Supreme Rarities

I always get excited when I see a "new" Supremes release.

This time around, I'm flipping over a veritable treasure trove of ultra-rare Supremes recordings, culled directly from the Motown vaults: a limited edition, 2-CD set entitled "Lost and Found: Let the Music Play: Supreme Rarities 1960-1969".

Spanning the Supremes' earliest Motown days right through to their final sessions together, "Let The Music Play" features unreleased material, alternate versions of known hits, and some ultra-rare covers: versions of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and the Beatles' "I Saw [Him] Standing There", to name a few.

Where possible, unheard studio chatter from the girls and their producers has been included, as well as some rare radio promos from the personal collection Scott Regan, a Detroit disk jockey in the 1960's.

Topping off "Let The Music Play" is a deluxe 32-page booklet featuring never-before-seen photos, detailed song annotations and a discography of the Supremes rare and unreleased catalog.

And speaking of ultra-rare, here is a special treat for Expo Lounge visitors: a promotional Supremes film from 1966, with original narration... Enjoy!



images: "Let The Music Play" cover art

The Supremes at Expo 67

Check out this ultra-rare shot of Diana Ross and the Supremes at Expo 67!

image source: facebook.com

The Supremes: Back In My Arms Again

What I love the most about this early 60's performance is that, unlike many TV appearances from that era, Diana is not lip-synching... Enjoy!

Diana Ross & The Supremes Remixes

I have to be honest: I'm not usually a fan of remixing the classics. The problem is that the essence and soul of the originals are usually lost.

When I stumbled upon this Japanese compilation on amazon.com, I was immediately impressed by the lineup of remixers: Fantastic Plastic Machine, and Yasuharu Konishi of Pizzicato Five, to name a few.

And the result? Outstanding. Really.

Captain Funk's version of Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where Your Going To?) is done as a faux live 80's Punk/New Wave performance. (Sounds weird, but it totally works.) Force of Nature's rendition of I'm Coming Out deepens the beat, while retaining the song's signature melody. Yasuharu Konishi's You Can't Hurry Love is an infectious (electronic) go-go romp! The Boss, a song which has been remixed many times over the years, sounds fresh and contemporary when remixed by GTS.

And like the album itself, the cover art of Diana Ross & the Supremes Remixes tastefully pays tribute to one of music history's greatest groups.

images: Diana Ross & the Supremes Remixes cover art

Diana Ross and The Supremes: Love Child

By the late 1960's, with five singles failing to make it into the Top 20, Diana Ross and The Supremes were in a rut. In the era of peace and love, pop culture was being influenced by underground culture, making the type of polished pop songs that The Supremes were known for passé.

Motown's signature act had to change.

Motown head honcho Berry Gordy held an emergency meeting at a hotel in Detroit with a team of writers and producers at the label. The group, dubbed The Clan, set to work on a new hit single for The Supremes.

The result was Love Child.

Love Child broke out of Motown's love song mould. The song was about a woman who was asking her boyfriend not to pressure her into sleeping with him. The woman, herself a love child, was afraid of conceiving out of wedlock. The song would talk about the hardships of being illegitimite: not having a father at home, wearing rags to school and growing up in an "old, cold, run-down tenement slum."

For Love Child, The Supremes' image changed also: the album cover photo was taken in an alley, and during an Ed Sullivan performance, they went as far as ditching their glamour queen gowns for street "rags".

image: wikipedia.org

The Supremes

The Supremes were one of Motown's signature acts in the 1960's, and one of the best known girl groups in musical history. Formed by Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, the girls shot to stardom out of the poverty-stricken Brewster-Douglas Projects of Detroit, Michigan.

The Supremes' first few singles went unnoticed, but then in August 1964, they released "Where Did Our Love Go", which became their first #1 hit. The group had a total of 12 #1 singles between 1964 and 1970, and often appeared on such television shows as Dick Clark and Ed Sullivan.

Though Florence Ballard was the group's founder and original lead, Diana Ross came to the forefront and overshadowed Ballard early on. Producer Berry Gordy was aware that Ballard's voice was far more powerful than Diana's, but considered Diana's voice to be fresher and more commercial.

Tensions rose as Berry Gordy lavished all his attention on Diana Ross, and the situation was further complicated by a romantic liaison between the two. Personal problems and depression lead to Florence Ballard's dismissal in 1967, and Diana Ross left for a solo career in 1970.

As a child, I was always captivated by the look and sound of The Supremes. I have always loved their fabulous matching gowns and bouffant hairdos, not to mention their perfect little dance choreographies.

Original Supreme Mary Wilson recently put some Supremes gowns on exhibit. A montage of this exhibit can be viewed here.


photo: redferns.com