Why Did Mary Wilson's Solo Career Not Take Off?

[motony]

I never heard of this MSG thing, remember Rick[[Ricky)Nelson got booed at an oldies concert in early 70's as the crowd didn't like his new look or new sound.I just had never heard about this.What does MSG stand for, that bad stuff in Chinese food?

[motony]

duh!do I feel stupid,LOL Madison Square Garden the same place Rick Nelson got booed at.Dang, tuff crowd.Thats when those "oldies" shows were starting to get big.They didn't wanna hear no disco at those shows.How clueless of whoever booked them on there without tellin um.

[reese]

The MSG show was one of Richard Nader's oldies spectaculars. He had been doing them for quite a while by 1977, so it wasn't a surprise to the Supremes' management. Mary herself has written that as soon as the show was announced, fans responded that it was a bad idea. But they had a recent album to promote, and the lure of a huge audience was tempting. She also wrote that during the rehearsal, Nader was upset that they were doing too many new songs and not enough of the old hits.

Perhaps if they had opened with some classics, and then moved into some new material, it would have worked out better. Instead, they opened with YOU'RE MY DRIVING WHEEL and LET YOURSELF GO, songs unknown to most of the crowd. Then they went into a ballad, HE AIN'T HEAVY,HE'S MY BROTHER. According to Mary, that's when the booing started. They tried to redeem themselves with a greatest hits medley, but it was too late.

[Jimi LaLumia]

then, for an acknowledged 'oldies' show, they deserved to get booed;
the crowd showed up for hits[[on the radio commercials for the show, we heard Miss Ross doing"Baby Love")...it was insane for the girls to think that they could get away with this..they should have done two or three complete 'classics', and then asked the crowd..we hope you'll enjoy something new we've just recorded'...there was obviously no diplomacy involved here,they thought they were The Beatles or something,and the NYC crowd let them have it...

[Roberta75]

The MSG show was one of Richard Nader's oldies spectaculars. He had been doing them for quite a while by 1977, so it wasn't a surprise to the Supremes' management. Mary herself has written that as soon as the show was announced, fans responded that it was a bad idea. But they had a recent album to promote, and the lure of a huge audience was tempting. She also wrote that during the rehearsal, Nader was upset that they were doing too many new songs and not enough of the old hits.

Perhaps if they had opened with some classics, and then moved into some new material, it would have worked out better. Instead, they opened with YOU'RE MY DRIVING WHEEL and LET YOURSELF GO, songs unknown to most of the crowd. Then they went into a ballad, HE AIN'T HEAVY,HE'S MY BROTHER. According to Mary, that's when the booing started. They tried to redeem themselves with a greatest hits medley, but it was too late.

Opening with a greatest hits medley would have been the smart thing to do Reese.

Roberta

[milven]

duh!do I feel stupid,LOL Madison Square Garden the same place Rick Nelson got booed at.Dang, tuff crowd.Thats when those "oldies" shows were starting to get big.They didn't wanna hear no disco at those shows.How clueless of whoever booked them on there without tellin um.

Well, then, the booker was the only person who was clueless about what kind of show it was. When I found out that they were on this show, I thought, "Well, they are booking themselves as an oldies act. This is the end of the Supremes".
I actually had tickets to that show, but some bad circumstances prevented me from seeing the show. I wish I would have saved the tickets. I can not even imagine their worth on e-bay. I've always wondered if it was fate that caused the circumstances that prevented me from seeing the show. That fate spared me from seeing them booed at the Garden. Speaking of Rick Nelson, he kinda had the same experience at the Garden. He went there with long hair singing new songs and they expected to see him singing his hits and trying to still look like a teenager. He , too was booed away. But he turned lemons into lemonade, wrote a song about his experience at the Garden, recorded it, and put himself back on top of the charts.

[motony]

Well, I blame the Supremes management[[or lack there of) & booking agent. I mean that happened to Rick Nelson many years before the Supremes & I also think it was a Richard Nader Show also.No excuse!How terrible for Mary, Scherri & Susaye.

[Jimi LaLumia]

like, HELLO!...oldies fans at an oldies show have PAID to see and hear classic hits!!

[motony]

ok, Jimi, I get it, LOL but Mary Scherri & Susaye were doing their show proably put together by Motown & the Motown man was there to collect the money & not give a flip about them.

[jobeterob]

More likely the show was put together by Mary and Pedro and Pedro collected the money and spent it all on himself.