Originally Posted by
TheMotownManiac
I don’t think it was disco as they were completely MIA when disco hit.
The writing was on the wall when new ways but love stays performed way below expectations. 10 months out and your album sales are slipping drastically and you are not drawing as well as you did a year ago and the next year you would not be drawing as well as you were this year, it’s a strong indication that regardless of how good they were or talented they were or how much we want to have them in our lives, the public at large just wasn’t that interested. They had every opportunity with that amazing debut, great records the first year especially, but I think too many people just weren’t excited enough.
Motown had every reason to feel good about the switch because they had done unexpectedly well when David Ruffin left the group, I don’t think anyone expected them to become even more popular. Certainly there were other factors at play including a change in material, but, a lot of the credit Hass to be given to Dennis Edwards. it just didn’t work out that way with Jean.
and it’s very difficult to replace a lead singer, how well would the Vandellas have done with a new singer after Martha left? How well did the miracles do without Smokey? They had a big hit record, but they weren’t much of a draw ultimately.
People like to point fingers and assign blame, but the truth is the new group never was embraced. Having a number seven single, and another that’s in the top 10 for one week does not indicate support for any act, merely interest in the song.
I don’t know that having a hit like want ads would have made much of a difference because it was a gimmicky kind of song that nobody gave a damn about a year after it was out. It’s not like it was this great record that was going to stand the test of time or anything it hit, burned hot and fizzled away.
they needed an inroad to the hearts of the public and it didn’t happen. To that point I guess I can see why they thought maybe touch would put them over because the other attempts with Frank Wilson didn’t work well enough. Personally I think touch is a lousy record, but I guess it was worth a try.
ANMHE worked so well because it was a personal experience shared with the listener plus of course it was fabulous and it was being performed by someone who had literally already made history. They needed something like that or like ran said, I’ll Be There. That might have helped.
Ultimately, you can’t remove one of the biggest female stars of the music industry and expect anyone, regardless of talent, to succeed. How long did funny girl run after Barbra Streisand left? That’s not really the best example because it did OK after she left, but had she stayed with it for 10 years it probably would still have run because it was her.
I think way too much was expected of the new group, and I think mary wanted more than anything to show Diana up. She even tried to manipulate the sales figures and chart positions in her book to make it seem like they were much bigger at least for a time, but it’s not true. What is true is that she wanted people to think that, it was important to her, 15 years later, to be able to say that. Maybe if expectations weren’t so high to begin with, Jean and Mary would not have become so disillusioned, accepted their fate, and worked together to make the group as strong as they could. Once they splintered in 1972, I think the situation became untenable trying to maintain that level Of success with an ever-changing lineup.
The odd thing is, they had plenty of television exposure, but I think it did the more harm than good. I remember being disappointed in most of their television appearances, but I thought I was being just a picky little bitch , Now I think my read was correct: the public just did not like the group enough without diana ross. Jean seemed like a Dennis Edwards, but she wasn’t one.
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