Originally Posted by
RanRan79
The Andantes were fantastic at what they did. They also were extremely polished, which made them perfect as the in house female session singers. I think they not only had great chemistry with Mary Wells but also Marvin Gaye, among some others.
The problem was when the Andantes were used as replacements for Supremes, Vandellas and Marvelettes. Each of those groups had their own personalities that came out. The Marvelettes [[as a harmony group) weren't much to speak of IMO, but their backing vocals had character. The Vandellas had a great blend behind Martha, and specifically when Annette and Roz were together, there was an unexplainable charm, IMO. The Supremes of course were full of personality behind Diana. Flo and Mary's voices had a distinctiveness and also a ton of chemistry together. All of those things made all of those groups unique.
When you replace them with the very polished Andantes, many of those songs, IMO, lose the character it would have otherwise have had. The Andantes were great for backing up solo artists, but not the best when acting as stand ins.
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