全球女子乐团的典范，也是最为畅销的单曲制造机，更是光荣进入名人摇滚殿堂、并成为黑人音乐大本营Motown唱片旗下最引以为傲的女子兵团！集歌唱外貌于一身的The Supremes，50年代中期成军之初，原名为Primettes，成员包含Diana Ross、Mary Wilson、Florence Ballard及Barbara Martin，60年在Lupine唱片发行一张单曲后，被Motown创始人Berry Gordy招揽旗下。刚开始，她们只是合音天使，后来更换团名成The Supremes，才独立出来录制专辑，并套换时尚亮眼装扮，将热情、欢愉的独特魅力展现在活泼流畅的曲目中，这时Barbara正式离团，剩下The Supremes三人组合的标准机制，Diana Ross也成为团中主唱及灵魂核心。
64年推出《Where Did Our Love Go》登上流行榜冠军后，也开始了The Supremes不凡的音乐事迹，更成为第一组登上英国金榜冠军的女子团体。表现相当突出的Diana在67年将团名改为Diana Ross ＆ The Supremes，再经Berry的鼓励下于69年离团单飞，展现多艺长才，跨界演出电视剧及电影，连创佳绩在整个70年代。81年偕同Lionel Richie对唱的经典曲“Endless Love”攻顶排行冠军长达9周之久！同年她选择离开Motown唱片，也划下她在Motown的风光休止符！
by Richie Unterberger
The most successful black performers of the 1960s, the Supremes for a time rivaled even the Beatles in terms of red-hot commercial appeal, reeling off five number-one singles in a row at one point. Critical revisionism has tended to undervalue the Supremes accomplishments, categorizing their work as more lightweight than the best soul stars (or even the best Motown stars), and viewing them as a tool for Berry Gordys crossover aspirations. Theres no question that there was about as much pop as soul in the Supremes hits, that even some of their biggest hits could sound formulaic, and that they were probably the black performers who were most successful at infiltrating the tastes and televisions of middle America. This shouldnt diminish either their extraordinary achievements or their fine music, the best of which renders the pop vs. soul question moot with its excellence.
The Supremes were not an overnight success story, although it might have seemed that way when they began topping the charts with sure-fire regularity. The trio that would become famous as the Supremes — Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard — met in the late 50s in Detroits Brewster housing project. Originally known as the Primettes, they were a quartet (Barbara Martin was the fourth member) when they made their first single for the Lupine label in 1960. By the time they debuted for Motown in 1961, they had been renamed the Supremes; Barbara Martin reduced them to a trio when she left after their first single.
The Supremes first Motown recordings were much more girl group-oriented than their later hits. Additionally, not all of them featured Diana Ross on lead vocals; Flo Ballard, considered to have as good or better a voice, also sang lead. Through a lengthy series of flops, Berry Gordy remained confident that the group would eventually prove to be one of Motowns biggest. By the time they finally did get their first Top 40 hit, When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes, in late 1963, Ross had taken over the lead singing for good.
Ross was not the most talented female singer at Motown; Martha Reeves and Gladys Knight in particular had superior talents. What she did have, however, was the most purely pop appeal. Gordys patience and attention paid off in mid-1964, when Where Did Our Love Go went to number one. Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, it established the prototype for their run of five consecutive number-one hits in 1964-1965 (also including Baby Love, Stop! In the Name of Love, Come See About Me, and Back in My Arms Again). Ross cooing vocals would front the Supremes decorative backup vocals, put over on television and live performance with highly stylized choreography and visual style. Holland-Dozier-Holland would write and produce all of the Supremes hits through the end of 1967.
Not all of the Supremes singles went to number one after 1965, but they usually did awfully well, and were written and produced with enough variety (but enough of a characteric sound) to ensure continual interest. The chart-topping (and uncharacteristically tough) You Keep Me Hangin On was the best of their mid-period hits. Behind the scenes, there were some problems brewing, although these only came to light long after the event. Other Motown stars (most notably Martha Reeves) resented what they perceived as the inordinate attention lavished upon Ross by Gordy, at the expense of other artists on the label. The other Supremes themselves felt increasingly pushed to the background. In mid-1967, as a result of what was deemed increasingly unprofessional behavior, Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong (from Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles). Ballard become one of rocks greatest tragedies, eventually ending up on welfare, and dying in 1976.
After Ballards exit, the group would be billed as Diana Ross & the Supremes, fueling speculation that Ross was being groomed for a solo career. The Supremes had a big year in 1967, even incorporating some mild psychedelic influences into Reflections. Holland-Dozier-Holland, however, left Motown around this time, and the quality of the Supremes records suffered accordingly (as did the Motown organization as a whole). The Supremes were still superstars, but as a unit, they were disintegrating; its been reported that Wilson and Birdsong didnt even sing on their final hits, a couple of which (Love Child and Someday Well Be Together) were among their best.
In November 1969, Ross imminent departure for a solo career was announced, although she played a few more dates with them, the last in Las Vegas in January 1970. Jean Terrell replaced Ross, and the group continued through 1977, with some more personnel changes (although Mary Wilson was always involved). Some of the early Ross-less singles were fine records, particularly Stoned Love, Nathan Jones, and the Supremes-Four Tops duet River Deep — Mountain High. Few groups have been able to rise to the occasion after the loss of their figurehead, though, and the Supremes proved no exception, rarely making the charts after 1972. It is the Diana Ross-led era of the 1960s for which theyll be remembered.