The surpremes biography

The Supremes were paid no salaries, their income being strictly from a small allowance and from royalties which amounted to two cents for every record sold—a lump sum which was then split between the girls. In addition, Gordy was allowed to deduct from royalties any advances he made to promote the act. Only Motown was authorized under the contracts to dismiss group members or hire new ones, and only Motown had authority over material and arrangements.

Motown was, in effect, the sole manager, agent, accountant, and financial adviser for The Supremes, who never saw standard accounting sheets or the tax returns Motown filed on their behalf. The group's new life as The Supremes did not at first seem destined for success. Motown released their demo recording of "I Want a Guy" on its Tamla label to little notice in The group's next eight records—including their first record on the Motown label, 's "Your Heart Belongs to Me"—barely made it onto Billboard 's Top During these early years, each of the girls took turns singing lead—Ballard on the more upbeat numbers, Ross on the slower, sensitive love songs, and Wilson on the ballads.

Bynow ages 19 and 20, the women were known around Motown as "the no-hit Supremes," although the taunts subsided somewhat after their "When the Lovelight Starts Shining in Your Eyes" made Billboard 's Top 20 in October of that the surpremes biography. The women were as surprised as everybody else when they were included on Dick Clark 's "Caravan of Stars" national tour as a warm-up act for the major talent.

Also to everyone's astonishment, the song The Supremes recorded just before leaving on the tour, "Where Did Our Love Go," rocketed to 1 and made them instant stars on Clark's tour. The song had been written for them by the same team that had given them their Top 20 hit the year before, the songwriters Brian and Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier.

Holland-Dozier-Holland were responsible for "the Motown sound," characterized by heavy percussion overlaid with filigrees of guitars, strings, horns, and backup vocals. None of the women cared much for the song that marked the beginning of their rise to stardom. From on, it seemed as if nothing could stand in their way.

The surpremes biography: American Motown group The Supremes

The Supremes were as popular on stage as they were on record, especially when Gordy went to work on their wardrobe and dressed them identically in sequined, full-length gowns, full-length white gloves, high-heeled shoes and elaborate, piled hairdos which never budged during the careful choreography designed for each number. The Supremes became Motown's leading ambassadors for Berry Gordy's goal of bridging the gap between black and white audiences in the United Statesand presenting Europeans, who were fascinated by the act during several tours of England and the Continent, with a glossy, sophisticated image of African-American culture.

By the mids, only The Beatles and Elvis Presley could command greater crowds at live concerts. On stage, The Supremes presented a seamless image of sisterhood. Ross did most of the chatter between songs, although Ballard became a crowd pleaser with her sassy comments that put the lie to Ross' insistence on characterizing her as "the quiet one.

Berry Gordy had long realized that it was Ross' voice and stage presence that was the most commercial of the three women, making their relationship a sometimes stormy combination of the personal and the surpremes biography. Ross later characterized him as "an incomparable visionary, a dynamite character, and a special human being," but to the other two women, The Supremes was becoming a Ross-Gordy franchise.

The quarrels the surpremes biography Ballard and Gordy were made only more bitter and acrimonious when Gordy announced in early that the group's name would be changed to "Diana Ross and The Supremes," Ross explaining the change in her first name from Diane to Diana by saying there had been a typographical error on her birth certificate.

Ballard, however, had begun to suspect that Ross was intent on breaking up the group and pursuing a solo career. To her, the name change was the first step in The Supremes' demise. Her threats to expose Gordy's financial practices only made matters worse. And don't you forget it. I was content to play on the team. Diane didn't feel that way about things, and her attitude was obvious to everyone we worked with.

Matters came to a head almost as soon as Motown had publicly announced the name change early inwhen Ballard arrived drunk for a concert in Las Vegas and so overweight that her costume could barely contain her. Wilson and Ross went on without her, announcing that Florence had had to be hospitalized for exhaustion, but it is probable that Gordy fired Ballard once and for all from The Supremes that night.

She was replaced by Cindy Birdsongwho had been appearing with Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles, another Motown act. A further upheaval in The Supremes' fortunes came that year, when Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown to start their own record company. Gordy also increased their television exposure. The women hosted their own weekly television show, "Hollywood Palace," for one season and even appeared as nuns in an episode of "Tarzan," a network series of the time.

By the end of the decade, rumors that Diana Ross would be leaving The Supremes were widespread, especially when she appeared alone on "The Dinah Shore Show" in Birdsong officially assumed her place during the second July 1 show. Ballard eventually sank into poverty and died abruptly on February 22,from an cardiac arrest caused by a coronary thrombosis at the age of Holland—Dozier—Holland left Motown in early after a dispute with the label over royalties and profit sharing.

Due to the tension within the group and stringent touring schedules, neither Mary Wilson nor Cindy Birdsong appear on many of these singles; they were replaced on these recordings by session singers such as the Andantes. The gospel -based soul of female performers such as Aretha Franklin had eclipsed the Supremes' pop-based sound, which had by now evolved to include more middle-of-the-road material.

In a cultural climate now influenced more than ever by countercultural movements such as the Black Panther Partythe Supremes found themselves attacked for not being "black enough", and lost ground in the black music market. In mid, Motown initiated a number of high-profile collaborations for the Supremes with their old colleagues, the Temptations.

Besides the fact that both groups had come up together, the pairings made financial sense: the Supremes had a mostly white fanbase, while the Temptations a mostly black fanbase. Terrell was signed to Motown and began recording the first post-Ross Supremes songs with Wilson and Birdsong during the day, while Wilson and Birdsong toured with Ross at night.

At the same time, Ross began to make her first solo recordings. This single also would mark the Supremes' final television appearance together with Ross, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 21, At the final performance, the replacement for Diana Ross, Jean Terrell, was introduced. Wilson refused, leading to Gordy stating that he was washing his hands of the group thereafter.

Motown, by then moving from Detroit to Los Angeles to break into motion pictures, put only limited effort into promoting the Supremes' new material, and their popularity and sales began to wane. Cindy Birdsong left the group in Aprilafter recording the Floy Joy album, to start a family; her replacement was Lynda Laurencea former member of Stevie Wonder 's backup group, Third Generation a predecessor to Wonderlove.

Dismayed by this poor-performing record and the lack of promotional support from Motown, Jean Terrell left the group and was replaced by Scherrie Paynethe sister of Invictus Records recording artist Freda Payne. Between the departures of Laurence and Terrell and the first Supremes single with Scherrie Payne, "He's My Man", a disco single on which Payne and Wilson shared lead vocal, Motown was slow in producing contracts for Payne and the returning Birdsong.

Before the release of the album inthe Supremes remained a popular live act, and continued touring overseas, particularly in the UK and Japan. The group's new recordings were not as successful as their earlier releases, although "He's My Man" from the album The Supremes was a popular disco hit in InBirdsong left again and was replaced by Susaye Greeneanother former member of Wonderlove.

On June 12,the Supremes performed their farewell concert at the Drury Lane Theater in London as Wilson made her exit for a solo career, with Payne and Greene selecting Joyce Vincent to round out the trio as a new third member.

The surpremes biography: The original trio of

Instead, Motown decided that without any original members, the Supremes would be disbanded. Several fictional works have been published and produced that are based in part on the career of the group. The film's score was composed by Curtis Mayfieldand the soundtrack album by Aretha Franklin was a commercial success. On December 21,the Tony Award -winning musical Dreamgirls opened at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway and ran for 1, performances.

The musical, loosely based on the history of the Supremes, follows the story of the Dreams, an all-female singing trio from Chicago who become music superstars. Mary Wilson loved the musical, but Diana Ross was reportedly angered by it and refused to see it. In the Name of Love", —but never won an award in competition. In the Name of Love" I was really into girl groups.

Fan interest made the idea of a Supremes reunion tour a very profitable one during the s.

The surpremes biography: The Supremes were an American girl

Inaround the time that Motown reunited all of the Temptations, it was rumored that Motown would reunite the Supremes. The line-up of the Supremes Wilson, Birdsong and Payne was considered for this reunion, which was to include new recordings and a tour. Under advisement from Berry Gordy, Wilson declined to reunite, and the idea was scrapped.

Eventually, the "Return to Love" the surpremes biography went on as scheduled, but with Payne and Laurence joining Ross, although none of the three had ever been in the group at the same time and neither Payne nor Laurence had sung on any of the original hit recordings that they were now singing live. Susaye Greene was also considered for this tour, but refused to audition for it.

The music critics cried foul and many fans were disappointed by both this and the shows' high ticket prices. The tour was canceled after playing only half of the dates on itinerary. With the death of Florence Ballard in and the death of Mary Wilson on February 8,there is no longer any possible reunion of the original classic lineup. Inlast original and founding member Mary Wilson decided to disband The Supremes and forge a solo career.

They performed with Wilson from through the mids, aiding her in fulfilling contractual obligations related to The Supremes and avoiding potential legal action from Motown, as Wilson detailed in her book. Ragland asserts her affiliation with the Supremes based on her performances alongside Mary Wilson. However, she was never signed by Motown, her performances with Wilson occurred after the Supremes' disbandment inand she is not recognized as an official member of the Supremes.

Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Wilson, stating that Motown owns the name and had allowed Former Ladies of the Supremes and Sounds of the Supremes to use the name. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item.

American Motown female singing group. This article is about the Motown singing group. Known as 'Motor City', Detroit was one of the greatest industrial cities in the world and dominated automobile production.

The surpremes biography: The Supremes, American pop-soul

Gordy was inspired by the assembly line process at the Ford car plant where he worked, aiming to create a hit factory 'Hitsville USA'where "a kid off the street could walk in one door an unknown and come out another a recording artist — a star". The Supremes would become the embodiment of this vision. In earlythe three girls along with Betty McGlown, started 'The Primettes', an all-girl singing group.

They auditioned for the fledgling Motown label and in Januarythey were eventually signed as 'The Supremes'. They became the epitome of Motown glamour, appealing to Black and white audiences alike. By The Supremes had made history by achieving five consecutive number one hits and Motown was the most successful Black-owned enterprise in America.

Gordy had seen the commercial potential of creating a pop version of rhythm and blues music which, while still being generated by Black culture, could also cross the race divide to attract a white teenage audience. During the mids, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer. Ross left to pursue a solo career in and was replaced by Jean Terrellat which point the group's name reverted to the Supremes.

Afterthe lineup changed more frequently; Lynda Laurence, Scherrie Payne, and Susaye Greene all became members of the group during the mids. The Supremes disbanded in after an year run. Contents move to sidebar hide. Page Talk. Read Change Change source View history. Tools Tools.