Flo

[franjoy56]

Flo had a great lead voice but people don't want to accept the fact that Gordy didn't like her r&b style "Buttered Popcorn" the 2nd single and "Ain't That Good News" which appeard on the last track of the Sam Cooke album were not promoted. Her leads on "Hey Baby" "Heavenly Father" & "Save Me a Star" sounds like great leads to me. Her recordings at ABC were ill fitting for her voice and they should have given her more Aretha type tracks like the lead "Like You babe" which was worthy of a single. ABC and Motown were in the same bed together. And if Diana really wanted to help pay Flo's mortgage she could have called one of her sisters who could have got in touch with Flo if she could not have gotten a hold of her by phone. Yes Diana was star orientated, but without Flo and Mary backing her on stage and on record on some of their biggest hits, we would not be here talking about how big DIANA ROSS has become. I read somewhere that Diana Ross was not a moneymaker for Motown during the 1970's her big records got a big push and the others like "Sleepin" "Surrender" "Reach Out I'll Be there" barely made a rador " however the "The Boss" should have went top 10, but Motown didn't get behind it.

[marv2]

Flo had a great lead voice but people don't want to accept the fact that Gordy didn't like her r&b style "Buttered Popcorn" the 2nd single and "Ain't That Good News" which appeard on the last track of the Sam Cooke album were not promoted. Her leads on "Hey Baby" "Heavenly Father" & "Save Me a Star" sounds like great leads to me. Her recordings at ABC were ill fitting for her voice and they should have given her more Aretha type tracks like the lead "Like You babe" which was worthy of a single. ABC and Motown were in the same bed together. And if Diana really wanted to help pay Flo's mortgage she could have called one of her sisters who could have got in touch with Flo if she could not have gotten a hold of her by phone. Yes Diana was star orientated, but without Flo and Mary backing her on stage and on record on some of their biggest hits, we would not be here talking about how big DIANA ROSS has become. I read somewhere that Diana Ross was not a moneymaker for Motown during the 1970's her big records got a big push and the others like "Sleepin" "Surrender" "Reach Out I'll Be there" barely made a rador " however the "The Boss" should have went top 10, but Motown didn't get behind it.

Fran you just make too much darn sense! Yeah she could have easily sent the money to Pat or Linda Ballard [[Flo's sisters) and they could have paid it. A lot of the stories you are hearing now, after the fact are designed to make some not look so bad. Doesn't matter really because you cannot fool the one that is truly keeping score.......

[captainjames]

I am going to respond about the money for Flo's home and why Diana wanted to deal with Flo. Ask Flo's daughters what happen to the money she set up for them in a trust fund. By the time they reached the proper age it was gone and spent by a family member is one of the reasons Diana only wanted to deal with Flo. I think one of the things we forget is that three or four women grew up with each other and they were aware of their siblings as well.

Also, "I'm Still Waiting" was big but not in the States. "Anit No Mountain High Enough" "Lady Sings The Blues Soundtrack" Touch Me in The Morning",,,,,etc......................so she was definitely selling.

Flo had a great lead voice but people don't want to accept the fact that Gordy didn't like her r&b style "Buttered Popcorn" the 2nd single and "Ain't That Good News" which appeard on the last track of the Sam Cooke album were not promoted. Her leads on "Hey Baby" "Heavenly Father" & "Save Me a Star" sounds like great leads to me. Her recordings at ABC were ill fitting for her voice and they should have given her more Aretha type tracks like the lead "Like You babe" which was worthy of a single. ABC and Motown were in the same bed together. And if Diana really wanted to help pay Flo's mortgage she could have called one of her sisters who could have got in touch with Flo if she could not have gotten a hold of her by phone. Yes Diana was star orientated, but without Flo and Mary backing her on stage and on record on some of their biggest hits, we would not be here talking about how big DIANA ROSS has become. I read somewhere that Diana Ross was not a moneymaker for Motown during the 1970's her big records got a big push and the others like "Sleepin" "Surrender" "Reach Out I'll Be there" barely made a rador " however the "The Boss" should have went top 10, but Motown didn't get behind it.

[supremester]

I agree with you Fran - those are all great leads by Flo - especially Like You Babe but you left out Silent Night. I still don't think she had a commercial sounding, or special enough sound to cut through on the radio. LuPine didn't give Flo a side either. I don't think the industry felt her, and that's why she ended up at....gulp ABC Records. She'd never go Pop, but even R&B wouldn't, I don't think embrace her much because her skills as a vocalist were, in my opinion, weak - and I loved her. Flo had a rare quality that people liked.

Don't kid yourself about Motown being behind The Boss. The company was sucking hind tit by 1979 and needed hits badly. They worked it like crazy and she opened The Tonight Show with it, but it just couldn't get play in secondary markets. If all a record needed was a push or "promotion" Reach Out and Touch would still be #1. You can't MAKE program directors play songs they think will lose the attention of their audience. Thats why Surrender, Touch, Bad Weather, Sleepin' [[someone please explain it's release as a single to me) Reach Out I'll Be There and lots more didn't hit. I don't believe they weren't pushed. when I first heard Touch and Bad Weather, I was horrified as I was when I learned Sleepin was a single. This stuff, even if you dig the record, was NEVER going to get played and you could promote it until Miss Ross eats hay with the horses and they still wouldn't get played. I think Remember Me was one of the greatest singles ever when it came out, but I can see it's formatting issues. I knew The Boss wouldn't hit. It probably sold as many 12" singles as it did 7".

Flo had a great lead voice but people don't want to accept the fact that Gordy didn't like her r&b style "Buttered Popcorn" the 2nd single and "Ain't That Good News" which appeard on the last track of the Sam Cooke album were not promoted. Her leads on "Hey Baby" "Heavenly Father" & "Save Me a Star" sounds like great leads to me. Her recordings at ABC were ill fitting for her voice and they should have given her more Aretha type tracks like the lead "Like You babe" which was worthy of a single. ABC and Motown were in the same bed together. And if Diana really wanted to help pay Flo's mortgage she could have called one of her sisters who could have got in touch with Flo if she could not have gotten a hold of her by phone. Yes Diana was star orientated, but without Flo and Mary backing her on stage and on record on some of their biggest hits, we would not be here talking about how big DIANA ROSS has become. I read somewhere that Diana Ross was not a moneymaker for Motown during the 1970's her big records got a big push and the others like "Sleepin" "Surrender" "Reach Out I'll Be there" barely made a rador " however the "The Boss" should have went top 10, but Motown didn't get behind it.

[franjoy56]

I agree with you Fran - those are all great leads by Flo - especially Like You Babe but you left out Silent Night. I still don't think she had a commercial sounding, or special enough sound to cut through on the radio. LuPine didn't give Flo a side either. I don't think the industry felt her, and that's why she ended up at....gulp ABC Records. She'd never go Pop, but even R&B wouldn't, I don't think embrace her much because her skills as a vocalist were, in my opinion, weak - and I loved her. Flo had a rare quality that people liked.

Don't kid yourself about Motown being behind The Boss. The company was sucking hind tit by 1979 and needed hits badly. They worked it like crazy and she opened The Tonight Show with it, but it just couldn't get play in secondary markets. If all a record needed was a push or "promotion" Reach Out and Touch would still be #1. You can't MAKE program directors play songs they think will lose the attention of their audience. Thats why Surrender, Touch, Bad Weather, Sleepin' [[someone please explain it's release as a single to me) Reach Out I'll Be There and lots more didn't hit. I don't believe they weren't pushed. when I first heard Touch and Bad Weather, I was horrified as I was when I learned Sleepin was a single. This stuff, even if you dig the record, was NEVER going to get played and you could promote it until Miss Ross eats hay with the horses and they still wouldn't get played. I think Remember Me was one of the greatest singles ever when it came out, but I can see it's formatting issues. I knew The Boss wouldn't hit. It probably sold as many 12" singles as it did 7".

Flo Ballard had a r&b voice plain and simple, her structure was within the Supremes, Gordy was not interested in promoting her vocals as a lead singer, I love her leads and i think she and Mary should have sung more leads on the lp tracks. If you listen to "You Keep Me Hangin On' the part where Flo comes in it is clear to me that she could have carried that whole song without any trouble and it still would have been a top ten record if not #1. I cannot see Flo's family getting their hands on the money that was put in escrow for the daughters until they were 21, that means only they can get the money, where did this story come from that flo's sisters got the money. I heard Lisa on the internet say the money was gone when it came time for them to collect.... Diana's recording career was spotty in ten years a hit every three years, I did not say she was not a big record seller it has been written that her record sales compared to Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder who were self contained artists were spotty at best and it was also documented that Motown did not make money on Diana Ross as a recording artist in the 1970's. in her defense in believe "The Boss" was one of the best records Diana ever made and it should have made the top ten. If Motown got behind it it somehow ran out of gas at #19. Another mistake Ross made was mixing the chic album that was made some of the best licks Nile Rogers put on that record never got the glory when that album was selling like mad in 1980.