I think had Mary left at the same time as Flo, Gordy would've cut his losses and just sent Diana out as a solo.
...losing any two ladies from the group during the 60s would've been bad news. DRATS worked because at least there were still two very familiar members.
But once Jean comes in, it does feel less like the Supremes and more like something else. Not that the Jean led Supremes were worse, just different. Diana was an obvious huge presence, so her absence was going to trigger a change in dynamic any way you slice it. Same with Flo, but in a different way because Flo wasn't the lead singer. When she left, [the group] didn't have the same feel. I think that's why it's so easy for some of us to even refer to that period of the group as Diana Ross and the Supremes without gagging.
Flo left and she took much of what made the original Supremes so likeable with her. Diana wasn't even the same Diana from before. She really was officially the star attraction within the group. So it's kind of fitting that this grouping has a slightly different moniker.
Once Diana left, I think JMC might have found it "easier" to stay consistently successful if they were their own thing and not Supremes. But might it have been easier to brand JMC with a new name and image?... Sup is right that some of the stuff within the 70s Supremes was just old fashioned and never going to go across well with some people. On the other hand, moving in a completely different direction might have caused others to avoid the group as they had become used to a certain look and sound with a name like Supremes.
All of this is hindsight and Monday morning quarterbacking of course, but looking back I really feel strongly that retiring the Supremes name in 1970 and branding JMC something different entirely might have changed the history of Mary's groups.
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