Thursday, November 16, 2017

the Sixties (1 of ????)










just some of the highlights of the Supremes singles discogs, others almost too obvious to include - too echt-Sixties to even be audible really

the considerable number of lowerlights include the unfortunately titled "Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart" (which still made the US Top Ten)

and  1971's "Floy Joy" which is described thus on Wiki:

"The song, built on a retro sixties vibe reminiscent of past Supremes songs, was recorded by the group's former mentor Smokey Robinson, marking his first production of a Supremes song since 1969's "The Composer".


hmmmm i doubt if you could really call that "retro" since it's only a few years ago that it's referring back to -  it's more like a desperate attempt to reignite fading career by going back to the sound associated with the group's commercial peak of popularity. as opposed to the attempts to be with-it and psychedelic on "Reflections" / "The Happening" / "Love Child"

"retro sixties" seems like a  "seeing the past through the eyes of the present" syndrome in effect- the word "retro" wasn't even in use in 1971 and the pastiche / nostalgia-mode impulse would have been supremely foreign in black music at that time... the first even glimmer of it i can think of is The Pointer Sisters a few years later with their 1940s look


"Floy Joy" incidentallyprovided the name for a once touted, now forgotten UK band of the Eighties









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