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THREE GIRLS FROM DETROIT HIT IT BIG■ V . .mu premes Reign as Top Female VocalistsBy DAN LEWISWhen Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Romfirst got together and decided to .call themselves the Su-; premes, it must have been wishful thinking. Today their choice appears prophetic, for .jfliiy surely, are supreme in gfe field.S Singles or groups, who can‘jfcatch their record for female $ngers? In eight months last ?jear they sold more than 5 rttiUfon records. They went ixnto the Copacabana in New lYork and set a summer record, 'fcRO every performance for “three weeks at a time when -business'normally dips. They 'were brought back for another.two. weeks in February ■for an unprecedented second .’Appearance within six months.Last October they set another precedent by giving a i iibncert in- New York's Lincoln Center/the first modem (topular-music exponents to ; appear there. \For the Supremes, successi didn't come easy, but when it,£ame1 the. iky was the limit. « * ♦ *i f. .-u-TODAY THEY stand tallest among female recording stars.As a matter of fact, only theas the Temptations), working by day and performing al night but getting nowhere.'Then we just decided that we had put io much inlo our“WE RE LASTING,” Diana sill, “because of our sound, not the novelty of it. That goes for any performer. Talent will last. We do everything; variety, country-western, shake numbers, and nice warm songs.When I spoke to them recently in New York, the girls seemed tired. Diana had lostmusic. Ronnc. recalled more than 20 pounds. They that we Just couldnt shove, . . nit asrde. So we Just went after it with renewed drive.” They made records which didn't raise a ripple until they hit big with “Where Did Our Love Go?1• 4 ♦ *THE SECRET of their sue cess, they say, Is in the talent that surrounds them— their material, arrangements, and musicians.We are the new breed” Diana claims. “Not very longhair, nice clean-cut Indies. {President Kennedy brought in Nation's Top Female Recording Star* from left are Mary Wilson, Florence BallardIthis new breed; businesslike.had been traveling constant ly and are In such demandPRESSJELEGRAM—A-7 +,a^ca, c#m., twh***, olt;t. 11, \tuthat there appeared to he little respite ahead.What’s more, the girls themselves keep looking for new? adventures in show business.j As of the moment, they all| seem to feel they’d like to do' some acting. They're talking: about studying for it if they’ can find the time.Next: Righteous Brothers. ,£miTHE SUPREMES: A KNACK FOR NOTES, A TASTE FOR HOT tOGSand lead singer Diana Ross.Name of Love,” and Back-in Your Arms Again.”“We're happy,” say* Diana, the lead, singer, “We're enjoying ourselves. It's not just for the money, it’s what we really want to do.Perhaps the money seems incidental to happiness, but it has afforded these threeFlorence has-a seven-room house and lives with her mother and two sisters, the only ones still at home from a family of 12 children. Mary has * duplex, too, with 10 rooms on each floor.The Supremes are the innovators of what has been popularly called the Motownyaung girls plenty of pur- sound, associated with Dechasing power. Each hasltroit. It is the name of the; Beatles outsell them. And the ^ Supremes' popularity reaches‘.into • the Beatles’ backyard, bought a home on the samelrecording company which T'he Supremes were .the firstiblock in their hometown, De- also has prospered with the .female group to* top British Itroil, and they hnve providedmusic polls.Their hits—all on the record charts during the course of the first year — were: “Where Did Our Love Go? Baby: Love/’ Ccme See About Me/'/Stop! In thecomfort too.DIANA, for example, now owns a 16-room duplex. She uses the upstairs, and her mother‘ and four sisters and brothers live downstairs.success of the Supremes. for’ their families, The girls really can't describe the so-called Motown sound.“I don't hear a new sound,” Diana says. “We don't know what the Motown sound is supposed to be. We don't use echos, but we employ morevoice'and music with a'lot of drive.”• » # *THEY HAVE the sound and the talent that appeals to most age levels. They sang ballads on the Tonight show and received a tremendous ovation. They went into the Copacabana, where the audiences are older, and had customers clapping their hands.There was a time when these young ladies were ready to forget about singing. They had been playing the Detroit area (they were once known as the Primettes and sang with a group called, the Primes—more familiar today■Wvwthelovable.They do, however, expect changes.Everything changes, Flor ence notes philosophically. ‘There will be one again.” Just what the change will be is hard to say,1 according to Mary.If a different type of record comes out that everyone likes,” she said,, everyone will jump on thn bandwagon.”AUTHORS WANTED BY N.Y. PUBLISHERMM MMMMr mMiKrtffi #f tvw: nc***, i»n fiction,M«i(t (Lft.il vmiih rrm. m w.111 St., Nlt;« 1.c-:«1xSf*S33«SSWmmMttVX v.OCTOBtR
Newspaper Details
Press Telegram
Long Beach, California, US
Tue, Oct 18, 1966
Page 30
Full Page
Clipped by
Anthony V.
USA 12 Apr 2018
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