Originally Posted by
RanRan79
I agree to a point. I've always described Mary and Cindy as weak. I don't mean "weak" as in it's bad or even necessarily that's it's a lesser quality than any others, just that it is a softer sound. Flo and Mary together were capable of a bombastic sound. Flo was just naturally that kind of singer. Mary possessed the skill to blend in with it, and honestly, as a backing vocalist, Mary was capable of some full throttle sounds herself. Cindy just wasn't that type of singer. So when she came in, Mary often had to meet Cindy where she was, instead of Cindy ever really being able to rise to the top of Mary's abilities. So where Flo and Mary had this full sound, a really classic blend of r&b, pop and gospel, that made them a perfect fit for a wide range of genre singing, Mary and Cindy could only do so much before they were out of steam and out of their collective element. I've always opined that Cindy was the reason that the Andantes became so frequent in the post Flo era, especially on the singles. The Andantes were able to keep some of the tone of the Flo/Mary era. Cindy and Mary could not.
Having said that, I do think Mary and Cindy had a beautiful, dare I say perfect, blend on some things. I think they particularly shined on the MOR stuff. They sound incredible to me on the Fats Waller Medley. The two of them often achieved a blend that was a perfect mix of each other. As much as I love the Flo era, and love the blend of her and Mary, there are many times when Flo is definitely more audible than Mary rather than the two of them being equal, achieving a perfect mix. Cindy and Mary did that often.
I recall someone once suggesting that after Diana left, Mary and Cindy could have found work singing backup with rock acts. I thumbed down that idea because they just didn't have the sound that would work for something like that. Singing backup for Engelbert Humperdinck? Sure. I think Mary and Cindy had a nice blend for pop music. They would've sounded nice on "The Composer". "Love Child"? No way. Anything too funky or rhythmic would be a challenge.
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