Originally Posted by
TheMotownManiac
1. Florence didn’t conceive the name, she merely chose it from a list that was given to her by Jamie Bradford, Who, as a Motown employee, on company time, provided the name as Motown intellectual property. This is how Barry Gordy felt he own the name. I don’t think she ever legally signed away the rights to the name because she never had them to begin with.
2. Florence agreed to not use the names of creams in promoting herself as a solo at Florence agreed to not use the names of creams in promoting herself as a solo act. It was a rotten thing to do, But she and tommi were not exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer, and her attorney was only out to get as much money upfront as possible that he could steal right away so he didn’t care about her at all.
Motown was trying to prevent Flo from using the name in negative ways, but her atty could have negotiated a “no disparage clause” while still allowing her the use of the name. Flo had the power here and threw it away.
3. In my opinion there’s nothing to suggest that Florence had to be a Broadway star or any kind of solo star. I loved her desperately and think she was a gigantic asset to the group and I never got over her leaving 53 years later I’m still not over it, but that being said there’s a lot more to starring in a Broadway show than having a couple clips in a nightclub act and singing strong harmony. If you listen to all of her solo work, you will hear a mediocre vocalist with a powerful, but not engaging voice and almost no technique. There is a reason why producers didn’t give her a lead sheets at LuPine, Motown, or after she left the group. There are thousands of singers with voices as good as Florence, diana and Mary. It’s all the extras that makes a star, and flow had charm to spare, but even that was without the pressure of having to headline a group. I don’t think she had the goods to be much of a solo star at all, but once Florence left the group, there was no reason ever to look at the other two. I’m not knocking about them, as they were just fine, it’s just that I think most people thought that they were dullards. Everyone I grew up with did. Literally everyone.
4. It would’ve been nice if Motown looked after her after she left the group but there was so much animosity and so much going on and Motown was exploding and Barry Gordy was being pulled in 1000 directions at once, sadly, I doubt that anybody had the time to think about Florence’s mental condition.
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