THE
SUPREMES...
IN THE 90'S
INDIVIDUALLY & COLLECTIVELY
Friday, September 18, 1998
Will Motown name game reach the Supremes court?
Miss Ross blesses the Former Ladies of the Supremes: Left to right: former Supreme Lynda Laurence; former Motown A & R chief Mickey Stevenson; grand queen Motown diva Diana Ross; backup singer Freddi Poole; and former Supreme Scherrie Payne.
By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
One group name squabble that's been wending its way through the courts is that of the Supremes.
Former Supreme Mary Wilson sued Lynda Laurence and Scherrie Payne, who sang in later incarnations of the Motown group. Laurence and Payne tour as "Former Ladies of the Supremes," or "FLOs."
Wilson's stance is that Motown gave her the rights to the name "Supremes," and to protect her rights she must sue anybody who uses the name at all (including Karen Ragland, a woman who once sang backup for her, but never was in the Motown Supremes. Ragland bills her group as the "Sounds of the Supremes.")
Laurence and Payne's argument is that Motown owns the rights to the name Supremes, not Wilson, and that they have Motown's permission to use the name "FLOs." They won a summary judgment last August, but Wilson and her attorneys are appealing.
Laurence and Payne label themselves as former members of the Supremes, and have it specified in their contracts that they are not to be billed as "The Supremes."
"I wish we could put all this behind us, and even do a show together," Laurence says with a sigh.
Then a month ago in Las Vegas, a new development. The grand diva Supreme of them all, Diana Ross, showed up at a concert at the Hilton hotel where the Former Ladies of the Supremes were performing. She posed for pictures with Laurence and Payne, which they took as a vote of confidence.
"It puts the stamp of approval on our group," says Laurence.
"It ends a lot of speculation about things. Diana really enjoyed it, she said it was a good show. I appreciated the fact that she felt it was done in Supremes fashion, because that's what we want to do."
FLORENCE BALLARD Back to Index
Was one of the original members of the Bluebells, featuring Patti Labelle before replacing Florence Ballard in The Supremes in 1968. She continued as a Supreme when Diana Ross left but decided to leave the group when she got married to raise a family. However, her love as a Supreme drew her back into the group until 1975 when she left after completing the 'High Energy' album. She became a minister but performs occassionally dividing her attention between her solo career, the Labelle and the Supremes.
To find out more about Cindy Birdsong click here: Cindy Birdsong
Lynda cousin is Tammi Terrell. Joined the Supremes in 1972. Is currently touring as a member of the resurrected Supremes, also known as The Former Ladies of the Supremes (FLOS)
Originally a member of the group, Glass House, who had a large soul hit in the early 70's titled: Crumbs Off the Table, Scherrie was invited to join the Supremes after Jean Terrell left. Incredibly, she was not their first choice. Sister Freda Payne (Band of Gold) originally was invited to join, but she politely turned it down, however, she suggested her sister and after one audition, Scherrie became a part of history. With a strong, powerful voice, Scherrie took the Supremes into a new direction, as evident on the Supremes last top 40 hit, "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking. " Her presence in the Supremes was felt in the last three albums they recorded for Motown, whose style, in my opinion, became more soulful, energetic and vocally stronger than the group had ever been. Scherrie was also the lead in one of the Supremes last charted dance hit, "You're My Driving Wheel"
To find out more about Scherrie Payne, click here: Scherrie Payne
Freddi Poole was a member of The Delicates in the 60's and The Wild Honey in the 70's.
As the replacement for Diana Ross in the much publicized split, Jean Terrell easily slipped into the role of lead vocalist by continuing the Supremes Top 40 dominance on the pop charts in the early 70's. The continued success of the Supremes surprised music critics who were certain the Supremes would fade into history, along with Diana Ross. But the two entities not only survived, they flourished. Jean Terrell sang most of the leads, and occassionally, spared with Mary Wilson on such classic Supreme hits as, 'Up the Ladder to the Roof,' Stoned Love,' 'Nathan Jones,' 'Touch,' and 'River-Deep, Mountain High,' the latter a duet with the Four Tops. Mistakenly reported as being related to Tammi Terrell, she is the sister of heavy weight boxer, Ernie Terrell. She left the Supremes in 1973 to pursue a solo career but she still occassionally re-records her classic hits with former members of the Supremes, most memorably, the 1990 Motorcity re-recording of 'Stoned Love' with Scherrie and Lynda.
Sister of Lynda Laurence, Sundray performs as a Supreme when she is not recording material for her solo career.
To find out more about her go to this site: Sundray Tucker
There's something about Mary...as co-founder of the world famous Supremes, Mary has tried to keep the name of her famous group in the forefront of the fickle music industry that tends to forget the influence and contributions of the trio. Since Mary left The Supremes, in 1977, she has tour around the country as: Mary Wilson & The Supremes, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, The Supremes' Mary Wilson, and Mary Wilson With The Supremes. She is also a best-selling author.
She is currently trying to change the law to protect the integrity and history of the original Supremes by having Congress put in writing that only members of the original configuration of a group can claim the use of a group name. The concern was born from the fact that bogus artists spring up every day performing songs that they claim they had made famous, who with their managers, travel the world, duping the public for profit.
To find out more about Mary Wilson, go to her official website:
