Originally Posted by
jobeterob
If Scherrie was the lead singer in the same sense Diana had been [[or at least close to it), the Supremes could have continued on in a similar vein to the Temptations. If the Supremes were trying for dual lead singers, they were moving to a sound that was not identifiable as a Supremes sound when one of those singers was Mary.
I think it was a huge mistake for Mary to leave, a huge mistake to let Jean go, and a huge mistake to move away from the Jean/Scherrie sound. Basically all that did was led to the demise of the Supremes and it never did anything for a solo career for Flo, Mary or Cindy. My recollection is that Scherrie and Lynda had a semi hit or two as members of another group, but no one in the Supremes other than Diana actually had what you would call a solo hit.
I know these situations are rife with personality conflicts; I'm sure Otis Williams has his fair share of critics. But it's hard for me to see that if the Supremes could have carried on with someone like an Otis, they could hardly have been less successful than what happened for Flo, Mary, Cindy, Scherrie, Susaye, Jean, Lynda. Essentially, the FLOS were as successful as any of them.
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