Artist:Diana Ross & The Supremes
Song:Stop! In The Name Of Love
Album:Forever Diana:Musical Memoirs
Your interest in this 4CD box set will depend on whether you're a Diana Ross or a Supremes fan as the emphasis is on her solo material. Motown owner Berry Gordy looked at Diana Ross as a crossover ticket more than a singer and his decision to make her lead singer caused dissention within the group. The Supremes started out in the late 50s as The Primettes when The Temptations were known as The Primes. They met in the Brewster housing projects of Detroit. They were Diana Ross (born Diane Earle Mar. 26, 1944 in Detroit), Mary Wilson (born Mar. 6, 1944 in Greenville, MS) and Florence Ballard (born June 30, 1943 in Rosetta, MS). Fourth member Barbara Martin had left by the time they signed with Motown in 1961. On the early Supremes recordings, Ross & Ballard usually shared lead vocals. And though Ballard was considered a more accomplished singer, Gordy decided that Ross had more pop crossover appeal. Of course the other key element of The Supremes was the songwriting producing team of brothers Brian & Eddie Holland and Lamont Dozier, known as Holland-Dozier-Holland. They wrote all The Supremes hits of the mid-60s including Stop! In The Name Of Love. Though The Supremes were successful, other Motown female artists like Martha Reeves resented the inordinate amount of attention given to Ross. This eventually led to dissention within the group especially by Florence Ballard. After all she started The Primettes and thought she deserved the spotlight too. Gordy fired Ballard in 1967 and she was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. Florence Ballard had an unsuccessful solo recording deal with ABC Records and died in 1976 due to alcohol addiction. The Supremes continued to have success despite weaker songs due to the departure from Motown of Holland-Dozier-Holland. Diana Ross went solo and has been very successful over the years. This 4CD box set has only 1CD of Supremes songs so it's more for Diana Ross fans. The 2001 2CD Supremes comp Anthology is better for Supremes fans. Of course I talked yesterday about Dreamgirls which is loosely based on the Supremes story so that's interesting too. But it's not based on fact. Here's The Supremes performing Stop! In The Name Of Love on The Hollywood Palace 1965.
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