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The Supremes is the name of a group of American young women, an evolution from the unnoticed to the world-renowned Motown sound that dominated the 60s. Three young American girls once lived in the Brewster Housing Projects – high-rise apartment housing that was intentionally designated for the poor where most of the residents were African American. Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard did not for a moment believe that they would become a Motown sensation and the label’s most productive hit makers in music history

The group’s beginning was unplanned. Sometime in 1959, Florence and Mary joined the same song contest where they met other for the first time. Impressed with Mary’s classical voice, Florence asked her if she wanted to join a singing group she was putting together. Once she had accepted the offer, Mary Wilson then invited another friend and good singer, Diane, to join the same group. At that time, the singer to be known as Diana Ross was still known as Diane.

The girls initially called themselves The Primettes, originally consisting of four members with the addition of Betty McGlown to the aforementioned three. This was supposed to be created as a sister group to the male vocal group The Primes who suggested the idea. Not long after the group was formed, Betty got married and immediately left.  She was replaced by Barbara Martin who also left the group in 1962 when she found she was to become a mother.  One wonders if either Betty McGlown or Barbara Martin had subsequent regrets!

The Primettes were ambitious and decided to have a first attempt to join the Motown label. The founder of Motown, founder Berry Gordy, saw their potential but believed them to be too young and encouraged them to come back later after finishing high school. This they did, and their first Motown record “I Want A Guy” was released under the name ‘The Supremes’. They rapidly cut seven other singles, but not one ever entered the Billboard’s Hot 100. The three girls were given the unwelcome accolade “The no-hit Supremes” by their colleagues. Guess who had the last laugh!

Good luck knocked at their doors when they were invited to appear on Dick Clark’s “Caravan of Stars” tour in 1964. In the earlier days of the tour, the group carefully studied the performances of the other tour members and learned from that.  They became more professional in presentation and performance, and improved significantly when warming up for the main acts.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, given the amount of work they had put into their improvement, The Supremes took over the lead act towards the end of that particular tour. That made them so popular that their latest single, “Where Did Our Love Go”, made it to Billboard 100’s top spot. The song had been released right before the tour, and it was their hard work that got their name known so well that it made it to the #1 spot.  This was sort of ironical because the girls did not personally like the song, but just decided to try on “anything”. This became their first no. 1 hit due to their success on the tour.

Before this, a Holland-Dozier-Holland song had given The Supremes a taste of the Billboard at no. 23 with “When the Lovelight Starts Shining in Your Eyes”. Although they had no expectations of making it to the top, Berry Gordy took the chance to closely observe each of the members. Mary and Florence generally took care of the lead vocals between them, but Berry Gordy saw Diana’s voice as being the most commercial.

Diana Ross would ultimately become the lead vocalist of the group, not only because of her highly commercial voice and style of singing, but also because Gordy’s had sufficient insight to cater to both black and white audiences. Until then it was generally an “either-or” situation, but Motown was the first to meet all tastes and Diana perfectly fitted his concept. Berry Gordy was absolutely correct, as was proved by The Supremes’ success with Diana Ross on lead vocals.

There followed a string of five Number 1 hits within one year after “Where Did Our Love Go”. This included among others “Baby Love”, “Come See About Me”, “Stop In The Name of Love”, and “Back In My Arms Again”. This was followed by seven more Number 1 hits from 1965 to 1969. Many would remember “I Hear A Symphony”, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, “You Can’t Hurry Love”, “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone”, “The Happening”, “Love Child”, and “Someday We’ll Be Together”.

The success of The Supremes spread not only throughout the United States but also to the British charts.  In England, “Baby Love” hit no. 1 in the official charts by the end of 1964. Three of their songs made it to the top 10 in the European charts, although none was able to make it to #1. These were “Where Did Our Love Go”, “The Happening”, and “Baby Love”.

Individually, The Supremes were three girls who were almost identical onstage. From their hair styles and dresses united by their subtle choreography, the group appeared to be identical in their personalities. However, that was just showbiz as they say, and each of the group members was a genuine individual.

Florence Ballard has been described as the quiet one, yet her roaring laugh and voice are the trademarks that her fans knew her by. She also showed a great potential as a solo singer, and she loved singing very much – as shown by her taking the solo spot in many of the early live shows.

Mary Wilson possessed a personality somewhere between that of Diana and Florence. She was aptly described as the one with the twinkling eyes and the velvety voice. Unlike the two other members, Mary did not see herself as a solo performer.  Her main desire was to become famous and leave the ghetto that she came from.

Among the three, Diana Ross had the strongest potential to take on a solo career. She always had an eye for perfection. She loved singing so much that she preferred to record songs during her only one-week annual vacation rather than to go off and relax.  She had a degree of commitment and perseverance that Berry Gordy saw as being her ticket to even greater success than she would have with the The Supremes.

This commitment and perseverance was finally rewarded when, in 1967, “The Supremes” was changed to “Diana Ross & The Supremes”.  This was in response to the public regarding Diana as a star in her own right and Diana welcomed as the possible beginning of having a solo career. Mary Wilson accepted the  move without question, since she was content as being part of the group no matter what its name was.

It was Florence Ballard who could not accept the fact that she would henceforth remain in the shadow of Diana Ross. Florence left the group with a heavy heart and eventually that decision changed the whole of her life. She was replaced by Cindy Birdsong, and died in 1967 as a poor woman who never tasted her dream of reaping personal individual success.

She could not accept the change from initially being the main solo singer to becoming a backing singer for Diana Ross who was the last of the three to join the band that Florence initially put together on her own.   Berry Gordy gradually prepared the stage for Diana’s solo career. She was given all the exposure that she needed, and finally became the “Star of The Supremes”.

Diana Ross & The Supremes presented their final performance on January 14, 1970, after which Diana’s solo career was launched. The Supremes continued to perform minus Diana, with Jean Terrell replacing her. After some time, more replacements were made, including Lynda Laurence, Sherrie Payne, and Susaye Greene, until the group finally disbanded in 1977.

Marvin Gaye, ‘the Prince of Motown’,  was born in Washington, D.C. as Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., the ‘e’ later being added to his family name in order to avoid teasing.  Marvin Gay, Sr., his father, was an ordained minister of a small sect known as the House of God. It is said that his father physically abused Marvin, Jr. so the latter sought escape through playing the piano and drums. On joining the church choir where his father served, Marvin received his initial exposure to singing as a regular part of his life.

Gaye joined the U.S. Air Force after finishing high school, but he was discharged for some unexplained reasons. He then joined a series of singing groups until he finally found one that suited him. This was ‘The Marquees, with which he appeared to find some degree of rapport and a group of people with which he felt comfortable.

Their single, ‘Wyatt Earp’, was released in 1958 under Okeh Records. Songwriter and producer Harvey Fuqua saw something in the band, and he recruited the members, giving a new name the Moonglows to supersede his earlier group of the same name, the members of which he had fallen out. In 1959, Gaye had his first single with the Moonglows entitled ‘Mama Loocie’. Berry Gordy, Jr. saw Marvin Gaye at a Moonglow’s concert in Detroit, Michigan and offered him the chance of a solo career.

His life with Motown started with him playing the drums and acting as part-time songwriter. He became a temporary part of several Motown acts in this respect, including The Contours, The Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, and some others. In 1961, he was the drummer on The Marvelettes’ number 1 hit ‘Please Mr. Postman’. In 1963, he had the same role in Little Stevie Wonder’s number one hit ‘Fingertips Pt. 2′. Aside from being a drummer, he also wrote songs. Two of his songs as co-writer were hits such as Martha and the Vandellas’ ‘Dancing in the Street’ in 1964 and The Marvelettes’ hit in 1962 ‘Beechwood 4-5789′.

Gaye literally became a member of the Gordy family when he married Berry’s sister Anna in 1964. His personal life also took a positive step as he was able to pass himself off as a “gentleman”, a big thing in these days.  During that period, he came to be one of the best loved artists in the USA.

He made three recordings until he finally got a hit record.  His first minor hit was ‘Stubborn Kind of Fellow’ in 1962, with Martha and the Vandellas performing the backing vocals (a reversal of roles!). The title was a commentary on Marvin’s moody nature around that period, as suggested by co-writer William ‘Mickey’ Stevenson. There then followed two further minor hits within a year in the form of ‘Hitch Hike’ and ‘Can I Get a Witness’ in 1963.

Although he was experiencing a few high points in his career, Gaye felt that he was not achieving what he set out to do. Motown was ‘pushing’ him towards romantic ballads, but he wanted to be a popular singer in the genre of Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole. His 1963 smash hit ‘Pride & Joy’ did not give him the satisfaction that he had been looking for in his career as a singer.

Then came his collaborative period with Tammy Terrell, and also his partnership with other female artists such as Kim Weston and Mary Wells. Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell’s first album, ‘United’, was released in 1967, and was the forerunner of massive hits such as ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ and ‘Your Precious Love’. These two blockbusters maintained a good working relationship which helped Gay in his attempt to take a new direction with his work.

However, when Terrell was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Marvin Gaye was shaken and while they were successful in convincing fans that they were lovers, they attempted to maintain professional private lives.

As Tammy’s health continued to deteriorate, Motown sought ways in which they could keep her on track since their togetherness was a commercial winner.  Tracks such as ‘Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing’ and ‘You’re All I Need to Get By’ were featured in their latest album ‘You’re All I Need’, released in 1968. However, Tammy Terrell’s condition continued to deteriorate to the stage where singer Valerie Simpson had to sing her vocals in the 1969 album, ‘Easy’.  In fact, it was not easy to do this, and on some tracks Marvin’s vocals were dubbed onto archived Terrell solo songs.

As Tammy Terrell’s condition worsened, Marvin Gaye showed signs of depression, and even his first solo smash hit, ‘I heard It Through the Grapevine’, failed to provide happiness. He also had problems with his marriage to Anna, adding to the weight on his mind of being forced to sing love songs when he believe his real genre was pop.

When Tammy Terrell died in March, 1970, Gaye went into a form of self-seclusion, and disappeared from the concert scene entirely for a while. During this period he sought other activities, such as football, to keep him occupied, but with no success. Finally, he decided to get back into the music scene with songs such as ‘What’s Going On’, ‘God Is Love’, and ‘Sad Tomorrows’.

Berry Gordy was not convinced that Gaye was capable of making ‘What’s Going On’ a hit record, but Gaye insisted. The Prince of Motown was proved right, however, because the song turned out to be a surprise hit in 1971. After that, Gordy requested Gaye to make another album of similar tracks. Finally, the album “What’s Going On” was put together and proved to be a great success, and in fact became Gaye’s best known work today. More importantly, Marvin got his life back with this album, and was able to release his talent once more onto an unsuspecting world.

In 1971, he got together to record songs with Diana Ross, but by then he was hooked on marijuana, and this caused problems with the duo since he refused to sing unless he got high. This created friction between him and Diana Ross, and it reached the stage that each sang their vocals in a different studio and the two tracks were mixed.

His marriage to Anna finally ended in a divorce in 1975, and while Marvin continued to record some singles and albums by himself, he married for the second time. However, this marriage also failed and these various events in Gaye’s life made him decide to move to Hawaii. This did not help his problems, which piled up:  his drug addiction and tax problems being the most significant of these. The result was a move to Ostend in Belgium, in 1981

While in Belgium, events forced him to move away from Motown studios and transfer to Columbia Records in 1982. He made his final big hit with ‘Sexual Healing’, which ultimately won him a Grammy in 1983. As his career started to move upward once more, his drug addiction consumed him and his paranoia increased.

He threatened to commit suicide several times, and had many bitter arguments with his father, Marvin Sr. He died on April 1, 1984 after Marvin Sr. shot and killed him following another argument. Several reasons were given by relatives, but the real cause why his father shot him was never established.

Dubbed ‘The Prince of Motown, Marvin Gaye was a rare genius who went the way of many geniuses before him and died young and violently, largely through mental problems and drug abuse.

Diana Ross is considered as the most successful female singer of the Rock N’ Roll era. She was born Diana Earle on March 26, 1944, the second of six children of Fred and Ernestine Ross. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan with her parents who are active church choir singers. Her father was a factory worker, and they lived in one of Detroit’s low income housing districts called Brewster-Douglass.

Diana had her first experience of failure in singing at age 14. She auditioned in a school musical, but she did not make it. However, that served as her ticket to success, because shortly that experience she was invited to sing with the Primettes. This was a girl group that included Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard among others, and she sang with the Primettes while attending a sewing and fashion design course at the Cass Technical High School.

Her entry into the real world of music – and her road to success – began with the Motown genre. It all began when Smokey Robinson introduced the girl band to Motown Studios. They were introduced to the famous originator of the Motown brand, producer Berry Gordy, who suggested that Diana and the other members of the band should return once they had graduated from high school.

In 1962, they signed a contract with Motown and renamed themselves ‘The Supremes’.  Because of her young age, Diana Ross’s parents had to accompany her during the signing.

The Supremes first national chart success was with the hit “Let Me Go the Right Way”, which catapulted them right to Number 1.  The ever-favorite “Where Did Our Love Go?” sold more than two million singles, and the song also gave The Supremes their first time performance in Revue’s opening act. Not long after that, Diana Ross became the group’s lead singer.

The combination of Diana Ross’s innate talent and ambition pushed the group to be top of the business in terms of competition. Motown enjoyed a number of hits by The Supremes during the 60s, beginning with “Baby Love” in 1964, “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Back in My Arms Again” in 1965, and “I Hear a Symphony” in 1966. The Supremes collaborated with the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team and continued to churn out a regular succession of smash hit.

Two other Number1 hits which they produced in the latter part of 1966 were “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” and “You Can’t Hurry Love”. These were followed by two more in 1967, “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” and “The Happening”.

Their days with Holland-Dozier and Holland ended in 1967, leading the way to a twist in The Supreme’s career. In the same year Cindy Birdsong replaced Florence Ballard, and the group was renamed Diana Ross and the Supremes. The new group enjoyed a smash hit with “Someday We’ll Be Together” in 1969, after which Diana finally decided to leave the group to take up a solo career.

Diana did not find this very difficult because Motown supported her all the way. As the 70s started, she was able to make a good hit with her debut single “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)”. Her personal life changed dramatically as she mastered her craft both in singing and in business and she was able to help the Jackson 5 who were beginners at the time.

One of the highlights in her life during the seventies was her 1971 marriage to the pop music manager Robert Silberstein, after which she made a name for herself in Motown’s film production ‘Lady Sings the Blues’. Her portrayal of the jazz singer Billie Holiday gained her an Academy Awards nomination for Best Singer. Her singing career developed during the 1960s and 1970s, and the hits piled up, one after another.

The recorded hits of the band continued to build up, intersperse now and again with Broadway hits, musicals and live TV shows. She was hit badly in 1975, however, when she was divorced from Silberstein shortly after the birth of her third child. Diana Ross could expect no more from the 1980s than an improvement in her professional life and success in her personal life – and this proved to be the case.

The 1980s decade opened magically for her with her 16^th Number One single, ‘Upside Down’, taken from her final album with Motown, ‘diana’. This made her second only to the Beatles in recording success. Six of these were solo singles, and twelve as The Supremes lead singer.

She then moved to Connecticut with her three children, and in 1985 married Arnae Naess, Jr., a Norwegian shipping tycoon. There was a lull in her career in the latter half of the decade, except her return to Motown in 1989 with her Workin’ Overtime album that bombed, featuring contemporary ballads penned by Stevie Wonder and other artists A few more recordings had a similar lack of success, and although the album ‘The Force Behind the Power’ was not particularly special, it took her back into the mainstream.

Diana Ross then produced and starred in some movies for television, earning praise for her performance as a schizophrenic in the 1994 ABC movie ‘Out of Darkness’. Before the decade ended, she co-starred with Brandy (Norwood) in another ABC TV movie, ‘Double Platinum’, that was released just before the release of her new album “Every Day is a New Day”, a collection of ballads and mid-tempo jams. One song that stood out in this album was her version of Martha Wash’s “Carry On”, which earned positive reviews.

The highly publicized, controversial, but unsuccessful ‘Return To Love Tour’ in 2000 did not sell well. It started with Ross being offered $20 million, while another founding member, Mary Wilson, was offered $2 million. Wilson declined the offer, and so did Cindy Birdsong who was offered not even a million. The concert went off, but had to be cancelled after just 14 shows due to low ticket sales.

Analysts have said that Supremes fans felt the tour was not really a reunion of the original ‘The Supremes’. With the founding members declining to join, the organizers settled for Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence to lead the tour. These two members joined The Supremes after Ross left.

Diana Ross was named “Female Entertainer of the Century” by Billboard Magazine in 1976. She was also declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be “the most successful female music artist in history”. She earned success not only in the U.S. but also in the U.K., having more hits than any other female artist, although her list of hits was later superseded by Madonna.

Diana Ross earned two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her successes, both as a solo artist and as a member of The Supremes. She was awarded the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Honors Award in December 2007.

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