great to see these gowns in such clear definition. i like the gowns but the accessories have got to go.
the supremes at this time were trying to re-establish themselves. they had a hot dance tune and Scherrie is amazing. but to then throw on these old fashioned hat and fans?!?!? not the right image to attract the young record buyers and show them that the Supremes are relevant again
Compared to the Johnny Carson appearance thus is a lot better
It probably is the clearest live version I've seen on youtube. Never noticed that Cindy's dress is a different colour. For some reason I thought she wore the same coloured dress as Scherrie in another clip of them singing He's my Man. I like the single but think it never sounded as good live.
blackguy - i'm gonna comment on both your posts
good god yes! lolol the Tonight Show appearance was, IMO, a train wreck. they sounded really weak. the choreography was a mess. those giant ballgowns the wrong look. the tonight show band sounded bad. IMO it's among [[if not the worst) tv appearance by the group
they sound really much much better here. the mic balance is better as is the band.
but yeah lol i just had a problem with the overall stylistic direction during the MSC years. i think the giant ballgowns were so not the right design. i think the idea for the Dream sequence was outdated. i never liked the "jealousy" act they did during HMM. I'm not sure who was thinking all of this up or who was the real decision maker but i'm just pretty much no no no lolol
it's great to see them in such a clear appearance!! i think in the Sammy Live clip you could sort of make out the different colors. if you really examined it. there's a clip of MSS in these doing Walking and impossible to tell the different color there. In mary's book they purposely posed Scherrie's gown twice in order to make a trio of dresses. I've heard that these gowns are in very delicate condition.
The issue is the microphone levels. Mary's is turned up because she's singing lead during the verses so we hear her singing the bottom harmony prominently during the chorus where we should be hearing Scherrie more up front. I can't even hear Cindy.
After looking at it again. Scherrie needed to be and especially Cindy louder. But I did enjoy the chat afterwards.
Agreed. I think this song never sounded quite right live because the mic levels weren't adjusted as they were in the studio. Shame since MSC had such a unique blend. I do like this performance though. I also like how Cindy jumped right into the interview, similar to how she did on Soul Train.
the 3 part harmony in the studio version was excellent. even though this isn't my fav Sup song, i will admit the studio harmonies of MSC were stupendous.
it also strikes me in the live version how Scherrie should have been the predominant lead on this tune. on the studio version Mary's voice, while not my first choice for the lead, still comes across with some agility. but in the live versions i've heard on tapes and these various tv clips, mary's voice seems to bog down. like she's pushing to project but almost in danger of lagging behind.
another way to look at it is listen to Driving Wheel. good lord there's a lot going on in that song. the Hollands have the musical track barreling forward like a runaway train. But scherrie just explodes through the clutter with crisp enunciation and powerful delivery.
HMM is another heavily loaded backing track and the live versions just feel like Mary is about to be smothered by the sound
Thanks for this amazing find.
I didn't know that the Russell Harty show had the Supremes singing live - so this is wonderful to see.
Russell Harty was an interesting character - even when he was slapped across the face by Grace Jones!
It was good to see the Supremes singing live on his show.
This performance was probably made in September 1975, and the quality is really superb.
I agree with Floyjoy. The bottom harmony voice should never sound louder than the higher part. I love Mary's voice on the lead part, but her mic is too loud to blend into anything. I don't even hear Cindy. Scherrie is okay here but not as fantastic as she usually sounds. I don't like the acting either--they are trying way too hard.
They look great and IMO this is the best live performance of the song. I agree with the others that Mary's mic is too loud during her background parts. They do sound great though on the harmony when they sing the word "low".
There is a live clip on Youtube of Labelle doing A Man in a Trenchcoat [[Voodoo) where Nona sings lead. It doesn't work at all IMO because Patti and Nona are almost tripping over each other, trying to lead and sing background at the same time. It just comes off as chaotic. I think it's the same thing on He's My Man. The volume for Mary on lead is fine but when she tries to blend back into the harmony part she just over-powers Cindy. I've also seen a clip of the 5th Dimension doing Aquarius live, but the group's alto Florence LaRue is pulled way up in front in the mix and it sounds terrible. Florence is a terrific singer but the bottom harmony should support the soprano voice, not over power it.
what they needed to do is turn up Scherrie’s and Cindy’s mic
Agrees blackout.
A bit off but good but could be great
Agreed blackguy. Above .
Roselyn Harty is a scream in his awkwardness. He should have gone on tour with them.
Consensus: do you consider this song a duet between Mary and Scherrie? I've often heard it referred to as such, but if you think about it, Mary has all the lines, Scherrie just has the "he's my man" lick.
Couple problems: first, "disco" never sounded all that spectacular live. This is a prime example. It's too big band.
Next, you've got three Supremes trying to do choreography on a stage that's the size of a bottle cap. All the twisting and turning looks awkward for such a small space.
The dresses are fine, but brown isn't the greatest color. I'm not sure what would have gone with black and red [[maroon?). Maybe purple would have been better?
Yeah I always saw it more as a Mary lead.
Vocally, I think this was one of their best tv versions of He's My Man. Mary sings it much stronger than normal as opposed to her softer interpretations on tv and record. Granted, her mike is properly turned up as the lead but her vocals are strong, much like the way others lament that it should have been Scherrie as lead because the vocals should be stronger. This is so much better than their Tonight Show appearnce. Even with a smaller stage it doesn't appear as frantic as Tonight Show was.The "comedy" with the host is typical mid 70's schmaltz, that is how comedy usually was back then. I also agree that this is a Mary lead with Scherrie just singing He's My Man. If you think it is shared, than is Up The ladder a shared lead with Jean, Mary & Cindy? I think not. Still, very enjoyable clip.
mary does lead on the verses and scherrie does lead on the choruses
Actually Mary needed to back of her mic so she wouldn't be so dominant. Mary learned or I should say practice this technique after she left the Supremes.
Actually Cindy is doing the melody line which is usually the middle depending on how you block the harmony. Cindy's mic should have been a little louder, Mary needed to back off her mic some to get a better blend. Mary pretty much lead the versus and Scherrie did the adlibs.. I really like the performance the ladies sound great and they look good as well but we must look at this with 1975 eyes and not 2021 eyes
thank you so much for posting this itÂ’s crystal clear and wonderful!
1975 EYES: .....it’s also video proof positive of the supreme’s demise. I know that there are people who are going to like it and there are people that are gonna think it’s wonderful that Mary has taken over the total lead of the song and that people think the dresses are classy and sexy and their head pieces are fabulous, IÂ’m just not one of them..
I just shake my head and wonder what they were thinking? To me, they look and behave like a C act trying to break into the business. I’m not sure if this is the worst performance of theirs IÂ’ve ever seen on television but it is among them. I really can’t believe it’s The Supremes. I never saw these outfits onstage, but they did HMM live a lot that I saw with the over-wrought routine. To me, they are trying too hard. This makes me sad to watch. Burying Scherrie says everything we need to know as to the how and why things went south. I’m not saying it’s good and I’m not saying it’s bad, what I am saying is I think it’s terrible if you’re trying to get popular. Maybe it’s art, maybe it’s above my head, but I know for sure it was not what the public was going to buy into, and it sure didn’t. It didn’t stop me from going to their shows, but they were flailing in a sea of pop acts that they couldn’t touch. Scherrie could have been presented as a Queen diva - as SOMETHING - something to take notice of. I don’t believe in the homogenized group because it didn’t have the goods to attract and hold public interest. I remember hearing touch, he’s my man, I guess I’ll miss the man, automatically sunshine and Nathan Jones and audiences didn’t know them or there was scant recognition. It appeared that the dwindling audiences were compromised of some die-hards and lots of folks who used to be fans. Those fans didn’t know anything but Stoned Love and weren’t that engaged. I Really think it was a mistake to allow Mary so much leadership on stage - and on singles. It was an uphill battle anyway, why make it worse? She would one day be a fine entertainer, but it took well over a dozen years after the group ended. I wanted so much for them to succeed. They wanted it very badly and they tried very hard.
Last edited by TheMotownManiac; 04-23-2021 at 01:34 AM.
An excellent summary. I had just about lost interest in the group by this time. It was a disaster having Mary hogging the spotlight. She was stunningly beautiful but she had zero charisma and stage presence at this time, and that lead voice was never going to sell records to the pop market.
As you rightly say they tried so hard to make up lost ground but the public had moved on whilst the group remained stuck in their old ways despite putting in 100
% effort. Maybe Scherrie on lead could have saved the song and performed it in a more powerful way than Mary was capable of.
I saw this particular line up twice in concert and both times it was a crushing disappointment. They looked sensational but as my late Uncle said to me after one of the shows "The Supremes are dead". I have never forgotten his words.
This particular performance is probably their best effort which kind of says it all.
Just wait until their Top of the Pops performance emerges and you will see what i mean.
yeah i always found the dumb "acting" portion of HMM to be distracting and useless. in some of their live show bootlegs it's just insanity. they all argue over each other and ramble on. maybe they could have brought a handsome guy up from the audience during an extended ending of the song to dance with and ham it up a bit. like Diana did with Muscles. or how diana invited audience members on stage to dancing during The Boss on the HBO special. maybe each girl invites a man up on stage to playfully sing to and dance with. but this competition nonsense was so off base.
one of the most hideous things was the Caesar's Palace version of HMM. they really play up this dumb competition thing and i believe they use the ended to allow Mary to exit the stage and change outfits for here solo number A Song For You. S and S stay on stage and sing the "he and i belong together, he and i will be forever" about 10,000 in harmony. like they're yelling at each other or something
the managerial direction for the group was spot on in the recording studio - some of the strongest work in years and IMO the final album stands shoulder to shoulder with pretty much any other Supremes album. but there was such a lack of intelligence with how they presented themselves live. we all know that motown was completely MIA at this point so the blame isn't on them. either Mary or Pedro or the Mary/Pedro combo were making these terrible decisions.
for the most part, i totally agree with you. my only contradiction MIGHT be these gowns. if you ditch the dumb hats and fans, and eliminate the foolish choreography, these gowns weren't too bad. they're slinky and rather sexy. much better than the giant chiffon ball gowns they were also often wearing at the time. but even with that, they are most certainly not the most modern look and therefore prob not the best choice.
I'm in the minority in that I love these dresses and this look on the ladies. Cindy looked great here and Scherrie has such great stage presence. Wasnt there issues between the group with this upcoming South Africa tour they're talking about? From what I remember it's when things started to get ugly between Cindy and Pedro.
I think the dress stand alone look great, but wearing an evening gown for a fast paced disco number is ridiculous. Should have been something short and shimmery. Save the full length for the ballads.
From reading these comments I would say everyone is entitled to their own opinion and What works for some might not work for others. But I will say is no matter what they did someone will always find something to criticize instead of just enjoying the music
oh well of course that's half the fun of the chat here though lol. i know we'd all love a time machine to go back and help change or course correct some things. missed opportunities, different options etc
the Supremes have so many "what if's" that it makes for lots of fan banter. and i think everyone here is criticizing but also mostly offering up constructive criticism. most of the really harsh dialogs have dissipated and now people are offering up their opinions on topics without fear of being berated. and i find it enjoyable to hear other POVs.
agreed! the red sequin wrap gowns were frankly the best ones from the MSC lineup. here's the list of gowns i have put together
red mini dresses with gold fringe from All I Want
red sequin wrap gowns
black and white vegas sequins with feather wraps
green chiffon serpent ball gown
pale blue ball gown
white, yellow and orange ball gowns
jesus robes
these slinky velvet gowns
Dream sequence outfits
pink pants/dress combo from Soul Train
Zebra gowns
they were really into voluminous gowns and that is NOT the right ensemble for fast-paced disco. frankly only the red sequins were really right.
now when Susaye joined, they added:
the tuxes from Udo live*
the all-in-one Caesar gown
the orange gowns with wraps from Soul Train*
the brown gown w colored striped from Soul Train*
the pink chiffon gowns in Mary's collection and gown book [[not worn)
blue/lavender fringe gowns from Udo*
pink kaftans with aztec collars
red outfits from Merv Griffin You Are The Heart Of Me
with Susaye they got more back on track. the four with an * are ones that, IMO, work much better with the lineup and the disco vibe
The Supremes image [[including and ESPECIALLY gowns) were just as important [[and sometimes ever more so) than their sound.
I enjoy the "what if's" and the banter. At least on these topics, we can often agree to disagree. It's not the ending shitshow like the Motown 25 and RTL threads.
i agree. image was a huge part of the act and a bit element of their appeal. for much of their career there was a "what will the Supremes wear next" anticipation. i think by the mid 70s though, as the public had become oblivious to the group, that had dissipated.
IMO the fact that the group didn't seem to update their approach and sound, along with their look, was part of the real demise
oh, I agree. I wasn’t clear. I’m fine with the gowns - as gowns - but not as dance costumes. Mary wore it well. There are a few TV appearances where I just saw DOOM written all over them. This is one. Tom Jones was the first. How could THE SUPREMES have sunk to this? I remember when they were on Tom Jones I thought “it’s over for them, I love the records but this is so terrible.” I couldn’t believe my eyes.
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