The Supremes
 In
1961 three young girls, Florence Ballard, Diane Ross (not until
later would she be known as Diana) and Mary Wilson, began a
journey that would carry them from the run-down Brewster housing
projects in Detroit's ghetto area, to the top of the music
world.
They were originally a quartet (with Barbara Martin) called The
Primettes and they were the 'sister group' to The Primes who went
on to become The Temptations.
They changed their name to The Supremes because Motown
founder, Berry Gordy, didn't like the old name. It was Florence
who picked the new name.
When The Supremes hit the road with Gene
Pitney, The Shirelles and Brenda
Holloway on Dick Clark's 'Caravan of Stars' tour in June 1964,
their presence was denoted only by the words "and
others" at the bottom of the tour posters.
Six months later they were set to become Motown's most
successful group ever, notching up three US Number Ones before the
year was out.
In the now well-established girl group tradition, The Supremes
provided the glamorous icing on a cake that was baked by a team of
backroom boys - In this case, the song writing and record
producing team of Lamont Dozier in tandem with brothers Eddie and
Brian Holland.
This trio offered one of their songs, Where Did Our Love
Go? to The Marvelettes, but the
group turned it down. The Supremes didn't count for it either, but
with a string of eight flops behind them, lacked the muscle to
hold out for something better.
With the release of Where Did Our Love Go?, The
Supremes initiated a string of five astounding, unparalleled
number one hits that included Baby Love, Come See
About Me, Stop In the Name of Love and Back in
My Arms Again. With their winning hit-song formula, supplied
by song writing team Holland, Dozier and Holland, The Supremes
could do no wrong.
From 1965-1969, The Supremes recorded seven number one hits
including I Hear a Symphony and You Just Keep Me
Hangin' On.
In 1967, after Florence Ballard's dismissal , the group changed
their title to Diana Ross & the Supremes. With the addition of
Cindy Birdsong, The Supremes recorded several number-one hits
including Love Child and Someday We'll Be Together.
Hard times ensued for Ballard, in particular a failed $8.7
million lawsuit against her former employers, Motown Records.
 The
name change inevitably began rumours of Diana's leaving the group
and going solo. On 14 January 1970, Diana Ross and the Supremes
gave a farewell performance at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas.
This beginning of a new decade welcomed two new acts; Diana
Ross (as a solo artist) and The Supremes, both of whom would
remain at the forefront of popular music during the 1970s.
After the split, Diana Ross went on to achieve major status as
a pop performer and The Supremes released Up the Ladder to the
Roof, followed by the number-one hit Stoned Love in
1970.
With original member, Mary Wilson, The Supremes continued to
record and perform throughout the 70's, officially disbanding in
1977. Florence Ballard passed away on 22 February 1976 as a result
of a cardiac arrest following an overdose of alcohol and pills.
In 1988, they were one of the very first groups, alongside The
Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones,
to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They also have
their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
During a meeting being held to discuss the possibility of
Revlon creating a line of cosmetics to be endorsed by Diana Ross,
a company spokesman said that he was "certain that she could
do quite a bit for the black woman's market of cosmetics."
Ross jumped up and stormed out of the meeting. Several minutes
later, one of her representatives came back into the room to say
that the meeting was over and that "Miss Ross is not black!
Not in her mind and not in the mind of anyone who works for
her."
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