Steph - where can I hear the Diles interview?,Ive always wanted to hear that,your right Flo hated Gordy she wrote to J Randy just before she died ..."Im even thinking good thoughts about Diana he he" so her feeings there were mixed,she didnt agree with the way Diana treated people in the PB interviews but it was Berry that she had the bitterness for...
Diana Ross has a knack for making legions of people severely dislike her. She has to be feeling the effect of it now in her old age.
Should I say that sadly, Mary Wilson isn't one of them?
Whatever the truth in all of the above, this is sure one of the threads that gives Motown and the Supremes and these Boards a very bad name and encouraged many posters to leave.
Berry Gordy, and the way he ran Motown gave Motown a bad name.
Is it not odd that after the motown "ACCOUNTING" and 25 years of money making service, Miss Diana Ross left Motown with only two hundred thousand dollars - by her own admission, and a very large Motown held mortgage on her Beverly Hills home. Her deal with RCA kept her from becoming a Supreme in financial difficulty.
By his own admission in his book Gordy states, "...Perhaps I kept more than my far share".
Perhaps, you did for sure Mr. Gordy. An is one of the many reasons why Motown has a bad name to some, not all. It has nothing to do with comments made on this forum.
Have you seen the published contracts that motown stars worked under. SLAVERY - that gives Motown a bad name. Would you sign that sh-- today?
Now let's talk about what really gave Motown a bad name - that my friends is a thread or two within itself.
I've agreed with a lot of your posts Tony..........but, what about this?
Motown's contracts were better than a lot of contracts at the time. Berry was fairer than Chess for example.
They are not models of today but the way things are going today with collapsing sales, it is the concert and the tour that matters and recording contracts are irrelevant. And they are still paying their costs today.
And Berry could not have been that bad; otherwise you would not have every Motown artist standing up and singing his praises and it isn't just Miss Ross; it's also Otis, Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves and virtually every other Motown artist alive. There is absolutely nothing in it for them today to stand up and say he was such a great guy. It's not like he's going to put them in Billboard Ads and send them out on tour now.
That's not true regarding Motown being fairer than Chess Records. Check out what Mary Wells told Etta James here under the title "Etta James discusses the difference between Chess Records and Motown...":
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/souldeep/interviews/3/
Each artist you mentioned and many that you did not have had MAJOR publicized issues with Berry Gordy Jr in the past. Many had to sue him. I like Berry Gordy. I've met him a few times and admire what he has accomplished with his life. However, I did not like some of his methods.
Berry Gordy "MADE" all of the above mention performers "SUPER STARS" on an international level. However, the man could have paid them more. And when they were down and out like - David Ruffin, Mary Wells, Flo Ballard, and a lot of others he could have been of more help to them.
He is not the devil - certainly not the fairest man in the world, maybe not the "...instrument of unbearable darkness", that Diana Ross said he became in her book Secrets Of A Sparrow, but he is most likely no saint either.
"...instrument of unbearable darkness", Amazing that, that would come out of Diana Ross' mouth. What was she?
If you read Secrets of A sparrow - which is not that informative a bio - very Ross image protected, you will find Ross says some things that maybe Flo thought as well - read pages 204 - 205. I do not think that Ross would like some character in a movie about Flo Ballard - playing Ross and quoting from her own words on these pages - among many others. But alas, these are Diana Ross's own words and feelings, that she published and vetted in her own bio - SECRETS OF A SPARROW - so she did tell some things distasteful about Gordy - BUT - will she want them repeated on the big screen - will she stand firm and admit that - in her own words "...but he [[GORDY) had begun to act like a genius gone mad".
It is odd that no reviewer or interviewer EVER question Ross on this, and other unflattering things she wrote about Gordy. But they all had a feild day on WIlson and Ballard.
Trust and believe - Ross and or Gordy do not want this on the silver screen - and you know if this movie is made - they will use her own words to hang her out to dry -
Did I hear someone sing - DIRTY DIANA!!!
Since Flo Ballard.s daughters have no money whatsoever in this production - they have no say in the way it is cut and filmed. It is only going to make Money if it drags perhaps Gordy Ross and Wilson through the mud and makes them appear to be nasty - slick - underhanded and greedy and Flo completely disposable - if it is going to paint Gordy and Ross as saints them why make the film - they have already anoited themselves saints.
The Ballard sisters acting as "consultants" is just a mere courtesy to them - they will have no editing power.
The power is with ROSS and GORDY AND IF THEY HAVE THE POWER TO BURY THIS flo movie before it gets into rehearsal.
Last edited by topdiva1; 11-01-2010 at 04:19 PM.
We'll see.
Indeed we will surely see - I do agree with many - there is a greater chance for this film not to be made - than - it is to be made. However, times and changed and maybe people are not as powerful or as hard as they once were. Or maybe they are too old to gave a damn!!!!
At this time the Flo film is still said to start filmimg in January 2011. However - not much else was said.
Faith better be one hell of am actress! She is 5 years older than Flo was when she died. And Flo wasn't always "heavy," how is Faith going to play Flo from 15-22 when she was still pretty petite? She's a good pick otherwise but some of the realism will be challenged & a little hard to swallow.
She can do the Right-Size Smoothies.........hehehehehe..!
More than likely she is on a crash diet to lose weight to play the part - they can always use padding in the end - Flo was most likely never bigger than a size 14.
You know who else kind of looked like Flo when they were younger? Evelyn "Champagne" King and Rosie Perez.
The movie is moving forward.
They have released more details surrounding the Florence Ballard film, but I'm sure you know about that right? Still holding your breathe or are you trying to come up with some more amazing criteria that has to occurr before anyone should believe that is film is going to be made? LOL!
Let us continue to show hope for the people that are behind the efforts to FINALLY get this film done on Flo Ballard. It surely has not been an easy effort for this company - the preproduction and securing various rights has taken FIVE years - all done secretly, with the Ballard sisters blessing.
Give Flo the chance in death she was not given in life. Back off with the crude remarks and show some compassion.
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