I’m not normally phased by celebrity death. Death is part of reality. Yet something hit me really hard about the passing of Mary Wilson this past Monday at the age of 76. She is not just a founding member of The Supremes, the most successful all girl group of all time. She is larger than…
Category: The Supremes
The Supremes “Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye” (1965, Unreleased. From Never-Released-Before Masters, 1987)
The Supremes “Too Hurt To Cry, Too Much In Love To Say Goodbye” (1965, Unreleased. From Never-Released-Before Masters, 1987) I’m like a number of people. When we look back on Diana Ross’s success as a performer for the past 57 years, I’m prone to put the metric of that squarely on her charisma and unstoppable…
Dear Blondie: A Reflection on Florence Ballard and the legacy of The Supremes.
She was terrific. She was also terrified of the world. 40 years ago today, Florence Glenda Chapman, formerly Florence Ballard of The Supremes, died suddenly of Coronary Thrombosis in Detroit. The inspiration for Dreamgirls became a ghostly gothic story that day. An intersection in which race, rape culture, the pressures of fame and feminism developed…
The Temptations (With The Supremes) “Not Now, I’ll Tell You Later” (From the LP Get Ready, 1966)
The Temptations (With The Supremes) “Not Now, I’ll Tell You Later” (From the LP Get Ready, 1966) Whoops. Well, yesterday was Eddie Kendrick’s 76th Birthday. The gossamer falsetto that lead The Temptations rocketing into the American Consciousness at the beginning of 1964 was born December 17th, 1939. Although his legacy eventually got eclipsed by groupmate…
The Supremes “It’s Time To Break Down” (From the LP “New Ways But Love Stays,” 1970)
The Supremes “It’s Time To Break Down” (From the LP “New Ways But Love Stays,” 1970) It’s double the legend today. First up, the woman brave enough to step into the Spotlight slot in The Supremes in Diana Ross’s departure, Jean Terrell, turns 71 years old today. Although it may have been Berry Gordy’s plan…
Supreme Signs: Which Supremes #1 Hit are you?
(This idea was sponsored by fellow Astrologer Wonder Bright.) About a week and a half ago, Wonder commented that an alternate Capricorn “girl-group-a-scope” could be The Supremes 7th #1, “You Can’t Hurry Love.” It didn’t take me long to realize that, well, there’s enough Supremes Chart Toppers for each sign. What was I waiting for?…
Florence Ballard “Forever Faithful” (ABC 11144-B, 1968)
Florence Ballard “Forever Faithful” (ABC 11144-B, 1968) Had she not been like, “I’m not doing this singing thing on my own,” there’d never be the complex, rich history of The Supremes. Perhaps Diana Ross *might* have become a singer, but it’s the plucky Florence Ballard that got The Supremes off the ground as The Primettes….
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