Supremes Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

#1 pop hits of 1966

two by the Beatles, two by the Supremes

Here are the #1 pop hits of 1966. Well, some of them. All will be made clear eventually.

I’m A Believer – the Monkees, #1 for 7 weeks. The first week actually started on the last day of 1966. Written by Neil Diamond.

The Ballad of the Green Berets – s/Sgt Barry Sadler, #1 for five weeks. Also #1 AC (adult contemporary) for 5 weeks, and #2 CW (counry) for two weeks. Four years ago, I wrote a whole post about the song.

(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration – the Righteous Brothers, #1 for 3 weeks, #2 RB (rhythm and blues). One of the relatively few singles I owned.

Monday, Monday – the Mamas and the Papas, #1 for 3 weeks. “Can’t trust that day.”

Summer In The City – the Lovin’ Spoonful, #1 for 3 weeks. I played this (poorly) on my grandmother’s piano.

Cherish – the Association, #1 for 3 weeks, #38 AC

We Can Work It Out– the Beatles, #1 for 3 weeks. I was always fond of this because it was so clearly a Lennon-and-McCartney song. From the Yesterday… and Today album, which I bought at a Rexall drug store for $2.99, the first Beatles album I did NOT get from the Capitol Records Club.

Winchester Cathedral – the New Vaudeville Band, #1 for 3 weeks. Also #1 AC for four weeks. If I pinch my nose with two fingers, I can sort of approximate the vocal stylings of the song.

My Love – Petula Clark, 2 weeks at #1, #4 AC

When A Man Loves A Woman – Percy Sledge, 2 weeks at #1; #1 RB for four weeks

Paint It, Black – the Rolling Stones, 2 weeks at #1. This is the lead track of the first Stones album I ever purchased, Aftermath, though the song does NOT appear on the UK version of the LP.

Hanky Panky – Tommy James and the Shondells, 2 weeks at #1; #39 RB

Wild Thing – the Troggs, 2 weeks at #1. “But I wanna know for sure.”

Motown

You Can’t Hurry Love – the Supremes, 2 weeks at #1; also #1 RB for two weeks. This was on The Supremes A Go-Go, which my sister Leslie owned. Much later, I bought it on CD.

Reach Out I’ll BBe There – the Four Tops, 2 weeks at #1; also #1 RB for four weeks.. This was on the great The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland album, which I owned.

You Keep Me Hanging On – the Supremes, 2 weeks at #1; also #1 RB for four weeks. I owned this on the great The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland album.

The Sound of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel, 2 weeks at #1 . It’s the title song of an album I didn’t buy until after I got Bookends (1968). The original version, which appeared on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., I didn’t purchase until well after I bought the Bridge Over Troubled water album in 1970. From Wikipedia: Throughout the month of January 1966 “The Sound of Silence” had a one-on-one battle with the Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out” for the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. “The Sound of Silence” was number one for the weeks of January 1 and 22 and number two for the intervening two weeks. “We Can Work It Out” held the top spot for the weeks of January 8, 15, and 29, and it was number two for the two weeks that “The Sound of Silence” was number one.

Paperback Writer – the Beatles, 2 weeks at #1. Though it was recorded during the Revolver sessions, it was a stand-alone single (b/w Rain). I didn’t own it until I bought the peculiar Beatles Again/Hey Jude album when it came out in 1969. Oh, today is Ringo Starr’s 86th birthday.

I will revisit the topic soon with the one week at #1 pop songs, PLUS other #1s on non-Billboard charts.

The return of Sunday Stealing

FBH

I welcome the return of Sunday Stealing. It returned this past weekend, but I had stopped looking for it, so I didn’t notice it until today. I was going to dash through those Questions and then start on the new ones this weekend. My dashing, alas, failed. So here it is.

1. Where were you three hours ago? Eating breakfast with my wife, which is almost always oatmeal, mostly because it’s quick and dependable in terms of my diet.

2. Make a confession. I recorded the Grammys and the Oscars. Since it was filling up my DVR, I thought maybe I should watch some of this, so I finally watched the Grammys. So that’s who Chappell Roan and Teddy Swims are.

3. Bad habits? Staying up too late. The trick is that when I go to bed and am not tired, I toss and turn for a while; that seems inefficient.

4. Favorite color? Green probably or some variation thereof

5. Can you drive? No, I’ve had seven driver’s permits in my life, 6 in New York State, and one from North Carolina

6. 3 pet peeves: People who block sidewalk access. They park their cars to block part of the sidewalk, or they don’t clean the sidewalk after it snows. Loud music on the bus. Stuff left on the steps that I’m likely to trip over.

7. Last person you hugged: My wife. This was institutionalized in terms of an FBH, once in the morning and once in the evening. The Full-Body Hugs were partly derived because my wife usually goes to bed before I do. Sometimes, I didn’t even know that she had gone to bed, and she didn’t say good night or anything. I felt discombobulated by that.

8. Something you miss. My 401K is melting because of some stupid tariff that someone thinks is going to make America a lot of money.

Alto Knights

9. What song is stuck in your head at the moment? I went to the movies several times in the past couple of months. There’s a tease about a film called The Alto Knights coming out later in March, which I have no intention of seeing. But the trailer uses a song called Natural Blues by Moby from Play, an album I own. Then I discovered that it’s a remix of a Vera Hall song called Trouble So Hard.

10. Favorite quote. I don’t have one, so I Googled one: “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin. This is how I learn.

11. Favorite band. I’m going to pick the last group I played, which was the Supremes. Going Down For The Third Time

12. Something you’re excited for. Working on the Project.

13. Favorite movie. IDK. Possibly my favorite recent movie is Conclave. Certainly my favorite short film is The Only Girl in the Orchestra. I recommended the former to my wife and the latter to a blogger buddy, and they both loved the choices.

14. What type of phone do you have? I have an AT&T landline with three locations, one downstairs and two upstairs, and an iPhone 8 (which I had to look up).

15. Favorite animal: Probably cats. By the way, I liked the movie FLOW very much. I was waiting inside the Spectrum, and some folks talked about it. One woman said it should have had a narrator or subtitles, which would have defeated the film’s purpose.

#1 hits in 1964: yeah, yeah, yeah; baby, baby!

Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich

To no one’s surprise, the #1 hits in 1964 featured the most famous pop band in the world, even today. Indeed, I wrote about the Liverpudlian dominance of the US charts on February 9, so I won’t link to either the Beatles’ hits or the Peter and Gordon song attributed to Lennon-McCartney.

Because I have the book Across the Charts: the 1960s, I can quickly see if any of these songs appeared on other charts besides the pop charts. Interestingly, The Beatles never did until Something landed at #17 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

I Want To Hold Your Hand – The Beatles (Capitol), seven weeks at #1, gold record

Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles (Capitol), five weeks at #1, gold record

There! I Said It Again – Bobby Vinton (Epic), four weeks at #1, five weeks at #1 AC. This was the first #1 of 1964.

Baby Love – the Supremes (Motown), four weeks at #1, three weeks at #1 RB, gold record. It is one of three Supremes songs, all written by Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison (Monument), three weeks at #1, gold record. Orbison went to England in 1963 and toured with The Beatles. This is the last song on the soundtrack for some Julia Roberts/Richard Gere flick.

The House of the Rising Sun – the Animals (MGM), three weeks at #1

Chapel of Love – the Dixie Cups (Red Bird), three weeks at #1. Composed by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector

I Feel Fine – The Beatles (Capitol), three weeks at #1, gold record

She Loves You – The Beatles (Swan), two weeks at #1. As noted, its original failure in 1963 helped propel it when Beatlemania struck in 1964.

My favorite compilation album

I Get Around – the Beach Boys (Capitol), two weeks at #1; a gold record. The first song of theirs I owned is from a bizarre album called Big Hits From England & U.S.A., which I picked up from the Capitol Record Club. It was also when I first owned Can’t Buy Me Love; I had not yet purchased the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack (United Artists) because it was too similar to the Capitol album Something New. It’s also how I got Peter and Gordon’s World Without Love.

Come See About Me – the Supremes (Motown), two weeks at #1, two weeks at #2 RB.

Where Did Our Love Go – the Supremes (Motown), two weeks at #1, ditto on the RB charts. Their first #1.

Do Wah Diddy Diddy – Manfred Mann (Ascot), two weeks at #1. Written by the legendary Barry and Greenwich

My Guy – Mary Wells (Motown), two weeks at #1, seven weeks at #1 RB. Smokey Robinson wrote this and the Temptations’ 1965 #1, My Girl.

A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles (Capitol), two weeks at #1, gold record. I never saw this movie until after Let It Be came out, and I saw all four films, including Help and Yellow Submarine, in one sitting.

Rag Doll – the 4 Seasons (Phillips), two weeks at #1, gold record.

A single week at #1

Hello, Dolly – Louis Armstrong (Kapp), nine weeks at #1 AC. The artist that broke The Beatles’ stranglehold on #1 in the charts. Written by Jerry Herman.

Mr. Lonely – Bobby Vinton (Epic). Also #3 AC. He had a #1 in January and this in December; I do not recall either.

Everybody Loves Somebody – Dean Martin (Reprise), eight weeks at #1 AC, gold record. Every time I hear this song, I feel a little inebriated.

A World Without Love – Peter and Gordon (Capitol)

Ringo – Lorne Greene (RCA Victor), six weeks at #1 AC. A spoken word piece by the star of the NBC western series Bonanza that apparently had nothing to do with Richard Starkey.

Love Me Do – The Beatles (Tollie)

Leader Of The Pack – the Shangra-las (Red Bird), #8 RB. It was written by Barry, Greenwich, and Shadow Morton.

The obscure Supremes albums

inroads

I started thinking about the obscure Supremes albums partly because Diana Ross is turning 80 on March 26, and the late Mary Wilson would have turned 80 on March 6.

By obscure, I mean the albums that didn’t contain the hits. These recordings, at least early on, were designed to showcase the broad commercial range of the group. Yet some of the LPs did well.

I used to own many of them before they were stolen from my grandmother’s house c. 1972.

Meet The Supremes (1962) – this was obscure because they weren’t that popular yet. I didn’t buy it until after the reissue cover was used in 1965. Your Heart Belongs To Me. Did not chart pop or RB.

Where Did Our Love Go (1964) – NOT obscure, as it had three #1 hits. #2 for four weeks pop, #1 RB.

A Bit of Liverpool (1964) – It contains five Lennon-McCartney songs. You Can’t Do That is probably the best. #21 pop, #5 RB.

The Supremes Sing Country, Western, and Pop (1965) I rather liked this one. It starts with Willie Nelson’s Funny How Time Slips Away. #79 pop.

We Remember Sam Cooke (1965) – It’s one of the better-themed albums. (Ain’t That) Good News, with the late Florence Ballard on lead vocals.#75 pop, #5 RB.

More Hits by The Supremes (1965) – with two #1 hits, not obscure. #6 pop, ##2 for six weeks RB.

Merry Christmas (1965) – I never owned this album, but tracks appeared on Motown compilation albums. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Me. #6 Xmas

Live!

The Supremes at the Copa (1965) – a live album. “Playing the club was seen by Motown CEO Berry Gordy as an in-roads into the conservative white middle-America market.” It wasn’t my cuppa. Put on a Happy Face. #11 pop, #2 RB.

I Hear a Symphony (1966) – While a hit-laden album, it also contained standards such as Stranger In Paradise.

The Supremes A’ Go-Go (1966) – the album went to #1 pop for two weeks, the first album by an all-female group to reach number one on the Billboard 200 album charts. #1 for four weeks RB.

The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland (1967). – a silly title in that they sang a lot of H-D-H at the time. It contains two of my favorite non-hit tracks by the group, Remove This Doubt and Going Down For The Third Time. #6 pop, #1 for three weeks RB

The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart (1967) – When my albums were stolen, this one survived. Perhaps it was dropped. I learned to appreciate the composers’ work and its import because I initially heard those songs here. Mountain Greenery.#20 pop, #3 RB.

Diana Ross and the…

At this point, Florence Ballard left the group, Cindy Birdsong joined, and Diana Ross got top billing.

Reflections (1968). #18 pop, #3 RB.

Diana Ross & the Supremes Sing and Perform “Funny Girl” (1968). This album, which I never owned, was a commercial failure.#150 pop, #45 RB.

Live at London’s Talk of the Town (1968) – released the same day as Funny Girl, with a combination of standards and Supremes hits. This is not THE recording of You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You, but it has elements. #57 pop, #22 RB.

Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations (1968) – this worked, with a #2 hit. The first song is Try It, Baby, a Berry Gordy song originally performed by Marvin Gaye. #2 pop, #1 for four weeks RB.

Love Child (1968) Increasingly, Mary and Cindy were supplanted by Motown session singers The Andantes. #14 pop, #3 RB.

Let the Sunshine In (1969) – the commercial and artistic decline. #24 pop, #7 RB.

Together (with The Temptations) (1969) – I own the LP, but nothing sticks out in my mind. #28 pop, #6 RB.

Cream of the Crop (1969) – didn’t buy. #33 pop, #3 RB

G.I.T. on Broadway (1969) – a TV special with Temptation. Eh. #38 pop, #4 RB.

Farewell (1970) – the live farewell at a Las Vegas club, where Jean Terrell was introduced as Diana’s replacement as DR went solo. It’s a good place to stop. #46 pop, #31 RB.

Supremely sad: Mary Wilson, RIP

Support UNCF

The story goes that elementary school girls Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard entered a talent contest. By 1959, they became part of a group called the Primettes, along with a couple of other girls from the Detroit projects, Diane Ross and Betty McGlown. McGlown was replaced by Barbara Martin.

The group changed its name from the Primettes to the Supremes. Martin left, and they went forward as a trio. They were immediately…not very successful. A half dozen songs, none of which cracked the pop Top 40. They were the “no-hit Supremes.”

The group was offered a song the Marvelettes didn’t want, Where Did Our Love Go, written by Holland-Dozier-Holland. They were resistant to recording someone else’s rejects. It went to #1, as did several more tracks. They were the second most successful group on the singles charts in the 1960s.

And the Supremes were the epitome of style with appearances on the Ed Sullivan a dozen times, plus several other music shows. They were not just singers but role models, with their hair, makeup and outfits fastidiously tended to.

But Diana, who had changed her name at the beginning of their successful run, was now getting virtually all of the leads. Mary and Flo were doing a lot of background vocals, which got a bit boring.

By 1967, the billing changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes, to Flo’s dismay. Very long story short, Florence was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. But it was clear that Diana was considered the singular star.

Mary and Cindy didn’t even appear on seven later singles including I’m Livin’ in Shame, The Composer, and Someday We’ll Be Together, though, of course, they appeared on the live version of the latter.

Post-Ross

Jean Terrell took Diana’s slot, but Mary got more chances to sing lead. And she kept the “new” Supremes together, with a rotating cast of members, until 1977.

After a series of legal wranglings, Mary Wilson became the keeper of the Supremes’ flame, writing four books with the word “Supreme” in the title. The one in 2019 was Supreme Glamour.

In 2003, she was “named a US cultural ambassador by the State Department, touring the world and talking to young people about the dangers of HIV and AIDS…

“The family asked that friends and fans support the United Negro College Fund or the Humpty Dumpty Institute. The latter group helps in landmine clearance projects around the world. Wilson… was a spokesperson for the group.”

Some songs

Mary Wilson sang or shared the lead on these, and a few others:

1962: Baby Don’t Go (from Meet The Supremes)
1965: It Makes No Difference Now (From The Supremes Sing Country, Western, and Pop)
1966: Come and Get These Memories (from The Supremes A’ Go-Go)
1967 Falling in Love with Love (from The Supremes Sing Rodgers and Hart)
1969: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (from Together -Diana Ross and the Supremes, and The Temptations)
1972: A Heart Like Mine (from Floy Joy)
1972: I Keep It Hid (from The Supremes, Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb)
1975: Early Morning Love (from The Supremes)
1975: You Turn Me Around (from The Supremes)
1976: Til The Boat Sails Away (from High Energy)

She was a March Pisces like I am, so I had a certain particular affection for her. Here’s my post from Mary’s 70th birthday in 2014, with links to more familiar Supremes fare.