Quote Originally Posted by Bluebrock View Post
I agree with much of what you say. I far prefer AS to Floy Joy which i always found very dull and bland. I would like to hear Jean tackle Floy Joy solo too, and maybe such a recording does exist. AS did go top 10 in the UK as did Floy Joy and i am surprised it fared so badly in the USA. It was hardly Up the ladder, stoned love or nathan Jones but it signalled the beginning of the end for the Supremes for me. By the time the Jimmy Webb atrocity surfaced it was all over bar the shouting.
It does appear that "Automatically" was the last time pop radio gave the Supremes any real attention [[until "Heart Do the Walking" and "Automatically" did slightly better than "Heart"). R&B hung on with "Your Wonderful Sweet Love" but that was the last hurrah for the group there too. I think when the group popped up with "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" and the Jimmy Webb album- both insane directions for the type of group the Supremes were loved for- probably was the kiss of the death.

"Bad Weather" got the group back on track musically but I'm thinking maybe the public felt it was too little, too late to come back from the Webb fiasco. Which is odd considering the reception the song seemed to get live. That performance they did of BW on Soul Train...those kids went wild for it. You would think it was at least a top 10 hit. Number 74 r&b? How did that happen? Even "The Happening" went number 12, and that song was IMO the least r&b single the Supremes ever released.