Jean lead, but I suspect it might have been better received. And my money is on Mary being the better choice for the song.

[BobbyC]

Time and Love. The song everyone recorded but nobody liked. Especially me.

[Boogiedown]

I don't know that horrible is the right word for this. Pretty unobtrusive ... listenable background music ... your basic album filler. I heard the word "Jesus" pop out at one point , is that its offense??
Sounds like Broadway stuff ?
Does not sound like Supremes ...sounds like Jean Terrell with a wash of several backups behind her .
Diana's music from this time sounded more Supremes than this.

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not sure Rob why this caught your attention ...[?] Reads like a pointless Bot "review"

[sup_fan]

I don't know that horrible is the right word for this. Pretty unobtrusive ... listenable background music ... your basic album filler. I heard the word "Jesus" pop out at one point , is that its offense??
Sounds like Broadway stuff ?
Does not sound like Supremes ...sounds like Jean Terrell with a wash of several backups behind her .
Diana's music from this time sounded more Supremes than this.

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not sure Rob why this caught your attention ...[?] Reads like a pointless Bot "review"

i think the offensive is more about the startling divergence in sound than tone or content. Love It Came To Me This Time is essentially a prayer, with tons of religious imagery so I don't think anyone is say T&L addressing jesus is offensive. it's just this huge, bombastic, explosion of sound that just doesn't fit in any way or form with the rest of the Touch lp material

while playing producer, I moved T&L to my revised version of the Stone Love album, replacing Come Together. IMO the style and sound fits better there.

i don't have a perfect replacement though for T&L in the Touch album lineup. i've played around with adding Life Beats, Steppin on a Dream, Mind Body & Soul. Life Beats sort of works but isn't perfect.

[BobbyC]

Tastes changed in the 70's--my generation. The Supremes could not have moved forward using the same formula that worked the previous decade. As a kid, I found this album current and excellent, but never came close to hearing any of it on the radio. I never heard Nathan Jones until I bought the album on a whim. Baby Love would never have worked in the 70's.

[sup_fan]

Tastes changed in the 70's--my generation. The Supremes could not have moved forward using the same formula that worked the previous decade. As a kid, I found this album current and excellent, but never came close to hearing any of it on the radio. I never heard Nathan Jones until I bought the album on a whim. Baby Love would never have worked in the 70's.

totally agree - and i think they were doing a strong job of updating their sound, from a recording stand point.

but part of the problem as I see it is they didn't update ALL of their image. on tv they were still attempting to give interviews as giggly girls talking about shopping, they were still singing too much MOR stuff. the NW cover art [[and therefore it's promotional material) was too girly and youthful. it wasn't current and cool. the duets might have been amazing but the material was subpar and just reinforced the pandering approach motown [[and therefore the supremes) were taking.

they started out in 1970 strong - new lead singer, a more r&b flavor to their music, material was more current and topical. but then they just sort of stalled. they didn't continue

[reese]

I don't know that horrible is the right word for this. Pretty unobtrusive ... listenable background music ... your basic album filler. I heard the word "Jesus" pop out at one point , is that its offense??
Sounds like Broadway stuff ?
Does not sound like Supremes ...sounds like Jean Terrell with a wash of several backups behind her .
Diana's music from this time sounded more Supremes than this.

There aren't any Supremes on this track. This was one of Diana's initial solo tracks produced by Bones Howe. When Diana's version wasn't released, they gave the track to Jean.

[Boogiedown]

The TOUCH LP jacket is excellent. Direct eye contact that's warm and friendly. Inviting.
TOUCH with exposed skin and hands [that touch]. But tasteful not tawdry.
Classic B&W image exploding with modern color.

Looking at that album cover as an interested buyer in the store .....I would have.

[Boogiedown]

There aren't any Supremes on this track. This was one of Diana's initial solo tracks produced by Bones Howe. When Diana's version wasn't released, they gave the track to Jean.

wow. the dishonesty continues...what was the excuse at this point??

I said it didn't sound Supremes ..and i was right!

But then after the earliest years , what record by them does sound like the Supremes ? Is there even any such thing??

[RanRan79]

i think the offensive is more about the startling divergence in sound than tone or content. Love It Came To Me This Time is essentially a prayer, with tons of religious imagery so I don't think anyone is say T&L addressing jesus is offensive. it's just this huge, bombastic, explosion of sound that just doesn't fit in any way or form with the rest of the Touch lp material

while playing producer, I moved T&L to my revised version of the Stone Love album, replacing Come Together. IMO the style and sound fits better there.

i don't have a perfect replacement though for T&L in the Touch album lineup. i've played around with adding Life Beats, Steppin on a Dream, Mind Body & Soul. Life Beats sort of works but isn't perfect.

Oh my gosh. Nobody found the mention of Jesus to be offensive. Dang. Like you said, the song sounds out of place among the other tunes. It definitely makes more sense to include it on New Ways.

Because I think the New Ways album should have been heavy on the peace and love theme, I would have axed "Mirror", "Na Na" and "Is There a Place". Doing so, I would replace "Time and Love" on Touch with "Mirror" or "Is There a Place".

[RanRan79]

There aren't any Supremes on this track. This was one of Diana's initial solo tracks produced by Bones Howe. When Diana's version wasn't released, they gave the track to Jean.

To be fair, there were two Supremes on the track: Jean, and apparently at some point Diana can be heard bleeding through the vocal.

[sup_fan]

wow. the dishonesty continues...what was the excuse at this point??

I said it didn't sound Supremes ..and i was right!

But then after the earliest years , what record by them does sound like the Supremes ? Is there even any such thing??

a significant amount of the Jean era music is only Jean and session singers. I use the term "andantes" rather generically to include whatever women were singing with them. sometimes i think it was the blackberries. sometimes the women from Undisputed Truth.

i think just about everything Clay McMurray produced with the group is Jean only. the would include The Day Will Come Between, I Got Hurt, Is there a place, Then we can try it again, i ain't that easy to lose, walk with me, take a look inside.

not sure about the Tops duets produced by Clay - if they include additional singers instead of M and C or in addition to

[sup_fan]

Oh my gosh. Nobody found the mention of Jesus to be offensive. Dang. Like you said, the song sounds out of place among the other tunes. It definitely makes more sense to include it on New Ways.

Because I think the New Ways album should have been heavy on the peace and love theme, I would have axed "Mirror", "Na Na" and "Is There a Place". Doing so, I would replace "Time and Love" on Touch with "Mirror" or "Is There a Place".

I also cut Na Na. it's a fine cover and the girls sound great on it but it just doesn't fit in with the theme of the rest of the album. my playlist goes:

Together we can make
Stone love
time to break down
bridge over troubled water
mirror

time and love
is there a place
baby baby
shine on me
thank him for today

and of course that means Baby Baby can't be on the Right On album. it has a harder rock sound anyway than most of the RO material. and of course there are a zillion other great Jean tunes that could have gone in it's place. even Na Na would work better there

[BayouMotownMan]

I would not label the Touch lp as a failure; it turned a profit, just not a big one. Even Jimmy Webb turned a little of a profit.

I'd say the only Supremes lps that lost money would Meet The Supremes and Mary, Scherrie, and Susaye. Ironically the first and last albums. If an lp sells at least 50K copies it should move into the plus category. The three four tops albums made very little money, but the first did better in the UK and other foreign countries.

[Boogiedown]

*understood now the point about TIME AND LOVE sounding out-of-place with the rest of the material on the LP.
thanks!

[Boogiedown]

I would not label the Touch lp as a failure; it turned a profit, just not a big one. Even Jimmy Webb turned a little of a profit.

I'd say the only Supremes lps that lost money would Meet The Supremes and Mary, Scherrie, and Susaye. Ironically the first and last albums. If an lp sells at least 50K copies it should move into the plus category. The three four tops albums made very little money, but the first did better in the UK and other foreign countries.

sorry, I didn't mean to step on your post

[sup_fan]

I would not label the Touch lp as a failure; it turned a profit, just not a big one. Even Jimmy Webb turned a little of a profit.

I'd say the only Supremes lps that lost money would Meet The Supremes and Mary, Scherrie, and Susaye. Ironically the first and last albums. If an lp sells at least 50K copies it should move into the plus category. The three four tops albums made very little money, but the first did better in the UK and other foreign countries.

well i think that's the struggle with all things Sup - we've been conditioned to expect nothing but #1 as a sign of success. Same thing could be said about Nothing But Heartaches or even My World. they didn't go "#1" but heck - My World is one of the most memorable tunes.

seems like most of the fans here agree that many/most of the 70s albums were definitely artistic successes and we all wish there could have been more recognition of the quality of the 70s work. so i think "failure" is relative. the album Touch is just too wonderful of a package to have stalled out at 85 and only charted for a handful of weeks.

[blkfrost]

This is my favorite Jean led Supremes album followed by Floy Joy. It was also the first "new" Supremes album I bought. I did not purchase Right On and New Ways until after the Floy Joy album was released. Touch the single is what brought me back to the Supremes after Diana Ross left the group.

I agree that "Time and Love" does not fit the album. I would have replaced it with " Can't Get You Out Of My Mind", I Ain't That Easy To Lose" or "And I Thought You Loved Me".

[daviddh]

Aside from Time and Love , I liked the album.
Think it was contemporary and the album had some nice tracks. i would have preferred a MW solo of Touch.
But where were the Supremes.
They performed NJ once on the Tonight show, then nothing..later they appeared on Flip Wilson and performed the title cut.
Out of site,...out of mind.

I just think they were no longer appealing to younger record buying public, but I think that started around 1968, with a few surprises that hit.
But really .it was hit or miss for a while but I think the 70s group gets blamed for it.
I think whoever managed the group sunk them

[mysterysinger]

From a UK perspective - the "Touch" album made number 40 on the charts [[and only charted for 1 week). We had one single released "Nathan Jones" which reached a very creditable number 5 on the UK charts. "Touch" was not issued on 45 but it was a great album track and personally I love the song. However, EMI got that one right.

And folks have said "Baby Love" would never have worked in the 70s yet it reached number 12 upon re-release in 1974 in the UK.

[floyjoy678]

Aside from Time and Love , I liked the album.
Think it was contemporary and the album had some nice tracks. i would have preferred a MW solo of Touch.
But where were the Supremes.
They performed NJ once on the Tonight show, then nothing..later they appeared on Flip Wilson and performed the title cut.
Out of site,...out of mind.

I just think they were no longer appealing to younger record buying public, but I think that started around 1968, with a few surprises that hit.
But really .it was hit or miss for a while but I think the 70s group gets blamed for it.
I think whoever managed the group sunk them

I agree. I always say the Supremes began to slip in 1968. They were becoming too square. I think they had a chance to rebound and evolve with Jean but opportunity missed.

I do love the Touch album though. Lately I've been listening more to the Jean years and I'm growing a newfound appreciation for them. I typically don't listen to much past the Rodgers and Hart album but the Jean albums have been getting a lot of plays from me lately.

[jobeterob]

I don't know that horrible is the right word for this. Pretty unobtrusive ... listenable background music ... your basic album filler. I heard the word "Jesus" pop out at one point , is that its offense??
Sounds like Broadway stuff ?
Does not sound like Supremes ...sounds like Jean Terrell with a wash of several backups behind her .
Diana's music from this time sounded more Supremes than this.

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not sure Rob why this caught your attention ...[?] Reads like a pointless Bot "review"

I wondered if it was AI generated. In my job I just retired from, there is great concern AI will take over contracts, commercial agreements, wills, incorporations.

If I saw something in this, it was that it was a very objective and factual analysis. Thus we are able to like and dislike things about the product, the production, the artists - but here’s the basics.

It’s what also appealed to me about The Making of Motown 25 - that appeal was this is what we saw that we loved, as the producers - things like Adam and Diana, the finale, the ratings, the Emmy, the Peabody, and that everyone came back and had such a great time. [[Then they leave the debates about who acted bad and worst, who shouldn’t have done what to the hard core fans).

The hard core fans left on SD do a decent job of setting out the possibilities and accepting others.

[BobbyC]

AI will take over every job it can do as well or better, for almost nothing. The things I see coming, having been in the tech field for 25 years, is not pretty

[jobeterob]

AI will take over every job it can do as well or better, for almost nothing. The things I see coming, having been in the tech field for 25 years, is not pretty

Don’t like to hear that and I hope you are not right - but I have no knowledge of it other than to say major accounting and law firms have used it and some law firms in Canada got in trouble with it in court - and it wasn’t deliberate.

I hear people say that radio was going to ruin the world, then tv, phones and IPads etc. Then Putin and Trump and climate change. And it hasn’t happened yet so there’s hope.

Hope so.

[REDHOT]

LOVE The Supremes Touch album, I see a lot of people saying they didn't like Time And Love, well i liked Time And Love a lot, because it's Jean's voice, that make me like it, because i heard it by many other people, like Melba Moore and Diana Ross and didn't like it by them, until it appeared on The Supremes Touch album, that's when i got into Time And Love, because Jean use her voice from top to bottom on this song, love it, I feel that Happy Is A Bumpy Road could have been a hit single, with a different mix, I feel the same way about Touch, with a different mix, but I STILL love Touch to this day,

[RanRan79]

I also cut Na Na. it's a fine cover and the girls sound great on it but it just doesn't fit in with the theme of the rest of the album. my playlist goes:

Together we can make
Stone love
time to break down
bridge over troubled water
mirror

time and love
is there a place
baby baby
shine on me
thank him for today

and of course that means Baby Baby can't be on the Right On album. it has a harder rock sound anyway than most of the RO material. and of course there are a zillion other great Jean tunes that could have gone in it's place. even Na Na would work better there

I like "Baby, Baby" on New Ways. I'm not a fan of the song but it definitely has a harder sound and would have fit on New Ways.

[RanRan79]

I would not label the Touch lp as a failure; it turned a profit, just not a big one. Even Jimmy Webb turned a little of a profit.

I'd say the only Supremes lps that lost money would Meet The Supremes and Mary, Scherrie, and Susaye. Ironically the first and last albums. If an lp sells at least 50K copies it should move into the plus category. The three four tops albums made very little money, but the first did better in the UK and other foreign countries.

Wasn't Meet the Supremes reissued with a different cover after the group hit big? Was the reissue not a decent seller?

[RanRan79]

I agree that "Time and Love" does not fit the album. I would have replaced it with " Can't Get You Out Of My Mind", I Ain't That Easy To Lose" or "And I Thought You Loved Me".

I was under the impression that the Promises Kept tracks were after Touch. Is that not the case? Admittedly, I'm often confused about it's time line. Lol

[RanRan79]

LOVE The Supremes Touch album, I see a lot of people saying they didn't like Time And Love, well i liked Time And Love a lot, because it's Jean's voice, that make me like it, because i heard it by many other people, like Melba Moore and Diana Ross and didn't like it by them, until it appeared on The Supremes Touch album, that's when i got into Time And Love, because Jean use her voice from top to bottom on this song, love it, I feel that Happy Is A Bumpy Road could have been a hit single, with a different mix, I feel the same way about Touch, with a different mix, but I STILL love Touch to this day,

I don't hate "Time and Love". I just feel like it doesn't belong on Touch. Jean, as usual, does an excellent job with it. I do prefer Diana's to Jean's, although I'm glad that Diana's career did not kick off with it. Laura Nyro's version is okay. Labelle has a great version of it, probably my favorite of the handful of versions I've heard.

I agree about "Happy Is a Bumpy Road". A different mix and it might have made for an interesting single.

[blackguy69]

Those songs were done after touch was released

I was under the impression that the Promises Kept tracks were after Touch. Is that not the case? Admittedly, I'm often confused about its time line. Lol

[gman]

I never thought of it...but IS THERE A PLACE would have fit very comfortably on TOUCH..

Perhaps if TOUCH had been recorded as a duet with Levi it may have charted? Keep Mary and Cindy's ad libs at the end...

TOUCH is currently and has been my fav Supremes LP for about 15 years...2..High Energy...3 WDOLG?....4 Country Western & Pop ...5 Floy Joy...Floy Joy and High Energy are the only 2 LPS I love every song on...usually w/ Supremes LPs, I find I like side 1 better than side 2...with few exceptions, seems they put the 2 or 3 singles on side 1 of Supremes LPs

[BobbyC]

Jobete this will be my last post on AI since it is off topic, but what's absolutely terrifying is that we have no laws, no one has, to combat "deep fakes." What is to stop anyone from creating a video of you, if they wanted to hurt you or ruin you, where you confess to being, say, a serial rapist? The voice will be algorithmically generated and will be impossible to tell from the real thing, and that voice will be coming from a video image that looks exactly like you. How do you defend yourself, at least without spending thousands of dollars and tons of time in the pursuit of exonerating yourself? That is, IF you are able to defend yourself, and even if you managed to prove that wasn't you, a large section of the population will still think you are a rapist. And in politics, who is stopping anyone from doing elaborate deep fakes that completely defame you? By the time you clear your name, most of the population will have turned on you.

In the art realm, AI can take a simple line drawing that you did, and make a 3Dmodel of it [[I have seen this happen with my own eyes) in your style and then make variations of that model to put in video games or movies. You, the originator of the drawing, will get paid nothing because AI, not a person, basically stole your work. People can make AI do anything and get away with it because we have no laws to combat it.

AI can look at all the Motown songs and create new songs that sound just like Motown but no musicians will be paid, and Motown will not see a dime. It is not illegal to "sound like Motown." It is not a crime to impersonate an art style or a physical appearance. Am I the only one seeing the chaos coming our way? We will eventually adapt, but it needs to be said that we humans have never had this kind of power before and nobody is steering this ship. Movie studios are already using AI to write bland, derivative scripts to cut out writers and creators from the money train. The results will be bland, dull-- and you better believe that AI is incapable of producing the next Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, but studio suits won't understand what went wrong because most don't have a creative bone in their bodies

[sup_fan]

I was under the impression that the Promises Kept tracks were after Touch. Is that not the case? Admittedly, I'm often confused about it's time line. Lol

for the most part, yes. few, if any, of the PK songs would have been ready to release on the Touch lp had Frank looked for a different tune to replace T&L

[BayouMotownMan]

Wasn't Meet the Supremes reissued with a different cover after the group hit big? Was the reissue not a decent seller?

It never charted. Was just a catalog release for the average record buyer. In 1965 Gordy flooded us with Supremes, it was hard to keep up

[BayouMotownMan]

What really worked against the Touch lp was that, at Jean's urging, Mary Wilson demanded an accounting of her royalties with Motown shortly before the lp's release. This did not sit well with the company. Mary was astounded to find that other than some small investments apparently for tax shelters, she only had $100K after 7 yrs of hit records, endorsements and sold-out concerts. She was stunned. Jean had been correct about her insistence that the money was not accurate. She then demanded that Gordy release the funds he was holding for her back to her. Gordy tried to talk her out of it but Mary insisted. At this point Gordy knew these little girls were now ladies who wanted to think for themselves. Add to this, they had surpassed Diana Ross in sales since the group split.

From this point on there were questions of trust between The Supremes and Motown. This did not make for a healthy work environment.

[Ollie9]

Baby Love would never have worked in the 70's.

It peaked at #12 in the UK during 1974.

[jim aka jtigre99]

I read somewhere that Jean at first was singing in the mold of the Supremes but wanted it to change to her sound. I think the Touch LP and later, the last 2 singles [[IGIMTM and Bad Weather) bore out that sound and it showed that the public was not into Jean's sound. When they went back to a Supremes sound with Floy Joy, it met with a bit more success on the charts, similar to the first 2 releases. Touch really had some fullbodied singing by Jean and she sounded great, but perhaps that wasn't what the public was looking for with the Supremes. Nathan Jones hit #16, but it really needed to have been remixed and cleaned up. It probably would have gone top 10 with a better remix. Touch was a completely different sound for the group but the mix for the single was just not good. I think had it been mixed as something far more lush with perhaps only Mary singing it, it may have done much better.

[sup_fan]

What really worked against the Touch lp was that, at Jean's urging, Mary Wilson demanded an accounting of her royalties with Motown shortly before the lp's release. This did not sit well with the company. Mary was astounded to find that other than some small investments apparently for tax shelters, she only had $100K after 7 yrs of hit records, endorsements and sold-out concerts. She was stunned. Jean had been correct about her insistence that the money was not accurate. She then demanded that Gordy release the funds he was holding for her back to her. Gordy tried to talk her out of it but Mary insisted. At this point Gordy knew these little girls were now ladies who wanted to think for themselves. Add to this, they had surpassed Diana Ross in sales since the group split.

From this point on there were questions of trust between The Supremes and Motown. This did not make for a healthy work environment.

very interesting. i knew of the money story but hadn't put it into the timeline of what the girls were doing. i think you're right - when motown realized the girls weren't blindly devoted to the company, they just let things drop

not that i'm doubting mary on pushing for this money [[she was absolutely right to do so). but for fun, if this had NOT occurred, would the Touch lp have performed well enough so that the girls would have continued to work with Frank? Tears Left Over was the one Promises Kept tune that we know of that was produced by Frank and i think it's a strong track. there's more funkiness to it and sounded current. and we know he helped craft a new funkier sound for Eddie. so maybe he would have continued with the girls and helped break them into a new sound

[RanRan79]

A big problem with Touch, and pretty much all the Jean albums, was promotion. I'm not talking about the label's promotion, but instead the group's promotion of themselves. At this point the Supremes were still working constantly. By the time of Touch, there was more than enough of their own music to make a show. I'm not suggesting that the requisite Supremes hits of the 60s be dropped- at least not all of them- or that the group couldn't include a tune or two of a covered popular song. But it makes no sense that the Supremes would ever step onstage and not sing songs from their current lps.

I can imagine "This Is the Story" being a particularly dramatic opening for a show. "Here Comes the Sunrise", "Johnny Raven", "Happy", pretty much the whole album would have made for an excellent show. And how about closing with "It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye"?

We talk a lot about how much TV the group should have done and all of that, but they were being seen by hundreds of thousands of people every year in their shows. That would have been prime promotion and exposure for what the public could find on their current album and instead, they were doing the old hits, other people's songs, and showtunes. No wonder the albums weren't selling like they should have.

[Ollie9]

A big problem with Touch, and pretty much all the Jean albums, was promotion. I'm not talking about the label's promotion, but instead the group's promotion of themselves. At this point the Supremes were still working constantly. By the time of Touch, there was more than enough of their own music to make a show. I'm not suggesting that the requisite Supremes hits of the 60s be dropped- at least not all of them- or that the group couldn't include a tune or two of a covered popular song. But it makes no sense that the Supremes would ever step onstage and not sing songs from their current lps.

I can imagine "This Is the Story" being a particularly dramatic opening for a show. "Here Comes the Sunrise", "Johnny Raven", "Happy", pretty much the whole album would have made for an excellent show. And how about closing with "It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye"?

We talk a lot about how much TV the group should have done and all of that, but they were being seen by hundreds of thousands of people every year in their shows. That would have been prime promotion and exposure for what the public could find on their current album and instead, they were doing the old hits, other people's songs, and showtunes. No wonder the albums weren't selling like they should have.

It smacks of fear of rejection. Go with a tried and trusted formula and they’ll keep returning. Everyone loves “Baby Love” after all.
The same applies to Mary having the courage to leave Motown. Better off sticking to who and what you know.

[sup_fan]

A big problem with Touch, and pretty much all the Jean albums, was promotion. I'm not talking about the label's promotion, but instead the group's promotion of themselves. At this point the Supremes were still working constantly. By the time of Touch, there was more than enough of their own music to make a show. I'm not suggesting that the requisite Supremes hits of the 60s be dropped- at least not all of them- or that the group couldn't include a tune or two of a covered popular song. But it makes no sense that the Supremes would ever step onstage and not sing songs from their current lps.

I can imagine "This Is the Story" being a particularly dramatic opening for a show. "Here Comes the Sunrise", "Johnny Raven", "Happy", pretty much the whole album would have made for an excellent show. And how about closing with "It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye"?

We talk a lot about how much TV the group should have done and all of that, but they were being seen by hundreds of thousands of people every year in their shows. That would have been prime promotion and exposure for what the public could find on their current album and instead, they were doing the old hits, other people's songs, and showtunes. No wonder the albums weren't selling like they should have.

couldn't agree more. or how about the Flip Wilson episode where they did the medley of SL and Time To Break. I don't really think the two songs worked well in a medley format. frankly they should have just done SL and then another tune from the album. maybe Time or maybe not. they ended up doing We've Only Just Begun and did it well. but other than that being a huge recent hit, why do that song? they had Bridge Over Troubled on the lp and that too was a MASSIVE hit. so if you're going to do a cover, why not at least do one that is on your lp?

[daviddh]

Wasn't Meet the Supremes reissued with a different cover after the group hit big? Was the reissue not a decent seller?

I think it only sold 150,000 copies.not a hit. Can't believe they released it.imo.

[jobeterob]

I think it only sold 150,000 copies.not a hit. Can't believe they released it.imo.

Those latest sales sites show Meet the Supremes at 150000 USA and 300000 Global - for what it’s worth

[blackguy69]

Let’s be real, other than Marvin, no one at Motown was going to do a full concert with just doing songs from one album. The Jackson Five was really the the only Motown group doing more of their albums cuts with a mix other material.

A big problem with Touch, and pretty much all the Jean albums, was promotion. I'm not talking about the label's promotion, but instead the group's promotion of themselves. At this point the Supremes were still working constantly. By the time of Touch, there was more than enough of their own music to make a show. I'm not suggesting that the requisite Supremes hits of the 60s be dropped- at least not all of them- or that the group couldn't include a tune or two of a covered popular song. But it makes no sense that the Supremes would ever step onstage and not sing songs from their current lps.

I can imagine "This Is the Story" being a particularly dramatic opening for a show. "Here Comes the Sunrise", "Johnny Raven", "Happy", pretty much the whole album would have made for an excellent show. And how about closing with "It's So Hard For Me To Say Goodbye"?

We talk a lot about how much TV the group should have done and all of that, but they were being seen by hundreds of thousands of people every year in their shows. That would have been prime promotion and exposure for what the public could find on their current album and instead, they were doing the old hits, other people's songs, and showtunes. No wonder the albums weren't selling like they should have.

[RanRan79]

Let’s be real, other than Marvin, no one at Motown was going to do a full concert with just doing songs from one album. The Jackson Five was really the the only Motown group doing more of their albums cuts with a mix other material.

I can see how my statement might have been confusing. I wasn't suggesting that the whole show be one album. When I said the whole album would have made for an excellent show, I was referring to the quality of songs to choose from. Both "Story" and "Sunrise" would have made great openings. And the other songs would have all made good choices for songs in the show.

The Supremes never could have done a show and not sung some of those old hits. And of course the 70s Supremes would need to sing their own hits as well. So no, a whole album show probably wouldn't have worked. However, RO had the longest runtime at about 37 minutes. NW, Touch and FJ all hover around the 30 minute mark. The argument could certainly be made that, if they had an hour set, they could have sung all the songs from their latest album, plus a couple of the old hits, the new hits, and a cover tune or two. The group never really capitalized off of their own new material. I'm not well versed in the show lineups as many of the rest of you, so I will definitely defer to more knowledgeable folks, but the only album cuts I know of that the Jean Supremes did in their show was "Tossin and Turnin", I believe "Loving Country" and I assume it's possible they were doing "Time To Break Down" since they did it on TV. That's way too little usage of their own catalog in an age where selling the album was arguably more important than the single.

[RanRan79]

couldn't agree more. or how about the Flip Wilson episode where they did the medley of SL and Time To Break. I don't really think the two songs worked well in a medley format. frankly they should have just done SL and then another tune from the album. maybe Time or maybe not. they ended up doing We've Only Just Begun and did it well. but other than that being a huge recent hit, why do that song? they had Bridge Over Troubled on the lp and that too was a MASSIVE hit. so if you're going to do a cover, why not at least do one that is on your lp?

I'm not sure why the decision to merge "Stoned" and "Break", and agree that it was strange. However, I do enjoy hearing them do "Break" live, as it's one of my favs from the NW album. Might have made more sense to just do them separately. And "Bridge"- while I don't like the Supremes' version- makes total sense since it was huge and they covered it on their album. That would have been the smart move. [[Although, I absolutely love their versions of "We've Only Just Begun" and wish they had actually recorded it.)