The other component of Libra season, beyond balance and justice, is relationships and partnerships. Who are your others? Seems a perfect time to round up a bounty of the beauty of the duet. The call & response between two players on Vinyl goes further back that Vinyl itself of course, as singing is basically the…
Tag: The Supremes
Hitsville Vaults ’66: The Top Twenty Motown potential hits you didn’t know existed.
You may or may not know, Motown records in its Golden Years from 1961 through 1968 was a constant hive of activity. The operations worked 24 hours a day each day of the year, some Motown gems were recorded and pressed on major holidays, some efforts saw release on others. Was December 31, 1965 a…
Standard Snuggles, Classic Cuddles: Late Summer After Midnight Merging of Classic Soul and Songs of Old
It wasn’t just Berry Gordy’s dream to cross over to the meat of the performance market during the 1960s. R&B singers early as Ruth Brown and Dinah Washington took to covering songs associated with Tin Pan Alley pretty early in their careers. The natural relationship between musical genres has always been an orgy; Jazz informed…
The Magic of Marvin: Sovereign Soul and Sweetness, The Crown’d Prince of Motown
If you don’t have a special connection to Marvin Gaye, immediately I question your humanity. Chances are I’ll never like you. He left this earthly plane with a gunshot shortly before I turned 2 years old 32 years ago today, right before he turned 45. In just over 25 years, he evolved from being one…
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…
So an Aries, a Gemini and a Sagittarius contemplate Holiday Songs (A Playlist)
Once upon a time, around the warm glow of our collective computer screens around the world, Me, John Hamilton of Chart Rigger and Jens Keller of Beat Frauleins came up with an epic Facebook Thread of Christmas songs you might know, but are more likely not to know. The amazing thing about that thread is that…
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…
Sugar Town Sno-Ball: The Northern Exposure Set
Coming fresh off the high that is my oft-favorite DJing trip to the Pacific Northwest, I couldn’t wait to clip together some of the great songs that I played for such a swinging audience. Given I have a somewhat foggy memory of what I played that night, I’m going through the order of which I…
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…
DJ Larsupreme 