Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson landed their first No. 1 in 1964 with “Where Did Our Love Go.” Three girls from the Brewster-Douglass housing project in Detroit became Motown’s most successful act. But it wasn’t a smooth path for the group.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Supremes, known originally as The Primettes, had auditioned for Motown mogul Berry Gordy after an introduction from Smokey Robinson. Gordy thought they were too young and told them to try again after graduating high school. But The Primettes, determined to sign to Motown, began hanging around Motown’s studio. Gordy invited them to record backing vocals and hand claps for Marvin Gaye and Mary Wells, and ultimately signed them in 1961. He demanded a name change, though. Ballard suggested they call the group The Supremes.
Gordy and Robinson wrote and produced the early singles, but The Supremes still needed a hit. The legendary Motown hit-making team of Holland-Dozier-Holland had written “Where Did Our Love Go” for The Marvelettes, but they (if you can even imagine it) refused to sing it. The Supremes didn’t like it either [insert face palm emoji here] but were persuaded to record it anyway. While on tour with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, “Where Did Our Love Go” reached No. 1, and the “no-hit” Supremes—as they had been called mockingly around Motown’s offices—began a historic run on the charts.
[RELATED: Top 11 Girl Groups of the 1950s and 1960s]
The Supremes were the definitive girl group, with high fashion, grace, and a dynamic leader in Ross. Their legacy stretched from Detroit to Houston generationally, and helped shape one of the 21st century’s most prominent figures. Pop music’s family tree connects Destiny’s Child to The Supremes, and the strong root of Diana Ross supports Beyoncé’s cultural branch.
A Love Supreme
Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland were responsible for Motown’s biggest hits. For The Supremes alone, they wrote 10 No. 1 singles. One of their biggest hits, “Stop! In the Name of Love,” was born from an argument between Lamont Dozier and his girlfriend after she caught him cheating. Dozier said, “Baby, please stop. In the name of love, before you break my heart.”
Most people can’t speak in chorus hooks, but in 1960s Detroit, Dozier and his songwriting partners composed hit songs like a car factory production line.
Stop! In the name of love
Before you break my heart
Stop! In the name of love
Before you break my heart
Think it over, think it over
Brian Holland was working on a slow melody in the studio when Dozier arrived following the argument with his girlfriend. He asked Holland to speed up the song, adding the lines he’d used to save himself. The narrative of Dozier’s domestic dispute changed slightly with The Supremes’ recording, where Ross confronts a man who’s cheating and pleads for him to stay.
Baby, baby, I’m aware of where you go
Each time you leave my door
I watch you walk down the street
Knowing your other love you’ll meet
The songwriting trio were also the also the producers of “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and took full advantage of Motown’s recording studio improvements. Typically, musicians shared microphones while performing in the same room. Motown’s engineers added baffles to separate the players, who now had dedicated microphones. This resulted in a powerful recording reminiscent of Phil Spector’s so-called Wall of Sound. Motown’s primary session musicians, the Funk Brothers, played on the track.
Motown Moves
Vocal groups of the era were known as much for their choreography as their voices. But The Supremes’ famous hand gesture was thought up in a hurry before a TV special hosted by Dusty Springfield. While The Supremes rehearsed the song, Paul Williams from The Temptations suggested the now-iconic move. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, glamour was fading from all but one group member.
When The Supremes began working with Holland-Dozier-Holland, Gordy pushed Ross to be the group’s official lead singer. Her star treatment caused tension between the childhood friends, peaking when the group was billed as Diana Ross and the Supremes.
Motown planned for Ross’ solo career in 1969, and “Someday We’ll Be Together” was intended to be her first solo single. But Gordy wanted one more hit from The Supremes, and he released the song under the group’s name, though Ross is the only Supreme on the recording.
“Someday We’ll Be Together” is a bittersweet farewell to The Supremes, eclipsed on the charts by the gospel soul of Aretha Franklin. The culture changed with movements like the Black Panther Party, but Diana Ross was a survivor. On her debut solo album, she’s photographed in a t-shirt and cut-off shorts, breaking free from the sequence glamour of The Supremes.
By the early ’70s, Ross had a successful solo career, and Motown moved to Los Angeles. But the magic remains from Hitsville, U.S.A. Listening to The Supremes’ first run of No. 1 singles, Ross’ evolution from a hesitant vocal performance on “Come See About Me” to the force of “Stop! In the Name of Love” is apparent. She was already outgrowing the group as she teased us all to “Think it over.”
Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
