[Survivor] The Supremes Survivor | WINNER

[cheapthrills]

[center]

The blueprint for all modern day black pop stars and girl groups periodT

After seeing the response to the Supremes in the Ultimate Female Acts countdown, I thought it would be fun to give them their own survivor, and Diana probably deserves one of her own. The Supremes lasted longer than you'd think, roughly 18 years, but it's the middle part of the period, 1964-1969 that we mostly think of when they were at their peak. They were flops for roughly the first third of their career, known as the "No-Hit Supremes" by their own label and sometimes reduced to handclaps and background for other singers.

The middle arc of their career began with Where Did Our Love Go. It was rejected by practically everyone before getting to the Supremes. It proved to be their ticket to stardom, and Diana Ross proved to be an effervescent, captivating presence. The Supremes amassed 12 number ones, which is still the 2nd most for a group behind the Beatles during that period.

The final third of the Supremes' existence saw Diana go solo and a revolving door in the line-up while Mary Wilson steered the ship as the only original Supreme. Initially, the new Supremes line-up seemed to outdo Diana, quickly grabbing two top ten hits before Diana could get one. They'd manage a couple top 40 hits after that before disbanding when Mary went solo. For the label, that meant there was no point to the Supremes. I've included the songs from this period that made the top 40 in the US or UK.

I'll start this tomorrow, but if you want to check out anything below before then, here is the list:

Tears of Sorrow (1960)
Buttered Popcorn (1961)
Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
Baby Love (1964)
Come See About Me (1964)
Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

Back in My Arms Again (1964)
Nothing But Heartaches (1964)
I Hear a Symphony (1965)
My Favorite Things (1965)
My World is Empty Without You (1966)
Love is Like an Itching in My Heart (1966)
You Can't Hurry Love (1966)
You Keep Me Hangin On (1966)

Love is Here and Now You're Gone (1967)
The Happening (1967)
Reflections (1967)
In and Out of Love (1967)
Forever Came Today (1968)
Some Things You Never Get Used To (1968)
Love Child (1968)
I'm Livin in Shame (1969)

I'm Gonna Make You Love Me (with The Temptations) (1968)
I'll Try Something New (with the Temptations) (1969)
The Composer (1969)
No Matter What Sign You Are (1969)
The Weight (with the Temptations) (1969)
I Second That Emotion (with the Temptations) (1969)
Someday We'll Be Together (1969)
River Deep, Mountain High (with the Four Tops) (1970)

Up the Ladder to the Roof (1970)
Stoned Love (1970)
Everybody's Got the Right to Love (1970)
Nathan Jones (1971)
Floy Joy (1971)
Automatically Sunshine (1972)
Bad Weather (1973)
I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do the Walking (1976)

Tagging mostly people who voted for The Supremes/Diana in the countdown. I'll tag again when we start tomorrow, and then tag only the participants.

Spoiler!

JSparksFan Goldmoney CasualFlow Lewis17 Metalweb crystalphoenix LilyoftheValley taverner MrDash @inforfromaus Tomer_MC Plym Zeph RedSimba DOSSOME JimJim Spartan RayRay FreakyFlyBry Wayne android Spiral sjm matthew_dixon LittleLinda MrTibbs Benny Thriller SholasBoy Spartan CrazyCrazy Phoenixx

[Plym]

what in the mary wilson

[JSparksFan]

I will be participating!

[Goldmoney]

periodT!!!!

[MrTibbs]

Oh Yeah .. Right On .. !

[MrTibbs]

Can we also include 'Everybody's Got The Right To Love' in this please, the follow up to 'Up The Ladder To The Roof.?

[matthew_dixon]

A couple of others that made the UK chart (top 20) in that time.

I Second That Emotion - with the Temptations
River Deep, Mountain High - with the Four Tops

[CasualFlow]

Awesome! This will be fun. Thanks for including me, cheapthrills

[RayRay]

Sounds good.

[cheapthrills]

Can we also include 'Everybody's Got The Right To Love' in this please, the follow up to 'Up The Ladder To The Roof.?

A couple of others that made the UK chart (top 20) in that time.

I Second That Emotion - with the Temptations
River Deep, Mountain High - with the Four Tops

I figured these would be cannon fodder, but I can add them. That gives me 38 though so I'm going to add two more to make it 40.

[cheapthrills]

ROUND 1

We'll do five rounds of eight songs that look at the different phases of their career.

This set looks at their early years, which had good songs, but still found them flopping. The Supremes story begins with Florence Ballard. Living in the projects and in junior high school in the late 50s, she befriended Eddie Kendricks who was in a group called the Primes at the time. Florence started a sister group with Betty (yes, Betty - she left several years before the Supremes blew up). She brought in her best friend Mary Wilson, while Diana came in at the behest of the other half of the Primes. Group complete and with a guitarist, they auditioned at Motown thanks to Diana's neighbor connection to Smokey Robinson. They were told to come back when they were done with high school, and so they went to LuPine records and recorded their first single.

From there, they essentially badgered Berry Gordy to get signed before they finished high school (they did graduate though! good for them!) While Betty left at this point, they briefly stayed a quartet before the replacement also left in 1962 (pregnancy was the reason). That was bad timing because after a losing streak of singles, they finally hit with their first top 40 single as 1963 came to a close. And they'd get even bigger after that - Where Did Our Love Go was released - it sailed to #1, as did the next two singles after that, making the same-titled album the first ever to yield three #1 songs.

Here's the B-side to that first-ever single when they were still the Primettes, called Pretty Baby, which backed Tears of Sorrow.

Rate each song on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best. Half-points are allowed. You do not need to rate every song.

Tears of Sorrow (1960)
Buttered Popcorn (1961)
Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
Baby Love (1964)
Come See About Me (1964)
Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)


Tagging mostly people who voted for The Supremes/Diana in the countdown. I'll tag again when we start tomorrow, and then tag only the participants.

Spoiler!

JSparksFan Goldmoney CasualFlow Lewis17 Metalweb crystalphoenix LilyoftheValley taverner MrDash @inforfromaus Tomer_MC Plym Zeph RedSimba DOSSOME JimJim Spartan RayRay FreakyFlyBry Wayne android Spiral sjm matthew_dixon LittleLinda MrTibbs Benny Thriller SholasBoy Spartan CrazyCrazy Phoenixx

[MrTibbs]

2Tears of Sorrow (1960)
2Buttered Popcorn (1961)
2Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
3 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
5 Baby Love (1964)
5 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[cheapthrills]

3 Tears of Sorrow (1960)
3.5 Buttered Popcorn (1961)
1 Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
4 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
3.5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
4 Baby Love (1964)
5 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[Goldmoney]

3 Tears of Sorrow (1960)
2 Buttered Popcorn (1961)
3 Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
3 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
5 Baby Love (1964)
5 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[matthew_dixon]

3.5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
4 Baby Love (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

I'll just vote for the ones I know - and assume that the obscure ones will largely fall. Of those I know, their earliest were definitely the best.

[Benny]

3 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
4 Baby Love (1964)
2 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[cheapthrills]

I'll just vote for the ones I know - and assume that the obscure ones will largely fall. Of those I know, their earliest were definitely the best.

OK, but it's a scale of 1-5 - should I just halve these?

[matthew_dixon]

Edited!

[Metalweb]

3 Tears of Sorrow (1960)
2.5 Buttered Popcorn (1961)
3 Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
4 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
4 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
4 Baby Love (1964)
4 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[JSparksFan]

3 Tears of Sorrow (1960)
3 Buttered Popcorn (1961)
4 Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
3 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
4 Baby Love (1964)
3 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[Plym]

3 Tears of Sorrow (1960) (mr postman rip-off)
2 Buttered Popcorn (1961) (what was the title? i don't believe they mentioned it in the song)
4 Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
3 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)
5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
4 Baby Love (1964)
5 Come See About Me (1964)
6 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[CasualFlow]

Man! 1964. What a year!!!

3 Tears of Sorrow (1960)
2 Buttered Popcorn (1961)
3 Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962)
2 When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963)

5 Where Did Our Love Go (1964)
5 Baby Love (1964)
5 Come See About Me (1964)
5 Stop! In the Name of Love (1964)

[Zeph]

Tears of Sorrow (1960) 4.5
Buttered Popcorn (1961) 4.7
Your Heart Belongs To Me (1962) 4.2
When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes (1963) 4.7
Where Did Our Love Go (1964) 5.0
Baby Love (1964) 5.0
Come See About Me (1964) 5.0
Stop! In the Name of Love (1964) 5.0

There is something magical in the synergy of their voices where they are bound on making you love them.

[cheapthrills]

ROUND 2

So at the end of the five rounds, we'll lose the 10 lowest ranking songs. And from that last set, it's looking like the very repetitive Buttered Popcorn is definitely going to be one of our eliminations. It's the only song in this survivor, and the only Supremes single ever released that had Florence Ballard as lead. (And Tears of Sorrow was led by Mary, but we'll hear her as lead again in another decade or so).

While the early years had them trading leads, Diana took the helm once they got their first top 40 hit. Within a year, they went from flops to incredible success. They had five #1 songs in a row, a record at the time - though the Beatles broke it a short time later.

This set looks at their peaks years, 1964-1966. The Supremes had twelve #1 songs in the US total, but 10 of them came in these years. Only three singles during this period missed the top spot, and only one missed the top 10 and barely at that. (It frustratingly peaked at #11.) As you might see in the links, they had numerous television appearances. That was crucial during the upheaval that was with the civil rights movement. Oprah Winfrey once commented that seeing the Supremes on Ed Sullivan was an unforgettable moment because not only did she someone with her skin color, but they were dressed in beautiful gowns and were presented in such a positive light.

The Supremes were one of the first acts of color to achieve sustained popularity in part thanks to a Motown machine that knew how to write good songs and present their acts in the best light. Their success started to carry abroad during this period. They got a #1 in the UK (their only one) with Baby Love, but it would be a couple years before they found their footing there. By the end of 1966, they were one of the biggest American groups on the planet, but the fortunes were about to change for all three ladies in different ways.

Here's Florence Ballard in her sole lead appearance, and Plym, the song's name is Buttered Popcorn. Not sure if you caught that.

RATE EACH SONG ON A SCALE OF 1-5, 5 BEING THE BEST. HALF POINTS ARE ALLOWED. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO VOTE ON EVERY SONG.
YOU MAY VOTE ON PREVIOUS ROUNDS.

Back in My Arms Again (1964)
Nothing But Heartaches (1964)
I Hear a Symphony (1965)
My Favorite Things (1965)
My World is Empty Without You (1966)
Love is Like an Itching in My Heart (1966)
You Can't Hurry Love (1966)
You Keep Me Hangin On (1966)


Tagging mostly people who voted for The Supremes/Diana in the countdown. I'll tag again when we start tomorrow, and then tag only the participants.

Spoiler!

JSparksFan Zeph CasualFlow Plym Goldmoney Metalweb matthew_dixon MrTibbs

[cheapthrills]

5 Back in My Arms Again (1964)
2 Nothing But Heartaches (1964)
5 I Hear a Symphony (1965)
5 My Favorite Things (1965)
3.5 My World is Empty Without You (1966)
4 Love is Like an Itching in My Heart (1966)
5 You Can't Hurry Love (1966)
5 You Keep Me Hangin On (1966)

[Metalweb]

4.5 Back in My Arms Again (1964)
4 Nothing But Heartaches (1964)
3 I Hear a Symphony (1965)
2 My Favorite Things (1965)
3 My World is Empty Without You (1966)
4 Love is Like an Itching in My Heart (1966)
5 You Can't Hurry Love (1966)
5 You Keep Me Hangin On (1966)