Quote Originally Posted by Ollie9 View Post
As if the albums original cover concept being abandoned and not being called Stoned Love wasn't bad enough, motown goes and does that. Was the reasoning that if one failed, there was a chance they might end up with at least one hit album.
The marketing and promotion of this follow up album was crucial if they were build on the success of Right On. Sadly Motown screwed up big time on all counts.
my guess here is that it was simply the focus on money and not what artistic statements are being made.

From an immediate financial perspective, it might have been a VERY smart move

Let's say the estimate that a Supremes album released by itself will sell 600,000 units

But if they release 2 albums and with an approaching christmas holiday, each album might sell 400,000 units. Now you have total sales of 800,000 albums. that's a nice lift in profits

What this doesn't take into account is how these actions could impact the BRAND of a group or their reputation. in 1970 Rock and Roll was all of 15 years old. Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock [[which is sort of considered the "start" of the r&r era) topped the charts in July of '55. And so who knew really how things were going to evolve. SOOOOOOOOO many groups had faded into obscurity. you had doo wop, the girl gropu phenomenon, the sweet and cute pop tunes of the early 60s, then the british invasion, then hard rock, r&b, etc.

Motown's purpose was to turn a profit. Strike while the iron is hot and gather up as much cash as you can