The Juke Box Journal Number One: THE SUPREMES Featuring Ms. Diana Ross

Ray The Closer's Juke Box Journal
THE SUPREMES Featuring Ms. Diana Ross

The strongest image of The Supremes in my mind comes from circa 1984. I am guessing it was my sophomore year in highschool and I was settled in to watch Cooley High on either Channel 17 or the now defunct Channel 48 (out of Philly.)

This would be my first time watching the classic from start to finish.
BUT THE START!
Breath taking still shots of 1960s/70s Chicago that when I watch still leave me speechless.
The music playing over the opening credits for Cooley High...
The Supremes Baby Love

Baby Love was never my favorite Supremes song...in fact I low key dislike because it sounds like my favorite Supremes song Where Did Our Love Go.

Still...this intro to Cooley High resonates the strongest feelings and memories I have to The Supremes , myself being born a few months before Diana Ross left the group.

By the time I was 16, I was a mix tape DJ and was fully invested in The Supremes and most of Motown's catalogue.
On my personal mix tapes from then to now you would hear a wide variety of Supremes hits...even Baby Love at times.
On my slow jam tapes you would definitely hear Someday We'll Be Together.
The beautiful thing was that The Supremes was definitely our parents music, however because of Cooley High and AM/FM radio and Black Radio...my generation of the time just claimed the music of Diana Ross and The Supremes as "ours too."

We also claimed Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.

In the case of Marvin Gaye ...Sexual Healing was a song that both our parents and ourselves would still say is "our" music "not theirs."
In the case of The Jackson Five and Stevie Wonder, children that have not even been born yet will one day claim standards like "I Want You Back" or "I Wish" as "their music."

So The Supremes ...may have burst onto the scene in the mid 60's but the music they created will be claimed and treasured by anyone that loves silky, crisp, heart breaking, toe tapping pop music.

When I reflect on how The Supremes stand out in my mind today...?
It's hard to believe that I am the second generation of people to embrace their music.
It's harder to believe that though The Supremes can be seen and heard in almost any girl group that came after...they themselves have been mostly regulated to weekend radio airplay.
I do recall that before youtube, I would rent video documentaries and or scour TV guides for retrospectives on how they got together in Detroit, the drama with member Flo Ballard and those amazing performances on Ed Sullivan.

The Supremes 1st Ed Sullivan Appearance

I have very strong personal feelings about Miss Ross and what happened to Flo Ballard...but they do not need to be shared in this article.

What I will say...is that
The Supremes and their music have made me very happy over the years.
As we celebrate Women's History Month. I knew I wanted to write this article and that I wanted to say...
The Supremes music still makes me happy and feel young and ...still connects me with my parents and that to me is still very beautiful.

The Numbers

The Supremes are still Motown's Number One Recording Artists based on commercial success with 12 number one singles.

When The Beatles were dominating the charts world wide...Motown and The Supremes were their main and often only competition on the charts.

To date...The Supremes are still the number one female recording artists in history.

Clearly without The Supremes we never get to Destiny's Child and without Diana Ross we never get to Beyoncé.

Ray The Closer's
UNDER-RATED

Honestly I need to check out the catalogue of The Supremes after Diana Ross left...but here are the songs that I know of that I believe are not given as much shine and they should....

I Hear A Symphony

Yes it was a number one hit. However, I challenge anyone to listen to this and think of traditional R&B.

I like to think of this track as if Mozart wrote for Motown.
Also you may want to track down The Stevie Wonder and Jackson Five versions

Love Is Here and Now You're Gone
The song is straight classic pop and only remained a one week number one.
Still it has some spoken word where Diana Ross is speaking from the song to the "boy" in question.

Love Child

Confession! This is the only song that should be on this under-rated Supremes list.

Love Child was clearly a break from The Motown..."sound of young America" motto Berry Gordy was so proud of.
This song was not about pop love but what was clearly a controversial topic of "teen" pregnancy.

Love Child not only shot up the charts to number one in 3 weeks but broke the strangle hold on the number one spot held by The Beatle's monster hit Hey Jude.

More importantly it would make possible future hits like The Temptations' Papa Was a Rolling Stone and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On.

The fact of the matter is...I doubt that record labels would let their moderately successful "girl's group" record this single now. I can only imagine the Gordy /Ross/Holland/Dozier/Holland screaming matches that proceeded this release.

Someday We'll Be Together

This was the last of 12 Number one hit records by The Supremes and would chart in the number one spot the very last week of 1969.

The song became an anthem for young lovers separated by The Vietnam War. And by young lovers ending a turbulent decade of protest and change.
The song was orchestrated to pull on the listeners heart strings as word spread that Diana Ross was leaving The Supremes for a solo career.
The record works and haunts me because every time I hear it...I hear Ross saying Someday and my heart saying never. This song is only under-rated because I don't know if you can over rate it.

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