Originally Posted by
supremester
I think they did it perfectly. They got Diana's name out there - as it should have been as it was her voice, work ethic and talent that put the group over the top. 54 years after they arrived at Motown, she is still thrilling audiences and packing venues at top prices. Berry was not taking a chance - he knew what he had: a rare, superstar talent that could and would make history. That's not dissing the others who were also talented, but, Ross' kind of talent comes around very, very rarely. It was still a tough launch because her sound was still very similar and no one KNEW that many Supremes records weren't only The Supremes. Had the public been told that since 1963 Ross was the only constant voice on the releases, the transition would have been much easier. That way, Motown could have also disbanded The Suporemes at the same time with no trouble at all. Clearly, despite silly arguments to the contrary, that was not the case. My personal opinion is that Motown really felt that that the new Supremes would be a consistent money maker for years and no one would be worried about competition between the two acts. Hence the decision to add a super singer like Jean. I think it was a bad choice, but there's no doubting her talent. I think the Thelma Houston, Brenda, Tammi, syreeta ideas better. Harvey Fuqua told me that no way would tammi - even if healthy, join the Supremes. She had no interest in being in a group. I also do not believe that Berry dumped on Jean because she wouldn't put out. He saw her onstage with the others on their turf and realized that she was wrong - he was correct - an opinion that Mary Wilson now shares, btw. HDH wasn't a problem when the Flo issue began - I don't think that had anything to do with Supremes personnel choices. Diana had to gain the confidence and name recognition to work solo, the plan worked. Had Syreeta taken her place, me thinks the new Supremes would have lasted a lot longer and made a lot more money. Every group needs a star - JMC didn't have one.
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