Why there would be no 'Sparkle' without The Supremes
OPINION - For black audiences especially, The Supremes have a story that continues to resonate, even if it is far more salacious than the PG-13 'Sparkle'...
Ballard and Williams’ girlfriend, Betty McGlown, were the first two members. Then Ballard recruited longtime friend Mary Wilson who, in turn, recruited her classmate Diane Ross, as she was then known. The Primettes, like Sister and the Sisters, performed around town covering popular songs and winning talent competitions. In 1960, Ross, who knew Smokey Robinson, then a member of The Miracles at the newly formed Tamla Records (later to become known as Motown) from childhood, convinced him to get The Primettes an audition with Berry Gordy.
Feeling the girls were too young and too inexperienced, Gordy didn’t sign them, but The Primettes didn’t give up and stuck around Hitsville, as the Motown studio was known, contributing where they could in hopes of changing Gordy’s mind. They succeeded the next year, becoming The Supremes, and, after a few group changes due to engagement and pregnancy, were a trio.
Still, success wasn’t immediate, even as The Supremes. After failing to make a dent with previous efforts, The Supremes finally hit Billboard at number 23 with their 1963 single “When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes” by legendary songwriting collaborative Holland-Dozier-Holland. After that, the hits flooded in, with the 1964 smash “Where Did Our Love Go” going all the way to number one on the pop charts followed by “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Back in My Arms Again.”
Almost overnight, The Supremes were domestic and international superstars, posing with The Beatles and even knocking them out of the top album spot on Billboard. On shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, and during performances at the legendary Copacabana, they were very glamorous. In fact, among their black female following, they were known as much for their style as for their hit records.
theGrio slideshow: A look back at Diana Ross’ history as a style icon
But good times don’t last forever, and it all unraveled. Ballard never recovered from being supplanted by Diana Ross as lead singer in the movement she started, and whispers of Ross’s affair with Gordy undoubtedly didn’t help. Ballard started drinking heavily and gaining weight, prompting Gordy to plot her permanent replacement, which became a messy affair in itself. By 1968, Ballard was no longer in the group, which was now known as Diana Ross & The Supremes. Then Ross, positioned by Gordy, embarked on a successful solo career in the 1970s while Ballard faltered, became impoverished and passed away in 1976 at the tender age of 32, with many of The Supremes’ early fans blaming Diana Ross for her demise.
While Sparkle isn’t quite this dramatic, the real-life story of The Supremes has so many twists and turns that Sparkle and other films have found several riffs to build upon. At the end of the day, there aren’t many fairytales tailored to black women and, as much heartache as the story of The Supremes is filled with, it still packs its fair share of the triumphs for which the music industry is known.
With the many lows of Whitney Houston’s life, for example, it’s not the bad times that are most prominent. Even knowing some of the most unsavory details of her tragic death, and her life even, we still celebrate her shining moments. Because, when it comes to music, the good times really do outweigh the bad.
And, perhaps, it’s that magic that keeps us tied to The Supremes. It’s certainly the formula that this Sparkle remake prefers. A lot of women do lose along the way but, in our constant rewrite, one woman does eventually get everything, including her man. Maybe it’s the sense that the best can come out of the worse of situations that keeps this story going.
Follow Ronda Racha Penrice on Twitter at @rondaracha
