Originally Posted by
RanRan79
Jean gives a killer performance toward the end of the record. I think both "Gotta Have Love" and "Everybody's Got the Right" were tapping into the current trend of pop music, and so on one hand their releases made sense. Unfortunately I think for "Gotta", something is lost in the translation. Had this same song- lyrics, track- been recorded by someone like Ray Stevens or the Carpenters, I think it would've hit. But the Supremes and Tops...in order for it to work, I think it needed more. Gospel up the track, make the sound big, let Levi and Jean rip it up from beginning to end and only then might it have had a chance.
Same with "Right to Love". IMO it's a gorgeous record. I love every thing about it. But it doesn't scream hit to me, not in the way it's been produced. In the end it made an excellent album track, might have even been interesting as a B side, but to follow up "Ladder" with it...I really don't think the song stood much of a chance. Of course this is in comparison to the singles that it's sandwiched between. Hitting #21 pop and #11 r&b is nothing to sneeze at.
What I think would've been interesting is what if "Everybody's" had been paired with a stronger B side than "But I Love You More", and DJs had flipped the single and started playing it over the A side. I like "But I Love You" but don't hear hit with it either. Wonder what might have happened with a stronger song like "I Got Hurt" or even "Bill" as the B side. The Supremes weren't known for charting B sides though.
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