Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Interesting take, but I'm not sure that faith was the issue. To me it looks like Motown was doing what it had always done with the Supremes. I think the motto was strike while the iron is hot. When the girls took off in 1964, from that point through 1965, check out how many albums were released, and the close time frame. I think Gordy wanted to get as much out there as the public clamored for it. By 1966 the Supremes were firmly on the road to continued success, so there wasn't as much of a need to toss out a bunch of albums.
DRATS hit a snag and then once again there was a ton of albums released in a relatively short time. I think the idea was to release a ton of work on the New Supremes to keep the public interested, as the group had scored a well received first album and two huge singles. The problem was the duets. "River Deep" should have been a single only cut. Maybe it could have anchored the Tops' next album, since the speculation is that pairing the two groups was expected to give the Tops a much needed jolt. I think if the group had to compete with itself, as in if New Ways and a new Supremes Christmas album were released at the same time, New Ways may have fared better, as opposed to the Supremes having to compete with the Supremes and the Four Tops together, if that makes any sense.
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